Every Woman: Q & A With Jennifer Warden

Last Updated on Tuesday, 08 September 2009 06:24 Written by Ron Vaniva Friday, 14 August 2009 02:57

Jennifer Warden is the owner and COO of MWC Fashion House. MWC stands for models with curves. Brought to SL™ by a news article about a woman who left her RL husband due to SL, she became intrigued and decided to stay and learn more. What she gained was a renewed appreciation for her own self image, confidence, and appreciation of the value of networking.

Creating MWC, then later the Black Business Owners of Second Life®, she is a mentee turned mentor, now helping others as she was first helped. This isn’t a new story to SL; the value here is in the lesson. Often as the case in SL, and in RL, new or aspiring business owners struggle rather than ask for advice from those who have traveled the path before them, assuming either they are not worthy of help – or that their future competition wouldn’t be interested in helping them.  While Jennifer isn’t the biggest success story on SL (yet), with her networking and mind set, it’s just a matter of time. She came, became involved, and recognized an opportunity. By personalizing the solution, she was able to tap into her passion, and used that to motivate her success.  

Ron Vaniva: I mention MWC and ladies immediately know who I'm talking about, and love you. While that must be a good feeling, it wasn’t always like that was it?
Jennifer Warden: No, it wasn’t always like that, it took a lot to build a solid reputation here. What helps is to be a well grounded person, which I am. People can see that, and that makes them want to know you, or even work for you. The reward is gaining the respect of models and agency owners. It’s a good feeling to be loved and respected.

RV: Tell me, what first brought you to SL?
JW: What brought me to SL was a news article about a woman divorcing her RL husband because of a game called SL. This immediately struck my curiosity and made me wonder, “What kind of game would make a wife leave her husband?” When I got here I begin to understand the real relationships that happen here, the intimacy involved, and knew that while I wouldn’t leave my husband because of a SL relationship, why the wife was upset with her husband.

RV: Did you work for other agencies before starting your own?
JW: Yes, just one. It was a beautiful world that I [became] exposed to.

RV: What was your experience with them?
JW: At first it was wonderful because I was new to the modeling world and everything excited me. But as the smoke cleared, there were things going on that seemed unfair to me. For example, the same models always winning, the same models always working in fashion shows, the rude nature of the lady who ran the agency, she walked around like she was better than most and was very unapproachable, and uncompromising.

RV: You said, “I found a great group of women how help me to grow and made it seem easy”; can you say who they were and how they helped you?
JW: The first lady that came along was Tasha Grayman, she was my first manager, with her help I was able to better manage the day to day things the agency needed. Second was Malika Baily, the first lady I asked to model for me. At the time I didn’t know what a rare jewel I had found. She proved to be a team player and a quick learner. Soon I had her training my models and I quickly made her my model manager. There are too many others to name, but these two have been invaluable to me.

RV: How has your experience impacted your work with new, aspiring models?
JW: Several ways. One is that I try to be accessible to all my models letting them know I am always there for questions or concerns. I also make sure there is never a feeling of favoritism by never being in a position to judge or pick models. When we have shows, I have the models audition for the designer, [then have] the designer make the choice of what model he or she would like to use. Then I pay my models every time they walk for me in a show. Models work hard and should receive more than free clothes for their hard work.

RV: What do you think of the talent you meet? What advice do you give models to “make it” in SL?
JW: A lot of models that I used, especially in the beginning, were not models at the time. But they were eager to learn. I let my models know modeling is not as easy as it looks, and [they needed] to put time and commitment into their craft. That the only way to improve as a model is practice, practice, practice!

RV: What life’s lessons have you brought to SL? And how has that impacted your approach to business?
JW: I am a hair stylist in RL so I already deal with fashion and beauty, which is why I love the modeling world. The life lesson I brought with me is “business is business, it is never personal.” I think with this approach I set a standard with the models that even though it is SL, a "game", it is serious and a business just like RL.

RV: So you see fashion as an important part of SL? Do you judge those you meet in SL by how fashion forward they are?
JW: First impressions are everything. Yes, I judge people I meet by how they represent themselves fashion-wise, especially if you come to interview with me.

RV: Describe the designers you work with the most?
JW: I have work with some lovely designers, some new designers and some more established. I enjoy working with new designers more because they are excited and it’s easy to become caught up in their excitement. Being that I am new as well, I believe doing a show for new designers benefits me and the new designer.

RV: Who was the first?
JW: There were actually two designers I worked with first, Rene Saphir and Samahi Alecto. They were the designers at my grand opening.

RV: Is there one that you enjoy working with the most?
JW: I loved working with Audacious Bade, her designs were fabulous, her personality awesome.

RV: What impresses you most about designers today?
JW: That they keep pushing the envelope and making SL clothing a thing of true beauty.

RV: What do you see as the emerging trends of SL fashion?
JW: I see the clothes getting more realistic, with beautiful forms. I believe SL fashions follows RL fashions closely and this is a wonderful thing.

RV: What details do you look for in fashions that you pick for yourself?
JW: I love clothes that are of high quality because the fit will always be better. I consider myself a trend setter so I also look for things that are original. I also don’t let a folder dictate what I wear. I can pull items from several folders to create the unique look that I strive for.

RV: Do you specialize in the looks your agency takes on? For example, do you do wearable fashion, fetish wear, etc?
JW: No not really, I love all kinds of fashion. Therefore I look for many different designs to showcase.

RV: Is there any work you shy away from?
JW: No, I don’t shy away from anything. Art is art, and fashion is an art. If you need to express yourself [in your] designs, MWC will showcase it. Remember there are a lot of different tastes in SL as well as the real world.

RV: Who do you view as the best of your competition?
JW: Right now I am still a baby in the world of modeling. I don’t really see competition at this point; just opportunities to learn from some of the bigger agencies here in SL. Hopefully, one day, somebody else will look at my agency and be inspired to be like us. Perhaps one day, the bigger more established agencies will look at me as competition. I am very humble, and know I still have a lot to learn from some of the more established agencies here.

RV: Without mentioning names, what agencies do you see as harming the industry?
JW: There are many agencies popping up each day. I hear stories of a lot of models getting taken advantage of, paying money to be trained, then [not receiving any] follow-up after training.

RV: What’s next on your horizon?
JW: I would love to get into designing clothes or even hair. That will be my next step, although I won’t add anything else to my plate until MWC is well known for putting on great fashion shows and having beautiful models.