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

Crasticia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Creating Abella Storm is the most meaningful project that I’ve created/worked on. During the death of my brother I sunk into a dark place. I didn’t want to get out of bed, didn’t eat, couldn’t sleep (got addicted to Tylenol PM) and just gave up on life in general. One day, I just said to myself, “Girl get up, your mama and kids need you.”

So the first part of trying to make yourself feel better is to get yourself dressed. Of course you aren’t in the mood to but on your best most detailed pieces. You go for the casual, everyday easy to wear items. And that’s where the idea of creating causal women’s brand came from. Bella means Beautiful in French and of course Storm is a natural disaster. So, ABella Storm was created. Because even in the mist of your own personal storm, you are still BEAUTIFUL.

I wanted to create a brand for women that was easy, pieces that you can put on and still be. able to dress up or down. Pieces that didn’t require to much work or thought. Perfect for women dealing with grief, stress, or any other circumstances that has her plate overflowed.

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

I owned a boutique, Prissy Little Thing, from 2017-2020 and it taught me a lot. I failed, I broke down, almost gave up and I succeeded all within that time frame. Finding vendors, creating marketing plans, learning the ins and outs of social media, networking and learning consistency really gave me the encouragement I needed to keep going, not stop at just a boutique. So in 2019 when I lost my brother, my successful boutique took a major loss. I lost interest, I stopped working, stopped buying inventory, stopped promoting essentially gave up.
And as a result I needed to rebuild my business, but instead of rebranding Prissy Little Thing I took everything I learned and put it all into Abella Storm.
Abella Storm is a brand for the everyday woman, we have casual women’s clothing and accessories. As women we tend to have so much on our plates, we have private struggles that we keep to ourselves, being mothers, wives, business owners, or working a 9-5 can become overwhelming.
Having clothing that you can literally wear anytime, anywhere and multiple times is always the best way to go for women on the go. And to be honest, I think this is what sets me apart from other brands. I create versatile pieces, items that women of all ages and sizes can relate to. For myself, I love to wear t-shirts and Abella Storm has a variety to choose from, re-styling a t-shirt can be so much fun it allows your creative juices to flow!

I am most proud of the reasoning and motivation behind the brand, I was able to turn my pain into a purpose to help other women as well as myself. I am dedicated and passionate about making every woman feel beautiful while conquering their storms.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My ultimate mission is to help women that are going through any struggle to still feel confident and beautiful. From personal experience I know the importance of getting up and fighting back, and in order to do that you have to get up and get dressed. I want to continue to create clothing for women to win, to conquer whatever storm they are facing.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A MAJOR lesson I had to unlearn was who supports me. When I first launched Abella Storm, most of my family and friends did not support me. To this day (and we’re coming up on our second anniversary) some still have not purchased anything, not even the cheapest item on the site. Being that I had meaning and purpose behind it, I just thought they all would’ve supported me a little more than they did. It really had me discouraged for a minute, but I prayed on it and kept pushing.
Now I don’t care about who supports me or not, I refuse to allow it to detour me from my purpose. No matter who is there for me or not I’m going to keep going, I refuse to let up, and the people that are meant to support and be apart of my journey, God will align.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.theabellastorm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abellastorm
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abellastorm

Image Credits
Photos by: Myto Photos Kissimmee FL www.mytostudios.com