Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to those that celebrate, and Happy Holidays to those that do not.
While the purpose of this weekly blog is to establish a brand, and document my journey along the way, my hope is that I can also contribute some value.
The best way I can do that is by telling my story and hoping that you can relate. Everyone has a story, the question is what makes me so different? Well, there are 7 billion people on the planet, what makes ANY of us different and unique? I, like many others I can imagine , am just trying to figure things out as I navigate through this life. It has been far from easy but surprisingly I have made it this far, and I am very eager to see just how far I can go! They say the sky is the limit, so lets put the limit to the test, shall we? Some facts about me:
I am an African-American male in my mid-thirties (My age freaks me out btw), I grew up in Aurora, Colorado in a roughly single parent household raised by an amazing, strong willed, beautiful mother, and I have an amazingly talented younger brother. I enjoy sports,cars music, fashion as well as art and design and always had ambitions of being a car-designer growing up. Ive always worked hard, held down jobs since I was 15 but could never quite find my way. In my late teens/early twenties I hung around certain influences that landed me in a couple short stints in jail and even a homeless shelter. Losing everything and starting from scratch at 28 I landed on my feet with a great job as a bell captain at a high end luxury hotel, Life was good. I went back to school and began studying Industrial Design in hopes of becoming a car designer like Ive always dreamed of. Then something happened, six years in to my job I was making great money, had a great lifestyle, by my standards, and I went on a trip to Greece and Italy and had the absolute best time of my life! I seen some spectacular sights met some amazing people and was ready and excited to come back super inspired and finish school strong and move on to the next chapter of my life. But the complete opposite happened. I felt uninspired, trapped and felt I had hit a glass ceiling. I was 34 and realized I had been in the same place practically my entire life, yes I have gone on trips, but what was next? What was I doing? I had no direction. Something inside of me was calling for more. I have no kids or wife and there was a loophole with my classes that caused me to re-take a class that really I was learning nothing new in. I craved an adventure, I needed to move, I was stagnant. I had already done more than I ever thought I could in my wildest dreams, and I was still young! So what did I do? I left my comfort zone. I quit my job and packed up and moved to New York City to create my own sneaker line, its not quite cars, but a lot more tangible! Crazy right? I know!
So there it is. There are clearly more details to get into and SO many lessons learned and still learning, which I will share in the coming weeks but again I am just laying down the foundation to what is the long term goal of what I am trying to accomplish. I am currently 3 years in NY and I am about to complete school, this time in Entrepreneurship in Fashion and Design-A HUGE no-no according to Gary Vee- and I do get it and even agree with him but having a bachelors degree is a self accomplishment that I told myself I will complete and that is something I am going to do and check that off the list once and for all.
My question is, am I crazy? Should I have just stayed the safe route and stayed in Colorado?
Only time will tell, but in the mean time, the show must go on.
Peace and Love.
Buttawear.