The beginning
I thought of hundreds of different topics and starts to this post before I had to remind myself that if I didn’t commit to something I would still be working on it next year. So here it is, an opening post that is incredibly similar to the start of my business; an experiment in jumping into the void and hoping that at some point along the fall I’ll figure out how to land.
Jeanine Gaitán Designs, my company, has been a long time coming (I recently realized that I have been sewing for over half my life). While I don’t believe there is ever a time where a person can be 100% confident in starting their own business, I have reached this magical point where my fear of failure doesn’t overcome my fear of not pursuing something I love. I could say that I reached this wondrous magical point on my own through age, grace, and personal understanding…. but let’s not kid ourselves, I owe it to others.
While the purpose of my post today is to officially launch this new chapter, I want to use it to share how much of this is something real because of the support of people who love me and who have been patiently waiting (and yes occasionally pushing and prodding) me to reach this point for years. As incredibly dorky and cliché as it sounds I owe it to my family for starting this business. You just have to look at the photos of my clothing to know they are a huge part of this – because that’s them in it.
Which means that I owe my first thanks to my sisters.
I am one of four and they are so much the driving force of my motivation. Had I not grown up seeing that four girls with almost identical DNA could have such differently shaped bodies I would not have realized my longing for a custom fit. Had they not all been amazingly excited to wear my clothing I probably wouldn’t have ever thought that there could be a market for my clothing outside of my own closet. While the photos may have been a light sacrifice on their part (put on custom clothing and fool around on the street for an hour?), they have been supporting me and this idea for a long time.
I also owe thanks to my parents.
To my mom, who gave me my first lessons on her sewing machine when I was 11, and then was kind enough to give up on trying to teach me and just let me run rampant with her machine and fabric scraps to chase ideas she didn’t fully understand.
And to my dad, because without a doubt it’s from his genes that I get my weird, creative, messy, boot-strappy self that got me to this place today.
There are so many others I know I owe thanks to and so many other facets of this company that I want to discuss, but this is as good a start as any. After all, my family has been here for me from the start and will be there for me at the end, wherever I land.
jg
