Episode 38 of The Drax Files : World Makers takes us to the world of Second Life fashion in the shape and form of the wonderfully inspiring story of Eboni Khan, owner of The House of Hucci brand.
Eboni simply radiates throughout the episode as she tells us how she overcame a rather large degree of adversity to prosper inside and outside of Second Life.
Eboni, a single Mom went to a Management Information School and progressed to a job as an IT Manager. Unfortunately, Eboni was laid off and it was then that Second Life and Eboni’s creative skills came to the fore. Eboni explains :
If it wasn’t for Second Life, I don’t know how I would have made it through the recession.
Eboni points out that Second Life has a low barrier to entry, which is more true today than it was many years ago because with the Second Life Marketplace, you don’t even need to own a plot of land to start selling your wares.
Eboni also discusses how it’s volume of sales that provides her with an income she can live on. Most items in Eboni’s store cost around a dollar, so you can quickly see that Eboni sells a lot of items and that there’s a market in Second Life that consists of plenty of people who are willing to engage in microtransactions.
The beauty of this series from Draxtor Despres is how it gets behind the avatar and this episode is no exception. We learn that Eboni’s creative tools are ZBrush, Maya and Blender. These are portable skills that people can take to other platforms if they have the time, inclination and believe it’s worth their time.
Getting behind the avatar also means getting personal too and in this episode we are introduced to Eboni’s son, a College Sophomore who is immensely proud of his Mom. We also hear about family life with Eboni explaining that when her son was younger she would usually go on Second Life after he had gone to bed, because that was a more quiet time and a time where one can assume, Eboni could concentrate on her creations.
Eboni’s story is one of empowerment and how the virtual world provided Eboni with the opportunity to do her own thing, from home, despite all the challenges of being a single Mom.
Eboni also discusses how the virtual world of Second Life is open and welcoming and then she touches upon an issue that is often overlooked, reach. I’m not just talking in terms of business reach here, Second Life is a global platform and you will meet people of different nationalities, different ages and different cultural backgrounds. This means we will learn about different cultures and become more tolerant to others … hopefully!
The episode has a PS too, the below sign. That sign is in St Louis and that does indeed look very much like a Second Life avatar on the sign!
The episode plays for around three and a half minutes and is well worth viewing, not only to hear Eboni’s story but also to see her smile because Eboni’s smile even made a grumpy git like me smile and that’s quite an achievement!
I still don’t know how Draxtor manages to pack so much in to such a short space of time, but he consistently does it and that’s what makes this series so very impressive.
SLURL To Hucci : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hyde%20Park/187/211/37
Hucci Website : http://houseofhucci.com/