We recently had the chance to connect with Ryan Southworth and have shared our conversation below.
Ryan, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What is a normal day like for you right now?
A typical day is waking up, taking care of my pup, hitting the gym for a quick workout, possibly stopping at the post office if I have packages to mail out from online orders, and then I love to hit a few thrift stores, possibly estate sales depending on the day. Then home for lunch, taking photos for listings for the shop (weather permitting) Doing laundry and relaxing the rest of the night while listing any new products to Etsy or Depop 😉
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hiiii! I’m Ryan, I own & run Hey Darlin’ Vintage (formerly Candy Coated) Born and raised in Tampa, FL. I’ve had my business for five years now which is really cool to think about! I’ve always had a love for fashion, clothes & old things so I decided to take my love of thrifting and vintage and turn it into a business. I source and handpick pieces from the 50’s (sometimes older) to the early 2000s with a focus on 60s, 70s and 90s! In my opinion nothing beats 60s and 70s clothing. It was so colorful and fun and had so much character along with being well made!
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who taught you the most about work?
I definitely think my mom taught me the most about work and good work ethic. She was a single mom raising two kids and she busted her butt making sure my brother and I were always taken care of. She instilled a strong belief of working hard and going after exactly what you want in life. Figure out what you want and don’t stop until you have it!
What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Definitely the fear of failure and judgement. As I’ve gotten older I feel like I don’t let those fears overwhelm me as much as I used to, I’m constantly reminding myself that it’s okay to fail at something, you grow and move forward and you’ll never know the outcome if you don’t try. And people are going to judge you regardless, even if you’re doing your best someone is going to have something to say. Allowing someone else’s feelings to deter you and what you want to do is not how anyone should want to live their lives.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Is the public version of you the real you?
I would say it is for sure, I always try to be as authentic as possible. People can read right through fakeness and I never want to come across as un relatable or not authentic especially in my business. I want people to know when they’re buying vintage from me that I’ve taken the time to source, research and give you a really cool piece of history and fashion!
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I honestly feel like I am! When I was younger I wanted to be a famous singer and actress, I worked for several years towards those goals and life happened and I stopped focusing on those goals. I had a few years where I felt lost and unsure of what the future would hold. I knew entertainment, fashion & arts in some capacity was apart of what I was meant to do in this life, and when I started my business I felt alive again and like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. There’s a thrill when I can find these really cool vintage pieces and have other people love them just as much and buy them to wear, it’s such a cool feeling! It’s led me into wanting to get into styling for photo shoots and maybe film & tv too
Contact Info:
- Website: www.heydarlinvintage.etsy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hey.darlin.vintage
