We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tiffany Ford a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Tiffany, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?
When the idea of starting a business began impressing on my heart, I was afraid and somewhat intimidated to step out and launch it partly because I had no idea of how to start or run a business, but mainly because when the ideas began to flow, it wasn’t just one business that I felt the burden to birth but multiple!
Who in their right mind just wakes up one day and starts multiple businesses? Me, that’s who! Now let me be honest: if I, myself, had to sit down and try to come up with a business idea to start my life as an entrepreneur, never in a million years would I have chosen ANY of what I am doing now.
I am somewhat of an outgoing person, but I have always stayed pretty much to myself, and when it comes to the arts, the only form of creative expression I have dabbled in is music – singing, to be exact. Trying to design or create things was never even an interest for me.
This is how I knew that my business concepts were divinely inspired. I am a woman of Christian faith, striving to incorporate my beliefs and convictions in everything I do. So, I did what came naturally to me and went into prayer, seeking guidance on how to birth the visions in my head. I was very transparent and real in my prayer and expressed my concerns about my lack of creativity. It was through prayer that I got my answer! WeCreate!
Christians believe in the Holy Trinity, God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and along with the Holy Trinity, I would create and design the unique and custom products that I would offer to my customers.
Thus, WeCreate Enterprise was born to encompass all the business concepts that I was receiving and fulfilling by faith and with the help of the Holy Trinity.
Why WeCreate? Because life is full of reasons to celebrate and just express ourselves through style and personality. What you need, WeCreate!
Tiffany, 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?
Sure thing! My name is Tiffany Ford, and I was born and raised in North Carolina, in fact, I am still here! I am married, college-educated yet still in full-time school, employed, and a mother of four beautiful kids who gracefully runs multiple businesses. It’s a lot, but that’s not always been my story.
I know you’re thinking, “Well, of course not,” but what I mean is I spent years as a single mom, a college dropout who was struggling to survive. I was living paycheck to paycheck and not truly loving myself because all I could see were the bad choices I continued to make, and they made me feel unworthy of having anything more than what I had. I was making wrong decision after wrong decision after wrong decision, stuck in a toxic cycle of self-sabotage.
In 2007, after a failed marriage that I should never have gotten into, to begin with, I lost my home, my car, and my job and had to move in with my maternal grandparents with my two little kids. At that point, I knew I had to do something different. I could not continue to feel sorry for myself and go through the motions of life; simply existing was not working.
I began attending church with my grandmother, a pivotal point in my life. Finding God really changed my outlook and perspective on life. Then, I decided to get out of the pit and fight for the life God had planned for me—a life of prosperity, hope, and abundance.
In 2010, I met my husband, and in 2012, we were married two years to the day we met. We went on to have two more kids to complete our family of 6. We now have three boys – Kenneth, Xavier, and Greg and one daughter, Ariel.
For a while, my only desire was to be the best mother and wife that I could possibly be. I have always been a giver, a nurturer, and a lover, so it was easy to put myself last and my husband and children first, but eventually, I learned that by putting myself and my dreams first, I would be able to provide for my family the way that my heart desires.
I began taking certification courses, went back to school, and obtained my associate degree in business administration, and I am currently in school for my bachelor’s in the same.
WeCreate Enterprise was created to leave a legacy for my kids and create generational wealth for my family. There is much more to life than living paycheck to paycheck, and I needed my kids to know that it is never too late to build and establish purpose.
I willfully decided to tap into the skillsets and gifts that God has given me and boldly stand on His Word to destroy the lack I saw in our day-to-day lives. I began to use my creative thoughts and ideas, persistence, determination, and gifts as fuel for creating multigenerational wealth and legacy. This wealth will equip our kids and the generations to come with the financial freedom and stability to pursue dreams without restrictions and impact the lives of others through generosity and giving, both tangibly and intangibly. By doing whatever is necessary and within our capabilities to accomplish, which is without limit because we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us, we know that WeCreate Enterprise will never become stagnant or unproductive, but continue to, grow, and expand in ways to stretch our employees and stakeholders professionally and personally.
Putting our faith first and following the principles laid out before us in the Word of God, we will be successful beyond our dreams. Deuteronomy 30:16 For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.
WeCreate Enterprise is more than just a name, it is a brand.
Our business lines are:
WeCreate Custom Designs is a business that specializes in customized and personalized gifts. We take your ideas, thoughts, and visions and create personalized, eye-catching products that express the buyer’s or gift recipient’s personality. We print custom t-shirts and apparel, design accessories such as cups, hats, and keychains, craft party supplies, and business materials.
WeCreate Personality Scents is our candle, wax melt, body butter, room scents, and foaming hand soap business. Our scents are created to help you express every personality and set the atmosphere wherever you choose to use them. Our scents help to commemorate special moments and events that take place in your life.
WeCreate Renewed Mindsets is our life coaching service. Our mission is to empower women to find their voice, discover their identity, and live their best lives through spirituality, self-reformation, and life-purpose coaching. I am a natural encourager who loves seeing people live their best lives, free from stress, drama, and the constraints of propagandized religion and social stigmas.
WeCreate presents Truth Be Told, where you will find our podcast, which streams on all major platforms, and our blog on our website and Facebook social media page. The messages are meant to inspire, motivate, uplift, and provoke you to think about things outside of the box.
Our customers are continuously blown away by the superb quality of all our products and services and how our customer service goes above and beyond to ensure each experience is favorable. We deliver unique products that speak for themselves with an experience that keeps you returning for more. And we almost ALWAYS deliver early, so there is no stress or worry about whether or not your items will arrive on time.
And there is more to come!
We have pending jewelry, makeup, and publishing lines coming out soon. Can you believe that I am also writing a book with all that I am doing? I know…I can hardly believe that this is my life.
In addition to my businesses, I have started a non-profit organization called Label Me King. Label Me King is a faith-based organization and movement created to empower male youth and young adults ages 11-21 and prepare them for a future of hope and success. We have seen an uptick in school shootings and stabbings, drug addictions and deaths and just all out dysfunction with our youth, primarily our boys. We see a lot of babies raising babies and a lack of male role models in households, causing our young men to try to figure out life using the wrong tools and resources. To make matters worse, the world tends to label men through the lens of biases and prejudices instead of the lens of who they have been created to be.
The biblical scripture 1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and God’s very special possession. Knowing this, we don’t have to take on the world’s labels. If we allow anyone to label us anything, it should be KING!
Knowing what it feels like to be a single mom and the worries of how to equip our boys with what they need to be productive men and keep them safe from the negative influences of the world, I knew that I had to help be a part of the solution. We all have something in us to help solve an issue of the world, and I believe that I have something to impart into the next generation to impact this generation and those to come.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of the most rewarding aspects about being a creative and entrepreneur is that I get pave my own way. I get to make mistakes and learn from them, without the pressures of being cancelled or fired. I’m not going to fire myself right? Giving up or quitting is just not an option.
Also, I can pivot at the drop of a dime without having to go through a million channels for approval. If I see that something is not working for the brand, I can decide in the moment what to quit doing or begin doing to reset the business on the right track.
I get to set my own hours and build my own vision. Working for others is fine and I still have my 9-5 but the security of knowing that I have this baby that I have created and birthed and get to include my family in the journey of raising is a marvelous thing.
And let’s be clear, setting my own hours doesn’t mean I work less, it actually requires me to work more, but if a creative vision hits me late night, I have the flexibility of staying up as late as I want to create and design.
It also means that I can be present and available for the memory making moments that my children will carry with them into adulthood. The school fieldtrips, class plays, birthday parties, etc. I get to leave my day job and not have to rob Peter to Paul from missing the hours at work.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
The hardest lesson for me to unlearn was to stop giving away products and services for pretty much free! It feels good to be able to give a quality product or service for dirt cheap, but let’s be honest, there is a difference between a business and a hobby. If you are working countless hours or even inconsistent hours and find that you barely break even or you don’t see an increase in your sales and profits, that, my dear, is not a business.
It costs money to run a business, and you deserve to be paid for investing time in your products and services. The time spent is time that you could be using to do other things like watching movies with your kids, hanging out with friends, or reading a good book. You do not have to feel bad about charging prices that cover the expenses of your services/goods and leave you with a little something after it is all said and done.
And don’t forget the little things when you are creating your prices, like the taxes you will have to pay or the fees that come out of certain payment methods you accept.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wecreateenterprise.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/wecreateenterprise
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WeCreateEnterprise
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffanymford/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JusTiffMichelle
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@JustTiffMichelle