We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Olivia-Sade Gonzale. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Olivia-Sade below.

Hi Olivia-Sade, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Being fearless and willing to take risks has ultimately been the driving force for my life.

As you navigate the world as I have, you learn how important your decisions are and how much they impact your life. Most of the time, moments of confusion and feeling lost has led me to making the best decisions that I only really understood looking back.

I had a difficult time in college really finding my own identity outside of my household, it was hard to feel like I had found my place at university. I started to understand how valuable my time was (and still is) and decided that I wanted to dedicate myself full-time to designing and developing my own name-sake brand, without knowing what would come. Fully throwing myself into the unknown and trusting myself.

Four years later, I have had my first pop up in a city that has raised me my entire life. We danced, laughed and partied in the name of the brand I worked so hard for and believed in when I decided to drop out of college. Taking risks have allowed me to grow in the most beautiful, chaotic ways.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Many know me by Oliviasade. I am a full-time designer for my name-sake brand, Oliviasade.

Oliviasade embodies the essence of pop culture through its bold colors, imagery and alternative, modern approach within its unisexwear from swiwmwear to our iconic tees. Oliviasade is represented across all genders, made for the trendsetters who aren’t afraid to look or be different.

Throughout this entire journey within developing my brand, I’m proud of the organic audience and support that’s been created through the years. Oliviasade has truly created a unique community that embraces their individuality and stands in it.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is being able to have an idea and watch it come to fruition. There is a beauty in the process of being able to sketch a design and gradually see it form to your customer’s closets.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

It almost feels like there’s a pre-conceived notion that life as a creative revolves around the fun moments and living without structure when in reality, it’s the most unstable and inconsistent career path you could take. There will be moments where you’re excited to release something you’ve worked and invested so much time on and you don’t get the feedback you’ve expected. There will be days where you have to play many roles of customer service representative, model, designer and marketer and some days where you simply just want to focus on one task instead of a million at once.

Choosing to follow your dreams the unconventional way without the security of a consistent paycheck or any knowledge of the future is one of the most daring paths you can take but with belief and persistence, it could be the most rewarding.  

Contact Info:

• Website: oliviasade.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliviasade/?hl=en
• Twitter: twitter.com/livsade
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs53vC_TbtlNynvdiDuc2bg

Image Credits
Shayna Viola (@shaynaviola on Instagram) Strawberry (@t4rtchiv3s on Instagram) Ylanyi (@y.lanyi on Instagram) (luvliy_ on Instagram)