1. Finding purpose in your passion with Burgundy Woods

Burgundy: (00:00)
And as my purpose grew, I got happier. And it wasn’t until I felt the shift of feeling depression and despair into purpose again, that I realized how vital purpose is to the human existence. Absolutely. It is so vital.

Hope Intro: (00:20)
Do you wanna wake up feeling like you’re stepping into who you’re meant to be? Into the best possible version of you? What if I told you that the key to your best life, health, and happiness are all around you? You just have to find what works for you. I’m Hope Pedraza and I believe that there isn’t just one way to live a healthy and meaningful life, and that all you need is a little inspiration to make changes that last from the inside out. Each week I’ll be sharing tangible tips and inspirational interviews to help you on your journey. These are the steps to take to improve your life and live with purpose. This is hopeful and wholesome.

Hope: (00:54)
Thanks for joining today, y’all. I’ve got such a fun episode with my friend Burgundy. Burgundy and I have worked together over the past few years through different businesses that she has, Style Lush TV and the Texas Fashion Awards. She is changing this fashion scene here in San Antonio, here in Texas, across the globe. Really. She is blazing trails. She’s creating her own path. She’s not letting anybody tell her what to do or how to do it, and she is making a name for herself. She is creating a future for these artists and these creatives that are part of the fashion industry here in Texas, really helping them make a name for themselves, helping them learn the business, and can’t wait to bring you her story. And she has quite a story. Her journey is something to admire. She tells you all about her story. She is honest with her story and how she came up after hitting rock bottom. It’s really a story about how you can really find joy in finding your purpose. And she is a true testimony to that. I know y’all are gonna love learning all about Burgundy and find ways to support her. Okay, y’all. So let’s get going. I’m excited to bring on Burgundy today. And me and Burgundy are talking about her fashion news company here in San Antonio, and how she’s kind of changing the, the fashion scene all across our state and beyond

Burgundy: (02:10)
Fitness. Right. That’s your F word. That’s my F word, .

Hope: (02:13)
Exactly. Exactly. Thanks so much for joining Burgundy.

Burgundy: (02:17)
Yeah, of course. You know, I’m a huge fan of yours, and you have been so inspiring all five years that we’ve been in San Antonio and keeping us healthy and happy and on track. And I know Janelle is always with you, and she sends all your vibes and your messaging back to us, and it’s awesome.

Hope: (02:35)
Yeah, it’s, I love working with y’all. So, for all the listeners out there, tell us a little bit about what Style Lush TV is.

Burgundy: (02:43)
So, Style Lush TV is my online fashion media company that actually was founded in Hollywood, California. So I’m from San Antonio, born and raised on the south side. But my entire adult career was spent in Hollywood, California. And I was in the, the music industry in the beginning, working for major record labels. And then I went to fit to pursue what I thought was gonna be my career, which was fashion design. Mm-Hmm. . Little did I know that at fit, you know, when you take a a fashion design degree, you also learn what’s called trend forecasting. And this is mostly data collection and analysis and then report creating. So I took a liking to that. For some reason, I didn’t even know that career existed. I was really good at it. And all my professors and teachers were like, when it comes to trend forecasting, you kind of have to have, yes, you have to have education, but you have to have a gut instinct about what’s gonna happen along with your mathematical formulas and kind of predicting trends.

Burgundy: (03:36)
And I was always on point, I was always predicting these trends and then creating these reports that actually people wanted to buy. So that’s how I ended up in fashion news, because fashion news really at its source is data collection and then reporting the data, basically. So my projects were really great, and my professors were the only ones seeing ’em. So a long time ago, in 2009, uh, when nobody was doing it, I started a YouTube channel. And at that time, I think what happened was, at that time, nobody was doing that. Mm-Hmm. . So it was easy to stand out. Everybody was just doing home videos or look at us at the zoo, and nobody had really figured out that this was gonna be the new form of information. And at the time was still looking at television. And so I put out my trend reports on YouTube channel.

Burgundy: (04:29)
I did it just like a news anchor would do it. And very soon after that, I, long story short, MySpace in Beverly Hills called and was like, we want you to be the star of our fashion channel on MySpace, and we want you to do the exact same thing you’re doing, you know, but do it on our platform. We’re gonna go this different route. We’re gonna try to be, and at the time it was called online television. It was like groundbreaking . So yeah. So I did that with MySpace for a while. At the peak of my career, I had 4 million followers or friends at the time, it was called Friends. Remember that? ? Oh, yeah, yeah. . Um, yeah, it was friends and, uh, had, you know, it was great. And of course, as everyone know that Titanic sank. But it was nice because at that time I had a really relaxed contract that allowed me to keep some of my content that I had originally been doing on my own.

Burgundy: (05:18)
And when I did go on my own, I was at burgundywoods.com and I had my following followed like it. And usually that doesn’t happen. Mm-Hmm. . But then I got, you know, another offer, and this is what brought me to San Antonio. I got another offer by this really big company that was like, we are going to pursue online media. We want you to be, you know, president of the department and expand on online media. Like, because at that time I was really at the forefront of online media within the fashion vertical. So I was a leader in the industry. And, and right when I, I mean, signed the contract, six figure salary, we were all getting going at that time. That was when my mom, mom got sick. Mm. And I had to come home to San Antonio. It was like a no-brainer. Yeah. So it was a really difficult time. But when I came home to San Antonio, you know, luckily there was a need. There was a need here, there was an amazing fashion community, but there were all separated. Nobody knew about each other. Nobody was working together. People thought that the fashion community did not exist. Right. They only knew of maybe like, the handful of people that they knew. And I was going all over the place. Like, no, there’s tons of you. You guys just dunno each other.

Hope: (06:27)
Right, right.

Burgundy: (06:28)
Yeah. And so I rebranded just because I felt like this was a different demographic than Hollywood. Like our, the audience is just so insanely different, and there was a different need. So I wanted to rebrand. And so I did. And, and in 2014, my old company rebranded to Style Lush TV, same concept, same everything. We still pioneered community, fashion news parallel to high fashion news, which was a, is a new concept that I’m really proud that we invented. And that’s how it happened. That’s how it happened. And five years later, even with all the naysayers saying, oh, you’re gonna go out of business, there’s no fashion here. Five years later here, we’re still thousands of stories in telling the story of the fashion community throughout Texas now.

Hope: (07:11)
That’s awesome. So it does, so you do, your scope is like outside of San Antonio, right? Like you’re, you’re broadcasting to the whole state?

Burgundy: (07:20)
Well, yeah. So it started in San Antonio because obviously that was the need that I saw right away here when I came home. It was San Antonio based for two reasons. One, I always knew that it needed to be statewide, but in the beginning, I wanted to gain the trust of San Antonio first. I wanted them to see like, I see you, I recognize you. Let me tell your stories. And I always knew it would expand to Texas, but in the beginning, it was vital to bring credibility to San Antonio because nobody took us seriously. Mm-Hmm. Everybody was like, that’s not a thing. You know? And it was, it really was. And, and, you know, part of that was dedicating myself to San Antonio for, you know, I, I said, at least four years, we’ve got to, you know, dedicate to San Antonio and touch on all these different fashion industries so that, you know, that people know that they exist.

Burgundy: (08:15)
And one year wasn’t gonna be enough, you know, to tap into fashion design, to tap into hair and makeup, to tap into the local retail scenes, to tap into the models and the modeling agencies to tap into these amazing people, like producing fashion shows and, and whatnot. So that was like the first reason was just to build that trust. Like, look, I’m an advocate for you. I believe me, my whole life is gonna be dedicated to telling your stories. And then the, the second reason that we did San Antonio first was because, well, kind of similar, but we wanted to prove ourselves to the rest of Texas too, when we did expand to Texas, because a lot of people think Dallas is the fashion capital of Texas. Right. And so I was like, well, we need to collect enough proof so that when we do expand to Texas, there’s a trust outside of San Antonio as well.

Burgundy: (09:03)
Like, you know, we have professionals who care, who wanna see this grow and join us. Mm-Hmm. . So we went statewide last year. At first we were just, you know, fashion news. But Style Lush has now become the global awareness department of something bigger. It’s now called the Texas Fashion Industry Initiative. And it has three departments, global awareness being one, which is Style Lush tv, . And, uh, and we still do what we do all day long. But the other two departments now have expanded to education as well as arts and culture, which is Texas Fashion Week, arts and Culture. That’s the big event for that, that department. And then education is just something that was just vitally needed throughout. Yeah. So, yeah.

Hope: (09:47)
And that’s your, your nonprofit that you started, right?

Burgundy: (09:51)
Yes, yes. Yes. I know we’re moving kind of fast here.

Hope: (09:54)
Yeah, no, it’s, it’s awesome. It’s awesome. No, I love it. So, so then what was kind of your purpose behind starting that, that nonprofit?

Burgundy: (10:03)
Yeah. So, okay. So first of all, I’m a creative, I’m an artist. I love making creative content. That’s what I did in Hollywood. That’s what I did for my big bucks. Right? That’s my forte. I never, I never wanted to take over fashion week. I never wanted to host events. That’s a whole other industry. Like, yeah. Yeah.

Burgundy: (10:23)
I never wanted to start an education curriculum. Like these are all things that I had no idea were waiting, awaiting me down in my life. , like, I no clue. I no desire. And I had no clue. I would just have been happy just doing Style Lush tv, fashion, news, full-time for the rest of my life, to be honest. Because I love telling people stories, and I love making a creative content, you know, with video and, and whatnot. I’m good at it. I love it, you know. But a funny thing happened when I started telling people’s stories just organically. For some reason, I sort of became like a mama bear to the fashion community because they started coming to me with problems. They started coming to me with complaints. They started coming to me with stories of the past. You know, there was a disconnect in the San Antonio fashion community history where things just really declined.

Burgundy: (11:14)
And people lost hope and they lost, you know, the drive. Some people even completely left fashion and went into like medical sales. Like, I mean, this is how bad it got. Yeah. People just didn’t think it could happen. And there was this really big disconnect. So little did I know, as I was telling these stories, little did I know, I was actually historically documenting this progress and growth. And little did I know that I was learning about problems. I didn’t realize it until one day I was like, you know what, not only are we telling stories, but we are really at the root of where people go to ask for help. Mm-Hmm. , let’s look at all these problems. And then it all came down to three things. One, the fashion community here felt alone. So especially if they were an entrepreneur. Mm-Hmm. . They felt like there wasn’t a c community of industry people that they could talk to about their problems.

Burgundy: (12:12)
They felt like there wasn’t an industry they could go to when they were feeling low. There was nothing, no support system. And that was a complaint that came over and over. Gosh, you know, I’m not doing so well, and I don’t really have any friends in the industry that I could talk to about it. So I was like, okay, that’s one. Right. The second thing was education. Oh my goodness. So there’s different areas in the fashion industry here where education is so vital. And so we were like, okay, we’ve broken down into these sections, like where people need to be better educated to increase the quality overall for everyone.

Hope: (12:49)
And where do you see those areas?

Burgundy: (12:51)
So right now we’re doing okay. The first one is entrepreneurship. So, and, and these three problems became our department. So that’s why I’m, I’m saying so Style Lush equate the awareness.

Burgundy: (13:01)
Wasn’t there Style Lush provided a solution for that. Now everyone knows San Antonio has a fashion scene, and now everyone knows Texas is legit cool education. That is the big one. So we have in the works education for entrepreneurs, for our youth, as well as educators of fashion. Mm-Hmm. . So those are our three areas. And we believe, like once these things, uh, which they’re already in progress, they’re happening. Once we start to get a flow with this, everything will change. I truly believe that. So right now, the one that we just launched that I’ll talk about now is the silver jacket program. Because the biggest educational problem personally learned about throughout my five year is, it is not enough to be an artist. You have to know how to be a business. Mm-Hmm. . And no one , no one who got formal art, education and fashion knew how to run their business.

Hope: (13:53)
Right. Right.

Burgundy: (13:53)
They were coming up with problems, you know, accounting, what I have to do that. Right. You know, value proposition, what, like, it’s just all these things that artists don’t think about. Marketing, accounting, I mean, graphic design, a website, like effective business plan to keep you on track. You know, all these really boring things that nobody wants to do is actually 90% of a successful creative business. So I put together all the classes and resources that I personally took to increase the potential and success of Style Lush tv, which was a totally creative outlet. In the beginning. I put it all into this class and said, these are the things that these artists need to know in order to, to be successful in the reality of a sole proprietorship. In the beginning being, you don’t have money, you don’t have human resources, and you are doing everything by yourself.

Burgundy: (14:53)
Right. So for people who are, and people wanna glamorize it, right? And be like, no, in the beginning, you gotta do this, you gotta do that. And I keep telling them, no, no, no, no, no. That’s when you have money and you can hire people. My artists cannot hire people right now. They are literally making the art and doing everything. So we need to think outside of the box and create something that someone can do alone. Poor, and just, they’re their own boss. Right? Like, if we can figure that out, we’ve got something new and innovative that I’ve never seen anywhere, ever, because I know I looked for it. I was desperately trying to find someone who has done this before. So I’d have a roadmap, you know, like I wanted to learn off of someone else, but there’s nothing hope. There was nothing. So I literally had to just make it up.

Hope: (15:39)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (15:39)
Then I went to people who are successful entrepreneurs who are already business mentors. And I said, look at this curriculum. What else can I implement here? What else can we pepper in with these tangible skills for a sole proprietor doing everything alone, who’s poor? Like literally Mm-Hmm. . And they helped and they perfected it with me. And I call it the Silver Jacket program. And so what happens is applications go out in the fall and artists, fashion artists, you could be any kind of fashion creative, as long as you’ve already kind of been creating your art and have some sort of tangible product, but you’re struggling business wise, that qualifies to you. So you apply, and once you get in, it’s a 12 week course. It’s really rigorous. But I really believe in it. And the goal is to get these, these entrepreneurs independent.

Burgundy: (16:31)
You know, they learn the skills that they need, plus they meet all these amazing educators and co-facilitators and a network of professionals that will be there if they run into problems throughout their career. It’s amazing. And then we, we help launch their business. So once they go through the classes, we help launch their business. The TFII is somewhat like a little like a chamber of commerce kind of. And the fact that we do ribbon cuttings and we celebrate their grand opening, we’re really trying to drive economic development within the fashion sector in San Antonio and throughout Texas. And then when they get their feet wet, we also offer a business accelerator program. Right. Because it’s not enough to launch these businesses. They need help along the way because they’re gonna run into new problems. Right? Mm-Hmm. . Yeah. New questions, new everything. So we have an accelerator program.

Burgundy: (17:17)
Once they meet all the specific criteria, oh, and I forgot to mention the fun fashion part. So , the fun fashion part is they get a denim jacket right in the beginning. And every time they learn like a business curriculum, they get a patch. Kinda like the Girl scout.

Hope: (17:31)
How cute. I love that.

Burgundy: (17:32)
Yeah. It’s fun. So when they register their business downtown, they get a, you know, a DBA patch. When they learn accounting on QuickBooks, they get an accounting patch when they get, you know, every time they master these skills. And I feel like, okay, they got it. They don’t need me anymore. They don’t need the co-facilitator. They can do it on their own. They’re gonna get a patch. Now, once they get all their patches, once they meet all the criteria through the launch and the accelerator program, then the big moment is they have their huge breakout moment, their business breakout moment at Texas Fashion Week. So whatever day represents their industry, they will be a part of it. And the people who meet all the criteria will upgrade their denim jacket to the silver jacket at the Texas Fashion Awards on stage. They’ll be deemed the ones to watch fashion businesses for 2021.

Hope: (18:19)
That is so awesome. I love that. Yeah.

Burgundy: (18:22)
. It’s pretty fun. It’s fun. We had to make it fun and fashionable. Yeah. We also have to make it super hardcore and effective, because that You gotta be tough, man. You have to be tough. You’ve got to really want it, and you gotta learn the right things, you know?

Hope: (18:36)
Yeah, yeah. For sure. Yeah. Or you get left behind. I mean, that’s, you know, what separates this successful, you know, artist, business entrepreneurs, you know? I mean, it’s Yeah.

Burgundy: (18:47)
Yeah. Or they give up. Right? Right, right. They give up. And that is, I don’t wanna see that happen anymore. Like, I’m so tired of people giving up on San Antonio. I’m tired of people giving up on fashion. You know, I want people to understand now that we’re here, we will not stop until people really feel like fashion is here. There’s a support system, there’s education, there’s a fashion week. Should I need it? There’s, you know, a community, you know, we have memberships with TFII now. So that loneliness is gone. People can become a member. They can come and network with other people. They can work together. The whole goal is to get Texans working with Texans and believing in Texas. Mm-Hmm. . You know, we, we have to, there’s, there’s no reason why people have to leave to New York and la you know, headquarter here, by all means travel.

Burgundy: (19:34)
You know, you gotta travel for work, go to fashion week, go go meet colleagues in LA in New York. But how about headquartering here? Bring your overhead costs down. Right. Because San Antonio is more affordable. Mm-Hmm. , stand out a little more. Right. And then travel for work and then come home and tell everybody about, you know, everywhere else, but contribute to this economy through fashion. Like Yeah. That’s, that’s our goal. That really is our goal. Industry. Industry, industry. That’s the one word. We’re constantly all capital letters throwing out at people. That’s what TFII stands for.

Hope: (20:04)
Yeah. Yeah. So then have you seen it affecting the fashion world so far? Like what, in your experience with these kind of local artists and people in the fashion industry, what has your effect been so far?

Burgundy: (20:17)
I mean, I’m so in it that , it’s so funny because at the last fashion awards, I actually got a fa – like two fashion awards. And I host the dang thing. . I didn’t even know . And you know, and I feel kind of embarrassed because, well, one, it was like my event, right? And I’m getting awards, but I genuinely didn’t know. But people, okay. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything yet. Like honestly, I don’t, this is the first year that I am implementing a five-year vision, which is education, right. Global awareness all year long with st. And then at the end is fashion week in the fall to, that’s the big hurrah. Right. And it’s a cycle. It’s a cycle. So this is something I’ve had in my mind for a very long time. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything yet. ’cause this is the first year we’re actually going to implement the entire cycle and collect the data. Mm-Hmm. of the impact. You know what I mean? But, you know, I was moved to tears at last year’s fashion awards because apparently there are people who feel like I’ve already done something. .

Hope: (21:27)
Course you have. I mean, I think sign of any true entrepreneurs, you’re like, I haven’t done anything. I’ve only been working on this for five years. But I, you know, I think that’s,

Burgundy: (21:36)
Yeah. I think it’s because we’re so in it, you know, like we’re so, so at the vision, like exactly the big A and B, right? We’re looking at the B. So I think as us entrepreneurs don’t really feel like we’ve gotten there yet. You know, because there’s so much to do. Yes.

Hope: (21:54)
Yes. I feel like that like every day. Yeah.

Burgundy: (21:58)
Do feel, however, very proud of the fashion awards because it brings validity and credibility to the talent here. And it brings like annually this celebration of not just the people who were nominated and who won, but of the entire fashion community. Because if there really wasn’t anything going on, we would not be able to have a fashion awards. Like just having the ability to showcase so much talent and to showcase that people are still in business. That’s something to celebrate hands down. And that’s, you know what I mean? Like, every year at Fashion awards, I try to remind people, remember we’ve survived another fashion industry year. Totally. And that’s something to celebrate, because everyone keeps saying that we can’t do it here. Right. And it’s ridiculous.

Hope: (22:45)
. Yeah, for sure. So what is your inspiration, like your underlying purpose inspiration for this industry and for what you’re doing?

Burgundy: (22:54)
I don’t know. . I don’t know. It’s so instinctual. I don’t know. You know, it’s funny because like I said, it was not my goal to be like this fashion advocate. Remember? Like, I came home and was like, I will be happy doing fashion news for the rest of my life. Like, I love that. But I am instinctually a problem solver. Mm-Hmm. . You know, like I, if I see a problem and I know I have the answer, I’ve always, and it doesn’t matter what it is, I’m very stubborn like that, where it’s like, we can fix that. We can fix that. We can fix that. Mm-Hmm. . You know, and the one thing that I always surprised when people give up when they, when they go, oh, that’s gonna be hard. Right? So yeah. , you know, you know what? That’s a thing. Like, it’s a mindset.

Burgundy: (23:44)
Like, so what? Everything’s hard if you think about it, like the definition of hard. Right? I’m sure you deal with it all the time. Hope, like I’m gonna work out. But it’s so hard. Totally. Well, you just have to not think it’s hard.

Hope: (23:57)
Yeah. You just have to do it.

Burgundy: (23:59)
Just do it. Like why put that in your head. It’s hard, right? Mm-Hmm. , how about, no, how about put a different message, like, I’m just gonna go do it. Right? And then in 30 minutes it’ll be done. Or in an hour it’s gonna be done and it’s not even gonna feel like anything. Right? Like, so when all these problems were coming up throughout the five years, my natural instinct was like, this needs to be fixed. Like, we can’t complain about this forever. That’s not gonna do anything. Right? There were people that would put us down and they live here.

Burgundy: (24:32)
Like, oh, well, it’s so much better in New York and Paris and this. And it’s like, well, what are you gonna do though? Like, you live here, you live here. Don’t you want it to be better? Like, so that kind of mentality, I don’t know anything about, I’ve never been a complainer and then not do something like, I’ve always been like, well, if it’s in my power, and if I have a vision, and if something’s like sparks, and I’ve always been like, we’re gonna do that. Oh my God, my girls, they think I’m freaking crazy. Every year, every year we’re a small business growing. And I would add more and more to their plate and more to their plate and more to their plate. Right. Janelle, she’s celebrating five years with me. And the funny thing about it is, is she came on board because, and this is so funny, she’s become my MVP now, right?

Burgundy: (25:20)
Mm-Hmm. . But in the beginning, I saw her as a threat. I was like, that girl needs to be on our team. Uhhuh . And I went after her because I was like, she’s badass, she’s beautiful, she’s smart. And you know, if she plays for anyone else’s team, that’s gonna suck. I want her. So in the beginning, I brought her on thinking that she might not be with us for very long. ’cause I didn’t really know who she was and, you know, and I just knew that she needs to be with us. Mm-Hmm. . Well, five years later, she’s been with me the most amazing MVP I could have ever asked for. I love her to death like a sister. I do anything for her. And I love her because every year I put more and more on the plate, like, okay, we’re growing. Guess what?

Burgundy: (25:59)
So now, uh, we do fashion awards. Well, now we’re gonna do lo local night. We’re gonna shut down Houston Street. What? Like, she couldn’t What? And I said, yeah, I think we’re gonna shut it down. Well, no one does that. That’s hard. That’s why we’re gonna do it. Right? . And so we helped the retail team. Then the following year it was like, okay, just so you know, I think we’re gonna add more to our plate, uh, very soon. We’re gonna do, we’re gonna do fashion week. Wait, what? No, what? And I, you know, and then I said, you know, we just have to, that things are evolving into that. We’re gonna have to start thinking about that because with our goals, you know, she’s like, are gonna, are you crazy? I’m like, well, yeah. It’s gonna be so hard. I know. That’s why we gonna do it.

Burgundy: (26:41)
And year after that, I was like, okay, Jean, we’re gonna start a nonprofit. What? Like, it’s just . She’s like, okay, wait, slow down. What? And I said, yeah, we’re actually gonna expand to Texas and we’re gonna start a nonprofit, and funding is gonna hurt. You know, all the money that we had, we had a choice. Hope we could have either rode the wave of success with StyleLush or we could take that money and reinvest in something that will help everyone. Mm-Hmm. . And when I told Jeannie that, then she was like, shit, we gotta do it. And I was like, yeah, we do it.

Hope: (27:15)
That’s so awesome.

Burgundy: (27:16)
So she and I, we embraced, we’re like, okay, here we go, bye money. Like here we go. New. But, but I truly believe that was the right choice, because Texas needs it. San Antonio needs it. We love the fashion community. Everything is coming so instinctual and organically. Mm-Hmm. . We’re not forcing any of this. This is just organically happening.

Hope: (27:37)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (27:38)
And that’s a good sign. Right?

Hope: (27:39)
For sure.

Burgundy: (27:40)
And, and now that we are a nonprofit, so much more funding and support is available because we’re a charity now, and we have a mission than if we had just stayed a for-profit and rode the success of so alone and by ourselves. Like, that doesn’t make any sense to me. When you see this problem in your face, you know, it’s like, no, we need, we need something else. Yeah. And so, yeah, it’s just been amazing.

Hope: (28:03)
Yeah. Well, so with your, this mindset you have, which I mean for me as you know, a fellow entrepreneur, it’s like you just, the way you are is the way you are. Like, you are gonna get things done, you see a problem, gets it. Where do you think that comes from? Or do you do any sort of like mindset, like personal development type stuff? Like how do you stay in that mindset?

Burgundy: (28:24)
You know, honestly, I’ll tell you where it comes from. So I grew up on the south side of San Antonio, Texas. And this area was known for poverty, crime, gangs, pregnancy in your teens. And so I was told at a really young age that I was garbage. That I would never amount to anything. But, but in the household, I had my mother and my grandmother. So I grew up with these two generations of women. Now my grandfather passed away, but my mom and I left my father because it was a bad situation, right? Mm-Hmm. . So I grew up in this house of all women who did everything and never said, this is hard. Mm-Hmm. . So I was sort of brainwashed by birth to believe that I can do anything, that I’m supposed to do everything. Yeah. Like, and I think that has really been the biggest influence in my mindset is that from a young age, Hey, we gotta change the oil.

Burgundy: (29:23)
Let’s go change it. Hey, we gotta move the couch from one side of the room to the other. Let’s move it. Hey, we need to fix the sink. We gotta fix it. Hey, you know, we need to go to the grocery store. We gotta go do this. We gotta do that. Like, we didn’t have any men in the house. Mm-Hmm. . It was just three generations of strong Mexican American women doing things instinctually. And so I just grew up knowing I could do anything. Yeah. Like it is a mindset, you know, I, and people are always asking me, like, lately I’ve been able to do more interviews. I haven’t been able to do that the first years of my business. ’cause I’m just so busy. You know how it is. Like this is fun stuff, right? Yeah. But some male interviews, they’ll be like, do you find it hard being a woman? And I’m like, honestly, I’ve never found it hard being a woman. Like, I’ve always done everything I wanted to do.

Hope: (30:13)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (30:14)
I did feel resistance in Hollywood when I worked in the music industry, because it is a male dominated industry. You know, I worked for Interscope, Virgin Records, capital Records, like all the major. And so yeah, there was a little resistance there, but I think times were changing. Mm-Hmm. . And there were a lot of female bosses as well. Right. So I was able to work with both powerful men and influential women.

Hope: (30:41)
Yeah. Yeah.

Burgundy: (30:42)
And for some reason, at that time, it didn’t seem as bad. And when it did get bad again, that mindset, I proved my worth. And the men were like, she’s a badass. Yeah. Hire her. Mm-Hmm. put her on that assignment, put her on that meet and greet, put her on that tour, put her in that, you know, film and television, music, licensing, everything. I never knew that being a woman was a negative. Right. Or holding me back just because of the household and the type of environment I grew up in. You know?

Hope: (31:11)
I mean, that’s why you are where you are. That’s amazing. I mean that, to contribute that to, that’s so amazing. So where do you see, what is kind of your next, um, I know you have your five year plan, but what do you have coming up now? Some exciting things that you’re looking to with either Style, lush TV or with the Texas Fashion Industry Initiative? Well,

Burgundy: (31:30)
Yeah. So I mean, the biggest, most exciting thing right now is being able to implement this five-year vision for the first time. That’s the biggest thing. Mm-Hmm. . So right now, the Silver Jacket program is going on, and the way our cycle is gonna work is we’re gonna advocate for education. You know, the first half of the year, the second half of the year is dedicated to providing or, uh, growing fashion week in the fall, you know, sponsorships and, and getting people who wanna come in. And that. And then of course, the Global Awareness Department. We do start fashion news all year long. But that’s the, I think that’s the biggest thing, is really creating this Fashion week that is going to support industry. Because fashion weeks across the world, when you think of fashion designers only all day long fashion shows. That’s the traditional fashion week.

Burgundy: (32:24)
Well, for San Antonio, as much as that’s fun and as much as every day of our fashion week, we’ll have fashion shows that isn’t really the foundation of our innovative, different Fashion Week reason being is we cannot copy New York. We’re not New York, we’re not any other place but San Antonio. And in order for a fashion week to really succeed and create a positive impact, like you were saying, what is the impact? Right. In order for it to create an impact, you gotta be realistic about where you are. Yeah. And you gotta be realistic about the problems. And you gotta be realistic about the Fashion Week providing a solution for growth. Right. That’s what it is. So even our fashion week, I was like doing research on all kinds of fashion weeks and, you know, ’cause I want a roadmap, right? Sure. But there wasn’t one, because our, our problems are so unique to us.

Burgundy: (33:14)
Yeah. And so we had to make it up. I just had to sit there and make up a fashion week. And so our Fashion week, although it is founded in fashion shows, that’s the highlight. Right. You buy your ticket, you’re gonna see some fashion shows. But every day advocates for a different industry in San Antonio that has some sort of entrepreneurship or presence in San Antonio, for example, beauty Sphere, you will see fashion shows. But this advocates for makeup, hair, aesthetics, and wellness. Mm-Hmm. . So these are gonna, this day is gonna advocate for people who do makeup, who do hair, who are in wellness. Like you hope, right? You were in Mm-Hmm. Uh, local night diabetes for last year. Yeah. Wellness aesthetics. Right. We have plastic surgeons, we’ve got Botox people. I mean, this is all part of the fashion industry, right. Uh, uh, spa treatment or what is it?

Burgundy: (34:01)
Facials? Mm-Hmm. . That’s a day to advocate for that. You’re gonna meet those people, you’re gonna understand their businesses. There’s gonna be performances on stage, and then there’s gonna be the fashion shows at the end, look local, that advocates for retail. Right. So all boutiques and stylists that advocates for those. And again, the reason that these events were made is not because it’s fun. They were made because this is the reality of the fashion entrepreneurship and businesses happening in San Antonio. So it advocates for retailers so they can show their inventory during the fashion shows. Right. It advocates for stylists who are styling the clothes for them. Sometimes the owner is also the stylist. Mm-Hmm. . You know, and that’s why they have a boutique, because they style people and they needed a place to clothe their clientele. And then at the end of the night, the fashion shows are all about this beautiful inventory that’s available to you right there at their pop-up shop on site.

Burgundy: (34:50)
You know, so we’re advocating for sales. ’cause all this is all fun and good, but if you don’t help, right. ROI and sales,

Hope: (34:55)
You gotta make money. Yeah.

Burgundy: (34:57)
What’s the point? Right? Right. So, and then we have, fashion is art. San Antonio has an amazing, very different fashion artist community. Now. These are artists whose art is founded in style and fashion. And, and it, it cross pollinates. It really does. And this is one of our most spectacular and popular nights where you get to see the avant-garde fashion shows. Right. All the stuff you can’t wear to Taco Cabana. Okay. . It’s all the weird stuff. But it’s beautiful. And we have partnerships with museums and galleries and raw spaces where these art installations go up, where it’s all fashion based. You know, we even have as simple as a pair of beautifully created, locally made shoes, will be in a glass case just to educate the public and try to encourage them to look at fashion in a different way. Right. You know, it really is an art form. Everything. Yes. It’s commerce. Yes. It’s retail. Yes, it’s sales. But at the foundation, fashion is such an art. It’s an art. You have to be creative. You’ve got to be, and then we, we have street wear. So with the increase of the street art movement here, I don’t know if you guys know, but look ’em up. San Antonio Street Art on Instagram. There is a nonprofit here that advocates for street art. And they’re, the president is responsible for like 60 murals around town.

Hope: (36:13)
Yeah. They’re incredible.

Burgundy: (36:14)
They’re amazing. And, and he completely revolutionized this movement by creating this nonprofit. And because the street art movement is growing, we, we had a positive impact on our streetwear industry. People were like, oh, my business is booming. And they were taking pictures in front of the murals and the street art and those worlds cross pollinated. And so now we’re advocating for that as well, because we have to be diverse. Right. We can’t just, you know, support one type of fashion. Yeah. That’s growing. Yeah. Okay. TFII is gonna support that too. Yeah. So that night’s called Street Beat. Right. I mean, it just, it’s goes on and on. And then of course, the fashion awards, right. The fashion awards is the night to celebrate everybody and everything, and all the people who can be looked at as role models to, uh, you know, for their careers. Sometimes people have really great ears. They win. It’s amazing. I mean, our models alone, my God, they’re now in Tokyo and Japan and it’s amazing what’s happening. It’s so wonderful.

Hope: (37:09)
They’re brilliant. No, and I love, I love that you, and you said it there. I was gonna bring it up, but you said it, I love how you’re, you’re not trying to be a New Yorker. You’re not trying to be LA and you’re not trying to be Paris. Like you see the industry or you see the demographic here. And I just love how you’re, you are, you’re coming up with your own roadmap. Like you haven’t followed anybody else’s. And I, I mean, I think that’s amazing that you’re not following anybody else’s lead and you’re just doing it and you’re doing it how San Antonio is, you know, responding to it.

Burgundy: (37:38)
Like, don’t get me wrong, I love New York. Who doesn’t? Of course. Of course. Yes. I mean, you, I love it. I love LA like a lot of people don’t. I personally had the most amazing experience there. I met the most amazing people. I still talk to them to this day. They’re constantly like, calling your favors. And I’m like, no, not yet. I don’t need you. . I’m stubborn like that. I haven’t called in any favors. But here’s the thing, the one thing that hasn’t yet changed, everything’s changed in San Antonio. When I came home from Hollywood. The one thing, and it bugs the hell outta me that hasn’t changed is this damn inferiority complex. Mm-Hmm. San Antonio is still having this strange, inferiority complex about the value we provide culturally to the world. Mm-Hmm. . The reason people, we need to start taking pride in who we are.

Burgundy: (38:28)
The fashion community doesn’t have to change, you know, improve your skills, get good at your trade. Yes. Educate yourself, of course, be inspired, get diverse with what you do. Of course. But you don’t have to change into something else. Right. I feel like sometimes people wanna be what New York is and it’s like people don’t come to San Antonio to visit New York. Right. They come to San Antonio to visit San Antonio. Right. They come here to see color for the food for the people. You know, if they wanted to see New York fashion, they’d go to New York. Exactly. Mm-Hmm. . They’re not coming here for that. We have to embrace and take pride in the fashion scene that is here. And we have to support the fashion scene that is here. You’ve gotta tell people your work is awesome. Keep doing it. And look, just wait and see what happens.

Burgundy: (39:17)
Right. When we start telling people they’re awesome. When you start really bringing credibility and value to their unique perspective that they got. Because they were born here by the way. Not because they were born over there. Mm-Hmm. because they were born here. The colors, the tapestries. The eclecticism. Like that’s because we were born here. Right. We were born here. Right. And so I just want so much for people to understand that my whole drive comes from the fact that I do not see us as an inferior product. And I do not see us as something that we have to mold into something else. Right. I see us as something special and unique that people from all over the world will come and see because we are who we’re. Yeah. So

Hope: (39:58)
That’s amazing. I love that. Yeah. So before I ask you this last question, where can people find you and follow everything you’re doing with Style Lush and all of the things fashion?

Burgundy: (40:08)
Yes. So we have two main, oh God, I literally have 15 social medias. impossible. But I’ll say Instagram is the easiest. If I had to lay it out easy, follow the umbrella movement, which is the nonprofit now. The big nonprofit is called Texas Fashion Industry Initiative. And, uh, you can find that handle at Texas Fashion Industry. The website is also, it’s Texas fashion industry.org. Mm-Hmm. . And you can read about everything. Some things Not yet. We haven’t. There’s more in the works you would even believe the most amazing things are in, in the works right now. But the gist of it, you can read about it. Uh, if you wanna be a member, that’s another thing. And you don’t even have to be in fashion to be a member. We have power advocates and things like that. People who just wanna support it and be part of the events and, and things like you, you should be power advocates.

Hope: (40:59)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (40:59)
Typically there’s sponsors. There are people who understand the power of the fashion industry that, that we cross pollinate and that, you know, want to be a member to show support.

Hope: (41:10)
Cool.

Burgundy: (41:10)
So you don’t have to be in fashion. Although we do have a professional’s directory and it’s up because we want people to know these people. Click on their websites. Right. Do business with them. When it comes to fashion news, you can go to stylushtv.com and that is all Texas fashion news. A lot of San Antonio obviously, ’cause we’re headquartered here parallel next to high fashion and pop culture, because this is the thing I want people to start understanding that it’s all one and the same. Mm-Hmm. , you know, Texas isn’t down here and then all the rest is up here. No. It’s parallel to it. Right. Peppered in together because it is one and the same.

Burgundy: (41:44)
Yeah. We want people to understand, you know, the value that’s here. And so that’s why we do it like that. And of course it’s always fun, right? Yeah. Pop culture. Who doesn’t love that. Yeah, for sure. So yeah, you can find that TV com and then the handle. Yeah. And it’s fun. And, and the handle’s at stylush tv. So it’s really easy to find us. Yeah. If you wanna follow Fashion Week, that’s Texas Fashion Week. Those are different, you know, because Twitter and all of that. Sure. But you can find those as well. If you just go to those two, then you’ll be able to find Texas Fashion Awards and Texas Fashion Week from there. But the main ones are at Texas Fashion Industry and at stylush tv. And you’ll, you’ll stay in the loop.

Hope: (42:21)
Alright. And so, and then the, the Texas Fashion Week is in the fall.

Burgundy: (42:25)
Yes. So last year we had our prototype because this, like I said, it was a very weird fashion week. And we were like, is this even gonna work? . So last year we had our prototype, it launched, it was called Fashion Week, SATX. It was a temporary name, just so we could test, you know, it was a test market because it was successful and because it, it really did translate, we changed it to Texas Fashion Week. And you know, I just wanna send out lots of love and support because I know we’re going through a really weird time with Covid and everyone’s like, is Texas Fashion Week gonna happen? You know, I mean everyone Right. We don’t, we don’t know. Everything changes and shifts hour to hour. My gosh. But the dates are solidified. It’s gonna be October 6th through the 11th and Yeah. And it’ll always be in the fall. And we try to make it on a date where people who are in the industry can still travel to Paris Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week and all that. So, so that’s why it’s strategically placed like that because we do have locals who work in the big fashion weeks and so they have to be able to go. But yeah. So it is solidified. That happens in the fall. Mark your calendars, because I know we’re gonna make it through this.

Hope: (43:32)
Yes. . Yes.

Burgundy: (43:35)
Let’s get dressed up and fashion and see fashion shows and then support the industry.

Hope: (43:41)
Yes, for sure. So I like to end with a little bit of a deep question. Okay. But kind of looking into what your kind of purpose is with everything you’re doing in the fashion industry, what do you think is the most important thing people can do, or the most important change they can make to live with purpose?

Burgundy: (44:00)
Oh my gosh. You know, I never really understood how powerful purpose was until I temporarily lost mine. Mm-Hmm. . So I didn’t realize that I was living with purpose my whole life. I didn’t realize it, but when, when I worked my career in LA and I, 10 years, hope I was building my career. I mean, just, I was So, if someone was like, work today until six o’clock, I was there till eight. mm-Hmm. , you don’t have to work on Saturday. I was there 9:00 AM Saturday. Like, I worked so hard in Hollywood to get to where I was. And then after 10 years, I was finally a leader in an industry, an innovator making six figures. Like, and then overnight everything was taken away. Mm-Hmm. , you know, my, my identity, like everything, I can’t even tell you how quickly the carpet is swept out front under me.

Burgundy: (44:55)
One thing. And since this is a health podcast that I’ll confess, and this isn’t a secret I’ve told people before, not a lot of people like to mention it though. ’cause I think it’s kind of a touchy subject. But on top of my mother becoming ill, the man I thought I was gonna marry at that time confessed he had a heroin addiction.

Hope: (45:16)
Crap.

Burgundy: (45:16)
And I had no damn idea. I knew something was wrong.

Hope: (45:21)
Sure.

Burgundy: (45:22)
We were arguing because he seemed tired all the time or he’d go missing. But the thing people have to understand is he worked for a record label in a recording studio. Mm-Hmm. . So he easily vanished because I thought, well, that’s how it is right. In the record industry, you have to stay there until the album is cut. Sometimes the artist will stay all night. Sometimes the artist will go away until six in the morning.

Burgundy: (45:47)
So he had a perfect alibi. Mm-Hmm. to hide this from me. And so it was really hard. Like I didn’t know, I was just so doing my online stuff, creating content, I was, you know, I was even working for a brand called Laundry by Shelly Siegel at the time. And learning from there, you know, like, it was just an amazing time for me. And I was so busy too.

Hope: (46:09)
Sure.

Burgundy: (46:10)
It just slipped through the cracks.

Hope: (46:11)
You were just in it. Yeah.

Burgundy: (46:12)
And overnight I lost the man I thought I was gonna marry. I breached that contract, so I lost my money. You know, there’s fees, that’s why there’s contracts. Right. They wanted me to be the president of the department. Well, I can’t do that anymore. And they did not care that my mother was sick. So lost my money. I lost my car, which is my baby.

Burgundy: (46:33)
I got it back. But at that time, I lost my car. That was, for me as a woman in business, being able to buy my dream car was like a symbol of independence.

Hope: (46:41)
Yeah, absolutely.

Burgundy: (46:42)
And I, I love my car. , I lost my car. Even more importantly though, I lost my friends who had become my family, like my neighbors, my colleagues. I didn’t know how much I had grown to depend on them to be my family, because I only have a mom. Like, I don’t have any other family.

Hope: (46:59)
Right.

Burgundy: (47:00)
So they grew to be my world and I no longer had access to them. And then I was coming home and I just didn’t feel like I fit in in the beginning because the industry of online media hadn’t hit here yet. So no one wanted to give me a job. And every time I would suggest that I pioneer this department, they kind of looked at me like I was, I don’t think they took it very well.

Burgundy: (47:25)
Maybe they thought I was being a snob or like, oh, what does she know? You know what I mean? Mm-Hmm. . And it just, I lost everything basically. There was a really dark time. And when I had, I had this one job temporarily that was so outside of what I wanted to do, that I was very depressed and I had no purpose. Mm-Hmm. Like I had, for the first time ever, I was living my life. That wasn’t something I designed. It was just so, I had no purpose and I had no friends and I had no love. And my mom was sick. So she wasn’t able to provide any kind of care or love or emotion at the time.

Hope: (48:02)
Right.

Burgundy: (48:02)
And I was really, really alone. Like, I just, there was some dark times where I kind of just wanted to end it all. And not a lot of people know that.

Burgundy: (48:10)
But that’s how bad it got because I had started my life over already once when I went into fashion outside of music, that’s already scary. But then to start your life over a third time, getting older, you know, it’s traumatizing.

Hope: (48:25)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (48:25)
You know, and, and some people have been through what I’ve been and they actually did take their life. I found out because I went to support groups, you know, and yeah, they did. That’s how bad and how nothing and no purpose. Like I had nothing. And I didn’t know if I could start over. Yeah. And then slowly, you know, as my mom started getting better, like start getting healthier, that really was a trigger to start self caring. And I thought, okay, what are the things that brought me joy before? And I was like, well, my career, it was everything. Like I, I love people and I loved creativity and creative content.

Burgundy: (48:58)
So slowly I started going to little events. At the time there was no fashion events. Like it was hard to find fashion events back in 2014. Very hard. But there was some here and there. I remember the grand opening of h and m at Lock and Tarara was like this huge deal. That was a fashion event. That was a fashion event. And at that time, at that time, because I was so financially in dire straits and starting over, I had to pawn a lot of my equipment. So I had to start all over with just my iPhone. mm-hmm. . So I was like, okay, I’m gonna go film it. I’m gonna start Style Lush I’m gonna go film it with my iPhone. You know, I don’t have all the fancy stuff anymore. I don’t have any money, it’s fine. I started Style Lush with $28 in the bank and my little iPhone.

Hope: (49:42)
That is incredible.

Burgundy: (49:43)
Yeah. And honestly, and I was so scared ’cause I was like, oh my God, I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to financially sustain myself with this here. So I was still frightened. I still didn’t have purpose, but I knew I might as well not have purpose, but do something I love that brings joy, then not have purpose and not do anything. Yeah. Like it’s just, yeah. So I started with the iPhone, you know, and at the time I was fortunate enough to find some friends to studio with on St. Mary’s Street and got a website going. And then slowly I was, I don’t know, I was happy again. And as my mom got healthier, I got healthier. And as my purpose grew, I got happier. And it wasn’t until I felt the shift of feeling depression and despair right into purpose again, that I realized how vital purpose is to the human existence. Absolutely. It is so vital. But I don’t know, that was just my personal experience with purpose. And I feel like based off of that, if you’re feeling like I have no purpose, I think the first thing to do is, okay, have no purpose. Fine. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Mm-Hmm. . But find something that brings you joy. Right. And incorporate that slowly because it could ignite something within you

Hope: (51:04)
Right. Within that you find your purpose,

Burgundy: (51:06)
You’ll find it. And as long as you’re bringing joy, I really that has physical effects, you know, inside. Like, you gotta feel those endorphins. You gotta feel that joy working out definitely helps, even though that’s something no one ever wants to do. For sure. I can’t, I was just telling you today, I worked out for the first time in two years,

Hope: (51:23)
,

Burgundy: (51:24)
And it was just so weird because my man and I had a car accident two years ago and it, it completely affected my back and my neck and I had shoulder surgery and I no longer could work out. And before that I work out like five times a week. Mm-Hmm. . And I have definitely noticed a shift in my energy level, my moods, I mean, everything. I’ve gained 45 pounds and I know people don’t believe me, but I have, yeah. In the two years, because I haven’t worked out, like I haven’t been able to have heavy impact.

Hope: (51:56)
Yeah.

Burgundy: (51:57)
But now we’re slowly healing and I’m able slowly, you know, to do some stuff after the surgery that I had. And, and automatically, like this morning with the Covid stuff, we were just looking at the news and it’s just constant scary stuff. Yes. I went outside, I hit my punching bag. That’s why I got my little, I don’t think you guys can see, but you can hear I have little punching bag gloves on and I felt so much better in just 10 minutes.

Hope: (52:22)
For sure. 10 minutes for sure. Yeah.

Burgundy: (52:25)
And working up a sweat and getting those endorphins and muscle memory, you know, my body remembered right away because I was scared. I was, yes. I was huffing and puffing. I am definitely not in shape, not by any means , but my body remembered. Yeah. And it, it sent this amazing feeling through my brain. Sure. Like my, I was awake and I don’t know, like I couldn’t wait to get started on the day, even though we’re in the midst of this horrible pandemic. Yeah. It was amazing. Yeah.

Hope: (52:52)
That’s awesome. Thank you Burgundy. I love your story and I just love everything about everything you’re doing, so thank you so much for sharing it. And I, and I know there’s so much inspiration here for people to pick up, so thank you.

Burgundy: (53:07)
I hope so. I hope so. I just, just, everyone remember that. I mean, kind. We’re all in this together. It’s amazing how connected we all are and I think what’s going on in the world right now proves it.

Hope: (53:18)
Absolutely. I said the same thing just the other day. I think that’s the lesson we can all take from this.

Burgundy: (53:23)
Yeah. Yeah. We’re all kind of one, one big old organism, so I hope everyone’s well out there, .

Hope Outro: (53:30)
Thank you. Thanks Burgundy. Thanks for listening to Hopeful and Wholesome y’all. If you found value in this week’s episode, please subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcast, and leave a review to let me know what you thought. I love to know what you find useful in these episodes, so I know how I can provide the most value I can to my listeners. And if you have topics that you wanna know more about, I’d love to hear those as well. So shoot me a message on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. It’s at the hope pedraza, or visit my website, hopefulandwholesome.com. Thanks y’all.