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

Zo, 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?

Peso The Brand began in 2018. I felt in that time, fashion only looked one way, and outside of that, vintage was very popular. I just felt i could create pieces for myself that I actually would wear and not feel like i was wasting my time or money. Peso morphed into a space for me to experiment and turn my thoughts and designs into physical product.

Zo, 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?

Peso originally was an acronym that stood for “Produce Excellence, Stay Original”…over time in transformed into a persona of its own, but actually Peso is just me in my rawest most unapologetic form, filterless. Peso is my artistry on full display. it’s my full expression through the clothes that I create.

I draw inspiration from personal experiences, emotions, etc. I’m also heavily influenced by late 80s and early 90s fashion. My process usually is to just sit and listen to music and sketch things and just see where they go. I have a large archive of ideas and sometimes I go back and view those. I sketch a lot on random pieces of paper, but I also have notebooks I’ve filled with different notes, doodles, etc. I feel like archiving and revisiting is one of the biggest advantages in the fashion world. Having an archive of your own to pull from keeps your ideas original. I also date and time stamp everything. I’m most proud of just seeing the growth my brand has had throughout the city and the opportunities it has brought me. I’m currently still running my brand and working on my latest collection. I have also recently accepted a Creative Director position with a black owned non profit organization in Memphis who focuses on highlighting and platforming black artists.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I think starting was the hardest part of the journey. For example, learning programs for design, learning how and where to source product, etc. Those are the types of things that require you to go to a different place. I’ve also started printing 100% in house recently and that alone requires a level of patience that is honestly didn’t know Inhad until I had to exercise it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.

For me it’s the opposite I knew this was going to be my main source of income from the jump, but it had to use my 9-5 to fund it until I could scale it enough to fully commit. Once I got the correct for,I’ll down and learned to use my money to make money and eventually cut out the middle man, I was able to really put all my focus into being a full time designer/creative. They key is to create multiple streams of income but under the same creative umbrella.

Contact Info:

• Website: pesothebrand.com
• Instagram: @pesothebrand

Image Credits
Kai (IG) @melodramaticart