Naida Rutherford, owner of Styled by Naida
In a few short years, Naida Rutherford has gone from homeless to entrepreneur to philanthropist.
Her story begins in Florida where she was forced into the foster care system because her biological mother was a teenager unable to care for young Naida and her brother. Despite that, Naida did well in school and excelled on her high school cross country team. But after graduation, Naida’s foster care mom sent her packing with nothing but the clothes on her back.
Fortunately, the family of a teammate took in Naida. She traveled with the family to South Carolina because her teammate was trying to get a cross country scholarship at Benedict College and the University of South Carolina. Naida said she was just along for the ride and did not know what direction her life would take or if she would ever go to college. Then the cross country coach at Benedict College asked Naida asked her to try out as well. The coach liked what he saw, and Naida received an athletic scholarship to Benedict College.
Naida said the staff and students at Benedict made sure she had the basic necessities of life, including sheets and blankets, toiletries, clothes, books, and food. She came to the school with nothing and left with a bachelor of arts degree in biology, graduating magna cum laude. She says those years at Benedict College left an indelible mark on her life.
Naida then went to nursing school at Orangeburg County Technical College. She returned to Columbia to work as a nurse practitioner at Palmetto Richland and Lexington hospitals while she pursued her master’s degree in nursing at the University of South Carolina. She eventually married and became financially stable but never forgot her past. For eight years, she anonymously gave sheets, toiletries, and personal care items to the students at Benedict College through her contacts with the Career Center, but after so much success, Naida’s life took a turn.
She got divorced, unexpectedly lost her job as a nurse, and bills were piling up, but she had overcome so much in her life she was determined to overcome this turn of events.
Naida decided to have her first yard sale. But this would be no ordinary yard sale.
She had collected large amounts of clothing over the years. To sell it, she arranged the clothes neatly on racks, offered a dressing room, and gave fashion advice to her shoppers, calling the event a “Boutique Yard Sale.”
She brought in $1,200 and set the foundation for what was to become her business, Styled By Naida, a thrift shop at 607 Lady Street that sells donated clothes at low prices with the added benefit of Naida’s counseling and fashion sense.
As part of Naida’s entrance into the fashion world, she kept her commitment to give back to the community. She started a 501(c) 3 non-profit foundation. According to the website, http://styledbynaida.com, the foundation “ is dedicated to empowering and educating those from less fortunate communities about the importance of professional dress, self awareness, budgeting, and professional etiquette.”
Naida says she wanted to “build a business and help other people like her who struggled and didn’t have guides in their lives.”
The foundation began as an apparel and toiletry donation service to Benedict College students. Naida has expanded services to include informational seminars on professional appearance, etiquette, code switching, financial literacy, and budgeting with minimal resources.
Through a partnership with the Benedict College Career Center, the foundation provides workshops for students throughout the academic year. The foundation also provides vouchers to every Benedict College student that can be exchanged for business attire.
Donations to The Styled By Naida Foundation are 501(c) 3 status approved and can include monetary, clothing, shoes, jewelry, and toiletries. Any purchase from the Styled By Naida thrift store will provide a $1 donation for every $10 purchased towards The Styled By Naida scholarship fund which provides a $1,000 annual scholarship for a single mother in a two-year or four-year college degree program in the Midlands.
Loading Comments