A few years ago, I joined a bloggers group dedicated to supporting black bloggers. Unfortunately, on my journey as a blogger, I didn’t encounter many black bloggers until I joined this group. It was refreshing to see people who looked like me and shared my passion for blogging. In this group, I met the amazing Antoinette Cain. We quickly hit it off and developed a friendship outside of the group and have been supporting each other ever since. Her fierceness, tenacity, and perseverance are why she is this month’s featured woman of empowerment.
Antoinette Cain was born in Paterson, NJ and raised in Timmonsville, SC. She currently lives in Sumter, SC. Antoinette is the founder and CEO of Truly Charmed, a lifestyle and fashion blog and Charmed Life Apparel, an online boutique featuring women’s apparel and accessories. She is the mother of two wonderful children, Zaire and Christal. She graduated from Morris College, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in sociology and is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.
Antoinette is not only a blogger and apparel line owner but a plus-size model. She moved past her fears and doubts to start her blog and modeling career in November 2014. Being a great mother was her sole focus up until November 2014. With her children getting older, she knew it was time to seize her moment and go after her dreams. Treading through her insecurities with the help of her sister, Antoinette attended her first local casting call for a fashion show in 2014. Her willingness to punch fear in the face with her bravery landed Antoinette her first modeling gig. She has been doing her boss walk ever since down many runways. Modeling is indeed a passion of hers, but writing is her first love. Truly Charmed is a platform Antoinette built to uplift and celebrate women and to share her modeling journey.
Manifesting her dreams has not been an easy journey. As a plus-size model, it has been difficult navigating in an industry that doesn’t acknowledge the beauty of someone who is above a size six. Often, Antoinette is not perceived as a serious player in the fashion industry. However, her professionalism and talent shut the mouths of her doubters. Refusing to wait for opportunities to be given to her, Antoinette has gotten in the driver’s seat of success and created her own opportunities. Charmed Life Apparel is the result of her taking charge of her own success journey. Through her online boutique, Antoinette is offering more trendy and unique apparel to full-figured women. Antoinette is a mogul in her own right, who dares to live out her dreams on her terms no matter what anyone else thinks or says.
Antoinette has made great strides in her pursuit of living a fulfilled life. Her greatest achievement is simply “getting started!” For many years, she was held back by fear and many obstacles, but deciding that achieving her dreams was non-negotiable gave her the tenacity and confidence to just “go for it!” This achievement will set many people free! The first step in achieving your dreams is to get started! My mouth dropped when Antoinette told me this was her greatest achievement. It’s simple yet so profound. Too often we waste time and talk ourselves out of going after what we want, but our sister Antoinette has reminded us that starting is a must in order to live out our dreams.
This charming woman is not the only one breaking ground in the fashion industry in South Carolina. There are many talented models in South Carolina, but sadly there are few paid opportunities. Antoinette is looking to change this by growing her Charmed Life Apparel business into a profitable empire so that she can create solid modeling opportunities in her community.
Antoinette admires Claire Sulmers, the creator of Fashion Bomb Daily, and the way she created a respected platform in the fashion industry on her own terms. Antoinette believes that “sometimes, it’s necessary for us to create our own lane, no matter the industry. If we truly want to accomplish goals, we can’t be afraid to kick down doors and break barriers.”
With some dream chasing experience under her belt, here is Antoinette’s advice to women pursuing their dreams
I would urge women to look at their lives and make every effort to pursue their passion. At the end of the day, I hope that we can all experience accomplished, fulfilled lives.
Antoinette is the embodiment of courage. As she continues to redefine success and live an authentic life, she aspires to build a legacy with Truly Charmed by making it a well-regarded lifestyle brand that will be around for generations to come.
To learn more about Antoinette Cain connect with her via:
Website: TrulyCharmedLife.com
Social Media: @trulycharmed1
Please share your thoughts below in the comment section.
