Resume Rewind: Aurora James on Career Pivots, From Fashion Designer to Working In PE

“We have to look for women’s histories in unexpected places,” said Aurora James, subject of the latest installment of video series Resume Rewind, sponsored by entertainment wiki hosting service Fandom. “One of those places is fashion.”

James is the founder and creative director of luxury lifestyle and accessories brand Brother Vellies and founder of The Fifteen Percent Pledge, a nonprofit that asks major retailers to commit 15% of their shelf space and spending power to Black-owned businesses. James notes she pivots her career all the time, from fashion designer to launching her nonprofit and working in private equity.

“I’ve been self-employed since day one,” she joked about her “first job,” farming out her chores to other people and creating a margin.

James’ mother was adopted at birth and didn’t know anything about where she came from, but she often shared a Nigeran proverb with James: “Until the lion has a historian, the hunter will always be the hero.”

James told ADWEEK, “I really learned about fashion from an anthropological lens,” explaining that Brother Vellies started “almost by accident” when she started working with a bunch of artisans across Africa and sold shoes that she made with them at New York’s Hester Street Fair flea market.

She applied for the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund on a whim and won, adding, “Here we are 10 years later: Bootstrap that.”

James described The Fifteen Percent Pledge as an idea that she thought could be groundbreaking, adding that she never expected it to become “one of the largest drivers for Black-American entrepreneurs that’s ever existed.”