My First T-shirt Line: Here's What I've Learned

First off, let me say how much I am in love with these products. This was my first stab at any sort of apparel design and when they arrived at my door, I was so happy with them. I've already planned to wear these as much as possible! Again, I can't thank everyone enough who purchased a shirt and helped support me. It means so much and I definitely want to create more!

This process was so humbling and eye-opening. I have a ton of respect for people that design for a living and it can be really hard to find inspiration. I gained a lot of new followers and friends and I'm so thankful for all the support. The hockey community is seriously one of a kind. I'm going to certainly change the way I do things in the future in hopes of making the next launch even more successful! So with that being said, here is a list of the things I've learned from this whole process:

1. It Will Be Scary, But It Will ALSO be Worth It: It's also scary to show people something that you've created. I mean, even blogging is still scary. Anyone can comment and give you their opinion and views whether you want it or not. In a sense, you are being the most vulnerable by showing others something that you've worked on and are passionate about. I was nervous to put my first design out into the world. What would people think? Would they love it as much as I do? Worse, what if they hate it? All those things came to mind before I launched the design...but in the end, it was all worth it. I certainly didn't make a TON of money this first time out, but it proved to me that I CAN do this if this is a direction I want to pursue.

2. Just Freaking Do It: I had pondered this idea for a long time. I talked and talked to Clayton about it, and I was just looking for approval. This goes back to it being scary. One day I just finally decided to do it. Stop wasting time. Stop giving excuses and just do it. There wasn't going to be a "better" time or a "better" way to see if this was a good idea. I had literally nothing to lose. I had invested $0 so I just decided it was time

3. Its a LOT of Hard Work: Designing and launching the shirts was BY FAR the easiest part. After that, I knew I was going to have to do some serious marketing to get this thing going. I'm putting that college degree to good use! I spent a ton of time messaging people and commenting to them on Instagram. I shared the post on everything. I created Instagram stories and twitter posts. I decided to not spend any money on advertising this time around, just because I wanted to see how this did organically. I'm going to change my strategies next time around, but overall I feel really great about how everything turned out!

4. Forget What People Say and Keep Working: If I listened to every piece of advice or criticism everyone in my life gave me, I would be in 800 different directions. I had some pushback from people about my idea and some people seemed less than supportive. That sucks! Of course, you want everyone to like your ideas, but not everyone in the world likes the same brands as me. Not everyone in the world has the same taste as me....So I just did what I felt was right. Sometimes you just have to follow your intuition.

I know I certainly didn't do everything right, but I am super happy with this first time out. I have even gotten a ton of feedback since the end of the campaign and people are interested in buying more! I'm so excited to see where this takes us!