Lexi & Alyse Scaffidi
Alyse and Lexi Scaffidi are South Jersey sisters determined to make a difference. Known for their delightful and colorful social media presence as @bitesizedfitness and @bitesizedsis, the duo’s goal is to promote inclusivity, healthy lifestyle, and positive vibes to others through their content.
Alyse, 29 year old, Pharm D and Lexi, a 28 year old accountant, definitely do not look like your average business women. They are lovers of fashion, traveling, and family time! Over the past 3 years, they have been working on expanding their body inclusive DreamWalk Fashion Show which is a new type of event with diverse models, wild fashion, musical performances, and pop up art installations!
Cover photo by Iryna Shostak
Interview: Lexi & Alyse Scaffidi of DreamWalk Fashion Show
By Angela Tai
What inspired you to create the DreamWalk Fashion Show?
We came up with the concept behind DreamWalk back in 2016, while sitting on the couch watching the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. My sister and I absolutely loved the wild costumes and interactive entertainment, but we knew we’d never meet the brands restrictive model criteria. Since we felt discouraged by the “one size fits all” look on runways, we decided to create our own show and include people of all shapes, ages, genders, ethnicities, sexualities and abilities. After releasing a video recap of the first show in 2017, it received viral attention with over 40 million views.
Many people have great business ideas but struggle to follow- through for a myriad of reasons. Can you walk me through your journey of starting the DreamWalk Fashion Show, especially during the first year?
When we initially came up with the concept of DreamWalk, it was incredibly difficult to get people to support the idea since nothing like our show existed. After hundreds of unsuccessful attempts to find a sponsor, my sister and I pulled together $10,000 from our savings and put it towards creating the first event. Since then, it’s been a string of challenges to learn event production and marketing, but when you believe in something as much as we believe in DreamWalk, you’ll do whatever it takes to make it a success.
How do you find inspiration for your brand?
Literally everywhere and anywhere! It might be on social media or from a new city we visit, as well as window displays and award shows. We’re always are open to new ideas to make our brand better. We love bright colors, sparkles, animal print and anything unique. Life is too short to be boring, so our brand is all about having fun and standing out.
What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn since the launch of the DreamWalk Fashion Show?
Since starting DreamWalk, we’ve had to come to the realization that you will always have more work than you’re capable of completing. We’re the type of people who work 100+ hours per week, but you have to be careful not to burn yourself out or get yourself sick from exhaustion. Over the years, we’ve had to learn better time management and prioritization, which sometimes includes saying no to friends or opportunities that don’t perfectly align with our mission.
How do you divide responsibilities as business partners?
As business partners, we try to divide tasks based on our personal strengths and weaknesses. For example, Lexi is a social media and graphic guru, whereas Alyse is the master of email marketing and pitch deck development. Since we’re still a small startup, we each have to wear a multitude of hats and it’s a constantly evolving workload based on show schedules. We find creating shared file folders and weekly task lists to be incredibly helpful in ensuring important responsibilities don’t get overlooked.
What does diversity & inclusion mean to you?
At its core, DreamWalk is about diversity, inclusivity and acceptance. Our “body inclusive” runway is proving that everyone, regardless of their size, age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality or ability, deserves to be seen and to have their stories heard. We have created an event that gives the average person a chance to be a part of a community that accepts all people and encourages others to be the best they can be. You don’t have to be professional model or in the fashion industry to look beautiful on stage, and our show proves that year after year. For years, fashion and social media have made people feel excluded because of their differences. For years, people have been told they aren’t “pretty” enough because they don’t look like a stereotypical view of beauty seen on tv and in ads. With DreamWalk, we’re determined to shatter these beauty standards and help people realize beauty is in our differences.
What drives you to work?
For us, it’s all about seeing our Dreamer’s transformation after rocking the runway. Our participant’s confidence levels and lives literally change after experiencing DreamWalk and becoming part of our inclusive community. When we get emails or texts from prior Dreamers saying they landed a modeling gig, had the strength to leave a bad circumstance, or just feel better in their skin, those are the things that make it all worth it. We created this event in hopes of making the world a more accepting and inclusive event, so it’s incredibly gratifying to see people from all walks of life join together for our shows.
What’s the one thing you’d like all aspiring entrepreneurs to know before they go out on their own?
Get ready for a lot of long, sleepless night! You’re going to be told “no” a million times, you may have to take a pay cut at first, and you will always have to work harder than those with stereotypical jobs. We also think it’s important be financially stable before committing to entrepreneurship full time. It’s a very unpredictable career and you want to be able to make the best decisions for your brand, rather than necessary ones to pay the bills. Being an entrepreneur is NOT easy, but if you refuse to give up, you can make big things can happen!