We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Latoya Doyley. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Latoya below.
Alright, Latoya thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
Omg my thoughts exactly. Honestly, since my Buisness was a clothing brand , I had to come up with something that was cool and looked good on a Tshirt . I couldn’t think of a one when I initially started so I just used my initials of my full name LTD. Which actually stands for Latoya Tsheyka Doyley. Then put the creations behind it . Kinda of like Latoya’s creations . Crazy thing is most people thought LTD stood for limited and would say limited creations instead of staying each letter . After that the rest was history and LTD creations was born
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’m Latoya Doyley, ceo/creative designer of Ltd creations . Single mother to my 21 year old son . The epitome of a Leo independent,Very bold and center of attention, I’ve always stood out at a young age amongst my peers because of my fashion sense and the way I dressed unruly . When I was 12/13 ,I used to cut up , paint and bleach my jeans and tshirts and wear to middle school because I knew no one else would have those same clothes as me . With 25 plus years of experience distressing I’m a veteran in the denim game . I had an idea to start my own denim/jeans line . Just like most trends they always come and go . Why not capitalize off my God given talent. The clothes I create I would personally wear every piece . Once I started to invest more of my time and money into LTD ,doors opened and more opportunities started coming my way . We cater to those who love statement pieces to express their unique style without saying a word . Which can mean the entire family . Men, women and kids . Some of the names of my designs are inspired by Jamaican descent ..
To grow/scale you Buisness you need a trustworthy team . Especially when you have a handmade product .. Soon after you will need a manufacturer to mass produce to increase your sales .
In the future LTD creations plans to be in stores world wide and have a local showroom . We also are looking to collaborate with other brands
What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?
While working full time in the medical field at least 40/50 hours a week , in my spare time I made myself a few distressed jeans a vintage tshirts the summer of 2016. Everyone loved them and I would get numerous compliments and questions like “ where did you get that From” when I would respond I made them ., friends and family members insisted I should sell them . So I took their advice one day made a small batch and they completely sold out that day . With social media being one of the biggest marketing platforms, I used Instagram, Facebook and TikTok to promote my brand . Which caught the attention of celebrities such as Fantasia, Saweetie, Trina , Mieka Joi, Miracle Watts . Also some house wives Marlo Hampton , Nene Leakes , Yandy Smith just to name a few . Once they would wear my jeans or shirts and tag me on social media .. I had celebraties sliding in my DM’s wanting a pair of custom LTD jeans . It then created a larger demand that needed more of my time . So I quit my full time job March 2018 and turned my side hustle into my main . With some of my savings from my FT and LTD , I would invest most of not all my profit back into LTD . I never looked back since . This is now my bread and butter . The only regret I have is I should’ve took that leap of faith and bet on myself earlier .
Have you ever had to pivot?
2020 . When Covid struck , I definitely had to pivot . With some business not being able to stay a float and others flourishing , I had to think fast . Thankfully I didn’t see a huge decline on sales . That was also the year Nene Leakes wore a pair of our jeans while on her way to being on good morning America . She was photographed by paparazzi and those images went viral .
As long as we broke even and had enough to cover my bills I was ok with that . LTD would have local pop up shops in the Dc/Maryland area . Those also had to stop due to Covid restrictions Everyone was stuck in the house . Outside was closed . Which meant there was no where to go besides the internet or your living room lol. My customer base usually purchase a LTD piece for special occasions or events .
So I started posting more content and even going live of IG trying to market as much as possible. Running special promotions, designing new collections giving my consumers something to look forward once the Covid lockdowns ended .
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.Ltdcreations.co
- Instagram: LTD_creations
- Facebook: Ltd creations
- Other: Tik tok Ltd_creations
Image Credits
Lavar Plummer