Life & Work with Martell Washington

Today we’d like to introduce you to Martell Washington.

Hi Martell, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 2020, my wife and I were traveling to London and Paris for our honeymoon. Upon watching videos about London, a gentleman made a statement saying “you can tell Americans from the second they step off the plane because of how they dress in graphic T-shirts and all of the bold clothing.” Wow! That caught me off guard. I didn’t want us to be kidnapped like in the movie Taken.

So I started doing research on how Europeans dress. I ran across a YouTuber name Alex Costa. I really was impressed with his style and the tips he gave about dressing better.

From there, I started my own sense of style; Referring to pants as trousers, sweaters as jumpers, and getting rid of all the Nike apparel and graphic T-shirts. My wife and I revamped our whole wardrobe. We were ready for our trip but sad to say, Covid came along and ruined all of those plans. No honeymoon with my wife to the land of love.

No way to show off our newfound love for fashion. So after attending a few events at home, family gatherings, etc. people started to tell me how much they liked how I dressed and where did I get certain clothing articles from. That sparked an idea that I could help people dress with a little more style but I wanted to tie it into myself. So I thought being a husband and father of four, why not do something for the dads.

DadFashion2021 was born. I launched my Instagram page in March of 2021 and it went nowhere. I was crushed. I had all these cool ideas for fashion and tips on fashion and it flopped. I didn’t stop there though. In June of 2021, I launched my TikTok and it started off slow but it began to gain momentum.

Before I knew it, I was at 10k followers and they were asking for advice and styling tips. Then big brands started to reach out such as DSW, Poshmark, Ralph Lauren, etc. Just to name a few. Right now, I sit at 13.3k followers on TikTok and plan to lunch my YouTube this fall.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Becoming an influencer has not been a smooth road at all.

Trying to make great content to gain followers and maintain followers is a struggle every day. Make sure you stay up on fashion and what’s hot, all while making sure your content is great enough to get the attention of brands.

From working a full-time job as a police officer at night to taking care of your smaller children to save on daycare fees during the day, and making content while you watch your children is also a struggle.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a Police Officer for the University of Memphis on the night shift. I protect the employees, students, and citizens of the surrounding area of the University of Memphis.

I’m known for my personality and my ora of drawing people to me. I’m most proud of my wife 3 daughters and son. I refuse to give up once I put my mind to something I will not quit till I achieve the goal.

Can you share something surprising about yourself?
I doubt myself a lot but I’m not afraid to try and learn from it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://instabio.cc/4061505iWzmqw
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Dadfashion2021
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/DadFashion4
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdwAVv2b/