We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nish Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Nish, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned to sew after teaching myself how to back in 2021. I have always been deeply interested in fashion since I was a kid! I would always sketch designs but I grew closer to styling instead as I got older. I realized after many years, though, that I wanted to finally try my hand at designing since it would be a better outlet to expressing myself fully! I started off practicing my hand sewing around April of that year but I didn’t really have the courage to touch the machine until November. I honestly jumped straight into making complete outfits and had my first commission by January of 2022! In terms of the learning process, each and every step was essential! Especially hand sewing. Looking back, I would have used patterns to practice on instead of constructing free hand but I definitely learned a lot by doing that as well! The only obstacle that stood in my way was fear of failing but I realized that failing is the only proper way to learn from your mistakes!

Nish, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

As I mentioned before, I was always into fashion as a child! I started off sketching designs in literal grade school then when I transitioned into high school, I was selling customized Vans Authentic Black or Whites for like 20 bucks to kids in my school! I would paint galaxies on them since that imagery was extremely popular at the time. I was also in fashion club. When I was old enough to work, I immediately dove into in-store styling for different retailers. I worked in retail for about 6 years doing styling and visual merchandising. I was also taking the time to do freelance work on the side, mostly passion projects and building my personal portfolio. That led me to creating my magazine, now clothing brand, I Don’t Get Paid Enough 4 This! At the time, I was using it as a creative outlet for both myself and other artists in the DMV area but it slowly transitioned into something that I wouldn’t have imagined! In 2020, when the pandemic hit, I just had a baby and a few months later, I got laid off from my virtual styling job. It was a really rough time for me but instead of sulking in my own self pity, I decided to take my career more seriously and genuinely do what I love which is just create freely and express myself in every way that I can! I made it a point that from that day forward that I was officially working for myself!

After deciding to get back into design, I had a lot of trouble finding reliable people to manufacture the things that I wanted to create. I had friends tell me all the time that they could see me actually designing AND sewing the clothes that I wanted to make but I always insisted that “I didn’t have time for that”. At first I had no real urge to learn the craft but then, I ended up actually teaching myself how to sew after months and months of disappointing business arrangements. Being that I was funding my brand entirely by myself, I didn’t have any more time or money to waste on people who didn’t share the same passion for my brand as I did. I can definitely say it’s been quite the journey but it was certainly worth it! Actually having the discipline to sit down, be patient and learn something new totally by myself was a inexplainable challenge but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. A year and a half later, I’m still learning but I wouldn’t have thought that I would come so far in such a short amount of time!

My business has grown at such a steady paced yet rapid rate! I have people from all over the country that show me love and shop with me on a persistent basis. I consistently do pop up shops in the D.C. area once a month as well as random drops on my website but I spend majority of my time doing commission work. I usually make 1 of 1 items for my clients because I feel it’s truly authentic to my brand. I have so many ideas that it’s best for me to put them out once and keep it going..but they’re going to be fire every time!! I think this is what truly sets me apart from other clothing brands. I feel like other designers can be so stuck on having a signature piece that represents the brand or even having one set logo that they use for all of their marketing, advertising and details of the brand. I, on the other hand, want to present something different every drop. My logos on my clothing tags, the premise of my website and the nostalgia that it’s based off of, my thank you and business cards, my clothing designs, how my social media feeds are curated are all one of a kind! And I’m absolutely proud of that. I take whatever I envision in my mind and I’m able to execute it. That’s such an incredible talent to have.

Though I am expanding, I have yet to establish a team that I can consistently work with which means, unless mentioned otherwise, I am single-handedly completing these projects all on my own. The photography, clothing design, styling, sewing, graphic design, creative directing, lighting, casting, location scouting, web design, sometimes even hair and makeup. Hence why my brand is called “I Don’t Get Paid Enough 4 This”, because I truly feel that there is no number that could be placed on the worth and knowledge I possess. I’ve taken such major time throughout the years developing my talents and though I don’t feel like I’ve exactly found my niche just yet, I’m getting closer and closer to it every day!

Aside from spending each day as a full time mommy (which is hectic all within itself), I’m also in full creative mode constantly! Some days, I really struggle with finding the balance between motherhood and creativity but I also make it a priority to include my baby into my daily activities so that he can assist rather than disrupt. It makes it that much easier since he is a little creative genius himself! He loves to draw, paint and even help me distress the School Girl Skirts that I recently dropped on my site! It’s so much fun to nurture his interests while introducing him to mine as well and I wish that I could take him everywhere with me when I’m working so that he can see where all of the pieces that we spend so much time on go!

I’m mostly proud of the fact that I grew my brand larger than I could’ve imagined all while being a mom. Around the time I started my brand, I was doing a lot of things for the first time such as caring for a new kid and running a business. I had even moved out on my own for the first time. But I really applaud myself for making it happen and never giving up! There have been so many challenging times where I really wanted to, I still have my days, but I’m much too prideful to do that. Majority of the time, I need a lot of help and I’ve been praying that I could find an assistant!
I continuously have my hands in several projects at once and I’m almost ALWAYS overwhelmed. Not necessarily in a bad way because having a lot of work to do are great problems to have but I also work very hard to make sure I don’t burn out. This is obviously difficult when you’re a one woman show and you also have obligations outside of your passions that require a great amount of your time. However, it’s now been 4 years since starting my brand and 2 years of me working for myself! I love all of my clients and rapport that I’ve built with everyone over the years! I’ve also already proven to myself multiple times that I can’t lose and that I am also able to make a living doing what I love! I even participated in my very first fashion show exactly one year after beginning my sewing journey. That was 13 looks that I created and presented off of pure faith, talent and patience. I plan to do another one this year some time so everyone should stay tuned for that! ;)

Because I love what I do so much, I put so much time, energy and devotion into every single piece that I make. I LOVE creating things with my hands, I LOVE sharing my talents with others and I absolutely LOVE making people feel beautiful! This all stems from my childhood passion for fashion and wanting people to adore themselves in the items that I create. My clients help me reach every goal that I set for myself by simply supporting my work and I will forever be grateful for that and my journey!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is quite a few things actually. One of those things is definitely working for myself and creating my own schedule but being able to possess the discipline and time management skills to maintain my success. Secondly, being able to transmute my life experiences, whether they be negative or positive, into art that I’m able to share with others. Lastly, my life is my art! The way that I walk, talk, dress, my aura is my art. Every way that I present myself to the world is my art and that’s something I truly enjoy about this life’s experience! I can show up in this world in whichever way I choose. I base my entire life and brand around authenticity, loving yourself and living fully in your truth. Another rewarding aspect is being able to inspire others but remain open enough that I can still be inspired. I’m still on my learning journey and I’m not afraid to surround myself with people who can actually teach me something and help me to grow!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have many goals in this life that I would love to accomplish but none of them involve only ONE creative aspect. I see myself designing for big names, of course, but also learning shoe and jewelry design, picking up nail art as well as writing films one day. My goal here is to soak up as much knowledge as I possibly can and be the true definition of “Jane of all trades”! I see so much for myself and it all includes expressing myself through various mediums. I want to have so much fun and experiences in my life that I can retire early, purchase a farm and live in my own solitude while continuing to create. Ultimately, I just want peace and my art in the end. That’s all I need. Everything that I do each day is inching me closer to fulfilling my dreams of getting me in spaces with people who I look up to! To create things for those people, maybe even create things together but the goal will always be to create timeless art.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.idontgetpaidenough4this.com
• Instagram: @dadevilwearspleasers (personal)/@idontgettpaidenough4this (business)

Image Credits
Danica Robinson @sidvivid & Nish Davis