Good evening, Lovelies!
As we all welcome 2018, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year gone by. In my premier blog post I wrote about the prequel to my nighty adventure, and left the story hanging preciously, like a vintage peignoir.
Time for a new nighty!
I started 2017 on an adventurous high. I had spent the last half of 2016 doing a lot of self reflection to help overcome the doubt and fear that comes with starting a business. I’m about to give you a bit of insider information, so please do lean in closer.
When the time comes to make a big decision, we often look for signs to help confirm our intuition or assuage our self-doubt. My sign came in a tarot card reading. Sound strange? It isn’t if you believe that when you ask the universe for answers, you must be open to finding them in ideally, obvious- but potentially esoteric ways. My #bff Kelly encouraged me to get an intuitive reading with the gifted Donna Russo. I went to her with one question:
"What do I do with all of these creative ideas that I feel passionate about, but don’t feel capable of following through with?”
What if fashion is my passion?
The answers that came up that day were:
- Let go of worry.
- Trust the universe and the angels are looking out for me.
- My ideas are positioning me for success.
WOW! Do you feel the chills that I did that day in May? These messages were just what I needed to help move past my uncertainty and into action to create my very own line of women's loungewear.
So when the dawn of 2017 came into view, I was ready to go-go. I had already sketched out my first few nightgown designs and was sewing them for myself. Now it was time to have patterns made so that I could eventually manufacture the designs on a larger scale. I found Martha Palaza, a wonderful woman who had the patience to work with me, and we created the first block pattern by which all other designs will be based from.
Once we had that pattern, I reached out to my friends at the Cambridge, MA stitch lounge, Gather Here and found Suriah May Phillips, another skilled seamstress. We've been sewing samples and perfecting the designs since mid-August, and at the close of the year, we're still working on them! It’s critically important to get the fit and fabric on-point, so spending the time now will make everything more fabulous down the road.
I don’t have a business background so taking business classes was another top priority. Since signs were so important to me, I was stunned when I found an article in the Improper Bostonian about the recently Kickstarted brand, Vetta Capsule, that had gone through an accelerator program for fashion start-ups called Factory45. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. There's a program for someone like me, with an appealing apparel idea but don’t know how to go about turning it into a reality? If I hadn’t found that article that day, I don’t know if I would have ever thought to look for something like Factory45.
I was determined to get into this program! With applications for about 90 people, open for only one week in May, I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I spent the months before then prepping in business planning classes at the ultra supportive Center for Women and Enterprise, and poring over the blog posts by program founder, Shannon Lohr, so that I could be sure my application would stand out.
Obviously, when you start telling everyone you’re going to “Take Back the Nighty”, they listen! I got into the program and I spent the past six months deep into the ins and outs of how to go from idea to launch, with the intent that the business will be forward thinking when it comes to environmental impact.
I have spent the past ten years as an environmental activist, working on issues locally, statewide, across the country and for the planet as a whole. If there was a protest, I was at it! So, needless to say, I have every intention of making a difference in one of the planet’s most polluting industries. It’s an incredible challenge to think through every aspect of clothing design and manufacturing with the aim of lounging lightly on our marvelous Mother Earth, and there will be lots more posts to come about these challenges and how I’m trying to overcome them.
So, with champagne glass in hand, I sit here in my simply smashing sleepwear, imagining what I’ll be writing here a year from now, when thousands of other women will be luxuriously lounging like me, and setting her own intentions for the life she wants to create for herself.
It’s going to be a fantastic year, so dream lovelier, everyone!
Yours Truly,
Maureen
P.S.
SIGN UP SO YOU DON’T MISS A MOMENT OF MELODRAMA! I Love My Nighty is hard at work designing the best women's loungewear and the nightgown of your dreams, but we've still got a lot to do, and we'd love to keep you posted as we prepare for production!