Hi SOFLY Hearts ❤️ HAPPY 2020!

SO FLY sit-down interview by Taiwon w/ Miracle:

Questions by Taiwon

&

Answers by Miracle

-Taiwon Faulks is [20 years old] a SO FLY 12:30 Master Collaborator, Squad Member and student model since 2015.

-Miracle J Howard is the Founder and Chief Designer of SO FLY, Soul Outreach For Love of Youth since 2010. SO FLY is a mentoring-based brand that connects spirituality and fashion for young people.

Q: What gives you the motivation? You know a lot of times people come and they go, one minute somebody is here for the youth and the next minute they’re gone. What’s the motivation to keep you going and not give up on the youth community?

A: [My motivation is passion.] I’ve wondered if I was doing enough and if I was as close to young people as I was saying. But there are many times where I feel like God let’s me see that I do really care about youth and I’m passionate about this. When I would have a one-time interaction with a youth I would beat myself up. I would question myself. I’d say, if I call myself caring about young people, how could I meet a young person for the first time and never connect with them again. Aren’t I failing that youth? But eventually God would show me that one interaction could be powerful, would be powerful. 

I met a young person for the first time in a Chinese carryout. This was before I started SO FLY. But I had already started a bible-study focus group for teens called Focus Fridayz. This group of teens were all young people I knew, they were nieces and nephews, or children of family friends or a teen that I already had some connection with. So meeting this girl at the carry out was new to me. She was a total stranger to me. But when I saw her she stopped me in my tracks in a sense. I was drawn to her. I walked straight to her and started talking to her. I asked her what her name was and she responded to me. When I first saw her it was something about her that was reaching out and I could see her hurting. It’s when I felt my passion for young people all over again. And the fact that she spoke back to me is when I knew I had something. She was validation that I wanted to work for young people. I could not ignore her. That encounter did something for me. She shook my world. I still see her face. That happened in 2009 and it’s the end of 2019.  

The one-time encounters are cool. I’ve learned to embrace them more. But honestly I like and prefer to have longevity with my young people. I think it’s really important to stick with young people as much as I can for as long as I can. I want our relationships to be rock solid. I want us to build an anchor for each other.

Q: What is your favorite quote from the SO FLY blogsite?

A: “I got souls I ain’t touch yet.” And I’m not saying that because I’m talking to you and you wrote it [inspired by one of our favorite Lecrae songs]. That quote sets a tone and foundation for me. It speaks to who I am and what I’m trying to do [with youth]. There are so many souls [young people] that I’ve been blessed to interact with and they’ve taught me so much. They’ve impacted me. That’s what stands out to me the most with SO FLY… meeting young people and watching them do their thing. You know, how they come to do whatever their thing is; how they struggle [being able to support them] and things like that. It’s about souls and there’s gonna be so many more that I’ll get to meet.

Q: Out of all of the target market audiences you could’ve chosen from and catered to, why did you choose youth as your target audience? 

A: That’s such a good question. I consider youth to be between 13-18/19. It’s the toughest age group to grow and the easiest age group that people want to avoid. That age range is a sensitive time because you’re going through many of life’s emotions and sensitive growth times. It’s a demographic that a lot of people shy away from because as a youth, you’re in your most rebellious phase in life. So it’s hard to try and teach you certain things and guide you because you feel like you got it, or, let me just figure it out. That whole, I don’t need you to tell me what to do type thing. You definitely want to have a balance and learn some things on your own and for yourself. But it’s really not a time to avoid instruction or wisdom [if you want to be smart about it]. I remember learning some things as a teenager and they have stuck with me to this day. That’s how important it is to get that information when you’re younger. Receiving good tips and wisdom can last throughout your lifetime.

Q: Describe your [SO FLY] team with one word. 

A: Let me just jump out there, can I say Ready? Yes, I think ‘ready’. Anytime I have an idea or ‘we should try this’… I never feel alone. The team is always like, yes, let’s do it, or how will we do it. It’s never been nah or they’ve been on the fence about doing something. Always ready to go and support the inspiration I get. We’re also always ready to do our individual parts. They’re ready to take photographs, get friends involved, plan a fun outing, have a focus session with me. We hear and are open with one another. We listen to each other’s insights. We’re very much in tune with what’s going on in each other’s lives. We’re always like, so what’s going on with you? I think that takes a level of readiness. That readiness has led SO FLY to where it is now. 

Q: Would you go back 5 years or forward 10 years?

A: Forward. I said earlier that I would describe the SO FLY team as Ready. I have to be ready for what’s next.

Q: How does working in retail help you with SO FLY 12:30?

A: It keeps me well versed in my fly. It makes my job easier on the fashion side of things. I’m about fashion and clothing with or without working in fashion retail. Because I’m able to work in fashion retail I can touch it [fashion], see it and buy it on a regular basis. Fashion is more accessible to me. I’m well aware of many fashion industry brands. 

I’m not one to spend my money on high brands but I know the brands. My retail work gives me a legitimate fashion voice. 

We know SO FLY is not just about fashion- it’s more about the spiritual piece of how you wear your heart and how you wear your soul. 

But a big part of SO FLY is about physical clothing and recognizing how outfits come together.

So working in retail is really important to me [for now]. I get to see what’s happening in fashion. What brands and designers are coming through the pipelines. There are [major] designers that people don’t know about or overlook and I’m able to sport these designers and I can tell people about that designer.

Q: What is something you want to see different or more from your team in 2020?

A: Ummm I want the team to continue to stay Ready. I’m sticking to that ‘ready’ train here. And I’m glad you’re asking me this question because it speaks to you directly. I want us to be more engaged in sharing what we got, what we know with other youth. I don’t have to try and get every young person I know to come where I am in order to be a part of SO FLY. SO FLY can go to a youth organization or group that already exists. And we can share and exchange our pieces [with each other]. I want the team, I need the team members to be on board with me to give me ideas of, Hey let’s go to my former high school, or there’s a Rec center near me or there’s a youth event happening this summer, let’s see how we can get involved. That’s definitely what I want the team to help me do more of in 2020. I want a greater outreach. 

(Taiwon): Okay- I like that answer.

Q: We all know you got that secret sauce recipe cooking up in your lab. We just don’t know how you do it, but it’s so great. How do you keep the blog simple and chic but powerful at the same time?

A: Well First of all I feel honored to have this question posed this way, I take that as a lot of compliments in one. Speaking of the blogs, one of my topics is, ‘SO FLY Sauce’. A lot of people like that one. They may not have even read that blog post, but they like the title, it’s catchy and it’s a vibe. But when I talked about that topic and what so fly sauce is, I’m saying to my youth that we all have a special flavor to us that God has only given to us [personally]. And it would be to our betterment [advantage] to give that flavor [to the world] and sprinkle it. 

That secret sauce.. Say Your grandmother or auntie has that bomb recipe that everybody wants to know what the ingredients are.Yeah, we can give you some of it but then there’s some of the recipe that you can’t even speak to— for one it’s a secret and for two it’s a mojo to what I’m doing. I can’t put it into words. I can’t give you a step-by-step process… But that means, It speaks to the person’s personality in their craft. So for the blogs, some of it I don’t have to work hard for, it just comes to me. 

Sometimes One thought gives me a message, an art idea, music, and a quote. It just comes together in a way I would put together an outfit to wear. 

But on the other side of it there have been blog weeks that I’m putting together and it was a struggle. Like a job, Some days it’s hard to make your money. And other days it’s easy. You get things done with no problem or with your eyes closed, in a sense. SO FLY is my thing and that’s the reason it all comes together eventually. It’s passion that God has given me and God has put me in a place to own it. I go with what I got [and what I go get]. And thank God it turns out to be pretty saucy. I’m ready to keep going.

Much Love,

From Taiwon and Miracle