Today we’d like to introduce you to Coco Bates.
Hi Coco, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started blogging, unintentionally, when I lived in New York. I began photographing New York’s street fashion and needed a platform to host my photography. I was also in college for fashion then, so I naturally began writing articles about different fashion topics. This eventually led to me being invited and gaining press access to different fashion-related events throughout the city such as New York Fashion Week. The success of me writing fashion articles grew to me writing about beauty, travel, & wellness-related topics.
A few years passed and I decided to move back to Houston. I continued blogging during this time but had a growing desire to use my platform to assist with me creating events to bring women of similar minds together. I went on to host two successful events, one a networking event to teach creative entrepreneurs how to market themselves and the other, a beauty event that hosted Black-owned vendors. After the success of those two events, I decided to host an annual natural hair & culture festival, Blossom & Sol Fest, that was hosted in Austin during SXSW. The event was a huge success. In March of 2022, my team and I decided to have the Blossom & Sol Fest’s new home in Houston. We were able to galvanize an amazing group of attendees, host thought-provoking panels, which included Isis Brantley, had an enormous selection of vendors, and host a variety of wellness-related activities.
When I’m not throwing events or writing articles for my blog, I’m usually creating content for brands. A few years ago, I began to take my social presence on Instagram more seriously and in 2017, I was able to take my first international trip to partner with a hotel in Antigua, Guatemala. Since then, I’ve been partnering with brands in the travel, fashion, and wellness space. Because of my success of landing paid partnerships with brands, I currently teach other creators how to get the same results.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
To be honest, the main obstacles that I’ve faced have all been mental challenges. For a while throughout my career, I had limiting beliefs and hardly ever thought in abundance. I used to struggle as a creative entrepreneur by feeling like I had to fit a niche or adhere to what society thought was acceptable.
Over time, I had shed just about all of the societal norms that I took on to believe as my truth and began to define what “my truths” were. I had to learn that I have the power to create my own reality and whatever I wish to bring forth into the physical realm starts with thought. The thought is then brought to reality by me putting action behind it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a woman of many talents and interests. Some might know me from the annual Blossom & Sol Festival that I’ve hosted for the past few years, others might know me from the travel and fashion content that I create on social media, and a few others might know me for my creative efforts of partnering with Unconventional Spaces by Shellsy Malveaux.
No matter where people know me from they all know that no matter what I create or include myself in, they’re going to get an authentic experience. Everything that I do and create is a reflection of me and people feel that when they come in contact with my presence either online or in person.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I don’t believe in luck, but I’m a firm believer of being in tune with the universal laws. Everything in life is energy and your perception of reality will dictate whether something might be “good luck” or “bad luck”. Also, things that people might perceive as “bad” could be viewed as a learning opportunity. When I’m operating in my heart space and when my actions are of good intention then results that I receive, either in business or personal life, will always be in my favor, even if I don’t understand them at that moment.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.BlossomAndSol.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cocobates_/
