Meet Sharon O’Donnell | Fashion Show & Event Producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sharon O’Donnell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharon, how do you think about risk?
It’s never going to be the right time to quit your job and start a business. When your rent bill, phone bill, utility bill, credit card bill all come due, it doesn’t seem practical to choose to invest in yourself. When you subscribe to what society idealizes as success, you become trapped in this “matrix” and convince yourself that there’s more stability in working a 9-5 corporate job with health insurance and PTO, yet in reality, you’re working 40+ hours per week to feed somebody else’s dream. Choosing practicality keeps you complacent.

The universe rewards people who leave their comfort zone, and truthfully, I wouldn’t be where I am today if I didn’t take a few risks throughout my life. There have been times where I had to choose between a meal and investing my last few dollars back into myself not knowing when I’d see it return. That leap of blind faith — in myself, in God, in Divine timing — is what pulled me out of the matrix and reassures me that life will work itself out. And it does. Every. Single. Time.

I grew up knowing that if I am going to be who I want to be in this world, I need to bet on myself first. Every time. Sometimes it isn’t practical and it’s definitely never easy, but playing it safe is not an option because on the other side of risk, is reward.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

The idea for Revive Fashion Week was created from my experience traveling the country — over 15 cities in one year to be exact — producing fashion show events under another platform. The one conclusion I came to in my travels is that the fashion show market is oversaturated with platforms who don’t really care about their participants or attendees. Revive Fashion Week was not going to just be another platform.

My experiences that trained me in the industry made me realize that, 1) I want more for myself than to be someone’s assistant and 2) if i can do 100% of the work for 0% of the recognition and a small percent of the profit, then I can also do 100% of the work for my own business and make 100% of the profit.

Now, this is not to say that I am not grateful for my experiences working as an assistant because I learned valuable skills and developed a mindset that sitting in a classroom could have never taught me. Revive Fashion Week would not be what it is today without my professional training, but it took a leap of faith in myself and my abilities to turn around and build a company from the bottom up.

At the time I established Revive, I was at a huge turning point in my life where I was really starting over in every aspect. It was June 2022 and my life was kind of, what felt like, on a steep decline. I gave up my apartment because I thought I would be continuing to live nomadically, city-hopping like I had been for the past two years, but then I lost all of my clients, all of my belongings, and well a lot of my pride. So here I am, no source of income, no place to live, it was really the wrong time to start a business, at least that’s what many people were telling me. But I did it. I worked for 6 months straight, building the foundation of Revive from my parents living room, in my partner’s car, and in a tiny little apartment in the Dominican Republic that had no furniture and at times no power. How did I do it? The grace of God, honestly.

There were many many moments where I wanted to give up. That’s what successful people don’t tell you. Oftentimes, ESPECIALLY in the beginning, there are going to be more times where you want to give up than keep going. But you have to keep going. So I did, because it’s hard to keep going but even harder once you give up.

Long story short, I was able to launch Revive Fashion Week at New York Fashion Week in February 2023 with three sold out events and, the rest, is history. There are definitely hiccups along the way, as every business owner will face, but everything that happens is an opportunity for growth. Every day I continue to work towards being the best entrepreneur, the best boss and the best person I can be to be able to continue to provide a platform that provides opportunity and establishes ground breaking change in the scope of the independent fashion industry.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
So I’m based in New York City, so I have endless recommendations on what to do.

The best cup of coffee? Neighbors at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.

The best place to eat? I definitely can’t choose just one. For AYCE Korean BBQ & Hot Pot, 99 Favor Taste in Chinatown. For Spanish Tapas, Boqueria. For the best Korean food, K’OOK on the Lower East Side. For Italian, go to the original Little Italy in the Bronx and eat at Zero Otto Nove.

The best bottomless brunch? Either Mamajuana in Dyckman or Wicked Willy’s Downtown.

Bored on a Saturday and on a budget? Go take a blanket and the A train to Brooklyn Bridge Park. You’ll have the best view on the water overlooking the Manhattan skyline.

Want to do something more active? Rent an E Bike and take the Hudson River Bike Trail from Battery Park up to 125th St and cross the bridge to Randall’s Island Park.

Want to go shopping? Walk down Broadway in Soho. There’s designer, fake designer, fast fashion, anything you want you can probably find on Broadway.

The list goes on honestly, but those are all my favorites.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
What did Latto say?… “And my man, thank you to my man”.

My partner is truly, full heartedly, genuinely, my biggest supporter. He has been by my side since my business was just an idea I had on a FaceTime call. And I can’t even say he cheers me on from the sidelines, because he is right at the forefront with me on every venue walkthrough, every business meeting, every flight and every sleepless night — praying with me, encouraging me, reminding me of who I am and what I am capable of accomplishing. He’s a true ride or die.

Could I have done it without him? Yes, but I would have never wanted to. And that’s what makes the love and support so pure.

Website: https://www.revivefashionweek.com

Instagram: Personal: @sharonodonnelll Business: @revivefashionweek

Other: Tiktok: @revivefashionweek

Image Credits
@focusedonmk
@d.g.noble
@reeddudley
@focusedonmk
@d.g.noble
@ato.photography