Elaine Ayensu Mensah is a fashion and luxury founder and strategic brand advisor. She has worked with brands across industries such as Netflix, HBO, Starz, British Fashion Council, London College of Fashion, Deloitte, and US Small Business Administration, to name a few). Her company, Showroom Etc. Provides a bridge between African designers, brands, and artists and the North American mass market through entertainment, media, retail, hospitality, and arts. Showroom Etc. Clients have been seen in blockbuster films, hit television shows, and Hollywood red carpets.
In this episode, Lexie and Elaine walk through Elaine’s career, exploring the twists and turns that have shaped her journey and led her to where she is today. Elaine breaks down the strategies behind how Showroom Etc. has landed TV product placements, film partnerships, and collaborations with major shows, networks, and studios across Hollywood.
Here’s What You’ll Learn:
Listener Links:
Elaine Ayensu Mensah is a fashion and luxury founder and strategic brand advisor. She has worked with brands across industries such as Netflix, HBO, Starz, British Fashion Council, London College of Fashion, Deloitte, and US Small Business Administration, to name a few). Her company, Showroom Etc. Provides a bridge between African designers, brands, and artists and the North American mass market through entertainment, media, retail, hospitality, and arts. Showroom Etc. Clients have been seen in blockbuster films, hit television shows, and Hollywood red carpets.
In this episode, Lexie and Elaine walk through Elaine’s career, exploring the twists and turns that have shaped her journey and led her to where she is today. Elaine breaks down the strategies behind how Showroom Etc. has landed TV product placements, film partnerships, and collaborations with major shows, networks, and studios across Hollywood.
Here’s What You’ll Learn:
Listener Links:
Lexie Smith
Hey guys, I'm Lexie Smith, a mom, multi hyphenate entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of the PR bar Inc, coaching platform and agency. In my career I've had the privilege of guiding countless brands, genius, publicists, eager students and ambitious entrepreneurs on their PR journeys. I've danced with the Giants and nurtured startups, directed in house PR departments lend my expertise to boards and spread knowledge across universities nationwide. Throughout all of this, I've seen our industry change and evolve while simultaneously proving that some timeless fundamentals remain unshaken. This show takes you behind the scenes of the world of media, marketing and PR, aiming to teach you all the new tips, tricks and how the best and brightest are achieving success overseas. Now it's time to grow. Welcome to the show. Elaine Mensa is a founder and strategic brand advisor in fashion and luxury. She has worked with brands across industries such as Netflix, HBO, stars, the British Fashion Council, London College of Fashion, Deloitte, US Small Business Administration, and so many more just to name a few. Determined to forge your own path as a fashion entrepreneur. She produced one of the first fashion podcasts, a feature length documentary, The politics of fashion, and became the founding professor at American University's Kogod School of businesses first fashion program, her company showroom excetera is a bridge between African designers, brands and artists in the North American mass market through entertainment, media, retail, hospitality and arts showroom. excetera. Its clients have been in blockbuster films, hit television shows, and Hollywood, red carpets. Oh, my goodness, Elaine, welcome to the show, I have to give a quick shout out to my agency account manager Megan, who suggested we bring you on the show. And I'm so so glad that she did. But what we're going to start with today is where are you located? And what do you like to do outside of work for fun? Yeah.
Elaine Mensah
Well, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here and to have this conversation and definitely shout out to Meghan. I am located in the DC area, actually, on the Virginia side of the DMV, and what I like to do for fun, you know, years ago, if you'd asked me this question, I probably would have listed the usuals you know, travel and, you know, a great night out with my girlfriends, but I am a mom of two, I have a 10 year old and a five year old and they are my entire world. And so my actual my favorite pastimes now is really just kind of getting to see the world through their eyes. It's almost like getting to relive aspects of my childhood through their childhood and as challenging as it may be kind of navigating that space. It truly is the joy of my life at the moment. Yes,
Lexie Smith
girls or boys are both both.
Elaine Mensah
I have a girl and a boy. Yeah,
Lexie Smith
I am a girl mom to a oh, what does she know? One year and like nine or 10 months? Congratulations. Thank you any advice for me as a newer girl? Mom? Yeah, you know, the girl. You
Elaine Mensah
know, it's interesting, because I actually never thought I had childhood trauma until I had a child. And specifically until I had a girl child, and not trauma from kind of like a deep negative place, but more. So I always felt like my childhood was really great. And it was in many ways, but raising my daughter. And the things that I'm very particular about, kind of opened up this idea of like re parenting for me, and really understanding the things I wanted to do differently with her and the relationship I wanted to have with her. And it required that I had a better understanding of me, and a better understanding of kind of what childhood meant to me and, and particularly with girl children. It's such a nuanced experience, I find because on one hand, you want them to be really confident you want them to be outspoken. You want them to really have a voice. But there's also a fine line between, you know, kind of going up a little too fast and managing their emotion and, you know, understanding like how much to push but how much to pull back. And it's been a very interesting dance to say the least. But I will say that girls just compared to boys I speak specifically for me like my daughter's experience compared to my son's experience. She's so thoughtful. I think she provokes me to think about myself in ways I didn't expect. And you know, in a classic example, the other day, she kept asking me all these questions. So mommy, what's your favorite color? What's your favorite this? What's your favorite that and, you know, the typical mom response after I was just getting irritated, right? Because I was busy. I'm like, What is going on like, and then it occurred to me that she just wanted to get to know me, not me as mom, but like me as a lien. And like as a person. And I actually, like had to stop and like really focus on her and the question she was asking, and it actually forced me to ask myself questions I had never really thought about. So yeah, girl. Girls are
Lexie Smith
emotional. This is not a direction expected to go today. I, my mother, ironically, is staying with me right now. And she is with my daughter. And we've been having a lot of late night wine conversations. And she's throwing a lot of nananana tutus back in my face. My my daughter, for example, is developing a little bit of sass. And she's super independent. And she's like, my mom's like, it's karma. It's karma. So So, but when you were talking about the reflections, and really having to kind of look at oneself as parenting, a girl, mind you, this is my only experience thus far, I completely, completely resonate. I'm finding myself, I'm trying to be very mindful of how I react with the world. And you know, how I talk about myself or how I, you know, simple, like, throwaway comments, like, I don't look good today, kind of be mindful of that, because they're little sponges.
Elaine Mensah
Yeah, absolutely. And they take it all in. And it's so interesting, because even in the realm of my career, like, over the years, I've done so many things over the years, and I worked with, I worked in management consulting for a really long time. And when I had children, it's funny, because I left the corporate world officially in 2011, I started my business in 2008. And then I left in 2011. And I left with the dreams of, you know, building this empire and seeing what I'm gonna do. And I literally got pregnant less than a year later with my daughter. And I ended up making the decision that I wanted to be as fully present as I could be, as a mom, and I had my daughter and my 30s, which kind of makes a difference, I think compared to having your your kids earlier. And so her first five years, give or take, she saw me as mom and mom only. And that was the only context in which she knew me in. And I remember, it was probably like the Christmas before I launched, show him etc. And we're in a car, I'm picking her up from kindergarten, we're going home, she says, Mommy, I want to be like you and I grew up, right, which is so endearing. She says, I just want to stay home and take care of my babies. And I realized in that moment, that the only context she knew me in was in the context of mom. And it's not to say that that's a bad thing. It's just to say that she'd never experienced the fullness of who I was. And she didn't know mommy to, you know, have a nine to five, or to be working in the way in which she knows or understands that daddy works. And that just the more traditional kind of working role. And it was also in that moment that I realized that even little things me being an entrepreneur versus me being, you know, like, a nine to five Mom, it's different. And it's different and shifting and crafting her opinions about what it means to be a woman. And I didn't want her understanding of the dynamics of what it means to be a woman to solely be my role as a mom, and that I needed to make sure that I exposed her to the breadth of who Elaine is as a person, and therefore who a woman is as as a complete person. You
Lexie Smith
know, maybe one day she'll listen to this podcast and she can put it a little bit more about mama and you kind of touched on you know, when I entered the show, I read such an abbreviated version of your bio, you've done so many incredible things. What I'd love to do is kind of what I call career Cliff Notes meaning just like high level what came career wise before today, and then we'll talk about what's happening now. Sure,
Elaine Mensah
if I had to give a career Cliff Notes, I'll do it in almost like a timeline regex or like, speeded up some. Let's see, I'll start from college. I started college in 99. I went to American University. I did not know what I wanted to be when I grew up. And I did not know what I wanted to major in what I didn't know was that I wanted to get out of school as soon as possible. which in hindsight, it's like what are you doing? Like these are the only four years of your life where you got to live on somebody else's dime. Ish and Do and still be an adult. But at the time, I was really determined to kind of get out of college quick. So I graduated from American in 2002. I started my master's at Georgetown University, I did a program called Communication culture and technology, which at the time, the program was only a few years old. This was 2002. I think the program started in either 97 or 98. So it was a fairly young program. And it was also, you know, pre social media as we know it kind of pre all the things we know today. I mean, I didn't get my first cell phone until 98 was my freshman year of college, I think 99 It was like a big deal. But nonetheless, I did that program in a year. So I graduated in December of Oh, three. So I did undergrad and grad school and I'm in four years. I don't commend folks do it was very stressful, but I'm glad I did. For me, it just it really suited my personality. And at the time, because I didn't know what I wanted to do. I did everything even then I remember my first internship was at NBC for I was a storm watch assistant, if you don't know what that is, those are the people who like right what the weather is going to be when they're like snow closures. And I was so excited to work at NBC, I remember I got my little badge. In my mind. It's like I made it like I'm like in the big leagues, and it never snowed. And so I never got to go into the office. But I bring that particular story up. Because over the course of my career, I've been very mindful about trying different things I was never fearful of, of trying new opportunities of jumping from job to job. And this is at a time where that wasn't popular to do so I went from NBC for as an intern, and then I interned at National Geographic, which was really interesting, actually, my father had done some photography work for them years before, obviously. And so I felt kind of this kinship to them. And so I did that. And then I between graduation, and when I started working working, I wanted to kind of understand where I fit in. So I went and took a job at the US Small Business Administration, I didn't know that quote unquote, small business would become such an important part of my life. But it did. I was there till the end of oh three when I graduated. And then I got a job at Unisys. It was a management consulting firm in in the summer of oh four. And I remember at the time, it took me a couple months to get a job because I was adamant like I had a master's degree. And there was like a minimum amount of money that I wanted to make. And and I got to into consulting, because I felt that it would be the best place that will allow me to do many different things. And I learned very quickly, that in management consulting, you could be on the same project your entire career, and that it was really about switching things. It was really more so about the clients that we had, and we live in BC. So all of our clients are government clients. And I left Unisys and went to baring point which was the consulting arm of KPMG. And this was in the spring of 2005.
Lexie Smith
You're so good, by the way at these dates. Yeah, that like, in my
Elaine Mensah
mind. It's the only way I'm like keeping it together. Yeah, in oh five. I went in, I went to BearingPoint. And interestingly enough, that was my longest job I had, because prior to that, it was like every couple of months. Oh, I worked at a nonprofit called the National Coalition for promoting physical activity. Okay, yeah, very random in the, in the slew of things. But at the time, they had a position that was in communication, and I thought, Okay, let me try it. And like I said, I was never really afraid of trying new things. That was probably the best thing that propelled me as I was younger and just being unafraid. Anyway, long story short, I realized by oh six that consulting wasn't for me, but I didn't necessarily know what was. I remember my boyfriend turned fiancee turn husband. I used to tell me that, you know, you love the news. And you're always reading People Magazine. And that was before it became like super, super trashy, but like, at the time, I was obsessed, and he was like, why don't you consider doing something in that space? I mean, you know, find something like you actually enjoy doing and that's when kind of that first light bulb went off in my mind. And I realized that I wanted to work in color. I didn't want to work in a gray cube. I didn't want to. I didn't want kind of government work to be my fault. Because but I loved strategy. And I love branding. And I love communication and, and I love fashion. But I didn't want to design at all that I have no design in my body, although I can see it and know it, it just wasn't intuitive to me. And I definitely do like retail, which one would equate kind of fashion with retail but I learned very quickly that they're not one in the same. And so there was a job site was like an old school credulous called a fashion job central doesn't exist anymore. I don't know, who created it and where it is. But if you happen to stumble on this podcast, please bring it back. But it had all of the fashion jobs and they don't tell you that where but you find all of these opportunities. And I stumbled upon a job and ad for Fashion Week. For design. I didn't know who it was, it turned out to be Cynthia Raleigh, and I applied for it. And I got the job. And I remember, at this point, I am a senior consultant at this firm, and I'm thinking to myself, I want to understand the fashion industry from the ground up. And so I wanted to take this internship and really kind of learned so I would take two weeks off of work like my vacation, I go to New York, and I would be a gopher and an intern. And I would be delivering invitations and coffees and doughnuts and all the things and I remember all the other kind of interns I was with, you know, they were living what I call the Sex in the City lifestyle. Like everybody wanted to be Carrie, right? Everybody thought this was, you know, cute. But for me, it was a career transition. And I had a great conversation with the director of PR at the time, her name was Michelle Funaki, she was amazing. I explained to her kind of where I am or what I'm trying to do. And she just was like, Listen, if this is what you want to do, I will open up our Rolodex to you I will give you the responsibility of you know, putting together like, especially on the PR side, you know, seating charts and shows and like really kind of gave you the lay of the land. And so I did that for about two years for every season or fashion week from Oh, 6208. And then at that point, I decided, yeah, I think this is really what I wanted to do. But I live in the DC area. And at this point were married. And I didn't want to move to New York to be honest. And I didn't want to go to Paris or London either. And so I I figured the only way I could do this was to start my own business. So in 2008, I started the first iteration of what would later become showroom in 2008. It was called swell LLC. I did any and everything under the sun. As I said, I've produced shows, I've done media work I used to cover for magazines, for Fashion Week, I've done books, I've done podcasts, I mean, you name it. And then in 2016 I rebranded from smell to brand meets creative, I wanted people to kind of get a better understanding of what I did. But also quite frankly, I needed to be a better businesswoman, right? Like my first few years in entrepreneurship was all about passion. So what do I love to do? And you know, that's what I chased and didn't focus on the actual business. And understanding that if I wasn't making money was a hobby and not a business. And barely enough, it's not a business either. And if it's not scalable, it's definitely not a business. Um, so by 2016, it was the first time I kind of was putting my arms around the fact that I needed to actually have structure and processes and make my business scalable and expand and all of those things. And then I had my son in 2018. And it really changed my life between having my son and then doing creating the fashion and luxury goods program at au 2016. And 2017 really changed kind of the trajectory of where my career went. And I created a clothes brand meets creative at the beginning of 2020 and kicked off showroom, etc. And here we are, almost four years
Lexie Smith
are short, that was but I try. I was captivated throughout. And there's Well that's the thing you're not you didn't have a simple or short career trajectory. So thank you for kind of sharing all the twists and the turns. And I think it's really helpful to hear I think it's interesting to hear and it's important to hear how people got to where they're at today. Obviously, we could probably spend like five hours going into all the nuances. But one thing that I really did want to pull out and talk about today topic wise revolves around one of the offerings you do at showroom, etc. And that specifically, is how you've been able to successfully land TV and film partnerships and collaborations with big companies like Mark Have all and Netflix, etc. So, first to set the stage, maybe you can provide a little bit of context as to what showroom excetera does in relation to film and TV partnerships and collaborations
Elaine Mensah
door. So showroom is a company that is dedicated to redefining how the world experiences African fashion and luxury. I am a first generation American, but my parents are from Ghana. So I am gonna be an American. And I had the privilege of living in Ghana, from eight to 16. So you know, those formative years are really critical. And it's interesting because while I understand completely what it means to be American, I understand completely what it means to be Ghanaian. And throughout kind of my fashion career. Africa, or the Africa fashion scene has been evolving, I should say, over the over the past several years. And once I decided I wanted to pivot I really thought hard about focusing on Africa fashion, but not in the way that people expect. So much of Africa fashion is seen through the lens of what I call costume. So think about coming to America, think about even Black Panther with Wakanda. Think about Beyonce is Black is king, right? All of it is really kind of evolved around this idea of African fashion and luxury as costume. And, you know, as an African i i balk at that, right? Because it inadvertently pigeonholes us and kind of like stereotypes with African fashion is and so part of what I wanted to do when I created showroom was really to create a space that really defined what it meant to to be an African fashion brand, or to be a luxury brand that's from the continent. And while the aesthetic is interesting, and the viewpoint is very specific, the range exists. So if you want an if you want African fashion, that's minimalist, you can find it if you want that colorful, you can find it if you want print heavy, you can find it and whatever your aesthetic is, you can find it. And so showroom is really built on that premise. And because of that, culture was a huge part for me of the shift in conversation, that if I was going to have people understand what it meant for when I say redefining the world's experience with us, the best way to do that is through culture and culture changes through entertainment, and through and through music. And so one of the key offerings that I wanted to make sure that showroom provided was what we call representation and entertainment that I wanted people to be able to see Africa fashion in a way that they wouldn't expect. And so, like I said, I started show when when 2020 Nobody knew myself included, the pandemic was right around the corner. Of course, I did not know that BLM and George Floyd was around the corner. And the extreme pivot of kind of corporate America to responding to oh my god, we need to make sure we have diversity or inclusion. It just was almost like a right place right time. And I remember the first one of the first calls I got for placement was from the TV show the good doctor, which when people think about fashion, you're not thinking about the good doctor why like that autistic Doctor, what does this have to do with fashion,
Lexie Smith
Norman Bates
Elaine Mensah
have that but I remember the costume designer, the assistant costume designer, her her name is Flo Barrett, she was so amazing. Because she'd said to me, I've done some research, I've come across a couple brands, I want to make sure that we do our part. But she didn't want it to be performative, which was really nice. And she just said, hey, here are the character nodes, we have a particular character that we think it'd be really great if we could have a look that worked for her. And so I was able to present them with a bunch of different options from brands that we represented. And they ended up picking those items. And I remember her telling me that this was probably one of the most seamless processes she'd been through. The items came, you know, she said even earlier than some of the the kind of the local PR houses that she was used to working with the quality of the clothes, it was just again, all of those perceptions. And what I loved was her honesty about it, too, is super refreshing. Like, yeah, she didn't know what to expect. And it's not to say she had a negative expectation. It was just to say that she's actually glad that she stepped out and that was kind of the beginning for us of just the snowball of set of shows that wanted to typically start out as wanting to have black designers represented. But black designers and African designers are two different things, right? They don't necessarily, you know, play in the same pool. And so for, for me, it was really important that I wasn't showcasing African brands as much as I was showcasing brands and looks that fit the character, and that it is what you didn't expect. And so, so much of what we do at showroom is just really highlighting what people don't expect. Most of the time I get comments like, Oh, I didn't realize that was African or, you know, these, these things are really great way I can readily get them or they're readily accessible. And, again, it's not from an ignorant place. It's really just from the not knowing. And, in general, my philosophy would show room is people don't know what they don't know. And so I am really big on Grace, I'm really big on providing that space for people. And yeah, just being that conduit, that connector, really, with companies and entities that want to do business on the continent and with brands on the continent who need representation here. So yeah, that's how we got into into that business.
Lexie Smith
Did you know that I send out a community newsletter roundup every Tuesday, chocked full of resources, media kit, downloads, journalist content, contact information, event invites visibility opportunities. Basically, if you're not on the list, hit pause and sign up. It is super simple. All you got to do is go to the PR bar inc.com/newsworthy. That link is in the show notes too. Okay, back to the show. Wow, okay. So for those listening, who don't have that, the privilege and opportunity to be represented by you. And they're really wanting to break into getting their products placed on shows, do you have any general advice on how they can even wrap their head around that or where they could start who they should network with any kind of tips? Sure. So
Elaine Mensah
the first thing I will say is typically, people always want to go to the person at the top. That is nine times out of 10 not the way to go, not because the person at the top is not the decision maker or the person you should want to build relationship with. But understand that they're number two is going to be somebody's number one tomorrow. And then two is actually the person who's bringing options to them to then pick from so the person you actually want to be as fast is the number to assist them, whatever, right? If they're a costume designer, you want to be ff the assistant costume designer, if they are the you know, the lead stylish, you want to BFF, the assistant of the stylist. They are actually the gatekeepers, they are the ones that determine what that stylist that costume designer ever gets an opportunity to see. Unless the obviously they reach out to you directly. That's different. But if you're really looking to reach out to people, that would be your first place to go. The other thing I would say is don't despise small beginnings, right? I think all of us ideally are looking for the big win, right? We're looking for the breakthrough opportunity that's going to kind of unleash all these other opportunities. But what I've found nine times out of 10 Is it always starts with the small ones, right? It always starts with the ones that you least expect. Don't despise small beginnings. Think about, you know, I always call it the unsexy side of what we do. Right? Think about the unsexy work like fashion is more than a runway. If you know fashion is kind of what you do. Or being in the luxury space is more it is what you do. It is it's more than that, right? It's the everyday thing. It's the small things, it's the curtains, right? It's the couch on a set. It's the you know, the accessory that a girl is gonna hold on a show for five seconds, maybe when that clip is edited, but that five seconds will change the trajectory of a brand's life. And for me, one of the things I focus on is television and film more than print. Because I want to make sure that my clients get paid. And print does not pay print is all about trade. And for me, especially with the brands that I work with a purchase of one item has a direct impact on an entire family, right like that designer is hiring a local artisan or local seamstress or a local tailor and Being able to pay that one person is actually feeding an entire household. And so, you know, a lot of times when I talk about, you know, the experience of just even the fashion industry in general, so much of what we do has real economic impacts, even in the smallest way. And so I never want my clients to do PR for PR sake, it does not add value. Whatever you do, no matter how small, it is important for me that they get paid in some way, shape or form, you can always storytel Your own PR opportunity. But making sure that that TV show or that production company purchases, that shirt, that pant that handbag, that jewelry, that is real value. So that's really what we focus on. So
Lexie Smith
actually, that's kind of one of my questions, because I think sometimes and there's there might be differences here. So excuse me be nice, not my space, which is why when I always see like a product place and a movie, I'm like, Oh, they must have paid so much. The brand must have paid so much money to be seen. So what I'm hearing is there's actually opportunities, maybe smaller opportunities for a brand to not have to pay. But even beyond that, maybe even the studio purchasing their product, is that correct? That
Elaine Mensah
is correct. So, yes. Yeah. So typically, when a costume designer pulls an item from you, for a, particularly with television, even more children with film, they purchase it, instead of borrowing it because if they have to do a reshoot three months from now, or if they need, you know, the product for an ad, somewhere six months from now, they want to still have access to that product. So they always buy. They don't. Yes, they don't want. Now, there is a difference though, between that and like a pure product placement, ie you'll see the latest Mazzanti in the new Batman film, right? That's an actual product placement where the car company is. It's two things, either they're paying to be in it as a pure advertorial advert tutorial, or they are trading it right. So they're giving it for free in exchange for the PR and the marketing of it. So they're kind of different levels and stages, but depending on what you're doing, particularly if you're on the costume side. Television is your better bet because they will buy those items.
Lexie Smith
Okay, so let's say they purchased the item. And because this is what's next to me, your clients brush is used by I don't know I'm holding Cameron Diaz Reese Witherspoon another blonde, okay, so from your side, beyond maybe that flash of the moment on the screen? Is there a way you can help leverage that visibility beyond just that moment in the show?
Elaine Mensah
Absolutely. So what you want to be able to do? Well, it's a couple of things I always tell brands, you you know, you're ready for a certain level of push, if you will, and brand positioning when you can actually leverage the opportunity when it presents itself. If you sell hair brushes, and you currently can only produce one brush, you're not ready for the opportunity of Cameron Diaz brushing her hair with your brush, right? Other than the 100 likes maybe that you might get on Instagram and your friends and family say oh my god well done. It does nothing for you. Um, what you want to be able to do is say okay, I have our I'm capable of producing 50 brushes. And so if my brush is used by Cameron and I take this picture and I post it and I do an As Seen and then I offer people an opportunity to purchase the item that they have now seen their favorite actress in now I'm really leveraging that opportunity. Now I'm really using it to kind of scale my business to to push brand awareness to let them know and understand who and what I do. And the beauty of television anyone with film as you have a lead time. Right so if you if they if they buy this hairbrush now in December nine times out of 10 The show is not happening to June of next year. So you have a good six months to be able to figure out how am I going to to do or push the camera in brush right now a couple of things to also keep in mind too with this is the studio's don't endorse your brands. So it's only to do that level of marketing, right? It's on you to find your hairbrush, in the show in the film, whatever it is, and then it's on you to leverage it which is why getting paid for that one brush $20 $100 $1,500 Name your price is important because the work is the work is the work. And whether your product makes it or not, you've done the work. So you need to get compensated for at least that piece of the work. The second half of that that's on you to develop that's on you to figure out, how do I best leverage this because the studio won't, they won't help, they won't give you images. They won't give you a shot, but they've purchased the product as far as they're concerned, and they're done with it. Now how you might get in promoted and build upon it. That really is your responsibility. Great
Lexie Smith
insights. Again, I feel like I could do 20 spinoff episodes from this one topic. For the sake of time, the one more question I want to touch on before we wrap it up, is actually rewinding a second to whatever that I'm going to call it a pitch or initial outreach to the BFF, the assistant stylist. Now is the format of reaching out or introducing a product similar to that of maybe potentially pitching it for digital magazine inclusion, is it completely different? What is that generally look like? If you don't already have them as your BFF?
Elaine Mensah
Store? No, it's pretty much the same. You know, a lot of the creatives are very open, they're really open. They're super friendly, they are so busy that it's really similar to that editor who's like, if you pitch them with the right byline, they instantly click your email because they're like I have a deadline. It's similar to that in that regard. There is no kind of standard format, other than just having your product readily available. And understanding what I call character notes. So this is where it does get a little tricky, because typically productions happen before they're ever publicized. Right. So you wouldn't necessarily know by the time you hear of the show, it's too late, right? It's already been filmed or production is already underway. So what you want to keep your eye out for are news in like variety and deadlines that are telling you upcoming productions right of things that are coming up, you want to kind of be in the know on like IMDB and get a sense of who are the costume designers out there who are the ACBS out there, we in house, we generate our own database of costume designers and assistant costume designers, we kind of stay on top of who's in the business who's doing what, what shows up coming up what's in the pipeline, and you want to build a relationship with them like anything else, right, you want to introduce yourself, who you are, what you do, what your offerings are. And you want to kind of keep those lines of communication open and and let them know, Hey, if you have a production doesn't matter how small, let me know, I'm happy to send you some looks for you to see if anything works or resonates with you. And most of the times they're open to that it's also good to join certain communities like I'm in a community called last Lux. And it's a community full of, you know, makeup artists. And well actually in this case, like costume designer, specifically because that's what the group was created for. But it's a closed group. It's an invite only. So it's a fairly, I like to call it a big small group. But it's people specifically in the industry who are always looking for these types of things, right, though, put us in the group saying, Hey, I'm working on a shoot for blah, blah, blah, does anybody have X, Y or Z available, and then you kind of pick the thread up from there and have those conversations. So relationship building like anything else, but it is work, you know, you it does require research, it does require you to also know what may or may not work for you, you know, you can't do everything for everyone. But what I have found is that they are and by that I mean costume designers and stylists in particular, are very loyal people. And once they work with you once nine times out of 10, they'll work with you again if they had a positive experience. Because for them, you helped make their jobs easier and their lives easier. And so, you know, I think of it as we are in a service business, believe it or not. And my goal is to make sure that I'm providing my stylist and my costume designer with what they need to do the best at their job. And if I do that, they'll always come back to us with future opportunities.
Lexie Smith
It really is so similar and transferable to the process of establishing general media relationships and what they value. So I relate to what you're saying even though the world is new, I can kind of put it in the lens that I can understand. Now before it we're going to give everyone an opportunity to learn how they can learn more about you and work with you. What I do have to ask is this shows signature question, which is we talked to pitch in now what can we find you sipping so what is your favorite beverage? It can be non alcoholic or alcoholic? Oh, that's
Elaine Mensah
a good question. I wish I had thought about it in advance. So, I have a girlfriend who owns a company called on the vine. They make elderberry. And she has this amazing elderberry lemonade. She's gonna kill me for saying this publicly because I have been pushing her forever to make it an offering. But yeah, it's an underline elderberry lemonade. It is the best combination of like sweet, but tart and refreshing and it's good for your body, but it doesn't taste like it's good for your body. And if alcohol is your preference, then you can spike it with whatever you like. But yeah, that is definitely my beverage of choice.
Lexie Smith
Wait, can we can we drink it? Like, can I drink it? Or it's not?
Elaine Mensah
You can't? Yes, so um, I like her version specifically, but she sells the elderberry. So the other way I cheat when she's not around as I take a shot of her on the vine elderberry and you mix it in lemonade, whichever kind of lemonade.
Lexie Smith
Gotcha.
Elaine Mensah
I tell you, it does amazing things. But hers in particular. Like I don't know, maybe this podcast will push her to actually have it available. She did a sale of it at HP festival this summer. And it did really well. But it is an amazing drink. So even if you don't have her specifically, you get a shot of elderberry with your lemonade of choice and your alcohol of choice if that's what you like. And yeah, it what's her name? What's
Lexie Smith
her first name?
Elaine Mensah
Her first name is Taryn. Her company is on the vine Taryn
Lexie Smith
have on the vine call to action. The people have spoken more pressure. I've just said this to her. No, that's I will keep refreshing. It's about 115 here and I haven't had lunch. So I'm like extra thirsty. And that sounds Oh,
Elaine Mensah
listen with some crushed ice.
Lexie Smith
Oh, okay, that's it. I'm extra thirsty. So last but certainly not least, how can people connect with you? Where should they go to learn more about you and about showroom etc. Sure.
Elaine Mensah
So the easiest place to learn about showroom is our website showroom. etc.com or you can find us on Instagram, showroom, etc, etc. And I know we're on Twitter on Tik Tok. We don't use it as much. I am not on Twitter slash x i love whenever
Lexie Smith
we can officially call it x. Are we ever? No,
Elaine Mensah
it will always be Twitter. It should never have been changed. But yes, I decided I was not going to contribute to that. So I'm on there. But you can find us on all the other platforms and then my personal account is Adaline Mensa you can find me on Instagram, Facebook. Yeah. on all the social media platforms run threads. Although it's just like how many more platforms can be
Lexie Smith
alive still, I feel like it was so hot for like two and maybe it still is and
Elaine Mensah
two seconds and then it was just like I can't add anything else to my play. Yeah, well,
Lexie Smith
this has been one of my favorite conversations. I feel like I have so many more questions but again, I am caught in time restrained by my producer. So guys, thank you so much for tuning in. Elaine, thank you so much. Reach out to her. Tell her thank you ask your questions, hire her all the things. This has been amazing. And guys until next time on the pitching and sipping podcast. Hey guys, if you are enjoying the pitching and sipping podcast, please do me a huge favor and leave a review wherever you are listening. If you want to connect with me to learn more about the PR bar Inc. You can do so on Instagram Act, the PR bar underscore inc or you can check out my website at the PR bar inc.com Cheers