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

Hi Shatava, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

Success is all about setting goals for yourself and crushing those goals. When I first started OURGLASS, I knew I wanted to create a clothing brand where women would feel confident about who they are are, they will celebrate their figures, and they will walk in a room and own the room. In order to create this dynamic brand, I had to constantly set goals for myself. Every week I would write down goals for the business. I would work daily to make certain I am crushing those weekly goals! At the end of the week, once those goals were met, I would celebrate so that I would never forget to always celebrate wins, no matter how small or large they are. Goal setting is the key to being successful. No matter how small or large the goal is, challenge yourself to push through and accomplish each and every goal. You will appreciate yourself for working hard to achieve.

Shatava, 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?

Originally from Chattanooga, TN, I developed a love for fashion at an early age but it was not until college at Tennessee State University that I truly realized I needed to step into fashion to solve problems associated with curvy women feeling empowered and confident in finding quality clothing to fit. Before I started my brand, OURGLASS, I would spend hours trying to find clothes to fit me because of my figure. After growing completely frustrated, I sought to create a fashion brand where women of ALL SIZES…small and plus, could purchase clothing items and feel confident about their purchase. The vision of OURGLASS came about because I wanted to create my own unique brand, utilizing quality fabrics for custom wear and the need to find flattering clothing items for boutique wear that would fit a woman like no other. The name OURGLASS came from the concept of looking at every woman’s figure as their “Glass” so in essence, My Glass (referring to my figure), Your Glass (referring to another woman’s figure), OURGLASS – referring to the Figures of all Women.

Since creating the brand, I have met and connected with so many amazing women that bring the OURGLASS brand alive. I have learned that all women are beautiful, no matter what size they are. It’s all about being confident and showing the world just how beautiful we are. The OURGLASS brand is the center of this. When we look good, we feel good so with OURGLASS, I am constantly creating clothing to make women feel good so that when they walk into a room, their confidence speaks first.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I opened my first boutique store in Nashville, TN in 2016. Crazy thing is, I opened this store while still working a full time job. I knew that fashion was my passion but I still felt that I needed a job in order to have a sense a security. When I opened the store, I told God, “This is it for me! This is what I want to do with my life!” I asked God to allow this store to work out for me so that I would not have to continue to work a 9-5 job. This was my constant prayer. Now, crazy how things work out. Three weeks later, I found out I was getting laid off from my job. I was devastated. I didn’t think I was prepared. In my mind, my job provided finances for me that I needed in order to make sure the store was successful.

In this point in my life, I had to learn to believe in myself. What was I afraid of…failure? I overcame my fear of job security by learning to work hard. Pushing myself and believing that I could do this on my own, without a job. That sense of security from my job was going away and I had to train my mind to think different and understand that God prepared me with everything I needed to be successful. The store was my baby and I pushed to make it work. I ran that store with everything I had. I hired employees, created processes and procedures to allow the store to thrive and learned marketing strategies to grow the business. In the end, I was proud because I learned to believe in myself and know that even in the face of adversity, I can bet on myself and make things work.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After running my brick and mortar store for years, I found myself wanting something different for the business, I wanted to grow and expand larger than just one city. Although I was doing fine working in the store, I wanted growth. I decided to close the store and focus on growing the business outside of Tennessee. I had to pivot and learn how to do this. I started investing in myself and learning marketing and growth strategies to help OURGLASS. I opened my online store www.shopourglass.com so that I could reach women all over the world. With the online store, I created new goals to understand how to reach my ideal customers and communicate to the world what the OURGLASS brand stood for. I am happy to say that today, I have customers all over the world shopping OURGLASS and I am grateful for this.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.shopourglass.com
• Instagram: @shopourglass
• Facebook: @shopourglass
• Twitter: @shopourglass
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYNfoWQ23IBzqNlnxYwnOdg