WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

Get to know our muse, Farissa Knox, media mogul,

author and producer of the acclaimed, PR Girl Series.

Farissa wears the best-selling Metropolitan Hoodie for a day on-the-go.

Photography by Alissa Eisemann

7 QUESTIONS WITH FARISSA KNOX

Tell us about yourself? How did you get to where you are today? Deep down, I am just a girl from the Bronx, NY. I grew up straddling being a first generation American daughter with my father being from the Caribbean and on the other hand, being a black woman trying to figure out how to navigate the world around me that I was born into. I got to where I am today because I always knew from a very young age, that I was going to be here. All I knew to do was have goals, work hard and figure all the rest out as I went. A little secret is that in many ways, I am still doing that.

2. What has been a defining moment in your career? What are you most proud of? I think the most defining moment in my career was the moment I made the decision to have ALL the careers I could dream of and desire, all in this one lifetime we are lucky to have. A few years into starting my ad agency, RLM, I started my second company, WhatRUWearing, which is a television + film production company. I’ve built a multi-million dollar agency, created multiple television shows, written a book and have plans for way more- but it started with the idea that I could do all of this, and more, not at the same time, but within this lifetime.

3. What advice do you have for other young women? There are so many nuggets I have collected or figured out along the way, but the most important advice to execute in my day-to-day life is not letting the natural fear that comes with doing big, scary stuff, stop me from doing the big, scary stuff. Feel the fear. Get comfortable in the fear and still do the thing. Eventually, the fear goes away and you get to just concentrate on the task at hand.

4. How do you handle balancing life and motherhood and social pressures? Haha. I have long time ago let go of any social pressures. Fuck all of them! They were either created by people who are not ‘me’ (a woman, black, a wife, a mother, etc.) or by those very groups as measuring sticks- so I say F that! But when it comes to my kids, family and staying true to myself and the businesses I have built, I focus on being with the thing, issue, person, etc. in front of me in that moment. That is how I balance it all- by not trying to hold it all at the same time.

5. How does Fashion impact your work and lifestyle? If you boiled me down to my main ingredient as a human, it would be ‘Creator’. I love the art, process and feeling of creating things. So when I think about fashion, it’s the way I create the feelings and ideas in others of how I want them to feel about me. It’s a way for me to express without having to use my words. I know when I walk down the street in an outfit that makes me feel confident, in charge and beautiful, that is how I will look and feel to others. It’s also fun. It’s so much fun to change with the seasons, locations, moods, weather, tasks on my calendar that day- if Creator is my superpower, Fashion is my cape.

6. What is it about the CK brand that makes it stand out to you? I love both, the woman and the brand. To understand the brand is to truly understand the woman. They are both lovers of art, style, timelessness, femininity and creating moments that take you slightly outside the ordinary in all the best ways. Every CK piece does this and when paired with each other or anything already in my closet, I always wind up making the exact statement I meant to.

7. What are some of your favorite pieces and why? I love the classic button downs they have created over the past couple years. They take a classic and add that CK touch. I also love every dress that flows in that elegant, structured way that CK has mastered. And I love all their jackets, coats and vests- so chic, stylish and actually warm! LOL.

Follow Farissa for More

@farissaknox