Friends and Customers,
I want to say thank you for the support you have given me and my family over the last couple of months. When I decided to go all in and start a neurodivergent clothing and apparel brand, I knew it would not be easy. I knew it would take me a while to even turn a profit. Most of all I knew that most people that start small businesses from scratch give up just before they make it. I told myself that I would not be that business owner that gives up.
I am currently a one-woman operation. My day usually starts at 5:30am and I wake up, get myself ready for work and help get the kids ready for school. I go to work where I am an Information Systems Security Officer/Sr. Cybersecurity Analyst. When I get home from work I am driving my kids to their activities--ballet classes for all 3, voice lessons, piano lessons, acting classes, etc. but I am also spending every other waking minute pouring myself into this business. I am running my website, responding to emails, sourcing products, attempting to learn how to leverage SEO for organic marketing/sales, doing graphic design or helping the kids get their drawings and paintings onto apparel for the store. I am physically putting our designs onto 85% of our products now-- t-shirts, sweatshirts, dresses, tank tops, shorts, mugs, tumblers, water bottles, car air fresheners, and more. I am constantly learning how to do more and more. I bought a sublimation printer for the business second hand that I had to disassemble and reassemble and swap parts out of. It took my 4 straight days to get it working properly. I am making mistakes and I am learning every single day, and my kids are seeing all of it.
The other day, one of the girls at the ballet studio saw me hanging some of the shirts I designed for their spring performance, and said, "Olivia, I didn't know your stepmom did all of our branding!?"
Olivia said, "Yes, she works really hard on it. She works like 24 hours a day." I laughed and said, "Yes--that is true!"
Mel Robbins says (paraphrasing here) that confidence is a skill that is learned by the willingness to try. If you are willing to try something new you will learn something new, even if you fail--because that failure becomes a tool that you will use in the future. You failed? Great! Now you will not do that thing the same way next time, you will do it differently. If you are willing to try, you gain confidence in your learned competence. The best things about my life today would not be possible without some of my biggest failures!
This is a book by Mel Robbins that I think everyone should read or listen to:
Also, when you have a minute to spare could you pleaaaase leave a review for Thrice Exceptional on Google? Reviews are SO so so important.
Have a great weekend!