Ep. 145 - Guest: Michelle Douglas

Michelle Douglas, CEO and head designer at Bowz A Rama sits down to chat with Victoria Henley about the origins of her design career, her favorite moments on the runway, and the experience of winning “Overall Designer” at the Magnifique Runway Show.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Now this is the FCB Podcast Network. This is Bestage Pass with Henley.

(00:24):
Hi everyone, and welcome back intoanother episode of Backstage Pass. It's your
host here, Victoria Henley, andwe have an amazing guest with us here
today, Michelle Douglas of Bo's aRama, A dynamic formalwarline. Michelle,
how are you today? I amgood? How are you? I am
doing just great? So here weare day after Christmas when this is being

(00:45):
recorded. Did you enjoy your holiday? Yeah, it is a quiet holiday
getting here worse sickness, so Ispent most to day in bed after cooking
for hours. Oh my goodness,that's how it is sometimes. I'm glad
you feel better now hopefully? Yeah? Well good good guess Okay, So
Michelle, you're you're lying Bozrena,I mean big fans. We've been working
together for a few years now.We met when I when I walked for

(01:08):
you and just fell in love withyour designs. You've told me a little
bit about your story, but sharewith us, Share with us. How
take us back to the origin.When did you decide this is what I
want to do? Well? So, boz are Rama actually started as a
bow company. I started making littlegirl bos when I found out I was

(01:30):
pregnant with my youngest daughter, andall the baby clothes she was getting,
they can't telling me it was agirl. After having three boys in a
row, I was like, yeah, okay, started making some bows.
Friends asked about him, and Iwas like, well, I made it.
So I actually started making them tosell and was doing crash shows.
And when she was about four yearsold, she started into pageants and I

(01:53):
bought the first gown, and thenafter that I started making them because I
thought, you know, I knowhow to sew my yaya and Greece taught
me. My grandmother taught me howto use a needle and thread when I
was about five and a half sixyears old and told me that if you
can use a needle and thread,you can make anything. And so I
got the material and the stones andstarted making them on my own and it's

(02:16):
just gone from there. I've hada few of them that had sold that
you know, somebody was like,hey, if you're getting rid of it,
I'll buy it. And then itjust started going from there. I
just started having material and making thingsand mainly for us and then other people,
and it grew and about three yearsago, I changed it to Bozerama

(02:38):
Designs. I still make some bows, but now it is centered more around
the evening gowns and pageant gowns.See for those of you listening, and
we're going to post all of thelinks so you can follow along and check
out Michelle's brand. Her gowns arebreathtaking. I mean she has the full
you know, red carpet gowns,and I love the diversity of people that

(02:59):
you designed for. So, Michelle, you're not just a designer. You
have a pageantry background. So isthere any I'm sure your pageants sort of
inspired you to segue over into thepageant design. Is that correct? Yes,
it put a big part most oflike I said, all of Elizabeth's
gowns and then most of my gownsI've made over the years. It's a

(03:23):
lot when you look at material andthe price of the material, and then
know how, and then you lookat a gown that's already ready for the
state for you just to step intobeing a single mom with kids and one
that you know loves pageantry, it'skind of a no bringer of you know
what. I'll just take the timeto make something on my own rather than

(03:43):
spending the money on an already makegown that somebody else has done and used
my own vision, and so itended up just coming full circle with that
and kind of mixed in with everything. I mean, I've I have designed
gowns and made gowns for all differentpeople from all walks of life. I
actually have a store in LA thathas had a few of my gowns in

(04:05):
it. I'm meeting with a ladyin Louisiana in New Orleans and I'm supposed
to be making some gypsy gowns,which is so much fun to do and
completely different than what my normal is. But yeah, I do wedding gowns.
I do just all kinds of differentstyles and things, and I just

(04:25):
love it. To me, it'srelaxing, it's fun. I may start
one design that's in my head andthen by the time i'm done, it's
a completely different design and I haveto go back and do that same design
that I was going to initially dobecause it turned out something different. So
I never know when I get startedexactly what I'm going to finish with.
So and that's what makes it funand unique. That's great, and you

(04:46):
know, Michelle. I mean youblow me away with you. You're a
single mom, you have all ofthat, which is a full time job
really in and of itself, andyou're seeing and you do the pageantry and
you work with great causes. Sothere's so much that you do with the
brand, you know, with Bosorama, which is more than just a clothing
brand. I mean you kind ofhave an empire that you've built for yourself.
Where do you see this going?And you know five to ten years

(05:10):
is there is there kind of aset plan you've got for it. Basically
right now, I'm just and Iknow it kind of sounds cliche. I'm
kind of going with a flow.I do. Like I said, I
have some downs in La So Inever know who's going to be stepping into
a gown. I never know ata fashion show who's going to be modeling

(05:31):
my gowns because I do make themfor everybody, for short, tall,
you know, different building build femalebuilds. As far as you know,
I've got the tiny gowns, butnot everybody can fit into that little bitty
box. And so everybody needs achance to deserve to feel beautiful and feel

(05:53):
elegant, and so I make themfor all different sizes. So I mean,
like you, you made the callabout the one gown that you were
the first time at New York FashionWeek, and when I turned around and
realized it with you, I waskind of like, oh my gosh,
yes please. So in LA Ihad Jocelyn Bender, who is a model.

(06:14):
I'll over the place that she waswearing one of my gowns. And
so I'm hoping that I can getmore red carpet events, more stores interested,
and you know, just kind ofsee where it goes. I don't
make I've had people that have asked, you know, I need this size
and this size, and decides Irefuse to make any gown more than once.

(06:36):
As far as the style, somethingwill always be different. I will
use the same material. But whenit comes to the actual gowns themselves,
you will not find any two ofmy gowns that are identical. There will
always be something different. The onlyidentical thing is going to be the tag
inside that says Bezerama Designs. BecauseI want all of them to be a

(06:57):
one of a kind. I wantthem to be special and I want them
to be unique. So I'm justkind of taking it. As far as
it'll go that's that's amazing. Well, I mean you're continuing to go far.
It's amazing what you're doing with yourbrand. And I really love that
because in the era of fast fashion, when you know, things are so
mass produced and you'll see five peopleyou know, wearing the same thing on

(07:18):
any outing, So that's really specialthat you only make one of a kind.
So when you're getting Bosarama, youare truly getting a one of a
kind piece. Nothing else like it. Ye, No, Michelle, Bosorama
is is a brand on the go. I mean every time I see you,
you're you're doing something different. Youshow New York Fashion Week, You've
done La of course, you've doneour events. Can you name maybe one

(07:39):
standout moment at a show that youfeel that you felt like, Wow,
I can't believe this is life.You know, I'm really doing this.
What's a standout for you? Thebiggest standout is going to be the when
you're in fashion Week, You're twentytwenty two September when you wore my Victorian
lace. That was like the bigstandout that I was like, oh my
god. So because I have friendsthat were going, no, you're joking.

(08:03):
And then when we took the pictureand when I posted them and they're
going, oh my gosh, thatis her, It's like, yes,
this is her. So and thenyou know, doing the magnifeat show last
December, and then of course thisyear and then being invited to you know,
winning the Designer the Top Designer awardat your show just a couple of
weeks ago was a big just kindof my Okay, this is this is

(08:26):
why I'm doing this because I'm impressingpeople and they, you know, want
to wear the gowns. And thenI'd never really planned on doing February's New
York Fashion Week, but I'll bethere with you and Jarah with Toxic and
so it's just it's kind of comingfull circle because I do some shows like
I have a show in January thatis in Oklahoma City, and then I

(08:48):
have a showing March that's in Austin. And it's funny because the director of
the show will actually my get announcementthat no models are to be fitted in
any gowns until he says because thesecond I open the seat case and it
makes me feel really good, eventhough it is struck. I automatically have

(09:11):
models that they come straight to meand they're like this one, this one,
can we wear this one? Andyou know they're already picking and planning
you know which ones by the time. The other companies that are they're the
other designers are stylists that are there, are ready to start fitting models.
All of my gowns are basically spokenfor, So it makes me feel really

(09:33):
good. But to just get recognitionfrom other designers and know that from the
judges, you know, at thepatches that do have judges, that they're
looking and they're seeing what I'm doingand they are taking it to the next
level for me by honoring me withyou know, top designer and things like
that. That's just kind of mymy alle moments of Okay, this is

(09:56):
why I'm doing this. It's agood thing that I'm doing this. You're
you're living your legacy. It's whatyou were born to do. When I
see you work and I was workingin this industry, you know, forever,
and I see you back there andyou're working with the models, you
you really can just tell this isyour purpose. You're living it. It's
such a beautiful thing to see andeven me, you know, when I
wore that that dress and you namedit the Victoria. You have a way

(10:18):
of making your models feel special andnot every designer has that gift. So
I you know, as a model, such a pleasure working with you.
So for those of you listening,and you'll of course, of course you
know big fan over here and Michelle, you know when your name got called.
It was at my Magnifiq our Magnefiqueshow. It was December of twenty

(10:39):
three. Great moment you were announcedas our overall design winner. And that'll
bring along with it, you know, several different opportunities, many red carpets,
things like that throughout the year.What were you thinking when your name
was called? Trying not to cry? A friend of mine and he was
there. It's our daughter is oneof my ambassadors again this year about back

(11:00):
as an embassador. So she's alwaystaking brand he's always taking pictures and she
actually took a video and I didn'trealize she was taking a video, which
has been really bad me covering myface that all moment of trying not to
cry. It was an honor andit was kind of I mean, I
was. I was surprised because therewere so many designers there that they have

(11:24):
got some amazing work and I lovebeing able to stand with them and be
able to be put in the samecategory with them. So it was it's
an amazing, amazing honor that Icannot describe the feeling. I mean,
it was. It was very overwhelmingat first, and like I said,
trying not to cry, but veryexciting also to be able to say,

(11:48):
you know, Okay, this iswhat I'm doing, this is why I'm
doing it, and this is youknow, some of the recognition. So
it's a very it's a very blessedtime to that announcement being made. Well,
it's a very well deserved honor andrecognition. You worked so hard.
Your collection was just absolutely stellar.Now, Michelle, we're going to leave

(12:09):
everybody with this because I know youknow, once we listen, we want
to know how can we connect?How can we shop? I know that
you do commissions, which is amazing. How do we get connected with you?
Okay? Yeah, So I haveon my regular Facebook, everything is
under Michelle Douglas. I have mybo Zorama Designs page on Facebook and my

(12:31):
Instagram, my TikTok, my Twitter, and my Facebook all or Michelle Douglas.
Instagram is where a lot of themodels because of different places that their
phone is just easier for a lotof them to actually find me on Instagram
because my business card with the BozaramaDesigns is actually my profile pictures, so
it's easier just to see that myphone number is listed on everything, so

(12:54):
they can message me, they cancall me. I'm very easily gotten a
hold of if you've got a design, or if you've got an idea,
or you like a gown that I'vedone. I had one model that had
messaged me about a certain gown thatI wore actually on the beach for the
photo shoot and was asking, youknow the same material and stuff. So

(13:16):
and like I said, I dowedding gowns and everything. So but any
of the social media platforms, it'sso easy to get hold of me.
Just shoot me a message, callme and I will, you know,
see what I can do to helpyou with what you are naeding a gown
for. That's incredible and you knownot all designers have that personal touch and

(13:37):
are so accessible. Trust me onthis. You want to work with Michelle.
She does beautiful work, amazing commissions. We'll be posting up all of
those links so you can get connectedon Instagram, Facebook, all the major
social media platforms. Michelle, itwas such a pleasure having you today.
Thank you for joining us, thankyou so much for having me yes of
course, and thank you as alwaysfor joining us on backstage pass. Wishing

(14:00):
you the best for the twenty twentyfour new year. We'll catch you next
time. This has been a presentationof the FCB podcast Network, where real
Talk lives. Visit us online atfcbpodcasts dot com.