I am so grateful to be on this entrepreneurial journey, planning, creating, building, and growing my business Black Paper + Cloth. It’s been a year and six months since starting this business…this community. However, the vision and concept began around 35 years ago (way before…the internet was accessible to us laypersons) when I started a small business designing, sewing and tailoring garments for clients. Not really having the desire to build it into a thriving business, instead being “content” with my “side-hustle”. For me it was access to fashion and the creative process that I loved, developed and owned. Becoming my consistent outlet for a rather demanding job in education, even though I enjoyed my work as an educator at the time.
In 1988 (I was 18), I built and operated my “fashion as art” design business, Felicia Swope Collection, until 2012. Then I took a very long pause from that aspect of my life due to ever increasing workloads, marriage and becoming a mother. The latter two intensely filled the time I used to have to design, create and sell when I wanted to, with a different set of needs, expectations, opportunities and joys. As I grew older though, I began thinking about my retirement plan and entertained the idea of opening a business that would meet the needs of my customer, fit the demands of a hugely growing and ever-evolving cyber-landscape, but most importantly provide to me a new motivation into the creative process that I let rest for such a long time.
Before I would reach my 50th birthday in the year 2020, I began to really map out what I wanted my eventual retirement business to look like and decided to resurrect my idea to build a business around my loves… fashion, style, education and community. I saw myself starting this business as I got closer to 60. However, when COVID hit in 2020, and the world was forced to stop, stay home and be safe, I used this shut down (like many, many others) as an opportunity to advance my business ideas and start my business sooner as opposed to later. So in March 2021 my business-dream-into-plan was born and by May 2022, I was ready to launch.
It took more than two decades to really see this idea become a reality, and this reality has been a huge learning curve. Challenging…at times frustrating, yet exhilarating as I learned a lot about the “back office” functions in running an online store, while navigating this business within an ever-evolving social media landscape. Though we are small, we are slowly and progressively growing. Not so much in scale and volume…yet, but in ways that fast growth can cause one to miss small wins and big challenges. It is in welcoming and appreciating this slow growth where I find joy in developing the creative vision, which has tapped into my past career experiences in administrative leadership, management, teaching, professional trainer, motivational coach, consultant, product development, project management, operations, customer service/relations, digital content creation, human resources, sourcing, accounting, legal, networking, event planning, fund-raising and relationship building, while expanding into newer responsibilities and learnings. However, at the heart of it all, creating and being the type of company that I have always envisioned since my youth. A company where the philosophy and the environment centers around style, kindness, being supportive, encouraging…creating and being inclusive spaces of belonging, where my team feels inspired, comfortable, confident, invited; celebrated for their insight, skills, experiences, diverse identities and personalities. A culture of behaviors that I have consistently practiced in both my professional and personal life.
There have been so many people that I am thankful for their support on this journey. The many individuals who have loved what I created and encouraged me for decades to start a business, including my family, first customers, new customers and frequent customers. Thank you Monica Swope (my sister), founder and president of her company Learning Dimensions and Michelle Lee, founder of her online boutique and community TheGlamMom for your inspiration, encouragement, insight, and ideas. Thank you Mother Gussie (my grandmother who is with the Lord), Aunt Lorraine, Aunt Mildred (who is with the Lord), Aunt Lucille for being amazing examples of risk taking, entrepreneurism and style. Thank you Mom, an amazing educator, style icon and serial entrepreneur who was never afraid of taking risks, setting superior expectations, creating environments centered around kindness and belonging, celebrating successes, leaning in and learning from failures; always motivating, encouraging and exuding confidence. It is you who taught my sister and me to be visionaries. To set and achieve goals. Our mother continues to inspire my sister and me to strive for excellence, to be persistent and create opportunities. Never being hindered, distracted or discouraged by “No’s”, “Can’t do” or limitations imposed by circumstances or by others. Rather, using rejections, obstacles or naysayers as our motivation, encouragement and propellant that will always lead to newer ideas, direction and other opportunities.
What do you want to do? Is it changing your career? Resurrect a talent or hobby you’ve paused? Starting a business? Growing an idea from a seed to profit? Start your journey. Take that risk. Seek the people you are inspired by, who can be positive, encouraging, honest and supportive to your dream. Do not allow others to place limitations (implicit or explicit) on you and your success…EVER! Be stylishly fierce and push through imposing barriers to making your dream, ideas, goals into creative, fruitful, profitable realities. You CAN do it!
Be inspired, be empowered, be fabulous!
Felicia
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Felicia Clotworthy Collective 
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