Today we’d like to introduce you to Edwige Teko-Folly a.k.a Edwige Amaizo Foltek.
Hi Edwige, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My name is Edwige Teko-Folly also known as Edwige Amaizo Foltek. Amaizo is my maiden name and Foltek is a wordplay of my married name, Teko-Folly.
My love for fashion and visual esthetics started ever since I was a little girl; and as I grew older, I learned to express myself through my sense of style and creativity embarking in different “adventures” or endeavors in different stages of my life.
Truth be told, my dream hasn’t always been to work in the fashion or event industry. Even though I loved dressing up, planning parties, decorating and entertaining family and friends,(After all, I’m my mother’s daughter:-) – I was accustomed to her doing all of the above.) growing up, I had different goals and dreams. (I hold a master’s and MBA in international business and linguistics… go figure:-) ) but as they say… dreams do change.
The slightest idea of actually turning my passion for fashion and creative art into a career began a year after I moved to the United States over two decades ago, from Togo, West Africa where I’m originally from. I had friends and colleagues encouraging me to work either in the fashion or interior design industry, as they believed I have what it takes to become successful in these fields. Long story short, after much thought and consideration, I minored in Arts, and Interior Design in college; and later on, after I successfully planned and designed my own wedding, I took a wedding and event design course and became an accredited event designer. Event planning and Interior Design have become my side hustle as I worked my way up in the corporate world.
In early 2013, the thought of creating a fashion blog started to finally make sense to me. I was on maternity leave with a somehow difficult pregnancy and I was bored to death. I love writing and having a corner on the web, where I can share my passions with the world sounded just about right. The only problem at the time was that, I didn’t want to put myself out there, especially being a pregnant woman, plus I considered myself a perfectionist and I was afraid of the criticisms that I may get.
Nevertheless, I started doing more research on how to create a blog and all that goes into it. I was reading a lot of blogs and taking notes from the ones I love; and in 2014, I officially launched my fashion and lifestyle blog… and I haven’t looked back since.
As an entrepreneur, I wear a lot of hats. I believe in doing what you love and creating and pursuing multiple streams of income.
Today, I’m a full time entrepreneur. I run a relatively successful lifestyle blog, I own a clothing line, and I work full time as a wedding and event designer.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It hasn’t been a smooth journey, but I have learned to enjoy the ride as I made mistakes, learned from them and continued to educate myself and grow my brand.
I’m grateful for the few people that believed in me and supported my dream when I first embarked on this journey in the entrepreneurial world.
While it has been a struggle for me at first to branch out of my community and cater to people other than family and friends, it has been an eye-opener to know that not all the people you thought would support you will actually do believe in you, and your success, and do give you the support you need; and that is okay. It was only when I stopped relying on family and friends to support my business that I actually started seeing my brand take a different direction.
The financial struggle has been reel. Leaving a well-paying career to become a full time entrepreneur and basically relying on one substantial household income isn’t really easy, even when you have savings or some other money coming in from here and there. There is a lot that goes into having and operating a successful business. I didn’t have any investors, so it was just me and my husband doing what we can to pursue a dream that we believed in.
I’m nowhere near where I want to be. We’re taking it one day at a time with our sights on a big future.
Another struggle I faced in my early days as an event planner and designer was not knowing my worth in terms of the services that I provide to my clients and not pricing them accordingly for profit. The events industry is saturated and very competitive; and nowadays, people have grand and expensive taste when it comes to the look and feel they want, but are not always willing to pay the price worthy of that taste and desire.
However, we do appreciate those customers that come around, rely on your expertise, value your work and passion, and trust you to bring their vision of a specific event to reality.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
For a relatively long time, I have had a tough time answering the question: “what do you for a living?”, with just one word. I kid 🙂 but I would say this. I own multiple businesses and I’m an entrepreneur. I consider myself a brand. Before I became a full time luxury events and weddings planner and designer, I’m mostly known as an award-winning fashion and lifestyle blogger and influencer. Over the years, I built an online audience that I proudly call my tribe. I also own a clothing line and online boutique. Meshing the blogging and clothing sides together, I hosted women empowerment events and fashion shows to inspire women to go after their dreams and be their best and bold beautiful selves. I’m constantly evolving and I’m excited to see what the future holds for me.
Some of my proudest moments have been working with and hosting events for brands such as Toyota, Apples Autos Minneapolis, the Twin Cities Boat Show, Target, Intercontinental Hotel Minneapolis, W Minneapolis, the Graduate Hotel, the Umbra Restaurant… and many other local and national brands. I’m currently one of the 2022 brands ambassadors for Fashion Week MN.
While I truly enjoy working with brands on their projects and sharing my passions and lifestyle to an extend with my audience as an influencer and blogger, my biggest satisfaction is hearing from other women how much I inspire them.
Also seeing how happy and satisfied my clients are after designing or styling their weddings and events, is a joy that can’t really be fathomed. It’s literally a rewarding feeling of not only being part of their special day, but also contributing to the success, aesthetic, and experience of those events.
What sets me apart from others is my distinguished eye for aesthetics, my attention to details, and my ability to navigate between both worlds of fashion and decor and to be able to interlock them in my work and brands.
I’m a woman of many talents, especially when it comes to creativity and creative spaces, but I know it’s not always about what I can do, but how I can use those talents to hold the spotlight onto others to shine; and I don’t mind doing that.
What matters most to you?
My family. My family matters most to me. As a believer, faith is obviously a very important part of my life, but my biggest “why” is my family. My ultimate goal and purpose in this world is to live an impactful life, and leave my mark on the world, and for me, it begins with my family and I.
In terms of career or business, I have grown to know that networking is one of the things that matters the most. Networking gives you the chance to actually connect with other like-minded people that may help open doors of opportunities or even to just bounce ideas off one another and have a meaningful and mutually beneficial business and growth relationship.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.hypnozglam.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/hypnozglam | www.Instagram.com/edwigefoltekdesigns | www.Instagram.com/
leffetglamour - Facebook: www.facebook.com/hypnozglam
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/hypnozglam
