It's funny how life works, and how we unknowingly cross paths with people who will change our lives.
In late 2015, I had just reconnected with my old HS friend (and soon to be business accountability partner) Victoria Vic-e Coker of Coloredcontent. She had asked me to review her business plan and from there we became business baddies. At the time, I had just had a revelation and decided to launch my clothing brand YES I AM. When I told Vicki about my idea, she suggested I meet with someone who she knew named Frantzy Frantzyface of FrantzyFace, Inc. Thank God for good friends! That was in February 2016.
Spontaneously, I took Face up on an invite to attend an event he was hosting two days before our first business meeting. I was nervous and just wanted to break the ice earlier on so I dragged Shayna Lee (the friend who mastefully pulled my life goals out of me, changing my trajectory, after one coaching session) along. It turned out to be good vibes with creatives singing and performing poetry about love. It was Let Me Talk My Love Ish Part 1or 2. When we met for our business meeting, I didn't know what I was doing. My original sketches were a mess, but I was hungry and he was patient. Little did either of us know he would become my mentor and friend. He's the Designer and the Plug.
As the ball was rolling and my business was taking form, Face introduced me to his friend, Dymond IntimateGrind of IntimateGRIND Entity, who made my business cards and my first logo. I wouldn't meet her in person until months later when my brand launched at their fashion show. When we met she immediately hugged me and it was all good energy. She's the Chi and the Creative with the good eye for the design.
Now I may not have known much about designing at the time, but I knew something about business. I remember when Face would express wanting to open a boutique and I would encourage him, secretly wanting to open one, too, but I was a newbie. At some point, he said "If you didn't have your own brand then I'd have you be the business manager for my boutique." Humbled, I said, "If you wanted to open a shop then I would go in with you." Little did I know, Dy and Andrea DePhiant IntimateGrind were thinking it, too. We were dreaming, BIG, but we were claiming it.
Fast forward 3 months later and I meet Drea, Ms. Marketing, with Dy at another dope PopUp Shop and creative event. She made these delicious, vegan, cleverly named cupcakes and I remember wanting her to bring them to a next event. I remember talking Face into doing one of our own Pop Ups for Black Friday and it flopped. Worse yet, it was cancelled. We did a second one in December, this time with Dy and Drea, and it was alright. We kept trying. Two months later from our last attempt, the four of us did what would be our first SUCCESSFUL Pop Up and Poetry showcase event for ...Valentine's Day. Third time's the charm. We rolled out Let Me Talk My Love Ish! Part 3. Our vendors were happy. Our guests were happy and we called ourselves a team. Funny enough, it was exactly a year later from when it all got started. Full circle. Little did we know, two months later in April, FACE would be looking for scissors while doing a fashion shoot in DUMBO, and he would stumble across a vacant shop. He told us, we took a leap of faith and signed the lease immediately and then spent the next month building our labor of love: @DaSpotNYC.
Yesterday was our 2 month anniversary and it's been an amazing journey. Everything happened for a reason. As I look back, you never know who God places into your life to push you to your next level. Remember your network is your networth. ❤ #IAM #YESIAM #DASPOTNYC #SquadGoals #Blogpost