#367: Aleah Wright (Founder of Wright Beauty and Freelance Writer) (pt. 1 of 2)

Today we released part one of our interview with Aleah Wright. She’s the founder of Wright Beauty, a venture that sells body butter and beauty oil for women. Prior to launching her business, Aleah was a freelance writer, writing about fashion and other topics for magazines including InStyle and Essence. She cut her teeth in the fashion world with internships at Michael Kors and Prada.

Join us to hear how Aleah's grit and determination are propelling her career! https://wrightfashions.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

Announcer 0:18

Welcome to the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast, Making Art Work. We highlight how entrepreneurs align their artistry, passion, and vision to create and pursue opportunities to capture value in the arts. The views expressed by guests on the Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast are solely their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of the podcast or its hosts. The appearance of a guest on the podcast, the venture they represent, or reference to any product or service does not imply an endorsement or recommendation by the podcast or its hosts. The content provided is for entertainment and informational purposes only and does not constitute business advice. Here are your hosts, Andy Heise and Nick Petrella.

Andy Heise 1:00

Hi Arts Entrepreneurship Podcast listeners, I'm Andy Heise.

Early Internships And Fashion Beginnings

Nick Petrella 1:04

And I'm Nick Petrella. Fashion entrepreneur and content creator Aleah Wright is joining us today. She's the founder of Wright Beauty, a venture that sells potty butter and beauty oil for women. Prior to that, Aleah was a freelance writer, writing about fashion and other topics for magazines including InStyle and Essence. She cut her teeth in the fashion world with internships at Michael Coors and Prada. As we do with all of our interviewees, we'll have Aleah's website in the show notes. Great to have you on the podcast, Aleah.

Aleah Wright 1:33

Hi, thank you for having me on.

Nick Petrella 1:35

Yeah, it's great, great to have you here. You've had an interesting journey so far in your young career. So would you be able to unpack that for us so we can see what went into your decision making along the way?

Pandemic Pivots And Prada Internship

Aleah Wright 1:47

Yes, of course. Starting out, I really wanted to work in the fashion industry. That's what I went to Kent State for for merchandising and a minor in media, and I really ended up using both. Um my dream was always to move to New York and work in luxury, and it really first started being at Kent when I did my internship at Michael Coors. I worked in visual merchandising, and it was a really good experience to learn how fashion and like handbags, small leather goods, um, learning more about the women's wear, menswear, and going down to New York at the Macy's on 34th Street, it was really like an eye-opening experience for me on how fashion can work in so many different ways. And then when the pandemic hit, I had so much time to really reflect on what I wanted to do next. And then product came along, which was really interesting because when I did a study away program at Kent in Italy, I visited their flagship store in Milan, and I was like, wouldn't it be a dream to work here? This is something that would be like next level, and during that time, there was so much reckoning going on with George Floyd and what we wanted to do next in fashion and how we can make an impact. So they started their internship program to really have that inclusion and diversity come in. And when I tell you it was a class of people, hard workers, I mean sharp thinkers. We really iron sharpens iron. So I got to work in the buying side of that, which was interesting because I was like, oh, marketing is my thing. And they're like, nope, you're gonna be a merchandiser in handbags and accessories. So it really taught me a lot about what it means to run a business, how to buy, being on time, working with the stores, and understanding the customer. And then I pivoted into fashion writing, which was not really expected either. But after finishing my program, I did think again, what did I want to do next? And so I just started pitching and putting myself out there.

Nick Petrella 4:01

Yeah, that's great. And we'll get into some of the other things uh in future questions. That's great.

Intentionality Versus Serendipity

Andy Heise 4:07

Yeah. And look so looking at that sort of early stretch of your career, um, you know, coming out of college, doing these internships, uh, starting to do some fashion writing, that sort of stuff, um, you know, it's it's a series of of different different activities, different things that that came about for different reasons. And I'm wondering, like, at what point did that um did it feel intentional at the time, or were you just kind of like saying, okay, let's let's just keep moving along here?

Aleah Wright 4:34

Oh, it was intention. I think what was intentional was me seeking to work in the fashion industry.

Andy Heise 4:41

Okay.

Aleah Wright 4:41

I didn't know how the opportunity was gonna come about.

Andy Heise 4:44

Right.

Aleah Wright 4:45

So that was always a surprise to me. Cause even when I got my first internship, I started in New York working for like a small brand who did some other things like manufacturing, and I was like, mmm, this wasn't really what I wanted, but I decided to continue to apply, and that's when Michael Cors called me back, but I didn't expect it at all. It was just really trying to work towards my dream of working in fashion.

Andy Heise 5:10

Right. So this vision for I want to be in the fashion industry, so how can I how can I get some experience, start putting together some different types of uh jobs and and different different experiences uh that help get you towards that that broader vision?

Aleah Wright 5:24

Yes.

Nick Petrella 5:26

That makes sense. Yeah, quick quick question. Was your internship at product was it in Milan or was it in New York?

Aleah Wright 5:33

It was in New York City.

Nick Petrella 5:34

Okay. Great. We uh just side sidebar conversation here. We met after I watched you do a live interview with a designer, Paul Taswell. How did you first meet him and have you collaborated since? And and maybe tell a little bit about who Paul is.

Discovering And Pitching Paul Tazewell

Aleah Wright 5:50

Oh wow, Paul is an amazing creative, Emmy winning, Tony winning, BAFTA winning, now Oscar winning, costume designer, right? Um the accolades just stacked them on itself. Um and how I met him. So Universal was doing promotion for Wicked, and I get a lot of my information from TikTok when I come when it comes to pitching and writing to editors about my ideas, and scrolling through TikTok, I saw his video. He's basically breaking down his process, doing like the sketches, drawing them in, giving us the fabric breakdown, talking to us about his vision for the costumes for Alphabet and Glinda. And I was just like, who is this black man who is like, I have never seen this before? He's just like breaking down the process for us because so much of the movie promotion is about the characters, so you really get to see the inside makings of it. And so I said, We have to interview this man. Who is he? I want to know more about him. So I decided I got connected with the editor at Essence, and I pitched her on the idea of featuring Paul for a feature basically interviewing him about the costumes for Wicked, and she loved the idea so much, but she was kind of like, Do you know him? Do you know? And I was like, Do you know Universal? And I was like, you know what? Yes, I'm gonna get to know them. I'm gonna make the connections, we're gonna make this work and happen. Yeah, and so it was just a really great experience because I got to reach out to his publicist at the time, Amanda, who was very gracious about setting up a screening for me advanced and making time for me to sit down with Paul. So that's basically how we got connected. And I hunted people down the universal, like, hey, how can I get in contact with your team? Hey, I need some stuff for Wicked. I'm interviewing Paul. I need to make this happen. We're doing it for Essence. And they were like, Yep, we're on board. Let us know what you need.

Nick Petrella 7:54

So yeah, cold calling 101. Wow. And that's a that's a lot of hoops to go through. Right? I mean, that's a big, big organization. And that that was a great interview, too, by the way. You're you're a very good interviewee. Interviewer. And an interviewee.

Aleah Wright 8:11

Thank you.

Andy Heise 8:15

So I mean, so speaking uh you weren't necessarily aware of Paul until until you well until you until you were. Right. Uh but but like so I'm just thinking about, you know, a uh a uh writer in their early career, like that that was sort of a that was uh maybe a reach for you, or I mean I'm I'm just wondering, like, uh how did you approach that? That like this is a big deal. Who you know, who am I to do this and and then how do I go about doing this? Yeah, I I'm just trying to imagine like what were you thinking as you were as you were embarking on this uh interview with Paul and this piece for essence?

Aleah Wright 8:55

Wow. Um you know what I didn't really I didn't really think about it like that. I think I had already gained confidence writing some beauty stuff for Instyle, and I'm like, yeah, I could I can do this. Like if I've done it once before, I can do it again. But I fast forward a year before that, 2023, when I was writing, it was really like like I said, gaining that confidence. In 2024, I said, I want to do some more fashion writing, like that's what I love. I love fashion. How can I get into that? And so when I connected with her, my thing is if I'm gonna pitch, put it all out there. Like if this is the idea that I really want to roll with, then just make it known why it's worthy of being written and published.

Confidence And Breaking Into Fashion Writing

Andy Heise 9:38

That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And and talking with people, people like Paul, um, how did that how did exposure to to working with Paul, that type of writing that kind of a piece, how did that um, how did that shape what you believed was possible for your out for your future career?

Aleah Wright 9:56

Oh wow. Uh working with Paul opened so many doors for me. Mind you, this was pre-Os before he got his record-breaking, you know, Oscar. And it was really being able to speak to him more. And I think for me, understanding how after we did that interview and published it, his publicist was recommending me to other publicists who were saying, Can you cover this Broadway show? Can you cover that? And um, Universal was also coming back to me. Hey, we have other movies planned. You know, do you want to come into the premieres? Do you want to sit down and interview this person? So I think the floodgates really opened after that.

Nick Petrella 10:37

That's awesome. So, so have you been interviewed? No, I haven't. So is it easier to interview or be interviewed?

Aleah Wright 10:48

To interview. Really? Yes. All right. Well, we edit. Yeah, because I think you can kind of like get in the mind of like a person and like I don't know, sometimes I always have these burning questions, so it's like, what would the audience want to ask that now I get to chance like to ask this person? So I think interviewing is always the route.

Nick Petrella 11:12

Yeah, fair enough. I I think I agree with that too.

Andy Heise 11:15

Andy? Well, now I'm just like self-conscious about all the questions that we're asking. But did you see how I interviewed you? Went over your head. All right.

Doors Opening After High-Profile Features

Nick Petrella 11:25

Yeah, I I yeah. All right. Back to the show. So early on, uh the reason I asked you uh to give us kind of a thumbnail sketch of your journey is because you've you've done a ton of things in your young career, right? So you're a fashion, uh, a freelance fashion and beauty writer, a blogger, you have a line of beauty products. Any one of those could be a full-time job. So I I'm interested in how you balance everything, or does each occur at various points throughout the year? In other words, it's consecutive, not simultaneous.

Aleah Wright 12:00

Um, I think definitely the blogging and the fashion writing is simultaneous because I always want to keep fresh work going, especially when I'm blogging. I always bring that to editors. Hey, this is something that could be in your wheelhouse for different verticals. So I always like to keep it fresh. I think for the business that really started two years ago, and that's been something where I've had to, yes, manage it. Where sometimes I work with a manufacturer, we have meetings set up, and then sometimes I step away because then orders are handled, they're sent out while I'm focusing on my fashion writing. So I do try to balance it with time management, which I'm glad I've learned over the last several years.

Juggling Writing, Blogging, And Beauty Brand

Nick Petrella 12:44

Quick follow-up question. Yes. So I've actually written blogs for companies before ghostwriting ghostwriting. Do you do that or do you attribute every blog to your name? Yes, I attribute it to my name. Did you ever think about doing a ghostwriting? Yeah, so in other words, you're just doing a blog for Prada, but it's not you, or just you're just providing content.

Aleah Wright 13:09

No.

Nick Petrella 13:10

Okay. Yeah. People were ashamed it would be me. I think that's probably what it was. All right. Do it in a hundred words or less. That's right.

Andy Heise 13:23

Keep it short. So it would put do you think of these things as all sort of separate, you know, entities that you're that you're running, different roles that you have to play, or do you see them as all part of a larger like system that you've created for for yourself?

Aleah Wright 13:38

Um, I think it's all part of a larger system. I think they all kind of work in tandem to help me build up to having that authority in fashion and beauty.

Andy Heise 13:51

So yeah, it really has it has more to do with um who Aleah Wright is and your reputation within the industry versus um you know, making money, so to speak.

Aleah Wright 14:06

Yes, because yes, I think it's more to do with the reputation, although I do like monetize my blog and my my writing for publications, but yeah, it really is to build the authority and then bigger opportunities come along from that.

Andy Heise 14:20

Sure, sure. Yeah, and I just yeah, I I this isn't a question that we had scripted, but it feels appropriate at this point in time. How does a content creation in the age of of generative AI? How are are is that something that you're Nick, you didn't have that question, did you?

Nick Petrella 14:36

No, I was gonna talk more about blogging, but yeah, go ahead and ask it. It's a great question.

Building Authority Over Monetization

Andy Heise 14:39

Okay. Okay. So so I'll let me start that over. This isn't necessarily a question that I was that we had planned to ask you, but it seems like an appropriate time to talk to to talk about it since since it you brought it up or since it's being talked about right now. Um how how do you think about content creation in the age of generative AI, where you know, there's uh like for example, our our our podcasting platform will create social media posts and blog posts and all sorts of different things for us based on the interview uh that we do. So I was just curious, how do you position yourself um given everything that's going on?

Aleah Wright 15:17

With AI, hmm. Honestly, the only thing that I've really used is like Chat GPT, but really I take the basis of all my idea, my writing, like everything is written out first, and then if I put it in chat GPT, it's really just to polish up, like maybe the way I like it rewarded, or you know, there's there's some other things that are added in there that I like that sound a little bit better, then I'll kind of use that to kind of punch up my my pitches. But honestly, after that, I don't know, I haven't really used AI in like other ways.

Andy Heise 15:56

But I'm just curious if if you feel like you know, are are opportunities still um available and abundant for content creators like yourself, or do you see those maybe getting harder to find given that maybe other people are using generative AI to create the content?

Aleah Wright 16:12

Um no, because I think the originality is all there, which is so funny because when I was at a panel for LVMage, they were like, AI, AI, and the artist. I'm like, I don't think AI can really replace the originality of the artist.

Andy Heise 16:26

Right.

Originality In The Age Of Generative AI

Aleah Wright 16:26

But it can enhance it, or you know, it's going off of information that's being given to it. So you always have to be the source to start to give it that information.

Andy Heise 16:38

I think that, yeah, I think that's such an important point is uh you as the individual, what is the original um artistic expression that you bring that the that the machine can't can't do, right? Yep.

Aleah Wright 16:50

Yes.

Nick Petrella 16:51

Internalized with sorry, go ahead.

Aleah Wright 16:54

Yes. Because I feel like with editors or even your audience when you're doing your content, like that's what they're buying into.

Nick Petrella 17:01

Right. Yeah. You're internalizing that information and then you're redistributing it through your lens, your experiences, and things like that. No, I I I get that. Um that said, blogging is pretty challenging, at least for me, and I know Andy's done it uh a few times. Since many in the arts write blogs or other periodicals to reach their fan base, do you have any suggestions on how to be productive as a blogger?

Productive Blogging Tactics And Idea Sourcing

Aleah Wright 17:27

Oh, yes, I've been at this five years. Um make time and sit down, do blocks of time, like two hours dedicated, put your phone on, do not disturb her work mode to really lock in and figure out some of the ideas that you want to write about, jot them down, or I like to do like a little collage to basically put out what I wanna do for the next few posts that I have and sit down and I would say just like write it out. That's what I do. Do a draft. It may not be perfect, it may not be where you want it right there at the moment, but two hours, okay. I'm gonna just write, right, write, and I don't stop. Then I take my break, step away from it, come back, and I think that helps you to be more productive versus like being overwhelmed by everything. I gotta have this out, I gotta have this done by this date. And then after a while, you can't get to the process because you're so overwhelmed by everything else you feel like you have to get done.

Nick Petrella 18:28

Yeah. Just a quick, quick follow-up question: where do you get inspiration for your topics? Are they provided for you? Or do you just have an idea and then you go out and try and sell it?

Aleah Wright 18:39

Man, I get my ideas from all different types of okay, so a lot of social media, a lot of talk that's going on online, I get a lot of my inspiration for blogs. Um, it could be different things going on in the industry.

unknown 18:55

Oh.

Self-Publishing Wins And Closing

Aleah Wright 18:55

And I'll say I need to write about that. That's really important to talk about. Uh, a lot of commerce content. So if I come across new launches or new products in store, I love to write about that. And that seems to really resonate with my audience online with my blog. Or now the features, like my interview that I my second interview that I did with Paul self-published, that's been performing really, really well. And I was like, oh wow. I didn't think that that was something people wanted to get into because it I did so much commerce, but um, from the the amount of time that people spend on that page, it it's really um yeah resonating.

Andy Heise 19:35

Yeah, well, it's impactful, it sounds like and when when you say you self-published the second interview, do you mean you you published it on your on your own blog? Yep. Yeah, yeah.

Announcer 19:46

Yeah. Thanks for listening. If you like this podcast, please subscribe. Visit arts entrepreneurship podcast.com to learn more about our guest and how you can help support artists, the arts, and this podcast.