Angela Fink Looked Fear in the Face to Follow Her Intuition—She Hasn't Looked Back
You know the feeling. It starts as a soft whisper, calling you from deep within. You push it to the side and it pauses for a moment until eventually, your spirit turns up the volume dial and the noise is too hard to ignore anymore. This is your intuition talking. You can only push her aside for so long before she makes herself known and you are forced to confront her call.
Angela Fink clearly recalls this calling a few years ago. “I was driving in the car with my husband, and I said I'm ready to start something for myself,” Fink recalls. “I was working as a stylist and felt boxed in by a few of my then clients. I knew that I needed a space where I could create without restrictions and then the next day I started a blog called The Fashion Sight.”
Fink is so glad she looked fear in the face to follow her intuition because, today, she is pursuing her passion for a living collaborating with her husband, Kelly Bolton to create editorial-style imagery for her 116K plus followers. Last year they launched their branding, creative, and content consultancy We Are Dumont where they help other brands bring their stories to life. And if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, Fink is also a mom to her daughter, Lola and an ambassador for No More Plastic.
In honor of International Women’s Day, we partnered with our friends at PAIGE to put the spotlight on five incredible women who are marching to the beat of their own drum and walking it forward with an outstretched hand bringing the rest of us along for the ride.
So, read on to hear more about Fink’s many creative pursuits, how she uses clothing to step into her power, and her advice so you can too.
CREATE & CULTIVATE: You launched your own creative agency last year—What is it all about?
ANGELA FINK: Dumont is about working with people, brands, and designers to create something special for them. Each project is catered to that brand. We do everything from branding to creative direction, strategy, and full-service production.
We are different because of our point of view. You come to us because of who we are and what we can produce. Our work speaks for itself. I wasn't scared. I had been a stylist and creative director in the past, and it felt like a natural progression for me.
You are an ambassador for No More Plastic. When did you join this movement?
I joined last summer. My family and I travel a lot; we mostly drive to remote locations that are visually out of this world. We would find trash littered everywhere, plastics sitting in the most beautiful sand dune you have ever seen, and that's when I said no more plastics and reached out on how I could help make a difference.
My daughter has started at a plastic-free school, and we limit our plastic intake in our own home.
Going plastic-free is a huge undertaking in a world where so many things we purchase, including food and necessities are covered in it—How have you navigated that path?
Going plastic-free is a huge undertaking—it’s everywhere. I try my best to be aware of what I purchase and what comes into our home. A few small changes I made were replacing plastic vegetable bags with reusable ones and swapping zip locks with silicone versions.
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women's day should be every day. We should honor friends, mothers, grandmas, daughters every day for how special we are and what we create in this world.
You seem so bold and self-assured—what advice do you have for others who want to summon that courage too?
Practice kind self-talk. We all are so hard on ourselves. Give yourself a break. We are all doing the best we can—reminding myself of that makes the pressure melt away and I can become my best self.
How we appear on the outside can impact how we feel on the inside. As a fashion icon, we look to you for style advice so, what do you wear to feel confident?
Finding what works best on your body and what feels right is the two tells for an empowering wardrobe. I found myself buying into trends, but it wasn’t right. Through much trial and error, I went towards pieces that made me feel confident and secure. It's about testing out what you feel good in.
How does clothing make you feel self-assured and ready to take on the world? Why?
My clothing is apart of me—it shows people around me how I feel about myself. If I feel confident, I dress like it; when I feel daring, I take unexpected pieces and mix them if I'm having an off day and don't feel like myself I find pieces that make me feel strong, empowered and confident.
How do you shake off the fear and doubt to pursue your innovation/dream?
Wow, this is hard. I am not going to say I don't have fear or I seamlessly go through life. I battle with this. That monkey mind creeps in and it creeps in often. I know where I want to go is not where I am currently, and in order to get there, I need to put my boots on and walk through the mud as my mom would say. It works, one step in front of the other and then before you know it you are through it to the other side.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give to women starting out in your field?
Listen to podcasts, read books, speak to other women in your field. Don’t do it alone. Build a team, grab coffee with someone you admire. I learn every day from my friends.
What is the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make professionally?
Asking for what I am worth. Wow, oh wow, this took me a while to get down but you are worth it so ask for it!
What traits do you need to succeed as an entrepreneur or founder in the competitive start-up environment?
Write down exactly where you want to go and who you are—follow it, read it often and don't veer too much from it.
The filtered world of social media often hides a lot of the hard work and hustle behind-the-scenes—What’s a lesson we can all learn from your mistake/s?
Don't overthink things.
What does it take to be the first and pioneer a new space?
Radical passion.
You can’t be it if you can’t see it. Why are representation and visibility so important to you?
Social media is such a powerful tool. It's a space where we can be ourselves and share it with the world. When I first started shooting editorial style shoots with my husband, we would travel to remote places. I was nervous about how it would be received, but the more I did it, the more I felt like I was showing who I truly am. This space is about who you are and who you want to be, it's a visual timeline of growth and change, and there is real beauty in that.
Seeing people pave the way can give us the confidence to do it too. Name someone who walked it forward and inspired you to step up too?
My sister Jillian Dempsey. She showed me to think outside the box and never give up on your path.