Bon Bon Vie was my baby before I actually had a baby. It is an e-commerce shop centered selling graphic t-shirts targeted to women of color. When I started way back in 2010, before print on demand was a thing, it was difficult to find super-nichey tees that really felt like they were made just for you. I had a personal t-shirt addiction at the time that I fed with many visits to Urban Outfitters. One day I got the idea to just make them myself. I took screen printing classes, designed the tees myself and set up a store at www.wearbonbonvie.com.
Since then, my little brand was featured in Essence and Ebony magazines, I was sold in multiple retail outlets including Dr. Jays and Karmaloop. Badass women including Issa Rae (Insecure), Yara Shahidi (Black-ish) Thandie Newton (Westworld) even took notice and wore my tees.
It’s been a wild ride and my passion project takes up less of my time these days, but I credit it for teaching me about social media and influencer marketing before I even knew those were actual career paths.
