It Girl | LICA MISHELLE
Lica is an absolutely brilliant creative mind. She and I met serendipitously a few years ago at Hopscotch Design Festival. She was filming one of the lectures and I noticed that we are in the same sorority so I introduced myself. Since then, I have had the pleasure of watching Lica's brands unfold and stalking her through Instagram. My favorite part of this interview, although the entire piece has so many gems, is when she talks about believing in your ideas... This is something creatives, women, everyone needs to hear. I am so grateful that we connected on that day 2 years ago. I can't wait to watch anxiously has Lica creates!
Name: Lica Mishelle
Age: 25
Job Title/Company: Director/ The Ghood Kind
Education Background: B.S. Business Marketing
1. Tell us a little about who you are.
I’m half fashionista, half nerd. I love technology and culture. Especially the arts culture. I was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. I like to think of myself as a dots connector. I just love thinking and putting together connections that people never thought of before.
2. What sparked your interest in building your brand?
I wanted to make a difference, socially. I love clothes and the freedom it gives to express yourself. Every fashion brand anywhere says their clothes make a statement but none of them, at least to me, help make change. I wanted to create a brand that does that.
3. Who are you most influenced by?
I’m most influenced by people that don’t go after their dreams. It scares me to live a life where I’m not pursuing, growing and being uncomfortable. So stories of regret and unfulfilled potential influences me most, because it saddens and frightens me most. It only pushes me to keep going.
4. What was your first job and how long did you hold that position?
I first worked at an Office Max across from a mall in my hometown. There, I became folder and office obsessed.
5. Can you share one of your proudest achievements with us?
One of my proudest moments was in college where I was the Director for a fashion show put on by students and an organization I was in, African American Textile Society. It was my second year and there were a lot of challenges. Making a profit off the show, making the event something people wanted to go to, etc. A lot of things I’d never done before. I had a lot of help from my friends and family and the organization. It was a sold out event and we got great feedback. I was so stressed I’m not even sure if I enjoyed the show as much as everyone else because I was focused on making it “happen”. But it was a proud moment to see everyone enjoying and experiencing something I put together. It made me realize that you can make anything reality, even if at first you aren’t sure how. You just have to do it. Knowledge and expertise will come later
“I’ve learned my time is best spent doing, taking action, and being conscious and present while I’m doing it.”
6. What were your initial goals with your work? How have they evolved?
My initial goal was to take over the world with dope events and projects that challenge and change social culture. And partly it is still my goal. But today I am focused more on my community, which is Charlotte. I want to focus on my city first and expand.
7. What do you think is the most important life skill you learned through your work?
That’s a hard one. I think the most important life skill I’ve learned is not to expect anything, just DO it. We spend so much time worried about how something will get done... At least for myself, I know I made a habit out of constantly contemplating the “what if” and the “how to” before I ever got started on my work. And I realized that nothing ever got done. So whenever I have an idea, or a wish, or desire, I don’t spend much time thinking about or expecting the barriers I’ll face. I just do it. Often times we don’t know what we think we know and we waste energy and time making assumptions of what something could be, should be or is. I’ve learned my time is best spent doing, taking action, and being conscious and present while I’m doing it.
8. Where do you hope to be in 5 years?
In five years, I’d like to run my business full time, currently I work a full time job while doing The Ghood Kind. I would like to have retail/creative space to bring to life the different events and projects we want to bring to the community too.
9. What is a typical day like for you?
A typical day for me is working full time in IT. Once I’m off, I use the rest of the time to work on The Ghood Kind. Currently that’s recruiting team members to our small company and developing collections with a social conscious/message. Clipping magazines, listening to music, and putting it into this huge project/board before we even begin designing product. It’s fashion-nerdy but fun.
10. What was the biggest obstacle you’ve faced so far in the process of pursuing your goals?
Balance and sacrifice. Social media plays a big part in how people perceive starting and creating your own brand or business. It’s not just posting a nice collage of posts on Instagram or throwing up a website. It’s harder than hard. You have to be everybody and do and know everything, even though you don’t. No matter how much you learn or read, you will make mistakes because you’re creating something that hasn’t been created so the path has not been paved. You have to do all the groundwork. All of that work requires time... Time away from friends, family, relationships, etc. I can see why most people are depressed or experience a lot of negative emotions while trying to make their dreams happen. No one tells you it’s actually not that fun, in the sense of how we define fun. You have to adjust to a new perspective of fun and sacrifice the things you’re used to to make time for what you want for your goals. Fun isn’t going out, chilling, etc. Now fun is spreadsheets and documents and endless tasks and projects.
“Believe in your ideas. It’s easy to feel like what you’re brining to the table has already been done or that it’s not as cool as someone else who is doing something similar. But that’s never true. ”
11. What is the best piece of advice you have received?
“Talk is cheap” it’s the most simple but accurate phrase that applies to everything. If you want it, do it. If you want people to take you serious, you have to show them by what you do, not by what you say. I’m working on that for myself. I don’t talk about what I do much. I think it, then I just get to doing.
12. When do you get your best ideas?
I get my best ideas when I’m with friends and family and my mind is blank. For some reason it’s harder to think of an idea when you’re trying to think. It comes easiest to me when I don’t think at all.
13. Can you share with us one time that you failed and what you learned from that failure?
Before The Ghood Kind, I started, or attempted to start, a gift-giving company. It’s something I still want to do, but failed miserably. I didn’t know how to structure my life around the business, so it disappeared. Weirdly though, I appreciate the failure because I know I wouldn’t be doing so well with The Ghood Kind unless I failed at that. I learned you can’t overestimate the time it takes to make something out of nothing.
14. How do you unwind?
I cut on my bluetooth speakers in my room, play music and just dance and lip sing. Honestly that’s probably my most favorite hobby, secretly.
15. What would you tell someone else who is interested in entering your field?
Believe in your ideas. It’s easy to feel like what you’re brining to the table has already been done or that it’s not as cool as someone else who is doing something similar. But that’s never true. There’s a group of people waiting for the vision that only you can bring to life, you just have to believe in it enough to not give up.
16. What do you hope people take away from your story?
That life is what you make it. I have so many things I want to do and give. I struggled a lot with understanding and loving who I was. I kept looking for clues to tell me who I could be. Then I realized, I am who I say I am. I want people to know that who they are, and what they want is all in the mind.
17. Anything we missed that you would like to share?
Altered Carbon is a great show, Netflix!
Follow The Ghood Kind:
