It’s good to know the story behind a small business, and I’m here to talk about how this journey began.
I have always had a love for fashion. From a young age I have been captivated by the stories and details that clothing inherently holds. I, for a long time, thought of being a fashion designer. I quickly gave up when I noticed that drawing was not my strong suit. I have found solstice in adornments small and big since I can remember, and my own personal style is what lead me to start adorning others.
I started selling clothing under the name Aloe Vintage in 2019. It started with a flash of an idea, and barely a second thought, as I raced to a Seattle goodwill with $200 and no job prospects in sight. I went home and organized a Launch Party, made an instagram, and invited everyone I knew to an event in Beacon Hill. I booked a tattoo artist, a few local photographers, and set up two clothing racks in my living room.
I had absolutely no Idea what I was doing.
I specifically wanted Queer people, Fat people, and BIPOC to fill the rooms and fill the clothing. I knew at this time that BIPOC specifically were under represented in secondhand clothing, and queer spaces were not always inclusive to Transgender folks, true weirdos, and people who did not fit into a size 8.
I created Aloe Vintage in almost a knee jerk reaction. I wanted to be seen, and for others to be seen. I wanted to carve out a space of diversity in an industry that catered to only specific type of “ Queer” or “Fat” or “Brown” person. I wanted for those who are often overlooked to feel included, and I wanted to mix body art, music, and clothing with a homegrown vibe to share with my community.
After great success and community support, I made $2000 within my first two weeks of business. I rode this momentum onward, Hosting Pop up events of a similar vain in cities all over the west coast. I moved on to New Orleans at the beggining of the pandemic and continued my resell journey there.
In New Orleans I started collaborating with photographer friends to create a website in full, and started using dance and movement to host story sales on instagram, using my own body as a model. This dancing, playfulness, and allowing myself to be seen after decades of struggling with dysmorphia created liberation within myself and within the online queer community. Allowing my size 16 Body to laugh and get down to Missy Elliot in front of an online audience lead to an interactive retail experience and a greater sense of self in my Saturn return.
I started having an in person store at the Sell or Bywater collective , and began to delve deeper into my spiritual practices of ancestral knowledge and Tarot reading. I began reading tarot for friends and others outside of myself and building my knowledge of the art of hoodoo and traditional African religions.
I found that my roots that had been hidden from me for far too long were the answers to questions I had been asking for most of my life. Raised in a southern baptist household with religious trauma, I began finding my true self in my lessons from the land. I decided to start making protective amulets and learning more about Rootwork, herbalism, and a different version of self care that I had known before. I had a healing session with my mentor in North Carolina, which lead me to realize my purpose on this earth: To heal, to break generational curses, and to bring others along that healing journey with me. I gained traction by being unapologetically myself on the internet. I also gained enemies. And so it goes, and so on.
My whole life I have been told I should be someone other than who I am. From my parents, to my peers, to strangers who don’t even know my favorite color. In creating what is now Sueño de Azúcar, I throw up a middle finger to all of those who tell me and people like me that we don’t belong. As a minority, I get what it’s like to feel left out. As a queer person, I doubly get it. I knew that starting my own small business would carve a place for me and others inside of worlds that do not want us to be there. I freely take up the space that I need, and see myself as fully human and deserving of liberty, artistic pursuits, and healing myself and others around me on my ever learning journey. I invite you to come along with me, as we go back into the past with Vintage Clothing and knick knacks, explore our present/future with Tarot, and see the value of things homegrown and handmade.
Vendor Biography
Roots
It’s good to know the story behind a small business, and I’m here to talk about how this journey began.
I have always had a love for fashion. From a young age I have been captivated by the stories and details that clothing inherently holds. I, for a long time, thought of being a fashion designer. I quickly gave up when I noticed that drawing was not my strong suit. I have found solstice in adornments small and big since I can remember, and my own personal style is what lead me to start adorning others.
I started selling clothing under the name Aloe Vintage in 2019. It started with a flash of an idea, and barely a second thought, as I raced to a Seattle goodwill with $200 and no job prospects in sight. I went home and organized a Launch Party, made an instagram, and invited everyone I knew to an event in Beacon Hill. I booked a tattoo artist, a few local photographers, and set up two clothing racks in my living room.
I had absolutely no Idea what I was doing.
I specifically wanted Queer people, Fat people, and BIPOC to fill the rooms and fill the clothing. I knew at this time that BIPOC specifically were under represented in secondhand clothing, and queer spaces were not always inclusive to Transgender folks, true weirdos, and people who did not fit into a size 8.
I created Aloe Vintage in almost a knee jerk reaction. I wanted to be seen, and for others to be seen. I wanted to carve out a space of diversity in an industry that catered to only specific type of “ Queer” or “Fat” or “Brown” person. I wanted for those who are often overlooked to feel included, and I wanted to mix body art, music, and clothing with a homegrown vibe to share with my community.
After great success and community support, I made $2000 within my first two weeks of business. I rode this momentum onward, Hosting Pop up events of a similar vain in cities all over the west coast. I moved on to New Orleans at the beggining of the pandemic and continued my resell journey there.
In New Orleans I started collaborating with photographer friends to create a website in full, and started using dance and movement to host story sales on instagram, using my own body as a model. This dancing, playfulness, and allowing myself to be seen after decades of struggling with dysmorphia created liberation within myself and within the online queer community. Allowing my size 16 Body to laugh and get down to Missy Elliot in front of an online audience lead to an interactive retail experience and a greater sense of self in my Saturn return.
I started having an in person store at the Sell or Bywater collective , and began to delve deeper into my spiritual practices of ancestral knowledge and Tarot reading. I began reading tarot for friends and others outside of myself and building my knowledge of the art of hoodoo and traditional African religions.
I found that my roots that had been hidden from me for far too long were the answers to questions I had been asking for most of my life. Raised in a southern baptist household with religious trauma, I began finding my true self in my lessons from the land. I decided to start making protective amulets and learning more about Rootwork, herbalism, and a different version of self care that I had known before. I had a healing session with my mentor in North Carolina, which lead me to realize my purpose on this earth: To heal, to break generational curses, and to bring others along that healing journey with me. I gained traction by being unapologetically myself on the internet. I also gained enemies. And so it goes, and so on.
My whole life I have been told I should be someone other than who I am. From my parents, to my peers, to strangers who don’t even know my favorite color. In creating what is now Sueño de Azúcar, I throw up a middle finger to all of those who tell me and people like me that we don’t belong. As a minority, I get what it’s like to feel left out. As a queer person, I doubly get it. I knew that starting my own small business would carve a place for me and others inside of worlds that do not want us to be there. I freely take up the space that I need, and see myself as fully human and deserving of liberty, artistic pursuits, and healing myself and others around me on my ever learning journey. I invite you to come along with me, as we go back into the past with Vintage Clothing and knick knacks, explore our present/future with Tarot, and see the value of things homegrown and handmade.