Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brianna Walker. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Brianna, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What do you think it takes to be successful?

No matter what your goals are, there are 3 things I think it takes to find success: Faith, Purpose, and Resilience.

Faith: To have the drive to work towards a dream, you have to believe that it can and will happen! Otherwise, why put forth so much effort to make it happen?

Purpose: You’ve probably heard this many times before, but knowing your “why” and regularly referring back to it is so important! There are ebbs and flows to every process and remembering why you started is the best way to stay encouraged through the hard times. If your purpose is important to you, it will keep you going till you get to where you need to go.

Resilience: Tying into my last point, resilience is key. You are going to endure rough patches no matter what you choose to work towards. You are probably going to fail once or even several times before you reach success. Being able to bounce back will take you so far if you can get up and dust yourself off after each failure rather than taking it as a sign to give up.

I recently stumbled upon the “success” story of the creators of Angry Birds and had to save it and refer back to it anytime I feel like I may not succeed because of a small failure. The gaming company, Rovio, was founded in 2003 by 3 developers who had won a video game-making competition. While they went on to create 51 games after this competition, they reached a struggling point and had to let all but 12 employees go. Despite the hardship, they weren’t ready to let the company go. As a final attempt to save the company, they made it a point to sketch 10 ideas A DAY in hopes of creating a successful game. Those 10 sketches a day led to the sketch of Angry Birds which has now been downloaded 2 billion times! I love this story so much because it is so easy to look at the creators of Angry Birds and think it was an overnight success: they made the game and succeeded– the end! But in reality, they failed a few times before seeing success. I use this as a reminder that it is okay to fail and that each failure takes you one step closer to success!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi! My name is Brianna and I am the owner of Lilac Stitch Co. I design and sell cute and trendy trucker hats that allow people to best express themselves while staying stylish! While I started selling hats this year, there’s a bit more that goes with the story of how Lilac Stitch came about.

I actually started my business back in 2020 as ‘Bri My Guest’ selling stickers, keychains, notepads, apparel, and more that I designed and made as a bored high school senior in the middle of the pandemic. Once I started college, I had a bit of a hard time balancing the business with my studies, a leadership position in my sorority, and the courseload of my rigorous sales program, so I decided to take a break from my business. While this saddened me, I knew I was destined to be a business owner and would eventually find my way back to it.

Fast forward 3 years, I have rebranded and relaunched as Lilac Stitch! I love that the hats I make are super fun and not to be taken too seriously. I aim to create products that resonate with people and allow them to represent themselves while maintaining style and affordability.

While it was hard for me to take a break from my business, it was absolutely necessary for my journey. The sales program I was a part of, the jobs I have worked since then, and my initial experience as a business owner have all come together to make me the business owner I am today! Each of these learning opportunities has put me farther ahead than I would have been otherwise, which I believe has led to my overall success this time around. I have always known that I wanted to own my own business and it is such a blessing that this dream has come true and that there are people out there supporting my lifelong dreams! My goal is to continue to create fun apparel and accessories that people love and that allow people to own and represent who they are and what they love!

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

Yes! I am honestly proud of myself for my resilience as without it, I wouldn’t be a business owner today.

I touched on this a bit in the last section, but Lilac Stitch was not where my business originally started and it definitely wasn’t my first shot at the business thing. Not including the many other random business ideas I have had and some that I’ve tried out, Lilac Stitch is my 3rd attempt at a successful business.

I mentioned that Bri My Guest is what officially started this journey for me. I started off really well with stickers being my best seller. I designed college-inspired stickers that were easy to market as a high school senior in a class of 600 other graduating seniors soon to be off to college. I used that opportunity to then expand to other items and did well for about a year, but as I mentioned before, as I got further into school, it wasn’t sustainable for me to balance the demands of school, my social life, and my business.

I took a break for a year until I finished my year-long sales program, and with more time on my hands, I decided to give the business thing another shot. Long story short, it still wasn’t the right time for me. This time, I felt even more dejected and like a failure. I had failed not once but now twice. I felt that it was probably a sign that maybe the business-owner life was not for me after all.

So again, I took some time off. This time I was really hesitant to start again. What would be the point if I kept failing? Did I have what it took? What would be different this time? I spent the next two years finishing school, graduating, and starting my first post-grad job. I spent the first half of the year after graduation just enjoying this new era of my life and saving up for my future business that I knew I would start at some point but wasn’t sure when, how, or what I would even sell or offer. Soon enough, I realized that there would never be a “perfect” time to start and that I would never achieve this dream if I didn’t start. So I did. This time, I gave it my all– I took the time to plan things out and made a promise to myself that I would keep going no matter what. Just a few months later, my business is doing better than ever before!

I don’t share this to brag about the success I have had, but to really show that if I stopped in 2021 or 2022 when things didn’t work out, I wouldn’t have gotten to see what I was capable of now! I know that I will continue to face challenges here and there as there are ups and downs to everything, but I now know to look at these failures as a setup for future success. Resilience is key! There is a lesson to be learned in everything– what matters is that you make the most of every lesson and never stop working towards your dreams.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

We are so fortunate to live in a time where there are so many resources right at our fingertips! I have learned most of what I know today from googling, watching tons of YouTube videos, and simply learning from those who have already done what I am trying to do. If you are looking to start a business, you don’t have to know it all and while it may be easier, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars taking courses to figure it out. Somewhere there is a mentor, a podcast, a YouTube video, a book, or even a TikTok that can answer your questions and help prepare you for the business world!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lilacstitch.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/lilacstitchco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briannavwalker/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LILACSTITCHCO
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lilacstitchcompany