03 Oct My Story: Supporting Women Entrepreneurs Through Fashion (Part 2)

Mixing runway fashion with fashion for the home comes very natural to me because fashion is a huge inspiration for my artistic work.  I am continually inspired by textiles and color.  As I state in my 2014 Martha Stewart American Made nominee profile:

What inspires you?

“Everything! But mostly fashion and nature. I love to flip through Vogue at a newstand and boom, inspiration strikes just from seeing the colors and textures…..Deborah Main, 2014

I actually really think of decorative pillows as “fashion for the home” and always have. That’s why on our website, Deborah Main Designs, you can shop for pillows made from 1950’s cocktail dresses, or embellished with a vintage brooch.  The essence of textiles for me is the color – like the gorgeous sunflower-yellow Daniel Esquivel dress above – and texture – like the stitched vinyl and vintage curtain, green and yellow block print pillows above. Fashion historically has provided inspiration on the runway and in the home for generations, and at our studio we relish in continuing that tradition, but with our own unique spin on it – American Made, heirloom-quality, luxury  one-of-a-kind pillows.

And today, October 3rd,  I plan to get even more inspired by some American Made fashion right here in Austin!

Graphic by, with permission from, WOW1000.

Amidst all the voting for the finalists in the 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Awards (btw, thank you so much everyone for voting & sharing…your support means the world to me!) I get to take Friday afternoon off with my daughter and attend a Project Runway fashion show called FAB-U-LUNCH.  I’m also going to meet up at this luncheon with a new friend I met at the fabulous MOD: A Modern Take on ’60’s Fashion event at The LBJ library, sponsored by Austin Fashion Week, that I attended last month.

The similarities between these two incredible Austin fashion events, MOD and FAB, are three. Both events involve:

• an exciting fashion show,
• local fashion designers Daniel Esquivel, from Project Runway, and Ross Bennett, from Fashion Star. (Another fabulous designer, Linda Asaf, joins Daniel and Ross at tomorrow’s event.), and
• the founder of Austin Fashion Week, Matt Swinney, who sponsored MOD, is the guest speaker at tomorrow’s FAB-U-LUNCH.

But the difference between the two events is one singular fact:

• the FAB-U-LUNCH benefits a new foundation, WOW1000, which empowers women entrepreneurs and celebrates the first graduating class of the FAB-University.

And WOW1000 is dear to my heart. I was first introduced to WOW1000 this February at the kick off of this brand new foundation, supported by BiGAUSTIN.  (See  blog post about Kick-off event HERE). Being a woman entrepreneur with a small artist studio needing funds to take my product to the 2013 International Home & Gift Show in Atlanta (see blog post HERE), I learned about BiGAustin in 2012 by another woman entrepreneur.  And in a matter of days (as timing was of the essence) I received my first business loan to fund the custom shelving I needed to display my product exquisitely in the juried High Design section of the Atlanta market. (Learn more about the small business resources that BiGAustin provides for our community right HERE).

“As the leading nonprofit micro-lender and entrepreneurial resource in Central TX, BiGAUSTIN has been supporting the WOW1000 foundation and growth of small businesses for nearly 20 years. The individuals and small businesses that we work with are the true local job creators and their ability to succeed has a profound impact on our community. Since 1995 we have helped over 38,000 entrepreneurs, made micro-loans of over $7,000,000, in turn creating $131,000,000 for our local economy and 800 jobs per year.” Rachel Maimon, BiGAustin.

Invited by Rachel Maimon, BiGAustin’s Community Impact Initiatives Manager, to be one of five artists showcasing their work at the WOW1000 tkick-off event, I was overwhelmed by the powerful message of this new foundation.

You see WOW1000 is a foundation of women, supported by BiGAUSTIN, that have come together to raise $1,000,000 to support women entrepreneurs to realize their dreams in starting their own business.

“The funds raised through this campaign are directly invested in women through micro-loans, training, and one-on-one business counseling.  Annual repayment on the micro-loans allows for the reinvestment of funds into more women’s business ventures, making this truly the fund that keeps on investing.” WOW1000.com

But that’s not all that WOW does. It is also a valuable educational resource that helps empower victimized women from circumstance such as human trafficking.

“Texas is a major hub for human trafficking. Twenty five percent of human trafficking victims in the US are in Texas. BiGAUSTIN’s response to this is education and liberation. We work with organizations like the Austin Police Department and others that provide immediate support to women who are rescued from this horrific form of slavery and provide the long-term financial education, business training, and workforce development skills needed to turn their lives around so they can be financially self-sufficient.” Rachel Maimon, BiGAustin.

To me, that is THE powerful “WOW” factor of this incredible foundation and why I am involved! The collaboration between a micro-lending organization like BiGAUSTIN, a network of successful women entrepreneurs helping other women entrepreneurs through WOW1000, and The Austin Police Department – that, my friends, is a very powerful collaboration that is already making a HUGE difference in the community.

Here’s just one of the incredible police officers below that I met at the WOW1000 kick off where I heard such powerful stories shared about human trafficking and young woman that are trapped with no way out.

Austin Police Officer, Gena Curtis, and Deborah Main at the WOW1000 Kick off event.

This FAB-U-LUNCHEON  fashion show today celebrates the graduation of 25 students from the first Austin FAB-University. FAB-University is a program that was launched by BiGAUSTIN this summer to educate and support women who are interested in starting their own business in the fashion industry. (You can read more about FAB-University HERE).

“The overarching theme of the event is women’s empowerment; therefore the room will be filled with a diverse group of partners, sponsors, affiliates, donors, and the clients who benefit from our services. We want people to understand how important the work we do in the community actually is. Austin is defined by its small businesses, and this region would not be as economically prosperous nor would it be as amazing of a place to live without them. We as a community need to recognize that, celebrate it, and support it, so that BiG can help build more businesses and help more people become self-sufficient!” Rachel Maimon, BiGAustin.

I was asked this summer by Rachel to be one of the entrepreneurs to provide training to the students at the first 5-part start-up business series called FAB-University, but unfortunately I was on vacation in August and couldn’t participate. The 5-week course took 20 budding entrepreneurs through the basics of starting a business – sessions on leadership, marketing, e-commerce, finance, and more. The last course was taught by Project Runway contestant and Austin resident Daniel Esquivel, who shared his trials and tribulations that he faced when he first started in the industry.  I am so looking forward to sharing my entrepreneurial start up story with students in future classes, as BiGAUSTIN has been such a huge support in my business life.

One of the reasons I want to win the 2014 Martha Stewart American Made “Audience Choice Award” is because I believe so strongly in small business and entrepreneurship that I want to be able to give back to my community by being an example of an American Made success story.

Thank you to Amy at TWC News for their recent segment on my selection as a finalist in the 2014 Martha Stewart American Made Awards. Please watch the clip HERE.

I want to be an inspiration to other young women wanting to start their own business, to give them hope that they too can do it. It’s through organizations like BiGAustin, and now the Business Success Center (more on that in future posts!) that I am learning and growing as an entrepreneur. I never have had any business training and I want to share all that I have learned with others so young women have the opportunity that I have had to follow their passion in business. It’s through supportive creative communities like Austin and fabulous women initiatives like WOW1000, that we can lift more women entrepreneurs up. I can’t wait to be part of that effort in the next 10 year chapter of Deborah Main Designs! Till then, enjoy the fall weather and please keep voting all the way until October 13th!!  Thank you so much for your support!! XOPG

Note: Photography and opinions my own, except logos and graphics by, with permission from, respective agencies.