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

Lakesha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love asking folks what they would do differently if they were starting today – how they would speed up the process, etc. We’d love to hear how you would set everything up if you were to start from step 1 today

Hey so I have been in entrepreneurship for quiet some time now and I started out on the “fly, no guidance, not instructions, no manual lol, not tricks, pretty much just took my faith and jumped out there. Now with all that being said I definitely would do things differently now with everything that I know and still learning. So first and foremost gaining more knowledge in the industry and building my education more on business skills. I did have a few skills just from coming from the managerial side of Corporate America. Just being about to know all the resources that are out there for start-up business, being able to qualify for different grants and capital and the list goes on and on. I would have definitely ordered my steps a little differently and make sure I had s solid foundation to build off of.

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

Well my name is Lakesha Cotton and I am the owner of Trendy Teez LLC. Trendy Teez was established in 2014 but became official in Sept of 2017. So I started out in Corporate American with a business I had been with for over 7 years decided to let me go after a small incident. Now I was no starter to being an entpreneruer for while I was working in Corporate American I had a clothing brand by the name of LaShae’s Fashion and omg when I say I started it while working my 9-5 and also attending school but I did it! It became a very nice success to where it caught the eyes of a local store owner who wanted to include our clothing inside of her store. It was an amazing gesture for me because I always wanted my own little spot. Well after being let go I had no choice but to become full-time business owner and so I did. Omg I was nervous, scared, afraid , all the above but God said this is your next step. But clothing wouldn’t last long, for I lost my passion for it but God had given me a different vision. Now I have always been a creator and love designing and just putting things together to create something. I was always tech-savvy and said I want to try my hands at making t-shirts. So I started off making family T-shirts for small occasions and I feel in love. I mean i googled and you-tubed everything I could one t-shirt making and then a light bulb went off and said “this is it” Me and my husband laid across the bed brain-storming a name until we came up with one. I Borrowed $500 from a relative to get my first heat press and a bundle of shirts and the rest is history lol. Now for the first couple of years I did work from my room and garage. I went on social media and created some content and drew in a few clients , but my biggest was from word of mouth and referrals. When I said I prayed and worked my butt off. I would stay up so late working on orders my husband would have to tell me it’s time to call it quits lol. I was determined not only for myself but for my 2 kids who was watching mama get torned down and having to pick herself back up no matter the circumstances. Showing them to never let anyone take anything from you because you have earned your spot in this world just as much the next person. Fast forward you guys still being unemployed and working for myself at home I saved every penny ii made after of course taking care of home and was able to save up my 1st $24k. Now at this point of time I have been doing shirts for about a 2 years now and have grown my knowledge and my goals. I now wanted to expand and had dreamed of opening up my own location where I could have more space and build my clientele. SO I had been eyeballing this one location for some time now but could not afford it, so I just waited patiently and said,”In God’s timing” and let it be. Now this same building had now been occupied and later became back vacant, so in 2020 I went and checked it out again and Lord and Behold its was affordable and I said yep its for me. I had literally manifested this building!! I paid 6 months in advance and was able to stock the store with inventory and had an amazing grand opening. Now Im feeling like reality is setting in because okay now I have “real people” bills loll, overhead costs, and I’m thinking omg where is the people going to come from, I don’t have that big of an clientele to do all this . I started overthinking a lot and causing me to stress. But I had a believe in me that was stronger than I was and knew all those answers….GOD. He told me to be still and trust him. I did. WE have been here going on 5 years and counting. Now don’t get me wrong when I say the road has gotten rocky and unstable ash my faith has definitely been tested on numerous occasions. Now we have became a”household name” sort to speak and have grown our clients with a 5 star rating on google and #1 Finn Conway, even with our competitors that has been in tithe game way way longer. I have to say that is definitely my GOD, its our dedication to the customers, fulfilling their need with a smile on our face, and making them feel at home the minute they walk into our store. Now do I still have a long road ahead of me…YES I DO! A lot of mistakes were made and there are still a lot of learning I am doing. But everyday I show up to my store with a smile on my face, ready and eager to serve and help our community.

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

I would say my personality . Truth be told I have never met a stranger. I welcome and consider everyone a friend or potential customer. I think people have the second mile service they receive when they walk into my store. That homey feeling you have when you come in. It’s not your tradition t-shirt making /retail store. You won’t see all kinds of machines win the public eye and shirts and such everyone. we have smell-goods, good vibes, all kinds of positive affirmations, quotes, and scriptures throughout our store.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

For us it has been walk-in and word of mouth. We always get customers in here that says they were told about us from someone else.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.trendyteez.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trendyteez01
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trendyteezllc
• Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/trendy-teez-conway.com
• Other: TikTok: @trendy.teez5