We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Felisa Brown a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Felisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Trailer Park Fantasy was just that for a while, a fantasy. My business came out of friends and I having conversations about the world, ourselves as women, and the new feminist movement. I do not particularly like that feminism has felt the need to be watered down for men and the world to feel less threatened or make our message more easily digestible. Honestly, I would rather people choke on my views then feel comfortable reading them. So, that is how it started, a funny joke or saying between friends and then one of saying “I would wear that on a shirt!”. I had a business previously but when covid hit we were unable to recover and grow back to our original sales numbers. My previous business was perishable and I knew when I started thinking about starting another business I did not want to go back into the food and bev industry. I wanted to have a business that didn’t take me away from my family for as long as chocolate production did. I wanted a business that could become an online ecomm storefront, a business that would allow me to pack orders at home and make a daily trip the the post office. I started Trailer Park Fantasy to offer womxn like me, a safe place to say what they are really thinking, feel comfortable being sex positive and know they aren’t alone. When I began, I had all of my designs as stickers and only two t-shirt designs, but after working a few pop-up artisan markets I realized shoppers wanted all of the sticker designs front and center on clothing. I have transitioned now to seven shirt designs and that number is quickly growing. Trailer Park has had continuous grown and the response has been magical, because there are very few people out here doing what I am doing. There are not very many brands making a statement and then making a statement as bold as I do. I honestly hope to continue to grow in designs, but I am also working on expanding Trailer park by starting a blog and podcast and I really want to become the most vulgar, out-spoken, unfiltered voice of feminism.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I don’t think anyone would describe me as “lady-like” or dainty but I am still a woman. I don’t think of myself as fitting in society’s idea of beauty and yet I still think of myself as beautiful. I curse like a fucking sailor, smoke like a train, don’t know if I am doing makeup right, and am not a great “house-wife” but I am still a woman. I like to talk sh*t and hang with the guys, I like to talk about all topics that are “inappropriate” for a lady, like sex, weed, drinking, pooping, and really just normal life… because of this, I don’t have a lot of “lady-like” friends. I feel like I am constantly failing because society makes us feel like we aren’t women enough or the right type of woman. Well F*** them, Trailer Park Fantasy is a work of love for me and was created to help other women understand they are enough and “right”, a place they feel represented. I will keep trying to fit my round peg self into society’s square box for a woman.

I am a daughter of a single mother, and I grew up a feminist but not on purpose. My mother raised me without my father and honestly never knowing there were gender roles within a household or really in life. This led me to grow up just thinking I was the only one who could do the things for myself and truthfully made me a better person. If I didn’t know how to do something, in the times before the internet, I would seek out someone with the skills I needed and learn everything I could but now there is nothing I don’t believe I could do. Need a trench dug, who needs a man, not this girl. I called around and found a trench digging machine to rent, drove and picked it up (they were so surprised a woman showed up and could hook up a trailer) came home, unloaded the trench digger and dug a trench for electric wiring to be buried in and saved myself $2500.

I want women who didn’t grow up seeing a woman doing everything to learn through my brand they don’t need a man. I want them to feel comfortable in their sexuality, whatever it may be, and to own it. Men have no shame is sex and usually brag about it openly, whereas women typically don’t feel as though they can talk about it publicly. I know we all discuss our experiences in private but why do we feel shame in it, when men don’t. I want to change that through Trailer Park Fantasy. I feel empowered when I wear my “Throat Goat” shirt, or my “Thank Me Choke Me” tank.

I am a mother of two incredible tiny humans, and I have received some backlash. The backlash usually sounds something like “I could never wear that around my kids, you wear yours around your kids?!” or “ummm, I don’t my kids to see that!”. However, Trailer Park is something I hope my daughter and son embrace. I hope I am raising them to be beyond authentic and comfortable in their sexuality and unapologetic for being themselves. I am raising them to be empathetic while also making sure their needs are met, to be kind and caring without letting people take advantage of them. I believe that if we don’t shame sex or language or individuality, that we will raise humans that can and will change the world. Humans that will stand up for others, humans that will fight back against the patriarchy and the societal norms that hold people down.

Trailer Park Fantasy is ever expanding as I see topics I feel need to be discussed and addressed. I plan to be ever expanding until there is real change. I want to empower, support and validate the girls, gays and theys.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Previously in life I owned a chocolate company. Our focus was making chocolates and chocolate creations no one had seen before. We joked our brand made chocolates that you would want to eat while high, because they were wild combinations of flavors. Elevated Chocolates was known for wildly topped giant chocolate bars and handmade juice flavored marshmallows dipped in chocolate.

We made all of our chocolates in an uninfused line and then also in a CBD infused line. Providing medicine to customers that also tasted good made my heart sing.

However, covid began as we were really hitting our stride, and totally ruined us. The shops that had carried our products were now closed and the pop-up artisan markets we were attending had lost most of their attendees. Due to covid we decided to shift our focus from individual sales to custom bulk orders. This strategy worked but only briefly, we catered multiple proms, and a few birthday parties, however it was not steady enough to keep us afloat. Pivoting from retail or wholesale was great, but not enough.

Once Elevated Chocolates dissolved Trailer Park Fantasy was the sole focus. Moving away from perishable products to retail products that we could store until the next show was a huge relief. I no longer was occupied cooking for 3 plus days prior to a show or deadline to being able to pack up already organized and stored boxes in the car the morning of a market. As a mom of two and a homeschooling mom, on top of that, being able to use this time with family verses chocolate prep was invaluable.

With both businesses filling a need I saw and helping people was always at the core. Money and success is nice and definitely something I am working towards but they have never been our sole or even main focus. I want to make an impact, even if it is small and contained to my community but hopefully with dedication and constant hard work I will reach well beyond that.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Finding new clients and customers has been a wild ride. I do a lot of pop-up artisan markets up and down the east coast and this has really allowed me to meet people from all over. Having worked in so many locations has gained me a following from many different places. I think that having a space to interact and make real and valuable connections with people sets my brand apart. Our repour has definitely translated to word of mouth recommendations and I love meeting customers who say “OMG my friend met you at x place and they said I would love you stuff and they are so right!” or ” I follow you on (insert a social media name) and I can’t believe I am getting to meet you in person.” or “My friend told me about you and I have been hoping to find you at a market!”.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trailerparkfantasy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trailerparkfantasy
• Other: tiktok : @trailerparkfantasy

Image Credits

Madison Cubbage
@mad_creates_