Today we’d like to introduce you to Tony Leal
Hi Tony, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Ever since I can remeber, I’ve been interested in fashion. It was always friends and family who would come to me for advice as to what to wear to a certain event or how to wear a certain piece of clothing. That’s when I decided to start posting “outfit inspos” to my social media around 2018, and after doing it for a couple of years and seeing it not really take off I was about to call It quits, when I receive an email that changed my whole outlook. A major retail brand reached out with an amazing opportunity. The goal was to create a style community of people around the US that had a common interest in fashion. I worked with this brand for 3 years and had the opportunity to travel to Miami, New York and Columbus, OH. I was featured in campaigns and was lucky enough to be in a billboard on the iconic Times Square in New York City. I met wonderful people and created lifetime bonds with content creators from all over the US. Today, I’m currently, working on growing my reach with people who have a common interest and building a network community. I still post my “Outfit Inspos of the day” whether it’s going to grab coffee, or going out to dinner with friends, I feel like someone out there benefits from those videos.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There’s definitely some challenges on how to get yourself out there and how to create and how to build an interaction with people. How are you going to hook or get people interested in what you have to say. What really helps is when someone recommends you or receiving a simple DM asking where you purchased a certain piece of clothing or asking for a recommendation, it really feels like your work is appreciated and noticed.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in styling menswear, I’ve done it online for people who reach out to me via Instagram @t0ners, how I go about is, I’ll ask them what is their personal style and work from there. Build a couple of outfits and send them to the client for review and then they can go ahead and purchase the clothing pieces that they’ve decided on. I’m most proud of my growth and the confidence that’s come with it, and staying true to your personal style is what sets you apart from others and people can see that.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Aside from fashion, photography has been something I’ve been passinote about . In 2019 I started a photography business, that took off very well, I had an established a clientele and I was growing in skills, I was about to take a photography course to better my skills, but when covid hit in 2020 it all came to a halt. That’s when in 2021 I had the opportunity to work with the brand and photography became a hobby that I would occasionally go back to. I still do photoshoots and find that I could go back to it, whenever I decide it’s the right time.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @t0ners
