Today we’d like to introduce you to Marissa Motley.
Marissa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m originally from Albuquerque, New Mexico and after college, I decided to move to Los Angeles. I worked at BCBG for a few months and starting interning at Los Angeles Fashion Week. While working for LAFW, I really got a hands-on experience of production and all of the work that goes into styling runway shows, coordinating sponsors and overall large scale production. While interning, I also started school again with School Of Style, a stylist boot camp that teaches you all of the essentials about a styling career and also connects you to jobs with some of the top stylists in Los Angeles, New York, and other cities. It’s been pretty on top since I graduated School of Style and I’ve worked on jobs with some of the top stylists in the world and I’ve been able to work on television shows, red carpets, music videos, and editorial projects.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There are so many struggles when it comes to styling. The physical labor, the long hours (sometimes not paid), it’s all really hard. My biggest struggle has really been work-life balance. I’ve missed vacations, birthdays family holidays for this job. When you freelance, you create your own hours but you are really at the mercy of your next job, some weeks are busier than others and sometimes, you make your quarterly goals and sometimes, you don’t. The advice I have would be to be a self-starter, say yes to things that are beneficial and learn when to ask for more.
I think there are times where women especially don’t feel comfortable asking for more when they are more than deserving. Nobody is going to offer you a raise or say “hey, I’m going to give you an extra bonus on your rate” just because, it’s about being confident in the work you’ve done and the work you can do and knowing what to ask for. When you’re just getting started, it’s OK to intern and really learn from the experts, you can’t put a price on that, but know when it’s time to ask for more and be really honest with yourself about what you’re able to do.
Please tell us more about your work, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I work as a wardrobe stylist, I really don’t specialize in a particular area but I do work with so many amazing people. I’m really proud of my editorial work and my overall work ethic. I think I’ve really only said yes to jobs that feed my creativity and jobs that really speak to me as an artist.
What do you feel are the biggest barriers today to female leadership, in your industry or generally?
I think access is probably the biggest barrier. I think sometimes, there is this false narrative that there’s only room for one or a few women when there really is room for everyone. I don’t work like other stylists and other stylists don’t work like me and that’s totally fine. I really try to keep a strong team of interns and assistants especially women and I pay the same percentage across the board for assistants and really keep things fair.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.marissamotley.com/
- Email: marissamotleystudio@gmail.com
- Instagram: @marissa.motley
Image Credit:
Getty Images, Max Baker, Francis Gum, Caitlyn Hastings, Natalie Dunn
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