We were lucky to catch up with Eve Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.

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

You have to define what success means to you. The simplest answer to that question is happiness. What someone else deems as success might not be what you want for your life. Figure out your big goals and make smaller goals so you can reach the bigger ones. For me and what I want in life, success takes persistence, resilience, an “I’ll figure it out” mentality, hustle, a top-tier work ethic, good networking skills, and the ability to ask for help.

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?

I am a multi-hyphenate creative who works mostly in the fashion and art industries. I started my career as an apparel designer and then moved into product development. Currently, I collaborate with artists to develop merchandise for their personal and business brands; I also develop and sew large canvases for paintings.

For the product development side, I collaborate with artists to develop sellable merchandise and products for their brands and other companies/brands they partner with. The artist and I work together during the development stages, having weekly meetings and creating workable prototypes. Once the samples/prototypes and budgets have been approved, I move forward with the small production of the products.

For large canvas projects, the artist usually has the shape and sizing in mind when they come to me. My role is to figure out the cost of materials and labor, draft and finalize patterns, create a sample for approval, and final the production canvas. The canvas ranges in size from 8′ x 6′ to 40′ x 15′ (feet).

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life is all about the pivot; I’m currently pivoting again in my career and business. Most of the pivots I’ve made in my career and business have been because things no longer serve or align with me. Focusing solely on design and having my own clothing brand no longer felt right, it doesn’t mean I will never come back to it, I’m just taking a break from that to move the business in a different direction and still be able to feed my creativity.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

My work ethic and dedication helped me build my reputation within my market. It’s the perfect combination of talent and hustle.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: simply_eve_denise

Image Credits

Image 1 – Courtesy of Edgar Arceneaux (Artist) and Taipei Fine Arts Museum
Image 2 – Courtesy of Edgar Arceneaux (Artist)
Image 3 – Courtesy of Edgar Arceneaux (Artist) and Vielmetter Los Angeles / Photo credit: Brica Wilcox
Image 4 – Courtesy of Edgar Arceneaux (Artist)
Image 5 – Courtesy of Eve Thomas
image 6 – Courtesy of Eve Thomas
Image 7 – Courtesy of Edgar Arceneaux (Artist) / Mayors Office – Paris, France
Image 8 – Courtesy of Eve Thomas
Image 9 – Courtesy of Creative Time (New York)