“I love knowing that because I have geared my focus towards something that I love, I am planting seeds of fearlessness.” Christina Foster is the owner and founder of NUDE | Silk, an LA based brand for the Plus Size Sexy TomBoy. Though she’s overcome many of life’s obstacles, she continues to grow and thrive as an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur since middle school and growing up in South Central L.A., Foster has always had a business venture going. Read her interview on shattering glass ceilings and taking the leap toward success:
What do you see when you look in the mirror?
When I look in the mirror I see someone who has purpose; who’s life is meant to encourage and inspire other people, especially those who come from the same place I come from. I see someone who has purposefully lead a life to beat the stereotypes placed on black and brown people in order to be recognized as a beacon of hope. I see the beauty of my character before I see the beauty of my appearance because I know my character is what will leave an imprint. I see that I am worthy of manifesting whatever I decide.
Tell us about your business ventures?
I’ve been involved in some type of business since I was in middle school; as young as ten or eleven. Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, a black woman’s hair has always been a big deal. So my first business venture was braiding and styling hair. I styled hair until the day I stepped into corporate America and put my degree to use at a non profit organization that focused on children. During that time I also stepped into seeing my ability to do make up as another business venture. And now I am here in what I would consider my favorite venture of them all, establishing my brand NUDE | Silk. With my brand I want to incorporate my love for style and make up.
Any big projects coming in the future?
Honestly, everything I do in relation to NUDE | Silk, I like to consider a big project because of how much time, effort, and dedication I put into the brand. But if I have to pin point a few things it would have to be releasing NUDE | Silk.’s first tea at the end of summer/ beginning of fall. Another big project is a pop up shop for next spring which I will be hosting with other up and coming brands in South Central Los Angeles.
What do you most love about what you do?
I love knowing that because I have geared my focus towards something that I love, I am planting seeds of fearlessness. Only good can come out of doing what I love most. And I say this because even in the case if NUDE | Silk. does not become this big well known brand I can still take pride in knowing that it was well known by me. I had a vision and I made my vision come to life. I made these ideas in my head tangible which ends the why’s and why nots and allows me to go to sleep at night knowing I tried and put my best foot forward. I love how I am learning myself and empowering myself through doing what I love which encourages others to do the same.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
10 years from now I will be fully indulged in NUDE | Silk. having the best of both worlds of being a mogul/ designer & wife and mother. I also want to be a mother in this present time, and when I say mother I say this in the context of helping birth the next generation and contributing to their ability to recognize their own vision and bring it to life. In the next ten years I see myself still being me just at knew heights, well connected, and an added example to generational wealth.
Do you have any tips for women in business?
• Know what you want
• Say what you want
• Show up and get what you want
Because I grew in LA, there is just this essence of being a solid individual that is instilled in the people, I can not say that everyone lives by this, but what I will say that this essence is undeniable. What keeps me being a solid individual is because I live by those three things which means convincing me to do or be of something that does not align with these three things is really hard. Being solid means knowing what you want, saying what you want, showing up and getting what you want; can’t go wrong with doing that because it just simply means staying true to yourself.
How do you hope to empower women or is there an imprint you’d like to leave?
I hope to empower women through my transparency of not hiding where I come from and knowing where I am going. I hope to empower women through my actions of support; I never want to be the individual who speaks these things but is never available for a coffee run and good conversation about elevation. An imprint that I would like to leave is that in reaching different levels of success being accessible to inspire, motivate, and teach is important. Leaving this type of imprint to me means fulling a purpose.
What do you think your ultimate purpose in life is?
My purpose in this life is to enable others to shine their light. I have never been shy about my own personal gifts/ talents so I never felt that my purpose was solely about me and my abilities. I’ve always feel this feeling of fulfillment whenever I can offer people a piece of information they didn’t know about because I know I played apart in getting them closer to what they want to accomplish. My purpose is bigger than me, my purpose is to be a major contributor to a generation.
How do you think we, together, can help women gain confidence and reach their fullest potential?
The I’m Loving Me Project is doing something so beautiful by wanting to inspire, motivate, and teach. This aligns with the same thing I want to do. I believe in individuals joining together to influence on larger scales and I believe joining forces with you on whatever scale will even give me a helping hand in walking into my purpose. Both your organization and I are not afraid to reach out to people by beginning a dialog. These dialogs can take place in all sorts of places, but if I had to pinpoint a particular group it would have to be middle and high school age girls. Because it is during these ages when we start to envision the type of women we want to become. I also stepping onto college campuses I feel is also an amazing way to reach women.
