Today we’d like to introduce you to Alicia Rosalie.
Alicia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started SELF LOVE CLUB™ as a clothing line in April 2018 but didn’t launch the brand until October 2018 and my first collection March 2019. The birth story began with me simply sharing my past with the few followers I have on social media: from surviving domestic violence, becoming a young mother at 20, to leaving the toxic relationship for the betterment of my child, and unlearning all of the controlling behavior I endured, to relearning how to love myself for who I am, without the need for anyone’s approval, to finding my true love, getting engaged, and having another child. I divulged heavily in healing the parts of me that were tattered through meditation, yoga, self-isolation, self-reflection, therapy, and working out. I had an extreme need to take care of my mental and physical self so the next person whom I’d give my heart to wouldn’t have to deal with the excess baggage of my past. I met someone, and as cliché as it may sound, from the moment we locked eyes the first time, it was almost as if we had met each other in another life – we just clicked. We got engaged, had a child, and moved into our first home together. I became a stay-at-home-mom where I used my social media platform to share my truth, and in return, received lots of feedback from other women who are/had experiencing/experienced what I did. It became empowering how these women would look forward to my daily posts of inspiration and how they’d even open up to me about the abuse they were experiencing. I wish I could’ve helped them all! I wanted to be able to help these women for a living, but money doesn’t grow on trees. I’ve always had a love for fashion and wanted to have my own clothing line since I was a child. But I didn’t want JUST a clothing line – I had a need to BE more; provide substance. I needed to do something that had a meaning behind it. There was one night in April 2018 and I had woken up my fiancé in the middle of the night and told him “I have an amazing idea. I need to put this on a shirt!” I’ve had a love for math growing up [+ even went to school for accounting], so I came up with this design that said “self + love = relationship goals”. He supported my idea and asked what would I call the brand, and that’s when SELF LOVE CLUB™ was born. But it doesn’t just stop there. I still had the need to DO more, so I founded a non-profit, The Love Club Foundation, which is in process of establishing the FIRST transitional house for abused women and children in the San Fernando Valley. A portion of each purchase from SELF LOVE CLUB™ is donated to The Love Club Foundation.
Has it been a smooth road?
I don’t know many success stories that began with a smooth road, but that’s the beauty in it! I don’t come from a fashion background, and neither did my family. I did work for a startup high-end skincare brand that grew rapidly in the five years I worked there so I learned a lot of the business structure/outline through the experience I had there. Other than that, everything I’ve learned through being my own boss and founding a non-profit has been solely through trial and error. I research everything and have done everything on my own with the help of my fiancé. From ensuring all of the legalities with paperwork are in place, to networking to find the right vendors and manufacturers to work with my needs as a start-up, to staying organized, creating deadlines and everything in between. My time with the skincare brand definitely helped pave the way for processes I have set into place for my brand. A majority of the struggles were vendors not willing to work with low minimums. Thankfully, I’ve searched high and low and experienced a few bumps along the way, but I have a solid team behind me.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
SELF LOVE CLUB™ is a women’s + children’s apparel brand that promotes living a lifestyle based on the fundamentals of self-awareness, self-discipline, and self-love. We believe that the world could use more love; therefore, we encourage everyone to love themselves in order to better love those around them. We offer quality pieces designed and customized by hand in Los Angeles to encourage everyone to be love. Love is a lifestyle.
As a company, I’m most proud of how our mission to spread love has grown. We are a small business but we have received lots of love from around the world. Whether you’re able to support and purchase, or support and spread the word, we are a movement. We also have a structured game plan for the years to come, so getting rid of this love won’t be easy!
The biggest aspect that sets us apart from other clothing brands is not only are our pieces made from detailed quality, we also give back to our community. Positivity is in the philanthropy. We encourage everyone to join the movement.
HAVE YOU LOVED YOURSELF TODAY?
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I do feel like Los Angeles is a great place if you want to build a brand because of the networking opportunities you can experience through living in a city like this. Your network is your net worth, so as long as you have a brand that is meaningful and helps benefit the community, how could you lose? However, I do believe our city always has room for improvement considering there is not yet a transitional house for abused women and children in the San Fernando Valley but all of that is about to change.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.selfloveclubtm.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/selfloveclubtm
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/selfloveclubtm
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/selfloveclubtm
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
