START

One year ago today, I locked up my apartment in Chicago for the last time and got in my car. I drove to the end of my street where I reached a stop sign, but instead of saying “STOP”, someone had replaced the “OP” with an “ART. I  took this “START” sign as a message that leaving behind the life I had built in Chicago and moving to Atlanta  for the sake of my art was the right decision for both me and my brand.

I spent a total of seven years in Chicago, four of which I spent running small creative businesses. When I founded Ready To Stare, my third small business, in early 2012, my products were sold in a salon where a friend worked before I even set up my online store. By the end of 2012, I was sold in six different boutiques and had participated in a variety of fashion shows, music festivals and craft fairs.  The fashion community in Chicago welcomed me with open arms and to an extent, I relied on that local support while I grew my online business.

I am a natural risk-taker who craves change and after seven years in Chicago working and either going to school or running a business, I was ready for a change and a break.  In the face of exhaustion, moving to Atlanta became this shiny beacon of hope.  I began researching apartments and making lists of possible fashion collaborators. The more I researched, the better it seemed. I thought I would have no problem meeting both professional and personal contacts. It seemed like an ideal fit for my brand.

But one year later after leaving Chicago, I can confidently say that all that glitters is not gold. When I arrived in Atlanta, I received a swift reality check when I was rejected from a small indie craft fair. The e-mail read, “Thanks for your interest in being a vendor …  However, your products do not fit the desired aesthetic for the event.” And the rejection continued,  boutiques were not interested in carrying my items in their shop either. I had always focused on selling in local boutiques, selling at local shows and selling online. I had quit my steady full-time job in Chicago to move here and now I only had one option: sell online and do it alone.

Over the course of the next few months, I struggled with losing my Chicago support system. I was down on myself and in a negative place.  Once the Beyonce album was released in December 2013, I realized that no one was going to change my life for me. Atlanta was not Chicago and it never would be and despite that, I had the power to change my situation. I decided to create the I WOKE UP LIKE DIS t-shirts and the empowerment movement, . I began using myself in my photos.

My connections in Chicago allowed me to hide myself from my brand. I could always count on someone else to collaborate with me and help me make creative decisions, but once I moved to Atlanta, I was on my own. I realized for the first time in my creative career that doing something on my own wasn’t something to be afraid of; it was empowering.  Confidence and empowerment had always been a part of my brand but my story hadn’t been. #ReadyToStareWokeUpLikeDis changed that and it changed me.

The I WOKE UP LIKE DIS shirts and the movement behind them catapulted my business into online sales nearly ten times what they were when I first moved to Atlanta. People all over the world were not only wearing these shirts, but they were buying a plethora of items from my shop. I began doing shows all over the country and selling in boutiques from Phoenix, Arizona to Kuwait. I saw my business transform from a small Chicago urban fashion brand to a world-wide body positive movement.

I came to Atlanta one year ago today because I thought it would be easier here to do the same things I had done in Chicago. I had planned on changing my scenery; I hadn’t planned on changing my plan.  I came here looking for support from others and what I found was myself. I found that I had the power to do things in a way I never would’ve imagined if I stayed in my comfort zone.

I’ll always have love for Chicago. I miss the people there everyday. The support that I receive there is still unreal. There would be no Ready To Stare without Chicago. When I go back to Chicago now, I get asked “Do you love Atlanta?” The answer to that is simple, “I love who Atlanta made me.”

This post was originally published on August 29, 2014.