Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Zorrilla and Ava Downey.
Elizabeth and Ava, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Being a senior is said to be the year of your high school career… I think differently. With mounds of college application essays to do, figuring out financial aid, deciding what you are going to do WITH THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, it has been a period of my life, which has been quite stressful. During this period of time, I asked myself the question quite often: what is next? And to be honest, I really don’t know.
So, I turned to my Instagram followers, all 589 of them. I asked them in the form of the caption: WHATISNEXT? I don’t know why I choose to bunch them together or put them in all capitals (I think it’s because I am really anxious and want to make a statement), but I put the post out and it went crazy. I had people ask when the album was dropping, whether or not I was starting a podcast and most interestingly, someone asked if I was doing a cover for Vogue. I took this hype and ran with it; I established the clothing brand now called WHATISNEXT? I often worry about my future and ask myself the question, “What is next?”. Instead of fearing what the future holds, establishing the WHATISNEXT? Brand allowed me, and others, to embrace it–to feel empowered by the uncertainty.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
In order to get the brand going, I had to invest a lot of the money I saved up from work. Since we are just starting out, we haven’t hit anything too major, but Liz and I are ready for anything. Some advice I would share to young women would be to always try to act on your dreams because you never know where it would lead you. I acted on the encouragement of my friends and I have had a lot of fun establishing this brand.
WHATISNEXT? – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The WHATISNEXT? brand loves to create their hoodies by employing local small businesses. We use a local screen printer and embroiderer to make all of our hoodies. Although it is a bit more pricier, it goes a long way to support local members of our community. What sets us apart from others is that you can see people from all different backgrounds and experiences wear our brand because we make personal connections with them. From the captain of the academic league team to the varsity football player (although not mutually exclusive): they all wear our brand.
What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
I believe every young woman should never give up. There will be a failure (trust me, there will be), but know that every failure is a test of character to try again, so try again. Keep your head down and work hard because you will be a better person for it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @whatisnext.art
Image Credit:
Taken by Liz
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