PROJECT FUNWAY
Project Runway winner Erin Robertson sells serious fun with her spirit of "What's the worst that can happen?".
BOSTON MA
I’d just set up the Mobile Incubator in downtown Boston for the summer. I’d been planning out who I would interview for this “podcast idea” that I had. I was walking out of a party and bumped into Erin Robertson. I recognized the Project Runway winner from her tall chunky heels and the puffiest purple dress I’d ever seen.
I asked her if she’d like to be interviewed for my podcast.
She replied, “Is it like an IRL thing?”
“Yep.” I said, “Exactly.”
Erin Robertson is an incredibly cohesive creator from an unlikely place. Today you know her as the winner of Project Runway Season 15 and the coveted Teen Vogue scholarship, but her humble beginning in rural Utah is what inspired me the most.
“A lot of people in Utah sew. But the vibe was more housewife style, more like Home Ec. I was into art and fashion but there wasn’t a community for that at all. Or even the idea that you could go to art school.”
Erin moved away from Utah to take a job as a dental assistant in Boston. It was a practical move for a young girl whe’d never been introduced to art school.
“My mom was always like ‘Make sure you have a job where you can take care of yourself. Don’t rely on anyone to support you. “ And I was like ‘I need to make sure I have a job where I make money. I can’t be an artist. That’s not reliable.’ It wasn’t until I went to Boston and discovered people who do art as a living. And I was like “Wow, it exists!”
Erin worked hard, saved up and applied to MassArt for a BFA. She heard about a prestigious scholarship from the Fashion Council of America, the scholarship was so competitive, that they offer only one scholarship to one student each year. The odds were against Erin, who’d never even put together a croquis, a fashion portfolio. The way Erin went about applying left no room for misinterpretation.
“I just looked at all the details and I saw that everything matters… They had examples of previous winners… There are bare minimums that you do but I’m like ’m gonna do hair and makeup and nail art and handbags and make a box inside of a box… Then I laser etched their logos (“Target” and “Teen Vogue” ) on the box… I wanted them to know that this was made specifically for them, not as an after thought.”
Erin is no stranger to thinking cohesively, and that mindset is what it takes to pitch your ideas, to sell a product, or to get an opportunity. Thousands of people apply to be in Project Runway and only 16 get in, and the interview process includes a 600 question psychiatric exam. Erin’s entry into Project Runway and the way she won it, can’t be explained by luck. She thinks cohesively about what she’s doing because she know that’s what her audience wants.
“If you have money, you can buy anything you want. At a certain point you want to buy something with a story, or a mission, or something new to it.“
For some of us, the one thing that keeps holding us back from selling our creations is that we’re afraid of hearing no. When I asked Erin how she dared to apply herself to huge things over and over, often with no prior experience, she simply replied:
“What’s the worst thing that could happen?.”
PODCAST
PROJECT RUNWAY FINALE
DISCUSSION
When we ask for help, for sales, for involvement, for press, or whatever resource you need, we often dwell on the worst possible outcomes. So let’s get it off our chest.
Q: When you sell your creation, what’s the worst thing that could happen?
It’s good to plan for different responses to your ask, so you’re prepared. Yet you also need to stay loose and personal. Often when we go to ask for help or sell our creations, we can become overly structured, sort of robotic, and dry. Erin knows how to stay quirky even when she’s making a cohesive ask.
Q: How can your ask be quirky and authentic?