By: Kaitlyn M.
A new journey has begun. Wildflower Closet has been in the books for around 10 years. However, the vision has been a dream with a shield hiding two lost future entrepreneurs. Here’s the story: Wildflower Closet started as K and K Closet back when we, Kaitlyn and Kacie, were around 16 or 17 years old. What we were doing, we had no idea. Our love for creativity and fabric led us to look at the fabrics of the clothing in our own closets. We had too much clothing like many American teenagers. We also needed extra money to save for college, and we wanted to help our mom. We began selling some of our used clothing on Facebook and to friends. Many of our mom’s teacher friends and their daughters can be thanked for our love of selling clothing. We grew up buying used clothes from the daughters of the teachers in our small town. We then passed our clothing on to other teacher’s daughters. What a fun “tradition” this was for the Portland, TN teachers! However, through family crises and college downfalls we struggled financially to make ends meet. We needed to do more than sell used clothing. We needed to start a business. We began making dresses and skirts. We sold just a few, and not enough to make any profit. We separated in 2011. This was very hard on us. Kacie was in Chicagoland, Kaitlyn in Nashville. Our Wildflower dream did not end. The Facebook page stayed open. Friends still asked for us to make custom dresses or alter clothing. Designs were used during a fashion show for, Women at Risk International, an awesome organization that has been part of shaping the official Wildflower dreams. Designs were still being drawn. Kaitlyn was making coffee cozies, bracelets, curtains, skirts. Kacie was getting lost in Chicago while interning for some twin designers. There have been times of success, and our vision continued to change as we gained more life experiences. Kaitlyn has gained some business experience. Kacie has learned about women’s rights, and fair trade. Through many heart aches, downfalls, and constant learning we have held strong. There are currently heartaches in our lives, but at this time we have decided our new Wildflower vision will carry on, but even stronger than ever before. Although there are heartaches we are at a better understanding for a purpose of this. We are still learning every day. This time we decided to take the chance to build Wildflower while learning about social entrepreneurship. Plans have been drawn, and we are excited to venture on this journey and learn from all of you! This is more than a clothing business. This will be an artwork of empowerment, healing, and design. We want to help women who have experienced similar disappointments as us and other women in our lives. We want this to be a story of how women around the world can come together to empower one another. Clothing will be sold, speeches will be made, and empowerment will be given to every woman young or old around the world. Our vision is big, we have no funding, but we have a plan and it will carry on. Stay tuned as the vision unfolds! Love K & K
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AuthorsAllison Barry |