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Justina McKee is the famed swimwear fashion brand Matte Collection’s CEO and visionary.McKee grew up in an entrepreneurial household, therefore entrepreneurship has always been a part of her. Her grandmother was a successful businesswoman who gave McKee her first physical location.
McKee created Matte Collection in 2017 with the guiding idea of “for women, by women,” according to Forbes. As CEO, she has led the company on an incredible growth trajectory, expanding into international markets. Not only that, but the brand has been worn by celebrities and influencers all over the world.
Angela Simmons, Tabria Majors, and Achieng Agutu are among the personalities and influencers. They collaborated on their viral Confidence Campaign with Matte Collection. Lori Harvey, Lala Anthony, and Meagan Good have also worked with her.
She has been able to leverage her degree and passion to develop a successful fashion business by leveraging her Instagram following. She accomplished this with her ten years of concept creation and design skills. As a result, she has carved out a niche for herself in terms of how to target brand audiences and sustain organic, quick growth.
McKee said she was inspired to pursue her current career because of young black girls who look like her. “I wanted them to see that no matter your circumstances or what you’ve been through, you can achieve your dreams like everyone else. We can reach those heights despite those things,” she told Forbes.
Starting a fashion house did not come easy for McKee. According to her, one of her biggest challenges was managing growth, a common challenge early-stage entrepreneurs face.
“Many early entrepreneurs struggle with wanting everything to be perfect from the start and giving up too quickly if they are not seeing progress. You just have to push through,” she added.
Matte Collection isn’t McKee’s first business, but she says the experience has taught her not to be scared to throw out what doesn’t work. Applying these essential entrepreneurship principles has helped her recognize and focus down what works. She amplified what worked and applied it to Matte Collection’s procedures after identifying what worked.
Despite her enormous success thus far, McKee believes there is still opportunity for improvement. She aspires for her company to become a household swimsuit brand in which every woman may see herself reflected.
“I want to take this straight to the top,” she said.
