Meet Austin Stendo | Influencer & Clothing Brand Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Austin Stendo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Austin, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I always wanted to create something for myself to express similar thoughts, creativity and experiences.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I feel what sets me apart from others is I try to be authentic as possible. I try to stay true to myself and what I like and not fall into trends and following the crowd. Luckily what I like and what others like are mutually exclusive. It was hard at first putting myself and my work out there and still kinda is today but overtime it’s an anxiety you get over once you realize how many people like it and encourage you to keep going. One of my lessons I like to follow is just do it”. I’d rather try and fail vs not trying at all. I looked at other popular creators and said to myself that they had to start from point zero at first too and if they stopped because of nerves and how they were perceived then they wouldn’t be where they are today. Everybody faces challenges and it’s important to know how to navigate through them. I want people to realize if I could do it so can they. If you’re going to do it give it your all, take in the wins no matter how big or small and most importantly have fun while doing so.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I’ve had multiple friends visit Atlanta and I love being a tour guide for them. My personal favorite spot is Roswell Mill because I’m a nature person. Kennesaw mountain for a good hike and maybe Stone Mountain. Little 5 points is a cool shopping spot I like to go to so I’d definitely bring a friend. I’m big on seeing things so botanical gardens and the aquarium are obvious tourist spots I can bring them too. For drinks and food I say either scoville’s hot chicken, Waffle House, paolo santo, your third spot or anywhere on the beltline. Nightlife I like to usually hit buckhead or midtown because those are pretty cool and they got good food trucks so I can definitely show a friend a good time there.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Special thanks to my followers for always supporting my goals. Shout to Nikos and Ethnic Mari for helping me with my clothing brand when I needed the help. And shoutout to Unannounced for helping me with photo shoots and getting content out to my followers.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/stendo