Sharifa Murdock has been a fashion mogul in the making since she was a young girl growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y. Now, the CEO of ENVSN and Chief of People and Culture at KITH, Murdock is sharing her story with BET.com to help other young creatives not only thrive but make smart choices that will help them endure some of the challenges that may come along the way. 

Her story begins like many other Black women who are molded by the inner city looking for a way into an industry that isn’t necessarily created for them. As a teen, Murdock was quickly taught about the value of hard work and money. Her first job was in retail and she was eventually hired as a sales associate at Atrium, a contemporary clothing store in Lower Manhattan. It wasn’t until that moment that she really began to understand the business of fashion. The store’s owner, Sam Ben­Avraham, took her under his tutelage, mentoring Murdock as she followed a course of study in Fashion Merchandising and Buying from Wood Tobe Coburn College and eventually into positions at prestigious showrooms for Louis Vuitton and Donna Karen.

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“I know what I could have been growing up in the inner city and I know what I didn't want,” says Murdock. “I wanted to make sure young women around the world understood that they had choices.”

Her desire to mentor talented young people and her passion for the ever evolving fashion industry birthed the idea for ENVSN, a community committed to the personal and professional development of Gen Z and millennial taste makers. In 2019, she presented the ENVSN Festival, a two-day event full of workshops, panel discussions, and networking experiences couched in between musical performances, DJ sets, and giveaways.

“Kids need to be exposed at an earlier age to things that they aren't normally exposed to,” said Murdock. “I see ENVSN being that platform to open up young people’s eyes to see how much further they can go in life and not just believe the story that they are being told.”

Her plan is to empower the next generation of creative geniuses, one-by-one, to take over the world and leave it in a much better place. 

Watch Sharifa Murdock talk about encouraging today’s youth movement, her tips on how to break into the fashion industry and her amazing advice on how to stay true to yourself and maintain your positivity no matter where you go in our video below.