We recently connected with Keshawn Johnson and have shared our conversation below.

Keshawn , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

The biggest risk that we’ve taken to this point is starting our first business. Going into the fall of ’21 Devin and myself both knew we wanted to be business owners and have our own line of clothing, but we had no experience in anything business and very limited funds to support our business. We knew it would take a lot of hard work and dedication, so we put our heads down and started grinding, trying to gain as much information about the whole world of clothing in as little time as possible. Over the next few we spent 100s hours on the internet just trying to find information that would best suit the vision we had for what we wanted our business to be. Still, we had no idea what we would even name this business or the timing of when it would actually become a part of our reality. With lots of prayers and asking God to show us what we need to see Devin approached me with the idea of naming our business “True Faith” around the start of the new year from there I just knew it was as close to perfect as we could get the name aligns with both of us and it’s exactly what we ultimately want to help others do for themselves. From there the risk had gotten even greater as we started to invest financially in screen printing equipment and other materials, we needed to create clothing for ourselves. Over the next few months still, with little to no experience, we started experimenting with the equipment and repeatedly failed miserably Ruining screens, wasting chemical products, and messing up our parent’s houses we knew that this was not sustainable, and it was time for us to get over our own egos and build a team because we needed LOTS of help. We knew who we wanted to add with Richie and Elvis being exactly what we needed, With the full foundation of our business put together it was time for us to get these ideas out of our heads and onto tee shirts. We wasted a full summer trying to be our own manufacturer still failing to even get one shirt made we finally got connected with a great local screen printer with the help of Elvis’s boss. To start the month of October we successfully released our first collection and since then we’ve dropped two more items and we can’t wait to share a lot of the other cool things we have in mind, but we know it l never be on our own timing we have to continue to keep God at the forefront of our lives and our business because everything for us will always be on the Lord’s timing.

Keshawn , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Growing up in Alexandria, Virginia we all as a team shared a love for street fashion and were heavily influenced by the D.C. fashion scene of the early 2000’s to the present day. Coming up from young boys we all knew we’d someday want to be involved in the clothing industry one way or another. With the shared idea from Devin and Keshawn to start a brand, everything started to fall into place from there on forward. Initially, we’d spend most of our hours on YouTube doing research to add on to what we already knew growing up in such a heavily fashionable place. We agreed that we wanted a brand with an actual meaning and a good motivating messaging behind it, adding something that would lead our peers in the right direction. When Devin presented the idea of naming the brand True Faith, we quickly realized what kind of journey we were about to set out on. For us as a group, we want to use our shared love for clothing to put great messages on different pieces and really use our creative scene to make it the youth’s favorite streetwear brand. Our goal is to help others find out what it means to live a life full of True Faith for themselves and to really live life according to God’s plan. Trying our best to never put our worries on ourselves or others but always taking it to God. Using our local resources to grow our connections and by doing our part to help the community become one again and really grasping the idea of being able to all come together to put our area on the map. Providing the youth with the necessary life, technology skills, and overall knowledge for them to step into whatever creative scene it is that they desire. We want everyone to know that we are open to forming relationships and helping other businesses grow alongside us to ultimately come together with the shared goal of serving others and setting the future up for success. We are currently working on getting the attention of our target audience and finding our niche. For a startup brand, True Faith is one that focuses on the overall betterment and motivation to kids, teens, and young adults. Being amazing role models for the youth is important because we can show them that there is a better way of life. Through our brand, we essentially want to create the image of a “Big Brother Brand”. We won’t be able to solve all our customer’s personal problems, but we can provide them stepping stones towards finding the one who can.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Our biggest pivot in this business has been understanding that the things we’re trying to do aren’t according to our timing, It’s all by God’s beautiful grace. and on his perfect timing. We’ve had many things not go our way so far from release dates to funding and also just not fully knowing the business. But with prayer and petition, we’ve been able to successfully get our foot in the door.

Any advice for managing a team?

Everyone involved in the team must understand that they have to come together for one common goal and check all egos and personal agendas at the door. Just like in sports, everyone playing must work together as a whole for the ultimate prize and we know we need the best versions of each other to get to where we need to be. Always insuring to being open to learning what works for each other and how you can positively impact your partner[s] when they need a push or a good word.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: truefaithva

Image Credits
( Personal Photos) Keshawn Johnson, Devin Abrom, Elvis Gomez, Richie Bates. ( Additional Photos) Damon Kosko, Danielle Briana, BJ Simmons, Darius Abrom, Elijah Waldon, Susan Male Keshawn Johnson, Devin Abrom.