From Humble to Sparkly, A Conversation with Frances Renk and Rochelle Trotter

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In the spirit of Chicago's Fashion Focus Week, the Chicago Fashion Foundation hosted an intimate conversation with Frances Renk of Sequin Jewelry, moderated by Rochelle Trotter of FOX's Good Day Chicago – Chat Room.

The chic women of Chicago delved deep in Renk's entrepreneurial history and how she landed her dream job of overseeing all of the retailing and brand development for the ultra successful jewelry company, Sequin Jewelry. The rambunctious Trotter grilled (in the friendliest way possible) Renk of her humble beginnings in the suburbs of Chicago and how she had started two successful businesses all before she was 23.

The duo swapped stories of growing up in an ethnic household, Renk being Korean American and Trotter being African American, all the while inspiring the audience to find happiness in what you do. Renk is one of the stylish Chicagoans in the city, and thinks that the city gets a bad reputation for being unstylish but she truly does everything to dispel that connotation; her love of fashion and all things sparkly paved the way for her career in fashion, and now is able to give back, especially to the woman of Chicago who are looking to start their own careers, not just in fashion, but in any type of industry where they can succeed. -Tim Schroeder
[Photo: CS]