Today we’d like to introduce you to Jasmine Nelson.
Jasmine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Could you imagine doing something your entire life then all of sudden life takes a full turn on you? Yup since I was ten years old, I dreamed to be playing basketball in the WNBA or overseas. Sure I was the perfect candidate. I had the height, the talent as well as the hustle to take things to the next level but after two career ending knee surgeries (1 in my senior year at LSU) it was time for me to make other plans.
Yes, I was allowed to finish my degree in Education but I didn’t know where it would lead me. I had in the back of my head that I could someday teach the next generation or become a coach. I even submitted paperwork for the Army because I had no idea what was next for me.
I found myself working a few jobs just to get by like for a third party company for Home Depot online department and Cintas. It payed the bills you know. I also had a side hustle with club promoting and Djing.
During that time, I struggled with a seven year relationship, ten years of friendship with my best friends as well as my mother battling ALS so I was really at my worst.
In April 2013 I finally said my goodbyes to my mother. That moment left me with an emptiness that I couldn’t explain. I felt alone, I was depressed and lost. Anyone who has lost a mother know that feeling I’m talking about!
A couple of months later, I was ready for something new. I was tired of being in Louisiana and needed a new start so I gave my two weeks notice to Cintas packed my house up in 5 hours and just left for Houston. I had no plans or anything.
A couple of days after I got to Houston I got hired to work for this security company who allowed you to live in a trailer at a designated construction site. I figured it would be best for me to save money and it would give me time to find an apartment. I would be in that trailer trying to come up with any idea that could bring in some extra money. I started Djing and club promoting that also helped out a lot!
Things started to work out good for me. I got an apartment and saved up a couple of thousand dollars and then I took a risk I’ll never forget. Me and one of my best friends lost $10,000 on a club event.
Bills was due and I had to find ways to get them payed. I sold my furniture, pawned everything I had and put my entire sneaker collection on eBay! I also started customizing sneakers to sell but it wasn’t enough so I ended up losing my apartment!
All I had was my car and a couple of laundry baskets with clothes. I ended up staying with my longtime friend from New Orleans. The way his lifestyle was I spent most of my nights fearing for my life.
By then social media then started to become a hit for entrepreneurs to grow an online business and make money. And anything that set forth to do I became good at it. Whether it was Djing, club promoting, or customizing & designing sneakers I was good at.
We would scroll up and down the internet and question how these people were making money off the internet.
I had some sketches in a portfolio of a clothing line I was planning to invest in before I had lost everything. My friend was flipping through it and said “son if we could bring this to life this would be fire”. So I started to work on it.
I came up with the name District 9. I was born and raised in the 9th Ward in New Orleans and The Hunger Games movies we in. The wards in the city are separated just like the districts on the movie so I took it and ran with it!
At that moment I had no funds to start the brand and I think I was finally at rock bottom after trying to figure things out so I drove 16 hours to Colorado Springs, Colorado to go live with my dad.
I lived with him for about six months and in December 2015 I finally made my way back to Houston. I still had nowhere to go and ended up stay with my cousin and her family. As time went by I just knew as a woman I had to figure this thing call life out on my own. And that’s exactly what I did.
In 2016, I came across my sketchbook for the D9 line and decided that I should put this into play. But I needed to change the name. I needed something that would sound good for what I had in mind.
I wanted something that meant style, something that would leave a person confident when wearing it and I came up with Panache! I then needed a logo that would represent the brand and I had a sketch artist draw up an idea that came to mind and the bear came out perfect!
In January 2017, I released my very first T-Shirt on a ski trip with friends in Breckenridge, Co and now theres people all over the world wearing my brand!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Of course not.
When I first started I was so excited to put this brand out because I was more than confident that it would take off but I wasn’t going about it the right way. I always had pieces that didn’t match and customers always wanted a “set” or something that matched. Either I had pants with no shirts or hats and they didn’t match anything. So I took a step back and started studying.
I studied magazines. Online clothing sites and how they put together collections. I studied the marketing strategies and product placement. I wanted to put out good quality too so I studied different fabrics of what everybody was wearing. I tuned in to all the fashion weeks to see what was the new hype for the seasons. I also put a little touch of my own swag to it as well.
The hardest thing about doing fashion is building it from ground up. The funding, I fund every single piece and collection myself. Imaging doing that and keeping up with your bills too.
Imagine trying to bring your ideas to life over a text message or email. They don’t get your vision so I spend weeks sometimes months trying to bring them to life. It’s takes time and patience. As the business grows, I use trial and error and try not to make the same mistakes. I’m still learning.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Panache & Company – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My business is an online Apparel & Accessories company. We plan to specialize in many types of clothing from T-shirts to underwear and whatever we feel like should be added to a collection we are going to create it. What I am most proud of as a company is that I represent women from a different race and background. I don’t wear heels and I love sweatpants and sneakers. In my community and what I represent we don’t have someone that looks like me with my demeanor that’s long what I’m doing. That alone sets this company apart from others. Also the look and quality of the brand give you designer at really decent prices. You get to look good and not spend your entire paycheck to do it!
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I have so much planned for the future but I won’t say. It’s awesome watching my supporters in awe as I release new ideas or designs.
This one particular collection I will be releasing in November will be dedicated to my mother. It will be very limited pieces that I’ve been working super hard on. That entire collection comes with a mini documentary letting people into the darkest moment of my life and what I went through when I lost her. This will be relatable for any one who has lost someone close them.
Contact Info:
- Website: Panache9co.com
- Email: panache9co@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/Panache9co
- Facebook: Facebook.com/Panache9co
- Twitter: Twitter.com/Panache9co
Image Credit:
IG: @504pictirefirefhotos, @Foreign_PhotoGod
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