Fashion Novice Talking Jesus On the Runway

Preparations are underway for another stop on the WIP the Runway Christian Fashion Show Tour (http://www.TheWIPExperience.com) produced by MAD Management Group. Faith meets fashion on the runway on March 22, 2013 at 8:00PM at Towne Worship Center in Cincinnati, OH for a live-music fashion event.

WIP the Runway is a ministry platform for fashion designers. The garments presented on the runway teach people how not to fall in love with religion, but how to fall in love with Jesus Christ. A cadre of industry professionals and executives and local personalities will walk the event’s grand red carpet.

Corey Jones, Rocket Multimedia CEO and Sony Corporation of America Senior Vice President says, “I’ve seen the models and heard some of the entertainment that will grace the runway. I can tell you this: you’re in for a top-notch show.”

The show will feature one of Greater Cincinnati’s lines created exclusively for the city’s little-tutu-loving divas: Jennifer’s Bows. WIP the Runway’s collection of core designers will showcase Active Faith, a Christian sports apparel brand whose garments have been seen on professional athletes and celebrities like Toronto Raptors’ Landry Fields, Memphis Grizzlies’ Jerome Jordan, Houston Rockets’ “Linsanity”, and Los Angeles Clippers’ Deandre Jordan; Disciple Clothing Co. whose clothes have been worn by Justin Bieber; Warrior Poet Clothier whose line encourages young men to “save the day”; Higher Authority Clothing whose garments influence people to consider God’s offer and the message of Jesus Christ; national Christian retailer C28/Not of This World; Agape Gear an urban outfitter; and Jesus Life who believes that your clothes are an expression of your values.

Lanny Smith, Co-founder of the sports apparel line quietly endorsed by celebrities and professional athletes states, “When I played ball, I knew that I was giving glory to God with my talent. It was in His name that I played. I support WIP the Runway’s platform and its never-ending desire to win souls for Christ through fashion.”

Injuries kept Smith from the NBA so he launched Active Faith with fellow Christian athlete Anthony Tolliver of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“We love God—not religion, and we’re doing just as Jesus Christ has commanded us to do; share the Gospel with the nations,” says Stephanie Gordon, the tour’s Executive Producer. Gordon has solicited the help of churches and faith-based organizations around the world to host a WIP the Runway show.

Towne Worship Center, WIP the Runway: Cincinnati’s host, believes in a church without walls. Tagged as “the most exciting church in Cincinnati”, its mission is to share God’s love and message of hope with the entire city of Cincinnati.   

The WIP the Runway Christian Fashion Show Tour schedule may be viewed at http://www.TheWIPExperience.com. To learn more about the WIP the Runway Christian Fashion Show Tour or any of its related events and services, please call (513) 204-9004.

WIP the Runway at NBA All-Star Weekend

WIP the Runway crossed the paths of a few more prominent entertainment influencers this weekend during NBA All-Star Weekend in Houston, Texas.  One of WIP the Runway’s core designers, Active Faith Clothing, solicited the services of WIP the Runway to plan, cast, choreography, and execute a fashion showcase (featuring the Active Faith brand) at the NBA All-Star Inspirational Celebrity Basketball Game hosted by Windsor Village United Methodist Church.  The celebrity roster was incredible and filled with the likes of Allan Houston, Ray Bady, and James Fortune.

WIP the Runway touched down in Houston at 9AM the day of the celebrity basketball game fashion showcase.  The team had less than 10 hours to cast, choreography, and execute the showcase.  The open casting call began at 12 noon.  Seven models were selected, and choreography with these models began at 3PM.  A garment fitting followed, and the process for rock-star hair and make-up began at 4PM.  Already, the day was jam-packed.  The celebrity basketball game began a few hours later, and the models executed the showcase with their A-game.  The presentation was done with poise and WIP-like attitude.

WIP the Runway’s path eventually led to the world renowned Lakewood Church pastored by Joel Osteen.  The WIP team was invited as Allan Houston’s guests where he talked about family and fatherhood.  Miami Heat’s Dwayne Wade helped lead the panel discussion hosted by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien.  Allan Houston’s foundation, the Allan Houston Legacy Foundation, advocates about the importance of fatherhood.

To top off the weekend, WIP the Runway was given special access to Active Faith’s Faith and Family Event at Second Baptist Church pastored by Dr. Ed Young.  This event presented a panel discussion with NBA and NFL players where they candidly talked about Christ and their lives in sports entertainment.  Grammy winner, Lecrae, gave a 45 minute concert following the panel discussion.

Certainly, it was an honor to be in the company of a top-notch roster of influence, but the most pleasurable thing was the confidence that WIP’s name had been bounced around that entire weekend.  WIP the Runway’s mission is clear: share the Gospel of Jess Christ with every living creature on the face of this Earth.  Connecting with these influencers this weekend just increased the opportunity of completing the mission.

What Happens After Reading An Expert's View on Business Plans

New business; it all starts with an idea.  Theoretically, the idea is tested—on paper.  This paper experiment is better known as a business plan.  A business plan should be inclusive of the warm and fuzzy industry, marketing, and money-making opportunity details.

We’ve been taught that new business ideas cannot grow without a formally written business plan.  Steve Blank, a business plan connoisseur, has drawn some much needed attention to the functionality of a business plan.  After I read Blank’s article titled, No One Wins in Business Plan Competitions, the business plan game changed for me.  Instead of creating a glorified new-idea-for-the-industry how-to pamphlet, I will approach a business script like Steve Blank does.  Steve writes business models.  Not new business initiative story books.

Blank taught me that business models speak to the needs of the customer—not the market.  So, with my new approach to a business plan, I will first consider the real audience: the customer.  Although investors may be the reviewing audience of the formal plan, they are not who the product was created for.  There is a chance that investors will better appreciate a business plan written and illustrated for the consuming audience.  

The most important part of a business model is the bottom line; the way the product will make money.  USA Today supports this perspective in an article that explains the simplicity of the money-making concept.  An investor’s final decision to advance money is based on the believability of the product and the reality that the product will make money and sustain profit and growth.  Investors do not approach new business plans (or models) with a charitable attitude.  Eventually, the investor is going to want their money back.  It is essential that the business plan clearly details how the investment will be repaid.  

So, here are some immediate changes that I’ve considered: (1) illustrate the business model with the consumer in mind.  Don’t submit a storybook; submit a plan that answers the big money question.  (2) Make the needs of the customer crystal clear.   

Understanding the perspectives of business plan gurus and incorporating some of their approaches will identify my business plan as something new and different.  Differentiating my product form the rest will give me a competitive advantage.  Investors like competitive advantages. 

The Real Biz Experts: Business Plan Gurus

Interesting.  I just had an epiphany that makes the true purpose of a business plan abundantly clear.  After reading Steve Blank’s article title No One Wins in Business Plan Competitions, the mad sea of entrepreneurial tools just simplified.  Blank says that, “a business plan is the execution document that large companies write when planning product-line extensions where customer, market and product features are known.”  The operative word here is, “known”.  Certainly, there is prerequisite research entrepreneurs do to understand their market, but the reality is is that is never enough to know what’s to come.  The future for an entrepreneur is still unknown.  Blank’s article was inspired by his very public condemnation of schools that host business plan competitions.  Blank thinks judging these sorts of competitions is a waste of time.  His solution?  Building a business model instead.  Blank says that business models speak to the needs of the customer—not the market.  I like this approach.

Steve Blank has founded a business or two in his time.  E.piphany, his most recent marketing software startup.  His other startup businesses were Zilog and MIPS Computers (two semiconductor companies), and Convergent Technologies.  Convergent Technologies is a workstation company.  Blank’s list of businesses is filled with five additional startups.  Who’s knowledgeable about business plans?  This guy.

Experts are not born.  They are made.  Marshall Mitchell, Co-Founder of Different Drummer, is a dive-in-and-make-it-work entrepreneur.  He’s an expert business plan marker.  What this?  It involves a pitch, an entrepreneur’s first round business plan draft, and a big, fat red Sharpie.  Mitchell’s entrepreneurial leadership styles slap the newbie in the face with common sense.  Mitchell’s expertise scream practicality.  If it plan does not make sense on paper, it will not make sense in real life.  In a one-on-one conversation with him, Mitchell explained that, “Entrepreneurial success cannot simply be achieved.  One has to work their way into success.  Usually, that success never comes from a business plan, anyway.”  Mitchell suggests that formal business plans are purely prepared out of formality; not because the idea is good, but because some corporate know-it-all said entrepreneurs had to make them.  Again, Mitchell’s expertise is another very candid approach to this world of professional risk taking.  I like It.

Mitchell explained that investors don’t want the fluff.  They want to make sure the dollars and cents make sense.  At the end of the day, everyone is digging from the same pot of gold.  Mitchell left me with the question, “How will investors get their dough back?”

Two very strong experts have offered similar approaches and techniques to how to gain the goods from investors.  I’m intrigued by both experts because the approaches are innovative and uncommon.  How else does an entrepreneur expect to get the attention of an investor other than to be uncommon?

  

Faith Meets Fashion on the Runway

The buzz surrounding the first ever Christian Fashion Week in Tampa, Florida is getting louder and gaining more momentum.  Christian Fashion Week recently announced the event’s official sponsor last month.  Since the announcement, ears within the Christian entertainment industry have been tuning in, and they are not breaking loose.  The official sponsor for Christian Fashion Week is Zondervan Publishing.  Zondervan has published the works of more than 1,500 distinguished pastors and influential leaders.

Christian Fashion Week is a platform for sacred and secular designers to rise to the challenge of creating modest fashion for the Christian community without sacrificing modern-day style and fashionable authenticity.  Among the roster of innovative designers is international fashion phenomenon, Franco Montoro.  Montoro is known for his exquisite formal collection. Evelyn Lambert, Julia Chew, and Sandra Hagen top Christian Fashion Week’s roster of top-notch fashion innovation.

One of the absolute most intriguing things about Christian Fashion Week is the hushed controversy that still exists around the event’s swimwear segment.  The Swimwear Fashion Show is for the viewing eyes of ladies, only.  (Don’t worry, gents.  The Christian Fashion Week Crew promises to make fellowship and food available to you during this segment.)  In her blog, Mercury on Design, Elizabeth Mollo showed no mercy about her initial opinion of models in bikinis.  Mollo later admitted, though (a very wise choice so), that the concept of Christian Fashion Week promises to serve a mainstream market craving for relevant fashion entertainment.  

Throughout its marketing efforts, Christian Fashion Week has done a rock-solid job of brand management.  Its daring voyage to merge a secular-based presentation (the swimwear segment) with the sacredly-influenced event theme will prove to be timeless.  Contrary to popular belief, the Christian community is craving to know how to do fashion and how to do it right!  Like WIP the Runway, the Christian fashion show tour, Christian Fashion Week is serving as a trailblazing fashion teacher.

WIP the Runway and Christian Fashion Week are similar in purpose.  Both have a heart for lost souls and both use mainstream fashion and entertainment to capture the attention of the world.  Both dare to challenge the world while sharing Jesus on the runway.  The boldest evangelism move yet.  Look out world.  Once these two (WIP the Runway and Christian Fashion Week) join forces, the fashion and entertainment industries will be changed forever. 

Christian Fashion Week will take place in Tampa, Florida February 8-9, 2013 at the LSA Hall (4810 N. Howard Ave. Tampa, FL 33603).  Additional detail may be found on the event’s homepage.  The WIP the Runway Christian Fashion Show Tour is the place where faith meets fashion on the runway. It is a one-of-a-kind Christian fashion show featuring legit Christian clothing collections and its shows are full of live entertainment.