We were lucky to catch up with James L. recently and have shared our conversation below.

James , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

My business ideas and mindframe started in 2018 when I was tired of the lack and quality of the clothing choices there was for plus size people. So I decided to launch a clothing line that not only had quantity but also quality because when it comes down to designs and options it was only available to the smaller built society.

In the midst of selling shirts and hoodies here and there. I realized my line didn’t have a deep enough meaning that showed my story. So after thinking of my life and my battle with mental illness. I decided to change the meaning of my clothing line to not only provide for plus size people but also people who battle mental illness and battle the visual they see in themselves.

While trying to build this brand I was in a dead in career of car sales, I wasn’t making enough money because as a salesman people don’t know you really get crumbs. And that put me back in a dark place because I wanted to make clothing work and didn’t want to work for others any more but I didn’t have the money.

And one day I got tired of eating the same food that didn’t give me life. I got a recipe off the internet and that’s all she wrote. I started teaching myself from videos, tv shows, and recipes how to cook. That alone not only helped my mental depression but gave me the confidence when I executed a recipe just like the picture. Which birth another brand Swagg Kitchen.

Swagg means to Season With Ancestral Godly Guidance. With the power of the ancestors I can not only build my confidence with good food I can show people that their are other vices then drugs, alcohol, and more. Also swagg kitchen lets me show children that they didn’t have to be like me suffering alone that something as small as cooking can have monsterous effects on their life in a good way.

That’s why I am starting a nonprofit Swagg’s Green Ribbon Project to help kids who are like me when I first found out I was diagnosed with clinical depression at 8. To not only grasp the importance of culinary knowledge but how it builds confidence to face the word.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 8. Being in the black community there was a major stigma with people of color and mental illness. So my illness was brushed off, or made to believe it was just going through adolescence. So along with my community I embraced hiding it.

Growing up I started to hide it behind acting up in school, to drugs to alcohol and to s*x. And that’s became my life until I was in my 30s and I started to get overly emotional and couldn’t control it. I knew I have to accept it and I had to fight it. But still raised by thexstigma I avoided therapy.

So food and clothing with my journey has helped me face the challenges. I still am looking for a great therapist because I feel I need more. But they way of this economy it’s hard to build two brands with limited support and bills.

So my vice has changed from s*x, drugs, and alcohol to cooking and mentoring not only children but adults to show them it’s ok to be different mentally and theirs no need to hide it. I’ve been the shoulder to a lot of family, friends, and others who just need to know what to do or why they feel a certain way.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Fighting mental illness there are times where the world can be too much. And there were several times that “suicide” seemed like the only way out of all the pain. But what kept me going is that I see what kids going through and something in me wants to be that light to all kids to not harm themselves or anyone else because mental illness knows no age and this kids don’t know how to fight the beast it is. And that keeps me here to know my job isn’t done I need to help them.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Lesson I learned is to “never give someone the pen to write your own story”. It’s ok to have opinions but you don’t need validation to be you. In business we look for validation to ensure we are moving right. But with confidence in self you can make a business showing you and people will support you not who you pretend to be.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swaggkitchen_?igsh=MTRmNzJtZXkzeTl1ZA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1EU1ZaZoSn/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@swaggkitchen_