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

Alright, Cali thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Dear Laney is a contemporary womenswear brand based out of Philadelphia. Prior to the pandemic, each year we would host a 3k walk raising awareness to youth homelessness in Philly. All of the proceeds as well as the donations we received (we ran a cold weather drive hats, gloves, scarves) were donated to YSI Philly which is a youth shelter and program in west Philadelphia. My best friend asked me to volunteer there almost 10 years ago and I was immediately impressed by the program and wanted to do more. This year will be the first year back since 2019 and I’m trilled!

Cali, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

In 2009 I launched my first business on eBay, it was a vintage shop paying homage to my late grandmother as the first pieces I had on hand were hers. She had the best style and she’s my forever style icon. I sold online and styled for photoshoots, fashion shows, events and loved it. I actually thought I would be a stylist forever. In 2012 I got kicked off eBay for promoting my big cartel website and bought my domain to launch my own online shop. In July 2012 my grandfather, Laney, had suddenly passed away. I was devastated and I wanted to do something special for him as well. I wrote a letter to him and wanted to put it in his casket but I just couldn’t go to the funeral. I felt like at that time that I reached a ceiling selling vintage and wanted more. I wanted to have my own brand that had vintage inspired pieces so I went on YouTube and learned about how to sew and create my own boutique. Later on in 2013 I thought about names of my new brand/boutique and nothing really clicked. I opened the later I had wrote to my grandpa and I read “Dear Laney,” and instantly I got chills. I thought, this it it!! Dear Laney, my brand, has transformed my life into something greater than me. I’ve funded it all on my own. No loans or grants or any VC’s. I wanted to see how far I could get by simply putting in the work. For year’s Ive treated my business as a side hustle, life happens. But it wasn’t until end of 2022 that I realized this is something I should take seriously. This year 2023, I am full-time and I’ve watched my business take off in a way I could only dream of when I started in 2014. We have been featured on in two international magazines, Fox, NBC, ABC and Philly Fashion week this year alone, I’ve also done University of Pennsylvania’s Charity fashion show and it’s been truly a blessing. We are nominated as one of Philly’s best women’s fashion brands and I am truly excited about what’s to come. I love what I do and I love creating for women. I like to hire up and coming stylists, models, sales associates (we have a showroom) and give them an opportunity only if they really love fashion and what my brand stands for because I remember being young and eager to get into the fashion industry pre 3g and no one would give me a chance so I change the narrative and work with all new and hungry people and we build together. I love when I see them go from a stylist brand new to doing things nationally and creating their own businesses based off what they learned from me.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I actually worked full time and saved up my paychecks and tax refunds to fund my initial business. After my online vintage shop was closed I used all of those funds to buy fabric, mannequins a new sewing machine and got my EIN number online. It wasn’t until 2018 that I incorporated my business and used funds from my birthday sale to purchase my LLC and get my first studio space.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My mantra is “Hobbies become careers”. For the longest time I’ve treated my business as a side hustle aka hobby because it was something fun to do and I wasn’t really generating enough income from it as I had a car note, small child and rent to pay monthly so I couldn’t see true value into it until the pandemic. During the pandemic I had nothing to do but work on my business and that’s what I did and realized this is something I want to do forever and I needed to create a strategy so that I wouldn’t have to work for anyone else again. I budgeted like hell!!! I also did a lot of saving and selling through all of the inventory that I had on hand.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.xodearlaney.com
• Instagram: xodearlaney
• Facebook: Dear Laney
• Linkedin: Dear Laney
• Twitter: xodearlaney
• Youtube: DearLaneytv

Image Credits
Ryan Powell Ricky Codio Holiday Focus Photography