Young, Black, Visionary: Maya

Last year I started my first series on Simply Syd: Young, Visionary, and Black. This week I’m highlighting a Howard University freshman* with big dreams and even larger talent. During her first semester in college she launched #HURevamped, a styling service for Howard University students.

Name: Maya

Age: 18

Occupation: Student, Blogger, Freelance stylist

Fashion Must-have: A quality leather jacket or an oversized jean jacket.

When did you become interested in fashion?

I’ve been interested in fashion since I was little. I remember being 5 years old and loving to draw designs of my own dresses & purses.

What’s my favorite thing about fashion?

I’m a firm believer in the quote “When you look good, you feel good”. The thing I love most about fashion is the feeling.  There’s nothing like wearing the perfect outfit- you instantly feel 10x more confident and happy- like you’re ready to take on the world.   

Who is your style inspiration?

I draw a lot of inspiration from every  I love getting ideas from people I follow on Instagram, but if i had to choose a celebrity I would say Rihanna or Kanye West.

What made you want to start HURevamped?I originally came up with the idea of HURevamped over the summer before I even came to Howard. I’ve always been into fashion and I try to portray that through my social media. My classmates really began to follow me and take notice of my style. Soon, a lot of people started to DM and contact me asking for my advice on where I like to shop and suggestions of how I would put an outfit together because they wanted to reinvent themselves. My dream has always been to be a Fashion Stylist so I thought starting a service like HURevamped at Howard would be the perfect opportunity to not only gain exposure in my career field, but to turn my passion into a job by spreading my knowledge and helping people feel amazing about themselves.    

How has the response been?

Absolutely incredible. I have gotten an overwhelming amount of positive feedback not only from social media, but also on campus with people stopping me and showing an interest in the service I’ve started. I never imagined getting such a great reaction to something I created!

What’s next?

I’ve already gotten a few clients after only starting HURevamped a few months ago and I plan on continuing it throughout my time at Howard. Although I haven’t been doing HURevamped for very long, since I’ve started it so many doors have been opened for me. I recently received an offer to intern with a DC based fashion, media, and technology company called iConiq Style – who took notice to me from seeing all of the responses to my work on social media. I will be working with them very soon as a stylist and brand ambassador

Check out where she purchased her latest looks on her fashion blog and follow her on Instagram and Twitter for more of her amazing style. And let me know who I should talk to next in the comments!

*this interview was conducted in late 2017, some information has changed since. Maya is now entering her sophomore year at Howard in the fall and is now working with Black Vogue.