Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Rollins.
Danielle, please share your story with us.
I opened my own design firm following a spectator style traumatic and tumultuous divorce that was well publicized and nearly devastated me. At the same time, I was promoting my book, “Soiree Entertaining with Style” Rizzoli at a time when my life felt anything but stylish, I bought a very run down 1970 Georgian style house in Buckhead and began renovating the house and myself! My design business took off and I found a career that I loved while learning to thrive on my own. After modeling for Chico’s and contributing to their blog, had so many inquiries on my personal style and requests for some of my favorite pieces of clothing that I had designed and made for myself, I launched my own capsule clothing collection. It’s been a year and what a year! I am working on my next book for the release of fall 2019 and looking forward to another journey! I love running my own businesses and what excites me the most is building something bigger than myself. A startup is no easy feat, and going against the grain to do clothing that isn’t in the traditional model certainly takes a lot of guts. There’s a belief that style can’t be taught and has to be inherent, but I really believe that it absolutely can be and it’s about making it accessible & approachable.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I can’t think of anything smooth about any of it! I have had more woes than a George Jones song and could write country music if I were better at rhyming! I was utterly devastated following my divorce and a very broken person. I felt like I had failed but the abuse in my marriage became so unmanageable that the only option I had was to turn my back on what looked like a fairy tale to everyone on the outside. Even though I knew it was the right and only option and a way to give my children a better example I still felt like I had failed. I’ve been humiliatingly drug through the court system and it still pains me that I can’t have a “normal” divorce, but I’ve used my experiences to try and help others in it with less power and resources and my hope is that one day I can make a positive and impactful change. No one should have to go through what I have. I have made every mistake in the book as far as business and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been taken advantage of, screwed over, scammed and slammed. I’ve had publicist say they had confirmed press, take the money then change their story at press time. Not once, but three times. I’ve had web developers promise things that took painful months to “develop” only to realize it was a scam to lock me into a contract delivering sub-par or no work. Twice. I’ve had factories falsely promise work that they couldn’t deliver or deliver things that were so bad they couldn’t be sold. I had an assistant whom I trusted embezzle several hundred thousand dollars. I’ve had contractors mess up projects, steal a contract then turn around due me. I have had days where I feel like I cannot go on one more minute, but I go to bed with a deep faith that things will work out and wake up the next morning and start all over again. I have a very strong faith that when the time is right the right things will happen.
what should we know about Danielle Rollins Brands? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I have lived a life filled with exposure to a lot of beautiful places, lived with beautiful things and introductions to many incredible people which have shaped me into the person I am today. I have a very distinct and effortlessly elegant design and personal style. I love that I’m able to share this with others through my lifestyle line. We have just launched a brand new e-commerce site that features things a curated mix of the items I love, collaborations with other brands & my clothing and design pieces.
The interior and garden design firm I founded and run, Danielle Rollins Interiors is known for delivering impeccable quality with outstanding customer service. I run the company much more like a service company than a typical design business.
The Danielle Rollins Style Capsule clothing collection has been a runaway success. I’m still shocked I did it & that it’s only been a year! We’ve grown from 3 items to 33 and just purchased a Mercedes Sprinter mobile showroom that we take to pop up shops. I’ve got a strong mostly female staff that I love working with and I am very proud of the things we’ve done. We all have our areas of specialty, but we cross train in all areas so that when one side of my business needs more we can all pitch in to handle it, and working this way has allowed us to not only grow but build an incredible team framework. We constantly strive to do things that make us stronger, to do things out of the box and find ways to do things that allow us to rely on ourselves and not be dependent to have others do it for us. I am the proudest of building a team.
Do you have a lesson or advice you’d like to share with young women just starting out?
There is no shortcuts or superhighways to success. It’s built one day at a time and it cannot be given to you. No matter how much emphasis there is on image building and social media awareness, you still have to be able to do the work and to deliver the end result. And never forget the importance of the numbers. The bottom line is really all that matters and the math never lies. Do something you love doing that makes all the hard days worth getting out of bed for and find a way to do it that allows you to have your own financial independence and freedom. I had nothing in my own name when I got a divorce with very little financial understanding and while I paid dearly for it I have also taught myself the skills I needed to know to give myself the freedom I have now. And that has given more confidence to do the things I have done.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DanielleDRollins.com
- Email: danielle@danielledrollins.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielledrollins
- Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/DanielleDRollins
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drollinsstyle
Image Credit:
Nick Mele Photography, Sara Hanna Phptographyo
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