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

Timmy, 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 took a leap of faith and decided to purchase a few of the things I wanted to try an learn. Once I got those things I was pretty lost. So I went to YouTube to find “how to” tutorials. That’s when things started to pick up. The first thing I learned was how to work The Cricut design space software for my vinyl cutter machine. Down the line there were things within the software that I found easy to do on my own with no tutorial. After a few months I felt like a pro. However in the beginning there were plenty of mistakes that I had made. Each mistake I made I learned from it. I ruined so much materials through out the course of me learning. I used to say to myself “what a waste of money”. Now I don’t look at it like that at all I think of it as a stepping stone to be closer to where I would like to be. If I didn’t make mistakes I wouldn’t have learned anything. I don’t think there would be anything to do differently to speed up the process, Progression takes time when your trying to perfect a craft. One skill that was most essential through this entire process I’d say would have to be patience. Patience was most important, If I wasn’t patient enough I would’ve given up early on but I never did because I took all the time I needed and kept going. Only thing that stood in the way of learning more was myself. There were times I didn’t believe in myself and I was afraid to take that next big step to further my knowledge. Once I was over that nothing could stop me.

Timmy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

So I got in to wanting to design clothes by taking a fashion designing internship back in 2017. Which taught us the basics Of Photo Shop, Adobe Illustrator, How to create Tech packs, and how to design collections for a fashion show. From that experience I became more fascinated with the whole art of fashion. So moving forward I was curious to know how to get access to manufactures. So for a start I called around to a few different screen printing companies to compare prices. Then I jumped head first into actually launching my brand. I found A company in Kalamazoo Mi. that I felt was most affordable. Then I went on to launch my brand in the summer of 2017. I started off with just t-shirts and I would tell people, “I’m a fashion designer”. Until one day someone said to me, “this isn’t fashion its just t-shirts”. Which t first stung a bit but I didn’t take offense to it because it was true. So from there I challenged my self to learn more about the entire world of design. I began to sew during the pandemic. So now instead of just shirts and hoodies I offered reworked/patch stitch pant services as well. Slowly moving up the ladder. Women began to ask me to make there birthday outfit. Which forced me to learn how to make a crop top and matching skirt set out of hoodies. Later down the line I bought and embroidery machine and a set of silk screens to start screen printing at home. Once I learned and mastered each craft it not only enhanced my brand but it enhance my ability as a creator. One thing I can say that I had to discipline myself on was trying to master one craft before moving on to another. If I didn’t I would just let one or the other go completely and not focus on it as much maybe cause it was to complicating or took to long to learn. So moving forward I promised myself to stick to one thing at a time. One thing I would say I’m most proud of looking back is going from giving out free clothes begging folks to take pictures in them to model them and they never would to the tables turning and now some of those same folks are begging me to make a purchase. The main thing I would want my supporters to know is. Over the years I worked extremely hard and put up countless amount of time and dollars into to everything I do. I appreciate each and every last one of you for making this possible for me to continue to pursue.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

So here in Chicago we have a fair balance of folks who are more than willing to help and assist you chase your dreams, Then you have the other half of that see you doing the same thing that they’re doing and refuse to share knowledge and resources because they fear that you would succeed farther than them. Now when I first started I had very limited resources because some of the folks I would ask they would gate keep the information. Like at the beginning of my journey there was only one T-shirt/hoodie store that I knew of. Which would limit me to only having access to certain things for my brand as well as limited amount of colors and sizes. Until later on down the line a few good friends of mines exposed me to different wholesale stores thru out the city. From there I went on to make a list of them sharing them amongst local creatives in the city.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect about being a creative is having an idea that only lives in your head then bring that idea to life for the world to see it. Not only that but also having others enjoy what you created and embrace it and express their admiration for the item. Its a feeling that just cant be beat. Its a high that no drug could give you.

Contact Info:

• Website: swindleandbruteinc.com
• Instagram: Timmy_F25
• Facebook: Timmy F
• Youtube: Timmy F

Image Credits
Briana Howell Kali Rose