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Side Hustle Pro

196: From Lay-Off to Comeback: How Designer Dionna Dorsey Created Her Own Thriving Design Boutique and Apparel Line

Side Hustle Pro

Nicaila Matthews Okome | Side Hustle Pro Media

Nicailamatthewsokome, Blackwomenentrepreneurs, Sidehustle, Blackpodcast, Sidehustlepro, Marketing, Sidehustles, Business, Smallbusinesspodcast, Sidehustleshow, Blackownedbusiness, Blackwomenownedbusiness, Blackwomen, Blackentrepreneurs, Smallbusinessshow, Businesspodcast, Entrepreneurship, Smallbusinessowners

4.81.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2020

⏱️ 53 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today in the Side Hustle Pro guest chair is Dionna M. Dorsey, a gifted designer and brand development strategist and the creator of apparel line DISTRICT of CLOTHING.

After graduating from Villanova University in 2002, Dionna moved to Italy to study fashion design and pursue a job in the fashion industry.

She ended up relocating to New York City and designed outerwear for Oscar de la Renta and men's apparel for several other licenses. After rocky times hit the retail industry, she was eventually laid off from her job. She applied for job after job, but no one would hire her, so she made a decision to hire herself.

She went on to open Dionna Dorsey Design, a design boutique that specializes in being creative – from graphic design to art direction, brand strategy, and website development. Then, she launched DISTRICT of CLOTHING, a signature apparel line developed with the conventional and avant-garde dreamers and doers in mind. The rest is HERstory.

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Soundcloud, and Stitcher.

This episode is brought to you by:

Acuity

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Social Media Info

Dionna Dorsey (Instagram) - @dionnadorsey

Dionna Dorsey (Twitter) - @dionnadorsey

DISTRICT of CLOTHING (Instagram) - @districtofclothing

DISTRICT of CLOTHING (Facebook) - @districtofclothingco

Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro

#SideHustlePro

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

My dad just really helped me understand that if I did a little bit for free on the front

0:07.4

end that it would probably help me out on the back end and this would be the best way for

0:11.0

me to expand my portfolio beyond fashion.

0:14.8

You're listening to Side Hustle Pro, the podcast that teaches you to build and grow your

0:20.0

side hustle from Passion Project to profitable business and I'm your host

0:24.3

Michaela Matthew Zocome. So let's get started. One of the best ways to save time in

0:31.6

your business is to get a scheduling tool.

0:34.9

Meet Acuity, the scheduling assistant that works 24-7 behind the scenes to fill your calendar

0:40.8

so you can focus on all the other important aspects of your business. fill your

0:45.0

real time real time real time

0:48.0

real time availability and self book their own appointments

0:52.0

reschedule if they need to, and even pay online.

0:55.8

Collect everything you need to know about your clients as soon as they book by asking them to

1:00.0

fill out a customizable intake forms when they're scheduling and you can even use

1:04.7

acuity to get appointments through your Facebook business page or Instagram's

1:09.2

booking button from the moment clients book with you,

1:13.0

Acuity automatically sends booking confirmations

1:16.4

with your brand and messaging.

1:18.7

It delivers text reminders.

1:20.6

And of course, you get notified any time a new appointment is booked.

1:25.0

You can have it automatically update the calendars you already use,

1:29.0

like Google, Outlook, I. Cloud, or Office 365, and you can check your schedule right from your phone.

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