By Jennifer Leonard

“Have some fun today,” Stephanie Rado Taormina of Wyomissing, Pa., recalls her late father saying at the end of every conversation. Little did her dad know, his happy, go-to phrase would become the impetus and namesake for his daughter’s growing fashion company.

“My dad had something that was quite beautiful,” says Taormina, a graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York City. “I’m a designer who is into spirituality and positivity. I knew there was a brand here if I put my energy into it.”

She was right. Taormina first got to work on Have Some Fun five years ago and began selling her clothing and accessories on her website and at high-end resorts.

At the time, QVC wasn’t on her radar. “People had been telling me for a while that I should go on, but I didn’t see it initially,” she says, explaining that she didn’t think her brand was a fit for what she thought of as the traditional QVC shopper.

Luckily, in early 2019, a friend and host at the network convinced her to make a pitch video for QVC’s The Big Find, a global contest to find the next, must-have brands. “My message was real and authentic,” she says. “I put my heart and soul into [my video], and they loved it.”

After being named one of the contest winners, Taormina met with QVC buyers and walked away with a purchase order for 1,000 units of her designs—her largest to date.

This would start her on a “scary and frustrating” journey, but one she embraced whole-heartedly. “There is a lot of compliance, you have to do things the way they want, “she says. “But it was a great experience in learning how to work in those parameters.”

She also learned that her first assumption about QVC wasn’t entirely accurate. “The experience was eye-opening,” she says. “I saw other brands on there that I respect and admire—relevant brands that I love.”

All of Taormina’s hard work paid off, and this month, her designs landed on QVC.com. A planned on-air appearance had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but she was able to promote Have Some Fun Today on the network via phone.

“We had a really good turnout, especially in this climate,” she says. “I’m hoping it’s enough to be invited back.”

What would her father think of the brand he inspired? Says Taormina: “He is with me and has been every step of this journey. In my mind, his spirit is aware and is cheering me on.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jennifer Leonard is a writer at VISTA Today, specializing in retail and consumer marketing. A West Goshen resident, Jennifer has 20 years of experience as a full-time editor and writer for magazines including Woman’s World, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen. Jennifer is available at jleonard@vista.today.

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