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

Alicia, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

My wife died by suicide in August of 2022. At the time, I was a personal trainer which is something I was incredibly passionate about. It wasn’t until March of 2023 that I sat with the feeling of wanting to fight something bigger. I knew that I needed to tell my story and inspire others to talk about suicide and mental health. I just didn’t know where to start. I started thinking of different ideas and that’s when I came up with my brand L;VE. I decided to make t-shirts with my brand raising awareness. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know at the time, and well making t-shirts was one of them. So I started doing research and watching videos to figure out where to start. I bought all of the equipment I needed and learned the process. I started with a single color t-shirt and opened a shop online. I had no idea that it would take off like I did, especially at vendor events. Slowly I incorporated more colors and products. I also started donating a portion of each t-shirt to Pikes Peak Suicide Prevention Partnership located in Colorado Springs. Every vendor event was not only successful, but I connected with people. People saw the semicolon (used in suicide prevention to inspire people to keep going or continue their story) and stop to share their story with me or simply connect with a human being who has had a similar loss. I realized within a couple of months, how powerful my mission was. And how much people appreciate what I was doing, which is to get people talking and reduce the stigma around mental health.

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’m an Army Special Operations veteran that grew up in Virginia. I ended up in Colorado because I was stationed there 2011 and never left. I love the mountains, activities, and everything about Colorado. I went from active duty to the National Guard in 2020 and got started on my master’s degree. At that point I had an associates and bachelors degree. I did personal training while going to school. I finished my master’s degree in Homeland Security and Emergency and Disaster Management in July of 2022. A month later, my entire life turned upside down when my wife took her life. I didn’t know what to do or where to go after that. I tried to continue to do personal training but I didn’t feel like it was my calling anymore. That’s when I decided I wanted to bring more awareness to suicide prevention in mental health. I started my t-shirt line with my brand, L;VE. A portion of all proceeds gets donated to suicide prevention. I have grown and now sell t-shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, and make my own coffee mugs, tumblers, keychains, and hats. I design and create all of my products by screen printing, sublimating, or laser engraving. I have a lot of passion for what I’m doing and I believe that people that see my brand know that. I’ve also raised over $2.500 in less than a year to PPSPP. My goal is to continue growing and build programs such as a school campaign, and a LGBTQ Support Program. I also share my story any way that I can and plan to start a podcast soon as a platform for people in the LGBTQ community to share their stories and talk about mental health.

Any thoughts, advice, or strategies you can share for fostering brand loyalty?

I offer an email subscription option on my website to keep people updated on products and blogs. I also have an ambassador program set up as well where people can get discounts for promoting my brand L;VE. One thing that I do pride myself on when it comes to my product, is that my product is available immediately when purchased and it gets mailed out within two days. There are a lot of apparel companies out there that sell product they haven’t made yet and it takes weeks for customers to get that product. Everything that I sell, I have in stock.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

My passion and authenticity. People appreciate the rawness of a story and they find inspiration in that. I’m honest with my story and what I’m doing. I’m honest with my struggles with PTSD and depression and how my brain functions after my wife died. People like that. They like the realness of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.choosetolive.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/choosetolivedotorg
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hnflve

Image Credits
Alicia Nolan