Meet Monique Silva | Fashion Designer & Digital Creator

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

Hi Monique, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Ever since I was young, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I saw first hand what it took to run a business – the passion to succeed, the dedicated work, the risk taking. I learned it all from my dad running his own screen-printing company.

I too wanted to build something of my own because I found the long term benefits working for myself such as having the freedom to create my own schedule and creating generational wealth for my family are worth all the hard work that comes with it.

But I mostly admired the idea of leaving an impact on the world – even if it was as miniscule as designing a piece of clothing that boosted one person’s confidence.

Ultimately, my thought process behind starting my own businesses went beyond my personal needs. I took what I was familiar with in business, found what I was passionate in creating, and infused it all into a way that I can positively impact other people. That is the main goal behind everything I create, from the designs for my clothing brand to the self-improvement digital guides I created for my online community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I believe what really sets me apart from others is how versatile I am as a person all around. My friends constantly make comments like, “how do you do it?” or “you surprise me” because of how multifaceted I can be. I am proud of this quality though because I’ve never been one to follow the crowd, I enjoy just going with what interests me and makes me happy.

Having this quality has allowed me to be the creative, fun, designer that likes to switch up her fashion style and enjoys making art through different mediums. While I am also the young mom of two kids, who graduated college with a BA in business marketing, and is an advocate for personal development.

I had to face many challenges in my personal life and professional career to get where I am today, but to overcome my challenges I always remind myself how badly I want to succeed and that any failure along the way is just a stepping stone to help me get there. For example, I wouldn’t have found my brand PLAYNICE without first starting two other brands and failing. The key is to just keep going, staying consistent, and keep imagining yourself at the top of where you’re trying to get to because the only thing that can really stop you is yourself.

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?
What I love about LA is that there is so much to do! There are so many activities and good places to eat all year long. If it’s a spring or summer day, I would definitely spend the day at the beach in Malibu. At night we could get a nice dinner; there are so many restaurants to choose from but some of my favorites are Catch, Bottega Louie, JOEY and Javiers. Then we could end the night at a rooftop bar like Level8, Perch, or Skybar. I also enjoy going to amusement parks so I would start the day by getting brunch at Millie’s Cafe and then enjoy a day of fun at Universal Studios or Disneyland. If it’s a fall or winter day, or maybe just a more casual hang out, LA has some cool museums to visit like the Getty or LACMA. After we can go for some soothing food like Tatsu Ramen or Din Tai Fung. We could also spend a winter day in the mountains, and snowboard or ski. There is so so much to do out here, it’s truly a blessing.

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?
I want to shoutout my family. I know, it may sound so cliche, but truly my family has been my back bone my entire life and I know I would not be who I am today if it were not for them.

My parents have been the most supportive in everything I set my mind to in my career and they have always encouraged me to keep striving for greatness.

My kids are my rock and are my motivation everyday. I hope to inspire them to be eager to follow their own passions and love the life they create for themselves.

I will always be eternally grateful for my family’s love and faith in me to succeed.

Instagram: @shopplaynice / @momoneymood / @xomoniquesilva