 Today's guest lives and breathes fashion and glam. Shannon Porter joins us to talk about founding MetroGlam, being a fashion merchandiser, and finding the inspiration behind her business. This is School of Hustle, the show where we find advice and inspiration from people who are making their own way. I'm Shannon, the VP of social here at GoDaddy, and I live and breathe the hustle of business. Today, we're filming from the hustle of it all at the WeWork Time Square in New York City. Everybody, please, let's give Shannon the biggest, warmest welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you. I am so excited to have you today. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me, and I've been looking forward to this for the longest. You are all things fashion and glam. And when I saw you come out of the elevator in a sparkle kind of flat shoe, and I had a sparkle flat shoe today, I knew that I was doing something right, because you are a north star for me for fashion and glam. I haven't known you for quite a while, and I'm so inspired by you. I love Metro glam. I would love for you to start by telling everybody what Metro glam is really all about, because you are the founder. I know. And it's just fantastic. So what is Metro glam? So Metro glam is a lifestyle brand and fashion portal that I came up with. It's an infusion of my creativity, and inspiration that I have. It's my baby. It's something that I'd like to introduce to the world. It's my sense of style that's reinterpreted in design. And it's something that's going to evolve into something greater, which I'm going to tell you more about. What was your inspiration to create a line of clothing to show at Fashion Week? My inspiration behind showing my line at Fashion Week was at the moment, I was thinking, inclusivity in an industry that's so exclusive, I wanted to bring something to people that wanted to take advantage of Fashion Week while introducing my line, but couldn't get to the front row of Gucci show, the Fendi show, and whatever, hard to get tickets in town, they were. So I was like, hey, I have a line. There's a consumer population that's very interested. I wanted to do it in an elegant way in a penthouse rooftop setting. Invite only if you RSVP properly. You'd be a part of it. Just people who are passionate about fashion and just wanted to transfer their energy of the night. It was just a night of an exchange of energy and a showcase of the line. The line that you showed at Fashion Week had a point of view. It had a look. I saw lace. I saw applique. There is something there. What was your inspiration in creating that line? And who did you collaborate with along the way to make that line a reality? I would define my line as blitzy, high fashion, form fitting while tucking all of the imperfections away and just the craziest, unique applique that just my aim was to do it in silhouettes that couldn't be duplicated in it. I don't believe they can be. It is a very, very unique line. It's almost like a cat suit, like a one piece, but that applique gives it such a chic different edge and it is very flattering. Who do you work with to create it? Like who makes the clothing? How do you think about building your team to make this line a reality? Well, I've been fortunate enough to seek inspiration and my fashion merchandising on a day to day. I got to look at designers and lines. I've gotten to implement my own level of design and my travels. I have friends in Cambodia, friends in India, friends in Dubai, friends that specialize in manufacturing the fabric in which we can put applique on. If you look, a lot of these designers get their fabric from Turkey. In addition to gathering a network, it sounds like your network, when you say that, when you say friends, these are probably people who you know you can trust. Who have a product you can trust, right? And if you're gonna put your name on it, you need to partner in the right way so that network is important. Aside from the network, what other components do you say you value? When you think about taking your business to the next level. Networking, I agree, that's a big one. What else do you value? Who is it, social media, is it PR, what is it? Both, especially social media. With regards to people I've run into on social media, even when I've only had like a 100 or 200 follower account, just people who have, along the way, saw my vision, they saw it before I did. And some of their input and influence is what helped me to position it in the way that I have this year. You have a long background in running your own businesses, right? I mean, Metro Glam is not your first rodeo, if you will. What, when you think about your career as an entrepreneur and your journey, what other ventures have you done that stand out to you? My first venture venture was the luxury car rental business that I still have. That came out of a fascination, my own fascination for high-end cars, like in and out of, okay, Bentley, awesome, but I never get to drive it because I'm traveling or I'm up here working on Metro Glam. So people started asking me at gas stations, like, hey, you know, what are you doing? And can you rent your car to me? So I'm like, yeah, sure, okay. But then I'm like, all right, Bentley's nice to have, now I need an SUV to drive my mom around. And I'm just like, hey, I became an intermediary in that respect, kind of like a third party where I oversee the maintenance. I'm just like, hey, I can get miles put on these, because you know, those type of cars need to be driven. It's almost bad if they sit there, I agree. I agree. I agree. So you're solving need for the owner. Right. There's a market who wants to pay a lot of money to use that item. You see this connection and you design a business to be basically the centerpiece of this all coming together. How do you take that spirit and the essence of what you did there and those lessons that you learn in that business into Metro Glam where you are looking to break out and stand out in the fashion space? Well, just as I've taken my quirks and kinks and desire for flashy and purchased cars and you also listen to what the consumer wants just so those consumers work the gas station like, hey, can I use this? You listen to them in fashion. What's next for Metro Glam? I'm gonna morph this into a fashion portal. Not only is it gonna be an interpretation of my designs and my lines, but I also have, I'm gonna do an app and Style on Demand is an idea that started award weekend. I was awarded recipient escort for the VMAs, the BET Awards and what would happen? Celebrities would show up, like at the last BET Pop Awards, there were these Yves Saint Laurent booths. They were $10,000 booths. All crystals, all lights out, four girls showed up in the same booths and they were like, you know, oh my God, like this girl has all my booths. So then someone would call me and they were just like, you know, Shannon, what else do you have? She's about to go up there and accept her award and this celebrity already went up there and accepted one with her shoes on. What is she gonna do? So then I got to where I got to know stylists in different areas and it's just like a fashion emergency. So they're like super save a fashion faux and I dispatch a stylist out there and that's what Style on Demand is gonna be. So I'm gonna have that as a part of my portal. The dream seam is gonna be something else that's on the dream seam is if someone is truly sustained in a fashion emergency, like if they're on a red carpet and ripped their dress, I dispatch a seamstress or someone out there. What about like normal people? Like I would say for me, like I'm not going to be a guest on the red carpet, although maybe I shouldn't speak too soon. But let's say I'm not on the red carpet, but I'm giving something like I love the ballet and I go to the ballet gala as a guest and I'm in New York and I wanna dress up and feel beautiful but I'm not at that level. Can I still get involved and get help even though I'm like a more of a regular person? You absolutely can. That's the Style on Demand app. You're gonna download it and wherever you are, we need our help and we got you. It's not that $30,000 dress going down a runway and let you know you're never gonna be able to get your hands on. It's that five to $800 style that's like hey, you know what? I want to get into before we close, like how you differentiate in the marketplace, right? Yes, yeah. Now with regards to Style on Demand, it's just that you read the runway as an awesome concept and studied it. It's a great idea, but it's just that Style on Demand. Somebody's sustained in a fashion emergency right then and there. We got you within a moment's time, like within the hour there. You know, you rip something's like, okay, you're gonna get a replacement that's gonna be tomorrow, so what are you gonna do for the rest of the night? So it's the urgency. Yes. Thank you so much for opening up and sharing your concepts and experiences. We are now going to play a game that we call Hustle Time. Team, may I please have 60 seconds? All right. All right, count me down? Three, two, one, go. Favorite holiday? Christmas. Instagram or Twitter? Instagram. Favorite part of a s'more? Marshmallows. One word you wish you could take away from the English language? Aint, if that's even more. Favorite breakfast food? Avocado. Would you rather have more time or more money? More money. Peanut butter, cups or m&m's? M&m's. Sour candy or sweet? Sour. Meatballs or fish? Fish. Go to karaoke song. Don't run away from me about Whitney Houston. Finish the sentence. When I dance, I look like Beyonce. Some that is currently stuck in your head. Chainsmokers, something just like this. What's the first app you open in the morning? Instagram. Fireplace or fire pit? Fireplace. Large dogs or lap dogs? Lap dogs. Chocolate milk or dark? Dark. If you had to eat one thing for breakfast every day for the rest of your life, what would it be? Cucumbers. Would you rather give up pizza or sandwiches for life? Sandwiches. Can I just ask, I want to know, because you said some things earlier about all these friends in your network, what's the best place you've traveled? Dubai. Yeah, yeah. I had to do, I know it was a little bit outside of the buzzer, but I think it's okay. I'm gonna go with it since I'm the host. I say so. All right, here we go. We have one, two, three, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. First piece of advice you've ever gotten. Don't try to please everyone. Worst piece of advice. Have a drink to loosen up before an event or a taping. How do you use your career to inspire others? I just encourage people to put their best foot forward and do what they do best. Ever felt like walking away? No. One thing you still need to learn. Time management. Time management. Time management. What do you want people to learn from you? That it's okay to be you and yeah, walking your own life. What's next for you? You mean after here or next in the network lab? All right. You get your reputation. I know. All right. Well, what's next is just making the world a better place to fashion and that's gonna be it. Yeah. Who inspires you? My mom. Who challenges you? The next piece of advice today is for our favorite little pug named Noodle. And so you don't have to put Noodle on your lap with those fans. Jonathan can hold Noodle. Oh. Hey, gorgeous. You people sit down. Noodle is trying to step up his fashion. Easy. But he feels a little overwhelmed by all of the options and brands. What advice would you have for someone who wants to stand out in such a saturated marketplace? Get a mint roller. No, I'm kidding. Just. Just be your gorgeous, cute self and captivate your audience with those eyes. That's a piece of advice for him. I like that. You know, it's not necessarily about the clothes, but it's the eyes. Right? It's the eyes, Noodle. You know what? Because right now he doesn't have any clothing on him. He could probably stand to use something. I wanted to present it to you as a canvas. As a blank canvas. I was a good choice. Oh, yeah. No, this is great. And we do have a mint roller. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God. Thank you, Noodle. You're the best. You're the best. And we can lint roll you for sure. And the last part here is ending like a fine Chinese cuisine and a fortune cookie. We are going to end this interview with a final thought. I'm going to read three quotes and ask you to please tell me the quote that resonates the most with you and why. Okay? Number one, motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. Number two, people rarely succeed. Unless they have fun in what they are doing. Number three, be miserable or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice. Number one. Number one. Number one. Habit keeps you going. Motivation gets you started. It has to be. Why is that? Because if you don't make your motivation into a habit, you become uninspired and you won't stand for it so you have to make it happen. Well, thank you so much for sharing everything that you have around what's next and all the inspiration and your lessons from along the way. It was so good to have you on the show. Thank you so much, Shannon. It was great to be here. How can people watching find you? They can find me on Instagram under MetroGlam. Perfect. If you want to check out my website, MetroGlamUSA.com. Perfect. And of course, as I always say, I would encourage everybody to also follow GoDaddy because we are bringing fabulous and inspirational entrepreneurs like Shannon every week at school. And they hook my website. By the way, they're doing an amazing job. Thank you for that. I'm glad. You let me know if you need help with that website, especially as you evolve because the technology that you're thinking about is spot on. And I'm excited for you. Follow GoDaddy across social. And keep watching because we have another fabulous entrepreneur next time. Until then, see ya.