Syed Sohail is a triple-threat: a social media guru, blogger and soon-to-be Ryerson marketing graduate.
Ever since he was young, Sohail had an eye for fashion.
He has honed the skills learned at Ryerson to monetize his brand and garner close to 30,000 Instagram followers, and to work with over 100 brands on his blog, THE PREP GUY.
He is constantly covering events, giving men style advice, and advocating for body positivity and racial diversity in the fashion industry.
Keep reading to hear our Q-and-A with Syed:
Q: How did your blog get started?
A: In late 2013, I started the site as a private journal that no one else could see. Just so I could chronicle things I loved in fashion. I made wish lists of things I wanted to buy and wrote reviews for runway shows and things like that. About six months in, I showed it to some of my friends, asking them if they thought I should make it public. I thought for sure they would make fun of me but they encouraged me. It then snowballed from there and [I] started to talk about my personal style and it’s been growing ever since.
Q: When did you become so passionate about fashion and style?
A: When I was in my later years of high school, I was a sloppy kid, and I had just recently lost 100 pounds and I needed a whole new wardrobe. I started reading the men’s style sections of magazines and that’s what really pushed it for me. It was interesting that it all stemmed from losing weight and needing new clothing.
Q: Do you feel like what you’ve learned during your time at Ryerson has helped you?
A: For everything ground up, I was actually able to apply what I learned in school to directly building a business and building an online brand and building the blog. Accounting helped with budgeting, and marketing helped me with sending marketing plans to the businesses I’m working with and when I’m pitching to companies. I wish I had finished school when I started the brand because I would’ve had all the building blocks but I’m really happy with what I’ve learned.
Q: What are your plans after graduation?
A: My ideal situation would be to continue the blog the way it’s going, but also have a full time marketing job in the fashion and lifestyle field. Realistically, when I started working really hard on the blog, I had this idea in my mind that it would be a great resume builder and really help me in finding my dream job because I am also really passionate about marketing.
Q: What advice can you give to people who want to do what you do?
A: People really value authenticity. When I started blogging, it was really about the quality of content that you were putting out and giving good advice to men on how to improve their style. But I’ve also done more outspoken pieces where I’m talking more about mental health, body positivity and issues in diversity when it comes to the fashion industry, and I think those are the things that people gravitate to.
Q: What’s your favourite part of what you do?
A: I get to do something different every day. It’s always new and exciting.
Q: Is it hard to balance school while being a blogger and influencer?
A: The first two years were really hard and all over the place in terms of dealing with it, but now I have an agency that represents me and that deals more with the administrative side of things, and now I can balance it a little bit better. At the end of the day though, it’s still work, even when you’re at these events, you still need to be working and networking. You always have to be on you’re A-game. It’s not necessarily as glamorous as it looks.
Q: What are the best tips you can give men on their style?
A: Get your pants tailored so that they fit properly, wear fitted clothes (men often wear things that are too big) and simplify your look — don’t wear too many bold things at once.
Nadia Khamsi is a second year Master of Journalism student at Ryerson University.