I
meet a lot of people on a weekly basis through my business and the one
question I get the most is:
“how
did you get into this
and get to where you are at?”
so here is my
story…………………………….
My parents gave me a drafting table at the age of nine and that was the
beginning of my pipedream. My senior year of high school I
had found out my sister was going to study that summer at the Royal
College of Art in London, England. I wanted to go with her
more than anything in the world and learn more about fashion design.
My parents told me if I wanted to go, I had to pay my own
way. With that said, during my senior year I
worked nights
& weekends and sacrificed school dances
& social events just so
I
could pay my way and pursue my dream. I applied for the
program that spring and was on my way to planning my summer
adventure. Three weeks before leaving I received a letter in
the mail from the school saying the course of my dreams had been
canceled. I felt like my dreams were shattered and I ended up
taking a “Palaces of London” history course.
I
ended up dropping out of that class after the second day and decided to
travel Europe.
Growing up I always kept my pulse on fashion and art but got steered
into a Communications degree with an emphasis on broadcasting and
public relations. After college, I worked in the industry for
13 years.
But in a bitter sweet kind of way, my pipedream came back 5-years ago
after finding out my dad had been diagnosed with terminal brain
cancer. At the time, I had never touched a sewing machine but
decided to learn how to sew (with a few lessons from my Aunt Sue) to take my mind off of what was going on in
my family’s life. When I asked my dad if
there was anything he wanted to do in his life before he got worse.
He
responded, “Nothing, I have done everything and have gone
everywhere I have ever wanted to go. I just want to spend
time with you
guys (family) and friends.” This struck a chord
with me and
made me realize that life is so short and that I needed to attempt my
dream of designing clothes. I was a horrible sewer at first
and took a hiatus to tend to my dad. When he passed, I picked
up sewing again and started making pajama pants to wear while I was pregnant with my daughter Ava Rose. Friends really liked what I was making and started
to purchase them from me and from that moment, my life
changed. I have been in business for a year and half and
since then I have been designing boutique women’s dresses,
bermuda
shorts, pajamas as well as a children’s line.
There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about my
dad or ask myself, “what would dad do?”
Strangely I feel like he is with me more than ever before
helping me
make business decisions, overcome challenges, giving me energy to keep
going, and teaching me how to balance parenthood and marriage while
fulfilling my dream. If he could do it,
then so can
I.
Now that I am home growing my business I, have never worked so hard and
so many hours in my life. But because I love what I do so
much, none of
the hard work and exhausting 20 hour days matter --- I have
found
my dream job and would not trade it for the world. Plus, it
allows me to pick up my children from school every day, feed them
lunch, and watch them grow into wonderful little people which makes my
dream even sweeter!
Sincerely,
Melanie |
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