The statistics will tell you, not many are able to keep at their business venture going for five years, much less 15! Marie Denee has! The brainchild behind ever growing media platform, The Curvy Fashionista, Marie has been an advocate, a resource and a champion for the plus-size community since very early in the blog era. She’s grown the platform into one of the biggest niche publications in the country and she’s just starting to get her footing in this dynamic digital media landscape. Our Marie Denee interview gives us an opportunity to discuss the pursuit of passion, belonging in this space and thriving in your purpose. Dive into it.
I met Ms. Marie Denee earlier this year when we both participated in the Black Owned Media Equitability & Sustainability Institute (BOMESI) accelerator. While all of us at the table had thriving media platforms, Marie had a call to action that she was inherently grounded in. She stood on business and had the numbers to back up her need to support, uphold and advocate for the plus-size community. She didn’t just talk the talk though, she had been doing the work with her engaging and developed brand.
This December, The Curvy Fashionista will celebrate their 15 year anniversary, and for Marie, this is an opportunity to step back and revel in what she’s accomplished. She’s continuing to do the work, navigating the space as an esteemed boss. There’s beauty in the story, figuring it out without mentors, learning as you create, discovering potential as you build. That’s what makes the milestones even more remarkable, and the story that much more engaging.
Still, there’s lessons learned, realizations, and invaluable advice that comes with it. Here’s her opportunity to share some of that. The Parlé Mag Marie Denee interview…
Parlé Mag: Alright, for those that don’t know you. Just quickly, introduce yourself your brand.
Marie Denee: I’m the founder and creator of The Curvy Fashionista. The Curvy Fashionista is a plus-size lifestyle, digital publication for the 67% of women in the US who are size 14 and higher. We deliver the latest news, trends, updates, where to shop, who to get it from, all as it pertains to the plus size for.
Parlé Mag: How long ago, did you start the brand?
Marie Denee: We started as a blog in 2008. So this year we are actually—in December actually, we will be celebrating 15 years!
That’s kind of insane.
Parlé Mag: Why did you start TCF? Talk to me about the inspiration behind it, and what made you want to do it?
Marie Denee: Initially I started TCF because I wanted to open up a boutique. I wanted to open up a plus-size boutique catering to the latest in contemporary plus size fashion. I had just finished my MBA in marketing. I was a very big nerd in retail and marketing. So when those two worlds combined, I was like, OK, well, let me apply it to my life, like, how does this work? Blogs were just being introduced, back then they were called web logs. I was thinking about using TCF as a marketing tool, however I couldn’t do both and TCF was taking off more. I had my online boutique for like a season—like six months maybe, but I had to close it because I couldn’t juggle both. I went full time TCF since 2009. Since then, we’ve evolved and grown. Now we are a digital media platform and you know, the core, the essence of who we are and why we started stays the same.
Parlé Mag: Is the long term goal to go back to creating this storefront or something like that.
Marie Denee: I don’t know. I honestly, that’s a very valid question. I don’t know If I’ve even thought that far or thought about it like that. I think for me, maybe I would, but like it probably wouldn’t be TCF related. I’d probably go back to like something that was more me related, like something that I would be more interested in. But that would be after I’ve exited TCF. Like that’s like a down the road kind of idea, dream type of situation.
Parlé Mag: So, let’s talk about you. Before TCF, before this brand, what were you doing? What was motivating you? What was inspiring you? Who were you at that point?
Marie Denee: I had just graduated from undergrad, and I had moved up to the Bay Area, so I was working at Bloomingdale’s. And I lived in South San Francisco, eventually moved over to Oakland and I started realizing, especially being on the sales floor. Folks were asking, like, hey, ‘where can we get what you’re wearing?’ or ‘where can I find this in my size?’ That’s when I recognized like there’s a missing key here. For me, my passion has always been like I loved being in the dressing rooms. Because that’s where a lot of women like you know, I notice how personal it is. Like, that’s where they’re evaluating themselves. That’s where they’re assigning or ascribing value to themselves. Like for me, I wanted to help with that. I wanted to be of service in that way. So sales for me, retail sales was like my jam. There have been times even more recently, where brands have had me helping out at a store like for an event, and you would literally find me in the dressing rooms. I would just naturally gravitate back there. Being able to help women find what they’re looking for, to feel good in what they’re looking for, and to achieve what they’re looking for has always been a goal of mine. Like you know, that’s what gets me happy. Gets me going.
Let’s see, I started working, I think at 16. And so, I’ve been in retail since then. So whether it was like for Nike, Express, Bloomingdale’s, like that has been my background. And so for me this is like a natural segue into that. I come at it from both a lived and nerdy kind of approach to it. I embrace that. I embrace it.
Parlé Mag: Talk to me about just the process of creating it. Like you said, in 2008, totally different time in media and the web and everything. So what was the hardest thing about launching?
Marie Denee: I think it was literally just taking that leap of faith because I actually had created the page for it, but it took me forever to have like the nerve to just do it. And I remember I was on blogspot back in the day. That’s where I started, and I actually had the nerve, the audacity to start on Christmas Day! Because at that time I was living in the Bay and I couldn’t go home for Christmas because I had to be back for day after Christmas in retail, so I couldn’t leave and go home like. So for me, I was like, you know what, let’s go.
So you know, funnily enough, my business is a Capricorn.
Parlé Mag: So you launch… what have been some of the lessons? You know with any business you have to pivot, and pivot again. So what have been some of the lessons you’ve learned in this journey along the way?
Marie Denee: You know, the last three years have been some of my biggest life lessons because I realize the importance of therapy, as an entrepreneur, like your personal kind of traumas and everything like that, like get exposed or the nerves get touched in every single facet because you’re constantly—you don’t have an umbrella to hide under like when you’re working for another company. It’s yours and yours alone, and you are now responsible. Like mistakes for me are lessons, and learning how to trust your intuition and your gut. Because it’s so easy to get swayed or to get pulled in different directions. But oftentimes you’re intuition and your gut is not gonna let you down. And so learning how to trust your first mind right? Your first mind is your right mind, and sometimes having to do that is going to be pushed back against other people, so you have to also have that courage to do that. I didn’t have that courage. I wouldn’t, you know, push back or I’d be afraid or I’d like, accommodate. Right. And that’s not always—that doesn’t always serve, you know, or serve the betterment of the business or the brand. So for me it was really about that. It’s about learning how to recognize my confidence, recognize myself because I got so comfortable sitting behind the scenes, writing about others like, you know, being a fly on the wall, on social media. I had no interest in being an influencer! For me, what really brought me joy was like writing about talking, you know, like highlighting. Things have shifted now, like I recognize that I need to become the ambassador of my business. What does that look?
Like so, now I’m able to ask myself these questions. And really kind of find that definition for myself. So I would say the biggest lesson is get therapy, and get therapy early, as quick as you can. OK one.
You know, make sure that you honor your intuition and your gut, because those decisions, like you know what’s best like, you know all the intricacies and I think really importantly is like have a bookkeeper and accountant, but also learn how to build and use your money in A way that’s like apropos for your business so.
For example, for me, like I didn’t understand that—I had been creating content to create revenue, instead I should have been creating revenue to create content, because we’ve been so passion focused. I hadn’t been so business focused and it [passion] can only take you so far. And I’ve learned that that is not like the best way to go. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve been late on invoices. I’ve had to like rob Peter to pay Paul. You really learn what you’re made out of, because when your backs against the wall, like that’s when you become resourceful and you have to figure things out like so, you know, making sure you understand, like, how to set up your business outside of your passion of it. Right. So for me, being a media publisher what business elements do I need to be aware of, pay attention to, and be mindful of because those are the elements, those are the levers that are gonna impact, push, challenge you with your business. These aren’t the things that people talk about, cause this stuff ain’t sexy, but it is foundational and it’s needed, right? You don’t really get a chance to kind of talk about or even recognize or realize that you need these tools until something hits the fan.
Parlé Mag: Right, right. You talked about so many things there. But I want to go back to having to be the influencer, right? Like and yeah, like you said, 2008—I started this in 2004, so I can relate, like it didn’t really switch until maybe 2013, 2014, 2015.
Marie Denee: When people started making money from it!
Parlé Mag: Right. At first it was just. I just want my my Twitter to pop right like and that was no. But now you need everything you need to BE the brand. So how has that transition been for you in terms of making Marie the brand?
Marie Denee: So, it’s not making me the brand. I’m becoming the ambassador of my brand, which is a little bit different, right? So I’m kind of like the spokesperson, so to speak. For me, I’m still trying to navigate and figure out what that’s gonna look like. Now that I have a managing editor like she’s challenging me to write more think pieces. More op-ed type of, l around the business of plus, around the community, around the industry. So that I have my voice and it’s distinguishable from the brand. You know what I’m saying? Where it kind of complements, so people know that TCF was created by Marie Denee, but Marie Denee is not The Curvy Fashionista. That’s the difference. And so, I’m still navigating and allowing my self the space to figure out how do I want to show up? What do I want to say? How do I want to say it? You know, like how much of myself, do I want to give?
And that’s the funny challenge. I’m a Virgo, so by nature I’m like, naturally kind of private. I’m also Capricorn Moon, so I’m ambitious as hell, so it’s like I kind of have to straddle and figure out what that looks like and feels like for me. I’m allowing myself the space to do so by also, you know, firstly just being transparent about it, like, OK I’m gonna try. You may see me on LinkedIn a little bit more sharing thoughts or feelings or excitements or whatever. It’s just how to share, and what I want to share and what’s the intention, you know.
Parlé Mag: Right, right. So you mentioned that you’re not The Curvy Fashionista, who is the curvy fashionista in your your?
Marie Denee: The Curvy Fashionista is your in the know girlfriend, right? She’s the one who’s telling you where to go, how to get it, who’s doing what, who’s giving advice, sharing feedback, sharing opinions and thoughts. It’s really about a community. Honestly, it’s the community that we’ve built over these years that really speak to the needs and the concerns of the plus-size community and The Curvy Fashionista plays a role in sharing that information, being of resource and of service to the community.
Parlé Mag: I always, even when I talk to artists, success looks different for everyone, right? So for you, I want you to start with what success, what you thought success would have looked like in 2008. And then I’ll follow up.
Marie Denee: I don’t even think I even ever had that question for me. Or had that thought because I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea that this was going to be something. I had no idea that this was an actuality. No idea whatsoever. It’s funny to see how it’s evolved. It’s just like for me, what success looks like is peace. That’s today. What my definition of success in the past? Probably been like, you know, being featured everywhere, being billboarded everywhere. I definitely do appreciate, and would like the recognition or the acknowledgement, but, right now, it’s like peace, you know, and what does peace look like for me? You know, being able to pay my bills, being able to go on a vacation like, hence the backdrop. I haven’t had a vacation in forever! I don’t know what a vacation looks like, but I can imagine one. So it’s like I have to allow myself those spaces to move more confidently to navigate a little bit more—Like, that’s what peace you know, like, I don’t have to be checking and wondering. It’s already been planned out. It’s, you know, there’s a method to the madness and I don’t feel insecure about it. I’m not questioning, I’m just going with it. That is what success looks like for me.
Present day?
Present day. I know you didn’t ask present day, but I never even sat down to define what success would look like back in 2008, 2009.
Parlé Mag: You know and that’s the struggle being entrepreneurs who don’t have other entrepreneurs, right, like you, you are modeling this for yourself, which can be very, very hard. Not even knowing what to expect and where the goals move.
Marie Denee: Or even just where to look when you’re searching for a specific thing that you’re having problems with, right? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve searched online media, Digital media and have come up with [results] for book publishing, come with the social media. I’m like these things are not related! This is not what I’m looking for. That’s not what I’m needing help with. So it’s taken a lot longer to find the resources to grow how I need to. And now, like I can look back and be like, that’s where I went wrong. ‘Ohh this is where you missed the mark.’ Now that I know in hindsight right now that I’ve gotten some education or resources that I needed, I can pinpoint, ‘Ohh that’s where you went wrong.’ You should have spoke up and called this out sooner.
Parlé Mag: Right, right.
Marie Denee: Oh, and now I remember my other point.
Own, protect and celebrate yourself. Own your power. Don’t give that away because there’s so many circumstances—that was me! I gave a lot of my power away.
But in my head, I didn’t understand, I was probably dealing with a lot Imposter syndrome. I dealt with a lot of feeling like I needed to make myself smaller. And no one had did that to me, I just was innately like, ‘ohh, I feel like I’m just getting started.’ You know when? Meanwhile, I’ve been around for like 10 years at the time. I’m like, ‘no girl, you were not just getting started. You were building on what you have! So, don’t give away your power. Like own it and and celebrate yourself. And for me, like I never stopped and celebrated the smaller things, thinking that oh I can only celebrate when I have this bigger thing. But the problem with that is that it makes it harder to track and realize how far you’ve come and what you’ve done. If I don’t know that I’ve crawled how would I know to celebrate that I’m walking?
Parlé Mag: True, true.
Marie Denee: So in this journey like I’ve had to like, go back and be like: ‘You did that girl!’
Like, oh, that’s important. And call these things out because especially when you’ve been doing it for so long, some things just blurred together.
Parlé Mag: Right.
Marie Denee: So celebrate yourself!
Parlé Mag: I just wanna make sure I’m not missing anything, and I don’t want to put words in your mouth. Have there been people who’ve taken advantage? Have there been people who—
Marie Denee: I mean, it’s business, right? It’s business, so even in the in the plus-size space, they have been brands that you have to push back from. Or that you’re like, no, I’m not working, I’m not featuring them, I’m not talking about them.
They’ll be brands that have said, ‘we want you to do 1-234-567-8910. And here’s $100. You have to learn how to advocate for yourself and do it in a way where you’re still respectful. It’s learning all of the relationship pieces because that is like what’s literally key, like, you’re gonna have—and I think sometimes that’s where people kind of get messed mixed up. Yes, this may be your dream and passion, but it’s still business. And you still have to conduct yourself as such. Even for myself, this has been a passion of mine for so long. But now I have to catch myself and be like, let me go read. I’ve got books that I’m reading just to better understand like where I’m going.
For me, this year has really been about foundation and really, understanding the foundation of what’s needed for my business to succeed and grow.
Parlé Mag: You talk about, you know, celebrating those successes, talk to me about some of the high points for TCF and some of the milestones you accomplish.
Marie Denee: We got into the BOMESI accelerator program, which put me in network and helped me create an ecosystem for other publishers that I didn’t even know that existed, right? Like I had no idea what I was building, what I had built, what it had meant to what I had built! I didn’t know those things. I didn’t know there was an official name for what we were called. Like, ‘OK, I’m a media publisher!’ This is cool. OK, now what? You know what I mean. Now what? And so, like that has been a huge milestone because it gave me something concrete that I could define and it was like, okay, this is what I am.
And two, you know, coming with a grant like that was extremely helpful. But also like I find myself feeling full with gratitude, because I’ve gotten mentors. I’ve gotten colleagues, friends that have come out of this this program that now I can when I’m having challenges or I have an event, or I just need help navigating through, I can reach out to my folks. That is a blessing for me, because I didn’t have that very much before.
Last year was probably one of my roughest years ever. I had a business deal that I had been navigating for 10 months and at the at the 10th month they were like, ‘ohh the economy.’
And I’m like, ‘you had me on hold.’ However, you know I’m grateful that I made the pivot from blog to media platform to media publisher, because this has expanded our capabilities, it’s opened me up for additional capabilities that I didn’t know about.
So, this year has been really transformational for me. I held my first event in California in over 10 years. That was great. It was a full house. It was a brunch. It was fun. The energy was positive, like I was so nervous going into this event because I hadn’t held an event in LA in a long time. And so I wasn’t sure, like, who was gonna come out, what folks, you know, like, I wasn’t sure what to expect. And I was so grateful that I did. And that’s where I really found my confidence!
When I think about other milestones like we had a Expo for five years, we did two cruises. I think about like, OK, well, I wouldn’t do a cruise again because like I don’t like how they handled the cruise stuff during the pandemic. But I would like to do something destination wise to make it real, you know, make it enjoyable. But, I think personally you know, the fact that I’m still going, it is a milestone for me. I could have quit so many times. I could have hung it up, but I’m still here. I’m still going! That is something to celebrate for myself.
In 2018, it was really exciting cause I was one of the Root 100, and that was surprising and exciting. On the same list as Beyoncé! Like that was exciting and then I’ve gotten a couple of awards since then that have really acknowledged and recognized me for what I’ve been doing.
It’s been a hilarious kind of journey ride for me because I used to live in Georgia. I’ve moved back home to California. I really missed my family. I’m an auntie! They are my babies. They’re also like my milestones… being an auntie. My eldest nephew is 13 years old. Like, that’s my Boo. That’s my baby. And he’s taller than me and I’m like, whoa! Like this is crazy!!!
You know, some of the things that like really get me excited, really that have been milestones kind of run the gamut for me, and they all mean different things for different reasons.
Parlé Mag: What are you hoping for? For the brand? I don’t even want to go too far. Let’s just say for 2024, what are you hoping for the brand and for yourself?
Marie Denee: Because of this accelerator, I was just in, it helped me unlock a new revenue stream, and so I’ve been working on putting in all the pieces to start that up, kick that off. I also have some scale and growth goals that I want to make sure that we hit for next year. So I’m doing a lot of planning for that. And continuing to grow my team, to regrow cause last year was so impactful. And it was kind of like the universe went shoot you’re just gonna wipe off the table of things that don’t need to be here. That was probably the most simplified way of looking at things. So going into ‘24, it’s like a lot of planning and preparation and having the levers there, having the you know, like sky is the limit, but you know, for me, I’m also like, you know, trying not to over plan, where I can’t kind of enjoy the journey. But for me, what’s really important is being able to get some events back on the table. And really build out our editorial team.
Parlé Mag: Consent wise? Is there a struggle? Are you dealing with any of that SEO with stuff? Any other struggles?
Marie Denee: I have been impacted with SEO stuff since 2017. OK, so I’m still trying to navigate that Panda update, OK! Between Panda and Facebook changing their algorithms, amazingly crazy, like around the same year. That devastated me, but the fact that, like, you know, I’ve been able to claw back and like it hasn’t taken me out. Amen to that! Like, I’m grateful for that. That’s just from an SEO space.
I’m constantly having to tend to my older content, and you know, no-index or update or revise or, you know, making sure like the old stuff—it may not be relevant, but it’s still important and I need to classify it as such so that I don’t get dinged because I had been getting dinged so I don’t want to get dinged on older content, that doesn’t make any sense!
So that’s just SEO I think… From a tech standpoint, I’m understanding, I’m learning and trying to understand the world of direct versus programmatic ads, and really trying to learn how to make the most and the best of it, because that is really going to be a fun space to play in for me, and now I have to learn like I don’t have to learn it all. But I need to have a better understanding to make it easier for myself and my team. So those are probably the two biggest. Cause like I said earlier, I need to become the ambassador, so that means I need to go to conferences. I haven’t been to a conference in a very long time, and most of the conferences I’ve been to have been more fashion centered. So now to go to conferences, and it’s like more tech or the business of media or the business of publishing. That’s exciting. That’s curious!
And so now, I kind of am perusing what conferences I should be looking at. You know, and how to budget for that, and different things like that.
Parlé Mag: You’ve already shared so much, but it sounds like really over the last year you’ve gone from Blogger/ content creator to now business publisher, entrepreneur in that role—what’s something that you wish you knew in 2008, 2009?
Marie Denee: I wish I knew the mindset to approach things in. But I’m also grateful that I had the mindset that I did because it was really about serving, about community, not about dollar, dollar, dollar.
But I wish I would have known, once I started recognizing this shift, that I started to shift too! Because it would have taken me out of my feelings and I would have been able to approach things from a business perspective rather than from like, ‘I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my sh*t’ perspective. Like those are two different perspectives, right? And can get people caught up sometimes—and I think for me because I was like dealing with abandonment issues, people pleasing, trauma, low self-worth and no boundaries, that created the perfect mix for me to not move in purpose, but to move in a space out of insecurity, versus a space of confidence and self-assuredness. I think it’s really about understanding the business or taking the steps to understand the business. Recognizing that I was a tech enabled business sooner. Because I would have raised capital sooner had I known exactly all the things that we’re doing.
But I don’t tend to move in a woulda, coulda, shoulda because everything happens on purpose and not by accident. It’s by design, so I needed to learn all these lessons. I needed to learn all of these things to apply, to improve, to grow, to continue on and to build.
Parlé Mag: 15 years from now, you’re 15 years in, 15 years from now. What is your legacy and what’s the legacy of The Curvy Fashionista?
Marie Denee: I don’t even know if I thought 15 years out, Sir. Like real talk! I have not even thought five years out, like I’m currently planning the five-year game plan. So, I couldn’t even begin to even say like for me it’s still wanting TCF to be that resource and for her to continually adapt to the changing digital space, right? That adaptability has been one that has served us. It served me to be able to continue to provide information, resources to our community.
15 years from now, I have no idea.
Parlé Mag: But, what about you? Where do you see yourself?
Marie Denee: I’d like to have a family of my own. I may have exited. I may be in my second, second wind second passion or overarching passion. I may have unlocked something through this journey that’s like, that’s what I want to focus on now, who knows?
But I’ve learned not to be so married and so defined as to like what needs to happen, and how it should happen because things can change just like that!
Parlé Mag: Finally, what advice would you have for someone who wants to come into this space or a similar space—media is so tricky, but what advice?
Marie Denee: Have a game plan. Know what problem you’re solving or what resource you’re providing. And find your why and stick to it. It’s not easy! It’s so easy to get distracted. It’s so easy to look at what so and so has what’s so and so has, what you think you need. When you deviate from your why, you start creating roadblocks and creating detours onto your purpose and your path.
I think it’s really important that you define that, because if you don’t honor that, it’s kind of like you end up throwing everything back, throwing everything back in the water that you just collected because you’ve been all over the place, and not focused on why you got started in the first place. So, find your why and stick to it.
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