Today we’d like to introduce you to Jayleah-Faith.
Hi Jayleah-Faith, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Not to have a sad start to my story, the start of my fashion and sewing career began with my mother passing away when I was only two years old. When my family decided what to keep and get rid of out of her belongings, they held onto her sewing machine with hope that I will grow up learning a craft that she loved to do. I started off small with drawing designs to sewing small items like gloves or fixing a button. It wasn’t until high school where I would watch youtube videos all day of making clothes from scratch and reworking clothes they bought from the thrift store while practicing myself I was perfecting my craft. It wasn’t until years later I finally applied for my LLC and purchased my website to begin selling my designs. I’ve had the vision for my own clothing brand since I was a child but I never believed it would come to life til now. After many trials and errors, moments that lacked motivation and setbacks for almost two years, I finally introduced FAI to the world. FAI, the nickname for my second first name: Faith. The name my mother gave me to have purpose and meaning to have the most confidence you can in yourself and your ideas.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No, it is hard being a young entrepreneur, while trying to focus on work and school, I had to learn how to be motivated enough to promote a whole brand out of my living room. I had moments where I lacked motivation, seeing people your age being successful in their business and me going weeks without sales sometimes. Having to learn on my own how to market, advertise, graphic design, etc. It was never easy and still isn’t, I’m still learning.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
FAI, coming from my name faith. My brand includes swimwear and dresses so far, each outfit is custom-made to order straight out of my apartment. My pieces are minimal, while it can be portrayed as revealing, I promote body positivity and confidence in each women who purchases my pieces. What sets me apart from other brands is that I don’t just order wholesale from across the world and throw my logo on the piece (while there is nothing wrong with this), I sit there perfect my craft and the piece on my own. I want readers to just learn more about a local young black entrepreneur trying to grow their custom brand.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
While the pandemic impacted many business negatively, this was the opportunity for online businesses to expand. I personally gained my LLC during the pandemic and didn’t take advantage of the online marketing I could’ve done for my brand. When people are at home all day, they are sitting on their phones scrolling through media, the expansion of platforms like TikTok and Instagram could’ve grown any small business. During the pandemic, I had to learn how to keep myself motivated in a situation that was very depressing, just being stuck at home all day. However, I managed to take this time to work on my craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.faicollection.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/fai.thebrand
Image Credits
TrillRealityStudios Jarviss.Bless
