Many moons ago I was married with little ones. As life would have it, one summer day I was faced with the unexpected reality of single parenting and due bills. I felt like ok, this is it, “The unscripted performance”. No rehearsals, No understudy. My life was playing out in real time and boy oh boy some of those scenes were a (really Bad Word placed here).

Prior to becoming a single parent I was working a 9 to 5 with the business of fashion being the furthest thing from my mind. What I did know was that I had a passion for creating and my mom had taught me to sew. Sew with that in mind I thought to myself, girl you can “Cry or Try”.

I had about 20 or so dollars on hand. I called my girlfriends and explained to them what had happened and that I just needed my bills paid for that month and the rest would have no choice but to fall into place. I took that cash and went to a local fabric store and purchased enough denim to make 5 pieces for my 5 friends. I bought some grapes and Welch’s White Grape Juice to make my sale day look pretty. That was the beginning of what I called back then “The Wine and Cheese fashion Affair”. I sold out of all five pieces and took the profit back to the fabric store.Today, nearly 30 years later countless sewn fingers and many sleepless nights, we are Sofistafunk, the Skirt Co. a family owned, zero-waste, and Pay-It-forward small business.

They say that The “Golden Years” are supposed to be the time you finally get to relax and relish in the fruits of all your labors, Ummmm I say that “Only the beholder knows the truth behind the Small Business Social Media Smile.   Almost everything from sewn fingers, a broken ankle and a injured rib to a broken denture center front when I needed to still smile for my audience within that same hour had to be accepted and dealt with in THAT moment, no time lapse, get right back to work because this is my unrehearsed script. I’ve learned that even in the midst of (What the **** moments) “The Show MUST go on.

Failure is going to happen, it’s how we learn but even with that said, it’s all what we were taught an everything taught is received differently by the individual.  It’s how you view the word or situation. Is failure end or opportunity? For me it’s chance at a new direction.

I don’t offer advice because what works for some doesn’t work for all, but I will say that regardless the situation, just remember that you are enough.   What I offer is what worked for me and that was to see the situation as it was, accept it and move on. Not One Thing Is Meant to Last Forever. We only have “Right Now” because tomorrow is always today.Sometimes what we first view as an adversity can be what we need to make ourselves soar. Sometimes the very thing that makes us afraid to try may be the very thing that pushes us to succeed.

Cry, Try, Succeed, Repeat -Arlinda McIntosh https://sofistafunk.com