We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Devon Holloway. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Devon below.

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

Our company is a mission based lifestyle brand created to reflect the values that I felt best represented the community I grew up in. The journey of Hope Design began in 2017 in Roxbury, MA. Growing up in the inner city of Boston I felt like my neighborhood wasn’t often spotlighted in a way that it deserved, and instead reflected in a more negative light. It was our goal to create a brand and space that elevated our communities and celebrates both our similarities and differences. As we’ve continued to grow and expand, we’ve been given the opportunity to work with different initiatives, organizations and schools within the inner city communities. It is very important to me to use my profession and craft to pour into those that have poured into me. Early on my goal as a designer was to work with large businesses and be part of an established brand but as time went on and covid-19 hit, I realized there was a greater opportunity to build with those around us. There’s so much beauty in elevating our surroundings and highlighting the people who don’t often see themselves in the mainstream. Recently, we have have gotten the opportunity to expand to Los Angeles, CA where we hope to bring the same impact. The greatest reward is being to create, collaborate and bring light to those around us. If given the opportunity – why would we not use our passion to fuel change in our communities?

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Devon Holloway and I am the founder and creative director of Hope Design. Hope Design is a lifestyle brand whose concept I created shortly after college. After a few years doing freelance design work I decided to dive deeper into entrepreneurship in 2017. At Hope Design, our products range from t-shirts, shorts, sweatsuits, jackets accessories and more. Through our quality clothing and brand messaging, we hope to elevate our community and our surroundings. Our designs are more than just fabric; they are a reflection of the connections we build and the moments we share. We strive to shine a light on the power of community, fostering a sense of belonging and encouraging self-expression.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building out our audience on social media has definitely been a methodical process that has changed a bunch over time. The industry and social platforms are ever changing so sometimes we pivot month to month. Some times even week to week. With our lifestyle brand being mission based we wanted to make sure we could connect with our audience through more than just clothing. There is often an emotional bond there as well and that is not something we take lightly. It is extremely important to us that we nurture that relationship and take care of it. We like to create email campaigns and social posts asking questions to our audience sometimes just to check in with them. It isn’t always just product based. There is a great deal of respect that goes both ways for us between us and our audience. Consistency is key in all things but so is quality. We don’t like to bombard our audience or overstep any boundaries because that is sure way to run them off. One of the biggest pieces of advice I could give from my own journey and even I’ve had to learn over time is to pour into those who pour into you. Your audience is out there. You just have to find them and that may take awhile. But once you do, nurture that bond and take care of that relationship. So often as young business owners we spread ourselves thin trying to reach everyone all at once and wonder why our resources aren’t effective. It’s so much more about finding your village and what works than nurturing that space instead of trying to please everyone.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

We sell on our own website. We found a platform that worked for us in Shopify and built from there. We explored using a different third party site before but decided against it in order to build a space that catered to our needs. With having our own website we can add features or even take away some in order to build the best experience for our clientele. Sometimes that’s hard to do with existing sites because they only allow for a specific amount of features. With our website we are able to understand our customers needs, the industry standard and adapt accordingly. That is probably the biggest pro for us. The adaptability in real time is major plus for us. It also allows us create a uniquely organic experience. To that same point that does mean we take care of a lot of the maintenance on our website. So if something goes wrong or isn’t working correctly we have to be the ones to go in and troubleshoot it. We have to also make sure we are on top of fulfillment and remaining consistent in our delivery. I’d say having our own website gives us the freedom we need to create while also making sure we are constantly monitoring our backend. If you have the time and patience for it, it is rewarding but it’s all about finding the right fit.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shophopedesign.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hopedesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HopeDesignWork/
• Twitter: https://x.com/_hopedesign