#15. My Story (Part One)

I was in this career that I planned for the entirety of my years in college.  Well most of it...about 6 months into my freshman year at Mizzou I switched from wanting to be the next Black Barbara Walters to some big-time advertising professional.  And I had a decent run in that profession.  But when I got to a certain point, and most of the time throughout that career, I wasn't very happy.  I didn't even realize how unhappy I actually was until I finally left.

About 8 years into my ad career, I decided start a clothing line.  Probably the hardest business I could go into, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.  I was pretty much clueless and had no idea what I was doing.  But what I can confidently take pride in, is that I can always figure some shit out.  That's one of the best gifts God could have ever given me.  Sometimes it may take me awhile, but I have the patience of Job when I'm presented with a problem I'm determined to solve but don't know how.  I can't wait on someone to tell me what to do or how to do it.  I just find a way and get it done.  

After I was barely launching my clothing line, I knew in my mind I wanted to make it an internet business, go at it, at that time, in an untraditional way.  But for whatever foolish reason I didn't follow  my gut . Even my dad, who was completely clueless on all things internet in 2003 was like, "There must be something you can do with that internet."  I'll never forget it.  But  I didn't listen, and ended up going about it the long, hard more traditional way.  

• Going to expensive markets in NYC.
• Trying to sell to rigid buyers, basically begging them to accept me and my designs.
• Traveling from door-to-door begging for acceptance from even more buyers.
• Spending a ton of money to reap little reward.

If only I'd listened to myself (and my Dad).

But the story continued, fighting against my interests and moving solely on ego, I pressed on.  I was determined not to fail.

I figured out how to get clothes made in Dallas, TX.  At some point there was a clothing industry there.  So I found a patternmaker, sewers and fabric cutters.  And I designed my first collection.  I even got noticed.  Women's Wear Daily wrote a piece on me, The Dallas Morning News wrote about me and I almost made it onto O's Favorite Things list.

Obviously the story is more involved than that, but I was doing all this while still working and hating my job.  My dissatisfaction with my job was fueling me to push even harder with my clothing line.  But somehow I managed to become a brand director.  Which one could say was a successful stint, but that was about as high as I could ever go there.  The place was less like Mad Men and more like I Dream of Jeannie.  With people running around like complete sell outs, compromising their dignity by jumping through hoops to please others.  I just am not meant to work for other people in that way. There were definitely some good, smart people there.  But I digress...

My dislike for my job was pushing me into doing some of the dumbest shit ever.  I was charging up credit cards like a complete moron, thinking money was the key to making my clothing line a success.  NOT!!! Those really bad financial decisions would be something I would  greatly pay for later.  I'll continue with my story on the next post., but for now, here are my lessons learned.

Lessons Learned:

See what happened next...