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

Devona, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope that my legacy makes people feel safe to pursue the things that their hearts are calling them to do. I want them to know that it’s not only safe but it’s necessary. We all have a special set of gifts, passions, talents, and desires, and when we tap into those magic happens. We help inspire, heal, and uplift others when we are lit up by life.We’ve all been around someone who is bursting with life and passion, and it’s undoubtedly contagious. It is my goal to see more people enjoy their lives to the fullest extent possible. So many people work at jobs that drain them and say yes to a life that they don’t want. This is because they don’t think that it’s safe to just take the leap or, that they are good enough. Some people think that kind of success is only meant for others, or that it’s simply not safe to even be seen doing the things that light them up the most. I’m not saying that you’ll always succeed if you take the leap, but you definitely won’t succeed if you keep choosing a life you don’t want. Sometimes failure at one thing leads us to the path we are actually meant to be on, so don’t be afraid to fall down.

I also want to bring to light the fact that this hasn’t been made easy for a lot of people, and I don’t want to turn a blind eye to the fact that many people haven’t been given an equal playing field when it comes to just taking a leap and following a passion. This is why I take my work so seriously. I take building and receiving wealth so seriously because it is not just about me, it is about the collective and the entire planet. By winning, I am contributing to the collective at large and allowing myself to give back in the ways that are most meaningful to me. I hope more people view wealth and success in this light and use it as fuel to work harder to achieve their goals.

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?

Although I started Groovy Club five years ago, I didn’t fully commit to it until two years ago. Back in my childhood, my dad and I had a two-person club called “Groovy Club”, which inspired the name. I have always been a self-proclaimed hippie, and during my high school and college years, I developed quite an affinity for tie dye and fashion. Once I graduated I started working as a behavioral therapist and ended up getting laid off due to the pandemic. I like many other people had nothing but free time on my hands when the pandemic hit, and I ended up just dabbling in the arts a lot. I made pottery, painted, and made lots of tie-dye shirts. When the lockdown ended I decided to do my first pop-up featuring pottery, tie-dye, and vintage clothing. The clothing I had did so much better than my pottery at the pop-up so I just decided to roll with that instead. I began doing pop-ups selling vintage clothes and tie-dye, and after a while, I got a bit bored with that and began doing some reworked pieces. I started selling clothes online, at my local university, and at local markets. Fast forward to me failing a few times, working other jobs to keep me afloat, and growing a lot. Groovy Club is the most successful it’s ever been. We are now more of a lifestyle brand local to the Jacksonville Beach area. We design fun graphic tees made of sustainable fabrics, make reworked pieces, sell vintage, and we even make custom tees for our clients. We offer a lot of cool options at Groovy Club for those who want sustainable clothing options, and consider ourselves to be a “sustainable fashion house.”We also just partnered with One Tree Planted, so now when someone makes a purchase a tree also gets planted!! It’s our goal to continue to grow and make a positive impact on our community and continue to give back.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I don’t know if I would call this a lesson, but the biggest thing I had to unlearn was a lack of trust in myself. If you want to take a deep dive into self-development, then start a business, because every wound and fear you have will come up like crazy. The biggest thing that has come up for me is self-trust. I had such a hard time trusting myself and my art when I first began. I would talk myself out of success. I would undercharge and undersell and had a hard time receiving the money that I actually deserved for my work. It took a lot of time, healing, and mindset work for me to take a deep dive into where that thought came from in the first place. I still struggle with that sometimes, but I think that’s just an artist thing too, but I can also snap myself out of it when I feel that I’m being too critical of myself and my work.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

One of my favorite books is ” You Are A Badass At Making Money” this book was extremely eye-opening to me. I read the advice in the book and kind of thought, “duh”; it made sense to me in a way. Although the advice in the book is so simple, I think we tend to overlook it when we are stuck in the hustle of building a business. This book really opened my eyes to how easy it can be if we get out of our own heads and our own ways.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://groovy-club-love.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: Groovy_Club

Image Credits
Photographer: Reno CEO of New Hype Media