Go-Getter: Chivon Ferguson Talks ‘Pretty Girl Problems’

Chivon Ferguson graduated from North Carolina Central University with a Bachelor’s in Sociology and Psychology. Chivon also has a Masters in Business from Keller Graduate school of Management. Chivon moved from North Carolina to Atlanta back in 2008 where she began working in the music industry with Block Entertainment; working on Gorilla Zoe album “Don’t Feed da Animals”. Chivon did independent PR and Brand Management for five years under her company Branded PR. She moved on to work in music management for rap artist Future and went on to start Pretty Girl Problems.

What year did you start Pretty Girl Problems and how did you come up with the idea?

Pretty Girl Problems isn’t even a year old yet. It will be a year old next month actually. I started in September of 2013. Actually, it came from nowhere. I used to use the hashtag on Instagram all the time and it was actually when I wasn’t very pretty. I would be sick, have a bad hair day or something. I started hashtagging #PrettyGirlProblems, then from there I had an event. I wanted to give a gift to the people participating and I just made the shirts. I put Pretty Girl Problems on it and it kind of went from there. I started the nail polish line Paint Me Pretty – well about six months before that – and it kind of grew from there.

What advice would you give someone with self-esteem issues, regardless of their age?

I would let them know that there is nothing that the outside world can offer you that you don’t already have. Whatever you’re searching for – or whatever you’re looking for – you are equipped with it already. You were born with it. You were born with everything you ever needed to accomplish any goal that you ever wanted to accomplish. Just to tap into that and be more self-reliant, to really believe in your ability and your skills and stop looking outward for those things.

Tell readers about your Pretty Girl apparel line and Pretty Girl polish?

The apparel line consist of sweatshirts, t-shirts, tank tops, sports bras and boy shorts. Then, we have some stuff for the little pretty girls in our lives too, including sweatshirts, t-shirts and onesies. We have some customizable Pretty Girl Problems shirts as well. It can be Pretty North Carolina Girls Problems, Pretty Florida Girls Problems or it could be Pretty Cheerleader Mom Girls Problems, things like that. You can customize anything you want after the word pretty. It’s available on the website prettygirlproblems.com. Our nail polish we have about 12 colors right now. We do have custom options for parties and baby showers. We have done that before, you just have to contact customer service through the website.

That’s the shirts I seen with the college, like Spelman and Clark Atlanta on your website right?

We did the colleges, of course, we did my alma mater North Carolina Central University. Then, we in Atlanta. So, we did Spelman and Clark.

Tell readers the name of the book you published and where it can be purchased from?

Pretty Girl Problems – the book series – is a series of eight books. There are different titles and subtitles under Pretty Girl Problems. The first one is A Girl’s Guide To Growing Up Pretty that was released April of this year. We are going to do a box set for the holidays, coming like November 15th around that time. It’s going to be the original, A Girl’s Guide To Wrong and Pretty, A Girl’s Guide To Family and A Girl’s Guide To Gratitude. You can purchase that at Amazon.com and you can purchase it at prettylittlegirlproblems.com.

What’s a typical day like for Chivon Ferguson?

Crazy (laughs). A typical day consist of…I wake up pretty early between 6 and 7, usually right around 6:30. I start fighting myself and I get up. From there, I start checking emails before I get out of bed. I’m on my phone right away checking emails. I move around a lot to different meetings. I talk to distributors for my book and my nail polish. I’m always trying to develop new sales relationships, always working with new partners. We developed the Pretty Girl Problems character building middle school curriculum that’s going into middle schools in Clayton County. It actually started this school year. I’m super excited about that. I’m on the phone about that almost daily now, making sure that’s being used properly. My day consist of a lot of Pretty Girl Problems, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

When you’re not working, what do you like to do for fun?

I love being outside. I live to be outside, anything physical that involves being outside and I was just at Stone Mountain. I love the water. There is something about the peacefulness of the water. The beach. If you want make me happy, just take me to the beach. We don’t have to go see any attractions or anything, just take me to the water. I read. I like to read. I’m a big eater and I’m always eating. Just real simple things. I like quiet things because I work with so many people in my work and on my personal time I like intimate quiet friends and family.

Is there anything you would like people to know about you?

I want people to know I’m just a regular girl from North Carolina, a regular girl. I have triumphs and challenges just like anyone else. If I can do it, then you can do it 100%. I just really want people to believe in themselves and their abilities. Don’t ever get caught up with I don’t know enough people or I don’t have enough resources. Do the work and it will come together. Do the work first and everything around that will come together.

I saw on your website that you helped out with AIDS, cancer and other diseases…

The actual proceeds from a few of the polishes go to different causes. We have a red color called “status.” Partial proceeds from that all year long, 10% goes to AIDS research & awareness. In December, during National AIDS Awareness Month, all the proceeds from the sales of that polish go to AIDS awareness and research. We also have a blue [color], a new blue coming out called Sydney’s Blue. I have a little cousin that was born three years ago with down-syndrome. Ten percent of those proceeds goes to her cause. We do stuff like that with the nail polish.

Would you ever do something like that for sickle-cell anemia or breast cancer?

Absolutely. We do have a polish for breast cancer it’s called “The Twins.” It’s pink, we have one for that. We don’t have anything for sickle-cell anemia, but I’m open 100% for people reaching out saying “hey these are my causes.” I have the relationships and manufacturers. I’ll do a line with them. I’ll do the groundwork and make the polish up, then we will donate partial proceeds to their cause. Then, we will actually make some money off of it too.

How can readers keep in contact with you through social networks and through your website?

The website is theprettygirlproblem.com , that’s for our big girls. For our little girls, we have the prettylittlegirlproblems.com. They can contact me through Instagram at @chivonsworld and they can also reach me on Twitter @prettysproblem.