Vivian Edoja: Black Voices Project

If you have never met, Vivian Edoja, then I hope these photos and this little interview I did with her will help provide some insight into who she is as a person. She has a great vibe and presence. I'm excited Viv came into the studio and gave me an update on how she's doing and where she's at with life, Parker Louis (her boo), and Julie Mango.

As she juggles a corporate job, family life, and a business, there’s one thing Vivian Edoja is focused on: finding balance.

Vivian Edoja, business owner and creative, first came into the studio in 2021 to talk about the balance between her corporate and creative lives. The previous blog post can be found here.

Julie Mango, Vivian’s store, is a vintage showroom that houses vintage clothing and accessories for models and stylists to pull for projects, as well as vintage clothing, accessories, and home goods available for purchase by the general public. Julie Mango isn’t just a business endeavor, but also a reflection of Vivian’s love for vintage pieces and her desire to share that love with others.

It was wonderful catching up with Vivian the other day and hearing how things have changed since we last talked and her vision for the future. She said the past couple of years haven’t been easy with everything she’s had to balance but has many goals for her growing business. Through all of the ups and downs with the pandemic, corporate life, and having kids, Vivian said her partner is an amazing source of comfort (I seeee you, Parker Louis).

Talk to me a little bit about what you are bringing to 2023 and what you are most looking forward to.

“I had a really rough 2022. So this year, I'm trying to plan less, and just go with the flow a lot more. I had a couple of really huge losses in my family and it just put everything into a different perspective as far as what we do with our time, so 2023, for me is just about having fun with what my goals are, not trying to be too hard on myself. Still setting goals and trying to get places but just enjoying everything.”

How do you keep yourself accountable for overcommitting and find that balance? What’s your process?

“My boyfriend is my best friend, as corny as that sounds, but that's my homie. We are accountability partners and both in each other's lives. We're both creatives and it's easy to just let that go. I've got corporate jobs and kids and stuff, so it's really easy to let those things take over. So having an accountability partner is huge. I've also been really intentional about writing things down. It doesn't matter what it is, I write it down. I keep my planners with me, from what I eat, to where I gotta go. Everything is tracked.”

I love that, Parker Louis, is an accountability partner, what have the two of you done to help keep that balance you’re seeking?

“We actually just had a phone conversation this morning about keeping each other accountable. We're going to do an every Friday check-in. He's a musician, so his goal is to get his music out. He just got signed recently last year, and if he's not producing anything, then obviously that's not going to be a good relationship. So every Friday, we're checking in, he's got to have a song done, written, recorded, and everything. And the way my business is set up is a little different. I've got to see the progress every single month. I've recently moved into The Little Light Collective as a vendor. So just tracking my income, which is weird to say, I hate to have money be a motivator, but it is. So yeah, checking in with him has been something that we're trying to stick to.”

Is there anything else you want us to know? Plans for the future, excitement for 2023, etc?

“I've worked in the corporate world for a long time and have been trying to juggle Julie Mango at the same time. I'm trying to keep a mindset of like, my corporate job is funding Julie Mango, but I really want to take it to another level, so I'm working on shifting. I'm trying to make Julie Mango into a yes type of direction mindset. Hopefully soon, actually, the end of February is my goal to get jobs added here and there and keep Julie Mango pressing forward. If that doesn't happen, refocus, but that's the goal.”

Where can we learn more about Julie Mango?

“I'm on Instagram at Julie Mango Style. I’ve got a website that I'm working on revamping, there is the, The Light Collective, there's everything. If you need a rug, you get a rug, if you need clothes, you can get clothes, and if you need styling services always hit me up. You can hit me up on my Instagram. I check my DMs there or you can submit a form on my website.”

Vivian, thank you for coming into the studio and for sharing your time and energy with me. You are a breath of fresh air and I appreciate you! Everyone, you'll need to check this girl out. She is on FIREEEEEEEEEE.

All photos are taken by Emma Parker Photography.

For more information, please contact Emma at eparker.photo1@gmail.com.

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