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About Sissy Rooney

A heart-warming tale about how a humble Toxteth girl stormed the fashion industry… then gave it all up to run creative workshops for schools and youth groups.


Street Style Surgery founder and resident fashionista Sissy Rooney didn't leave school with much. In fact, she didn't have a single qualification to her name. But then nor did many of her mates…

...It wasn't easy staying on the straight-and-narrow in Toxteth, Liverpool. And young Sissy, like many others, had fallen in with the wrong crowd.

Luckily, our girl had an ace textiles teacher (this one's for you, Mrs Wilson!) who spotted her passion for fashion and encouraged her to take a course at the local college.

So Sissy grasped the nettle (ow!), enrolled and began to turn her life around.


From Bench & Hooch to SSS

Nine years' of hard graft later, and, with a Scrabble board of letters next to her name, Sissy applied for her dream job with urban fashion brand Bench and Hooch...

They didn't have any vacancies at the time. But a trillion beseeching emails and a storming interview later, and Sissy was in the door.

Sissy loved it at Bench and Hooch. But, after a while, she started to feel a bit restless. Because two exciting ideas had tied up their horses and set up camp in her brain:

  • Exciting Idea  1: “Wouldn't it be great to have my own business where I'd be free to do my thing without going through death by committee”
  • Exciting Idea 2: “I'd love to inspire kids from difficult backgrounds like my own to get creative, change the paths that they're on and become the Richard Bransons, Damien Hursts and Jay Zs of tomorrow”

Some time went by. Tick tock. Then one day Sissy had a brainwave: “why don't I combine both ideas and set up a company that provides creative workshops for schools and disadvantaged young people

Eureka!

The Street Style Surgery was born. And we haven't looked back since!


A bit of boasting about our awards, achievements and stuff

Since Sissy founded the Street Style Surgery in 2008, we've worked with over 1,000 young people aged 6-25 from organisations as varied as lottery-funded projects, charities and schools.

Our clients include:

  • Barnardos
  • Manchester City Council
  • Connexions Youth Advisory Service
  • The Youth Offending Team
  • Positive Activities for Young People
  • Save the Family

Plus we have received support and sponsorship from Brother sewing machines and Marabu textiles products.

In this time, Sissy has also won a fistful of awards and commendations:

  • Finalist for the ‘Women of Courage' award
  • UK Young Fashion Entrepreneur 2009
  • One of Striding Out's ‘100 Entrepreneurs of the Future'
  • ENYAN Regional Youth Arts Champion 2011
  • Ambassadorships for various youth organisations
  • An oversees scholarship to the illustrious Babson Business School in Boston, USA


If you'd like to find out more about us, or Sissy, please email sissy@streetstylesurgery.co.uk

 

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