24 hours, two job titles: How Tuskegee guard Joirdyn Smith balances basketball and styling

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At 5 years outdated, if Tuskegee University guard Joirdyn Smith grew too quiet at a household gathering, her household knew the one place to search for her: her grandmother’s or mom’s closet. From attempting on their heels to experimenting with their necklaces, rings and purses, Smith needed all of it.

It was like somebody combing via each rack in a thrift retailer for a one-in-a-million discover. That’s how Smith handled the closets of her household’s matriarchs.

“Those were my Barbies. I never really had toys or similar things,” Smith stated.

That ardour by no means left Smith, and now, the 20-year-old has expanded past dressing herself utilizing her household closets.

“I feel like it’s a full-circle moment now, being a stylist,” she stated.

As Smith creates her imaginative and prescient board yr after yr, her long-term objectives are shortly changing into actuality. Today, she balances life as a student-athlete with a rising styling enterprise.

Her styling and sourcing roster consists of Indiana Fever guard Tyasha Harris; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears; Ohio State broad receiver Brandon Inniss; Washington Mystics guard Cotie McMahon; former South Carolina guard Brea Beal, who’s Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn’s companion; and Jaylin Taylor, spouse of Tennessee Titans cornerback Alontae Taylor.

“Having a stylist isn’t about changing your style or personality,” Smith stated. “It’s simply enhancing it. It’s adding to their imagination and turning them into an elevated version of themselves. The goal isn’t to make my clients different people or anything like that.”

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To be on her A-game on the court docket and whereas styling, Smith retains a decent schedule.

Her day normally begins with a roster exercise at 4 a.m. or 7 a.m., adopted by two courses. She then returns to the basketball gymnasium for an individualized ability exercise and will get residence between 4 and 5 p.m. A self-described night time owl, Smith produces a lot of her greatest work after hours.

“It’s honestly really hard,” Smith stated. “It’s super tedious. I’m always working and busy, but it’s super fulfilling. Styling never stops for me. On the way to games, I’m answering emails. My mind may drift in class, thinking of outfits. I do have to turn down plans with friends. In college, it’s tough, because you don’t want to miss out. It never feels like work to me. It’s my passion. I use styling as a way to escape the stressors of life, like school and even basketball sometimes, and just personal things.”

Since transferring from Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta to Tuskegee University for her junior yr, Smith has confronted a slight impediment when purchasing for purchasers in individual: the restricted variety of shops in Tuskegee, Alabama.

Being in Atlanta made it simpler to buy in individual and join with established figures within the styling group. It additionally led her to work at Jaide, a girls’s streetwear boutique the place she met numerous individuals within the vogue trade.

New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears in a glance styled by Joirdyn Smith, whose rising consumer roster consists of skilled and faculty athletes throughout a number of sports activities.Cameron Browne/NBAE by way of Getty Images

“My friend Jesiah Thompson introduced me to [stylist] Samuel Johnson, whose roster features a number of NFL clients,” Smith stated. “He’s been very helpful in my journey as a whole and has really helped me get a keen eye for pieces for male athletes.”

When working with Johnson, Smith discovered how profitable styling may be. The two often go on “shopping days” the place they browse and examine items collectively. Through Johnson and her impartial work, Smith has met gross sales associates, generally known as SAs, at a number of high-end shops who ship Smith weekly images of things they suppose her purchasers will take pleasure in.

Smith has additionally acquired hands-on steerage from stylist Brittany Hampton, whose purchasers embrace Paige Bueckers, Sabrina Ionescu, CeeDee Lamb, tennis Grand Slam champion Sloane Stephens and extra. Smith interned with Hampton throughout 2025 WNBA All-Star Weekend, styling Bueckers.

“Paige needed some last-minute accessories just hours before the Orange Carpet,” Smith stated. “She sent me and another intern to TJ Maxx, where we found two belts and about three necklaces. It was super hectic in a short period of time, but it ended up being exactly what they needed for the look.”

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To get began, Smith took a tough have a look at the individuals round her whom she might start styling. Harris, a detailed buddy of Smith’s household, turned considered one of her first alternatives. In 2023, whereas Harris was taking part in for the Connecticut Sun, Smith reached out to type her for the WNBA tunnel.

“Now, looking back, I’m not really a fan of the outfit, but we all have to start somewhere,” Smith stated. “I decided to put together a gray monochromatic look. I was still in high school at the time, so that in itself was definitely an accomplishment. There wasn’t a formal process.”

Ohio State broad receiver Brandon Inniss wears a black leather-based look styled by Joirdyn Smith.Joirdyn Smith

Smith additionally messaged greater than 20 faculty {and professional} athletes on Instagram to supply her companies. She knew some wouldn’t reply, however those that did turned the inspiration of her consumer base.

After their preliminary collaboration in 2023, Smith styled a number of extra outfits for Harris in the course of the 2025 stretch earlier than committing to styling her for all the 2026 WNBA common stretch. To get Harris game-day prepared, Smith makes use of a mixture of in-person fittings, FaceTime try-ons and on-line hyperlinks.

Occasionally, she will be able to even ship Harris’s outfits on to her resort room for away video games, permitting Harris to pack little or no.

Smith has constructed belief with Harris by making their fittings a collaborative expertise. The duo approaches fittings as a partnership somewhat than Smith merely telling Harris what to put on. 

The 2017 NCAA champion stated Smith persistently goes above and past what she is requested to do. In a current Instagram put up, Harris inspired others within the trade to guide Smith earlier than her schedule fills up.

“2026 is my breakout year, if you will,” Smith stated. “I’ve gained a lot of experiences. I was faced with some growing challenges, but I hit a lot of my goals. Now, with social media, athletes care a lot about their tunnel presence more than ever.”

“I want young girls and really anyone who looks up to me to see that you can be great at multiple things. I take pride in being multifaceted.”

As Smith’s roster continues to develop, she presents styling companies, sourcing and private purchasing, every with its personal related price. When onboarding a brand new consumer, Smith prefers to start out with an introductory cellphone name earlier than they full a consumer survey. The survey consists of questions on their persona, favourite colours to put on and what makes them really feel most assured. This course of has helped her preserve six constant purchasers and attain greater than 15 purchasers previously two years.

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When it involves styling, Smith believes her X issue is just being personable.

With the NFL stretch underway, two of her fundamental purchasers are Beal and Taylor. For Beal, Smith primarily handles purchasing and sourcing, whereas for Taylor, she curates game-day outfits. Smith stated one of the crucial gratifying elements of that relationship has been serving to Taylor add extra texture to her on a regular basis type.

“It’s all about knowing your client,” Smith stated. “Taylor recently had a baby, so we’ll usually opt for a shorter heel to allow her to keep up with her child. For her, we create more mature and modest looks that are still young and fun.”

Smith believes anybody can know vogue, however standing out requires each type and work ethic. She credit her mom, whom she describes as somebody who wears many hats and persistently performs at a excessive degree, for instilling that mindset.

“I want young girls — and really anyone who looks up to me — to see that you can be great at multiple things,” Smith stated. “I take satisfaction in being multifaceted. I by no means need to be outlined by one label or positioned in a single field, as a result of I imagine God has given me the power to excel in a couple of space of my life.

“If I can grow into even half the woman my mom is, I’ll be proud. I truly want to be just like her.”

Alexis Davis is a former Rhoden Fellow. She loves styling fits with sneakers and might identify any sneaker you present her. She stop basketball to cheer in highschool however hopes the ladies’s basketball protection she does now makes the game forgive her for going to the opposite aspect of the sideline.