Meet Brianna Keaton of Humble Tees L.A. in South Central Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Keaton.

Brianna, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
April 16, 2016, three days after overcoming the one-year anniversary of my little brother’s death, I was feeling the need to be inspired and wanted to figure out how to inspire others around me. Losing my brother was such a deep and painful loss, especially being the oldest, it was like, how am I supposed to heal from this? How does anyone heal from this positively? Well, as I was finding out, prayer, a sense of humility, family, and a reasonable amount of faith (a mustard seed) can really shift how you move through your everyday life. I mean don’t get me wrong, it is not sunshine and roses in the process of healing, but I think I wanted to be dedicated to not losing myself personally in a way it wouldn’t affect my purpose to help others.

I was still having hard time expressing myself so I began writing little pieces of encouragement, advice, and scriptures I received and formulated that really helped me soul search in some extremely dark moments. Then it was just like an AHA moment, like remember where you came, one of them being humble beginnings, and where you want to go from here. With what I have been learning, I am able to really wake up every day my change reality and face the music, like this is what life really is, and I am still learning. Now I got to a moment where I asked myself how can I share these pieces with others in a way it resonates with them on a daily basis. So I’m like why not wear it on a t-shirt? I began graphic designing different pieces of the word “Humble”, because of all the encouragement, that word provides such a reality check within yourself it’s crazy. With that, Humble Tees was born to create humbling and encouraging statements that may serve as a light for someone no matter where you are. Someone is always looking, so give them some to look at, especially if it may turn out useful.

I honestly did not recognize the fact I threw myself into entrepreneurship by starting Humble Tees as an online business. I had absolutely no clue how I was going to sell my designs, let alone on a t-shirt, but I got on my research and luckily had knowledge with web-development, so learning my way around the e-commerce world was not too tricky. I have been learning it definitely takes patience, dedication and time to really create your vision online, and I am super blessed to have a circle that help assist those visions. Today Humble Tees is now rebranding as Humble Tees L.A. and have created over 100+ designs that are in the process of being produced on different apparel and accessories, my best-selling “Humble” designs and few others are being produced and sold online currently in various t-shirt colors, and styles with some accessories.

I am super grateful for every single customer and individual supports Humble Tees L.A. because it just allows me to know that I am creating in the right direction and that the reality we face alone everyday is in fact so real. Words resonate differently when you see it in action or just simply heard. The main thing I can encourage that I practice on the daily is to remain humble at all costs. What and who you have today could be all lost, and that is the reality that makes you appreciate life, for yourself, and for others.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
With building Humble Tees L.A., it definitely has not been smooth. Being totally oblivious to what was actually required of being an entrepreneur, and all the tasks that were really asked of me to the tiniest detail really had me in a situation that could have either been avoided or handled differently. My main struggle was having to bounce back from faulty business relationships that nearly put me out of business for at least a year and a half. That was a struggle mentally, financially and spiritually, because so much trust and hardwork went into building what I started just for it to be taken. My other struggle was now, how do I bounce back? I had a hard time finding new and trusted business relationships, I was determined to find a way to bring Humble Tees L.A. back to life.

Please tell us about Humble Tees L.A.
Humble Tees L.A. creates encouraging lifestyle advice that allows for you to spread a message through personal fashion. Each quote/statement are original statements and designs created by me. What makes me most proud of Humble Tees is the amount of social response it receives when in public. I’d like to think of any and everyone who wears a shirt from Humble Tees L.A. “a walking wisdom”, you know my form of a walking advertisement. But only thing is, you’re advertising wisdom. Short quick realities that make you think. Guaranteed every design will speak out in a way it changes your life and someone else’s. Our shirts provide non-verbal ways of communicating and agreeing on growth, wisdom, and truth.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I definitely would have planned this journey out step-by-step. I tend to have impulsive habits when it comes to starting new projects, so I’m more of an executioner who likes to learn along the way. Now that I’ve learned that it may end up in a disaster sometimes, I don’t regret the obstacles, because they definitely taught me what to do better and how to handle it. I would have stayed in school if I would have known I was going to be my own boss one day. It’s not too late, I’m still learning on the way. Each day provides new ways to be an effective business owner, and one of those ways has landed me back in school to keep me and Humble Tees growing. I know I’m going to have a few more hiccups along the way, but I’m tackling them different now with a new humbling motivation.

Pricing:

• T-Shirts $20-$25
• Hats $28

Contact Info:

• Website: www.wearinghumble.com
• Email: contact@wearinghumble.com
• Instagram: @humbleteesla
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/HumbleTees
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/humbleteesllc
• Other: www.humbletees.bigcartel.com

Image Credit:
Alex Keaton, TVNPhotos, Brianna Keaton, ItsABreez Productions

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