BY: JADE LEONARD & SHERDELL BAKER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: NOTORIOUSPHOTOS
Imagine. Its 2011 in Newark, New Jersey, a 19-year-old single mother and her newborn are homeless; without support from family, she's left to fend for herself and figure it out. She jumps into the corporate world working at a call center, taking a train to a bus to daycare, then a bus to a train to New York City in pursuit of life in the entertainment industry. No matter how tired, positivity, determination, and her SON radiated through the adversity. One thing led to another and her purpose soon aligned.
"If you would've told me ten years ago I would be in the entertainment industry, and be who I am today, I would not have believed you... it's kinda surreal."
Today when she wakes up in the morning, she has the freedom and luxury to do what she pleases. Her time is her own. Pilar is a fashion stylist for the stars, a published author, and Editor In Chief of Fashion Gxd Magazine, with over 1 million impressions per month. Her motivation and reason to keep going? Her son, River Mason Eromosele, an actor, model, and author. Pilar's leadership and personality reflect back on her son; he has as much of an impact on her as she does on him, and the energy they feed off of each other is magnetic. He even keeps her hip on the latest and greatest, and influences some of the choices she makes in her work. Like true Capricorns, they are doers and go-getters, climbing up the ladder of success making no excuses in the process. This mother and son combo believe every day is a chance to get closer to your dreams and you have to claim it; "Anything that's worth it will not be easy". Mother Pilar speaks on manifesting, the law of attraction, and how using affirmations bring visions to reality. I respect that as successful as she's become, she wants to highlight and advance her son's career. It is his legacy being created now, which will inspire the next generation. Please welcome Pilar Scratch & River Mason “The Dynamic Duo".
The UpNext: What’s your life motto?
Pilar Scratch: "Weakness is purely choice; you can never fail if you never give up."
River, 10, jumps in and says "You've been saying that since I was a kid because you tell me that every day!". She created the quote in college and stuck with it ever since. Pilar had no formal fashion training (other than Grandma who taught her how to sew). She's self-taught and self-educated on a variety of skills. Pilar emphasizes the education opportunities at our fingertips-- "There's no reason to not understand marketing or branding, or how to run a social media campaign... it's called Google University and Youtube University; you can literally find any question you want to know".
The UN: Your son River is SO inspiring at such a young age; one diaper commercial and his "foot was in the door" right along with you! What qualities in him remind you of yourself? What of those qualities has contributed to both of you all's success?
PS: "River is very opinionated like me. I'm very boisterous. I'm very dominant and assertive.
River is in the back shaking his head like "oh yeah she is!"
River has a lot of that in him, he's a natural leader, assertive, intelligent, and very business-minded as well... I'm very proud of him. He's been in this game all of his life and has learned so much.
Pilar is a celebrity stylist so I had to ask...
The UN: Which celebrities would you love to style?
PS: "Jhene Aiko, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and Kanye West (just his style). Their influence is undeniable. They've created their own lane and they stand out."
The UN: Tell us about your styling “process”
PS: "I've always been very eccentric in the way that I dress since high school. I never want anyone to dress the way I dress. My goal is to enhance your own personal style and not change who you are."
After a whisper in her ear told her she should start a magazine, Pilar called up some of her friends for favors and built a platform from "scratch" for entrepreneurs seeking to collaborate with celebrities...
The UN: How did it feel to have your magazine, Fashion Gxd, as Amazon’s #1 selling magazine for 3 consecutive years? What did the road look like to get there?
PS: "It felt really good, we were so inclusive of the African American community at Fashion Gxd, which were the roots. We wanted to bridge that gap between the ordinary person with a business and working with their favorite celebrity. Every branch and root of Fashion Gxd, has turned out to be an impeccable brand. We outsold Vogue in 2017! I always ask God to keep me humble. I always want to walk in my purpose, and be kind and giving with a sense of humility."
The UN: Wow! Thats amazing. What mistakes have you made as a magazine editor and what did you learn?
PS: "Underselling my pricing and wanting to help everyone to the point where it is not making sense for financial gain. Yes, we want everyone to win, but we are internationally distributed. You want to make everything affordable but people will take advantage of that. All money isn't good money; I'm quick to give you ya money and tell you to get on with ya life. If it is not an equal exchange it should not be happening. You can't continuously pour into someone and have them drain you; pricing has to make sense for YOU."
The UN: Describe your “come up” moment (i.e I made it MOFO!!)
PS: "I remember when my publicist said, "You're going to Rihanna's listening party, you're gonna be in VIP, and they want you to come and walk the red carpet". I'm this little girl from Jersey, 21 years old, not knowing anything, standing in the regular admissions line. A friend of a friend's publicist was like, "Aren't you Pilar Scratch? Why are you in this line?". I said, "Because I'm waiting; they said my name was on the list with my friends". She said, "No! Wait! Let me get security to escort you in". These beefed-up security guards came and escorted us, their arms stretched wide across the crowd, clearing the way shouting, "Pilar Scratch coming through". There were so many people because it was for RIHANNA! But I had to pretend I was used to this, and this wasn't a big deal. Once we were escorted upstairs they made it a big deal that we were there. Girl! We sittin' with Tyson Beckford and Maxwell. I'm playin' it off cool talkin' to Tyson like we at a bodega in front of the icy machine or somethin'. Rihanna came in, told me I was beautiful. I really had to sit there and say this is a moment. I was screaming on the inside!"
The UN: What’s a major takeaway from your book, Mindset on Increase?
PS: "The power of the Law of Attraction and manifestation, and how vital it is. You literally have to rewire the way you think and everything you were taught about self-doubt. I am a firm believer in not interrupting someone when they're daydreaming because they're manifesting their reality. You're envisioning in your head the life that you want. No matter how out there you think it is. It sums up how I did it in a story form; my struggles, my journey; from a shelter to a book that cleared $100K in the first couple of months; my first time ever seeing six figures! I was just a teen mom; I had a dream and went for it. I manifested the life I knew I deserved. I've implemented it into my son's life to the point where we're in Times Square after an event and River says, "Mommy! I want to be on that billboard right there!" So, I said okay, if you want it, affirm it. He said, " I shall"; 2 months later, he was on a bigger billboard in Times Square, a sneaker campaign with his best friend. Its eerie almost but if you teach them young and implement it into their daily lives, its something that they can consistently do effortlessly."
The UN: And lastly, what are you most excited about for 2021?
PS: "We're finally starting therapy. I've worked on building a great relationship with people and I'm excited about that. 2020 believe it not was the year of family for me. I'm excited to continue to build and see where it goes. Anything is possible at any moment. I'm excited to what the future holds. I'm excited to see where he's going to be, where I'm going to be, and just the healthy space that we've created."
When Pilar is not focused on her successful styling career, she is giving her attention to her son, River. She has made it her mission to nurture his gifts to help him expand his horizon as he goes about life. Additionally, keeping him educated about the industry that he’s in, and protecting him from negative influences. River Mason (Eromosele), alongside his mother, has been able to expand his career in various ways. These ways include being involved in ad campaigns, television shows, and other media ventures. The young star has already used his business mindset and intelligence to his advantage by creating a children’s book to help teach others about chakras and believing in themselves. River is also still like any other young child that plays with their friends and plays video games such as Fortnite and 2K.
The UN: When was the moment you began to take acting more seriously or that sparked you to do it more?
River Mason: "I would definitely say working with John Legend! I was literally sitting right next to him at a dinner table eating food. It was so fun working with him because I was listening to [him] a lot at the time and my parents used to listen to his music as well."
The UN: Were there any challenges that you faced while starting your career?
RM: "One year was challenging when me and my mom were traveling a lot back and forth every two weeks when I was in 2nd grade. I used to have to do work on the plane and I wouldn’t be able to sleep a lot."
The UN: I'm aware that you and your mom have a book that recently came out, The Sky Is The Limit, can you tell me the inspiration behind that and how that came to be?
RM: "The inspiration behind the book came from my parents when my dad made a drawing for my mom when they were still dating in 2008. It was stick figures in a hot air balloon and the title of the drawing was “the sky is the limit.” The inspiration for the book itself came from me wanting to teach my friends about the law of attraction, manifestation, chakras, meditation, and healing."
The UN: From all the roles that you've played thus far, do you have a favorite?
RM: "My favorite role that I’ve played would have to be Kabib in Evil Lives Here as because I could just go in there and be myself."
The UN: Tell me about the process you went through to prepare for your role on Evil Lives Here.
RM: "I was literally on the couch 24/7, just laying there and I had my iPad so I could just read the lines over, and over, and over again and I didn’t do anything else!"
The UN: What's been your biggest lesson that you've learned from acting?
RM: "Time management for sure. I had to use a call sheet while on set that really helped me stay on top of things and be on time."
The UN: What is your hope for other kids that might be watching you & looking up to you?
RM: "I would tell them to never give up and keep trying. :)"
The mother-son duo has already made their mark on the industry and is only merely getting started. Both do their best to keep positivity around them along with lovely that shines so brightly when they’re together. To see more from both Pilar and River, head over to their social media pages which can be found here.
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