New book: Use your “outsider advantage” in business

Growing up, Ciera Rogers had trouble finding fashionable plus-size clothing for her body, so she set out to solve this problem.

“I started BABES,” says Rogers, the founder and CEO of the clothing company that caters to curvy women. “In 2012, it was a very different environment. There weren’t many brands online that catered to curvy women, and that’s what we did. I was one of the first brands to do that. And I was lucky because the community really welcomed me with open arms because they had found a home.”

Fast forward 12 years, and she’s put everything she’s learned in business – and more – into her new book, The Outsider Advantage: Because You Don’t Need To Fit In To Win.

“I just wanted a business book for people like me – people who didn’t have the resources, people who maybe had different backgrounds, no connections, no money… you know, nothing,” she said.

But as she was writing the book, Rogers realized what she had been through in Her life had prepared her for the business world. So the business book also became an autobiography.

“The road to entrepreneurship is rocky,” she says. “Learning how to adapt and pivot as a child and watching my single mother throughout my life helped me become an entrepreneur and succeed. That’s how ‘The Outsider Advantage’ was born – using what makes you different to succeed.”

Rogers and her mother were homeless during her childhood, but despite this difficult time, she said she learned from it and that her mother helped her achieve her dream.

““I watched my mother struggle my whole life,” she said. “Technically, I didn’t have a room or a house until I was 16, so we moved around a lot.”

I saw her somehow make it. She was a really frugal person, so she used her resources and her skills in saving to become a stylist. She had no connections, but she had built her whole life in Houston, coming from Port Arthur. So I watched her my whole life and that taught me how to get by.”

Rogers says she also got her fashion sense from her mother.

““I studied marketing,” Rogers said. “I didn’t have a huge passion for fashion, but I learned, ‘Hey, I’m really good at this. I’m really good at putting things together and styling women, especially women with curves. I wonder where that came from.’ That was my mom. Of course I thought that was me, but it was my mom.”

Rogers said all of these things made her stand out in the business world and that this is what makes an entrepreneur special.

“So I think if you’re in a situation where you want to start a business, you should see if you’re really good at it – if other people have a similar problem and if there’s a gap in the market – and then go for it,” Rogers said.