Tears

Greetings to all, 

I am sitting here and reflecting on the past week. Breathe Love has been a journey. It’s been lessons on top of lessons. This idea has shown me the true meaning of love and support.  

Three years ago I couldn’t see past being creative. Since elementary school I’ve always sketched... And once I hit high school it materialized into a dream of having my own clothing line. From that time to the present that dream has morphed. The names for the line and styles have come and gone. But that energy for making it happen never left.

One morning I sat with my priest Babalawo Falokun Fasegun, where he suggested that I could be productive in sales. Initially It wasn’t a welcomed suggestion. But I had no clue what was on the horizon. And that morning gave me just a tiny glimpse of what was to come. So almost a year passed and the phrase “Breathe Love” was whispered in my ear numerous times as I sat in a panel on Blaxploitation films at USC. It was unreal, I had never heard a voice before that day. And in that moment I knew it was real. That evening Breathe Love was birth. I went home inspired. Eventually I sat down and put pencil to paper to design the logo. But first I had to brainstorm. I needed the logo to represent something that was powerful. Something that had meaning. That’s where the Red, Black and Green came from. It’s power. It’s love. It’s history. It’s my future. It’s our future. The permanent colorway made it feel real. Meanwhile I was participating in a savings challenge, where I had to save every $5 bill I received. And within three months I had a very nice stack of $5 dollar bills.  Next I searched for someone to give my design life. I researched and asked for recommendations, I ultimately found the screen printer that I needed. I took all the money I saved and put it towards the logo, the screens and tees for my test run. 

Once I received the email of the logo it was so exciting. It was almost like having a new baby. I just stared at it with such admiration and excitement. I gave my blessing to the printer on the design and next up was to make the screens. Eventually I pressed my tees up. After that I had no clue what to do. I didn’t have a plan. Somehow I ended working on the mission statement. And thats where I found myself. The name alone gave off all kinds of energy, but once I started to define what it meant it made it so much more powerful. I was finding my way. And it felt right. 

The next thing to tackle was to sell. And I was a fish out of water. I had no background in apparel or marketing so I sat there and wondered how to share this with people. The first thing I learned was that timing is everything. Fashion trends fade pretty quick. And the tees I chose were good, but that style was just a bit late. Somehow someway my priestess Iya Fayomi Osundoyin Egbeyemi became aware of my new endeavor. She blessed me with my first sale. She bought a V neck charcoal tee for her husband as a gift. It was humbling. It was inspiring. After that I didn’t sell anything for a long while. Not until a random evening at a family member’s home. So during the first pressing I added a couple of hoodies in the order. I’ve always been fond of them. And that evening I wore a heather grey hoodie with the Red, Black and Green logo. That night changed everything. I literally had about four to five people ask to buy one. My sister Miranda actually asked could she get the one I was wearing, I replied immediately with “no”, lol. But the feedback gave me hope. I literally hopped on social media a few days later to see if they were serious about purchasing. So I made a contingency that if a decent amount of people made an order then I would press up the hoodies. In that moment I knew I had to operate differently. Having merchandise just sitting around isn’t productive. By the end of the day I had over 20 something people that confirmed with me they would buy it. So my initial dream of selling T shirts changed very fast. Wearing a hoodie one day led to me having more sales than I had ever done. That was just the beginning. The Breathe Love hoodie has been a blessing. It has been across the globe. 

I was very quiet about this endeavor. I didn’t even tell my family. Over the years I had jumped head first into certain fields and not followed through with the goal. This time I was quietly building and working on it. Eventually my mother and sister discovered I had been having a decent reaction to my creation. This go round they did me the biggest solid ever. They went and trademarked the name. They saw that I was putting in the work and supported me the best way possible. They protected the brand. And I am forever grateful. 

Fast forward to last week. I had opened up a internet store a couple of months ago. I met with a childhood friend to school me on a particular app. We met for breakfast and she gave me the rundown. By the end of that meeting I was pumped. I knew It was something I needed to do. I had a lot of merchandise leftover from a lesson learned, it was time to unload and get my investment back. So I setup the site. And then I wait. I get notifications that people are going into the store, but no sales. It had me perplexed. I knew something I had done on the site was incorrect. So I hit up my friend and asked can have a little more of her time. And I did what was right, I offered to pay for her expertise and wisdom. She refused. So I ended up compensating her with delicious Mexican food. It was the least I could do. Then she walked me through what needed to be adjusted. And gave several other pointers on ways to give the site more substance. I must acknowledge my friend for her tutelage, thank you Kenya Croom. So once our session was over I walked to my house and decompressed. But later on that evening I sat in front of my laptop and went through each item and adjusted them the way I was shown. Once I finished I felt relieved. It was now time to share it with the world. I posted the link on my page, and waited. I had a few “likes”. But no sales. Eventually people asked if there was a site to purchase. They literally thought my post was a just a photo. I cleared that up immediately. Still no sale. 

I decided to go listen to an amazing horn player Wednesday night. I had attended a concert of Keyon Harrold last year and I was in shock. So when I saw that he was returning to perform in LA I was ready. It was a perfect evening. It was raining. And I got to listen to live jazz. I was in my own little world enjoying the sounds. Then my cell phone lights up. I glance at it but I don’t really focus on the screen. The notification wasn’t one I was familiar with. So I look back down at it. And it was a sale. It was a pretty big order too. I was so overwhelmed. I sat down and just stared at the screen. Then the… Well, I cannot even front. I was in the middle of the club crying. I had sold over a couple hundred units of merchandise in the last 2 years. But this first internet sale meant so much. It still does. That one sale felt like all the time and work was validated. It felt like I achieved my dream. A grown man was emotional in the club. I was happy. Matter of fact, over joyous would be more accurate. 

To all that have supported this dream I thank you. You have made that boy that used to doodle in class when he should of been working feel something, something that money can’t buy. You made him breathe(love).