DeAnna McClure has always been good at making the most of what’s available. When her high school didn’t offer fashion classes, she took cosmetology and theater arts classes to develop her skills before studying fashion design at Texas Women’s University. When she works with clients through her style platform, DeevaFleet, she helps them make the most of what’s already in their closet. She walks through their wardrobe with them and helps them purchase those gap items that connect the rest of the pieces. At our Clothing Swap this past spring, she helped attendees think through their own personal style to find clothes that would freshen up their wardrobes.
“Sometimes you’re buying the same thing over and over and over because you didn’t realize there’s a gap somewhere else,” she says. To bring the whole look together, she sells style boxes filled with different women’s accessories.
As a mother and a multitasker, she understands the struggle that many women face to establish and maintain their own unique style. “How can I help make this process easier?” she asked herself. Looking at the fashion industry, she saw a gap in the offerings. “A store or a brand has their own style that they’re pushing on a consumer. With an online presence, you’re trying to figure it out yourself. So I really love that in-between space where I’m kinda helping them figure that out,” she explains.
In building and growing her business, she’s found support through Brash, a monthly breakfast for women business owners hosted by three other Impact Guild members, Tramelle, Jordan, and Gabi. Brash is more than just a networking event; it aims to “build community, knowledge, awareness, and wellness so you can handle your business and life.”
“It’s a platform to be honest, like everything doesn’t have to be buttoned up and perfect… We can exchange cards and stuff, but it’s not like ‘Oh, everything is amazing!’ We’re able to say, ‘Okay, this has been a crappy week, but I still want to do this thing called entrepreneurship,’” DeAnna says.
After DeAnna had attended Brash and gotten to know The Impact Guild community, Hallease Narvaez, another member at The Impact Guild, offered to pay for her first month’s membership through Frost Bank’s Opt for Optimism campaign. That investment pushed her to focus on her business full-time. “Them paying that forward really helped, and I made more and more connections being here,” she says.
She can’t even remember when that first month as a member was. It’s all felt like family since day one. “I think The Impact Guild does that well. I think it’s very hard to make an impact without relationship. With a large group, it’s hard to make an impact without community.”
Even in the summertime, when she spends less time working at The Impact Guild and more time with her kids, fellow members reach out to her to check in and see how she’s doing. “I don’t think that could really happen anywhere else.”