Today we’d like to introduce you to Cynthia Stewart.
Cynthia, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
In my early 30’s, the idea of being an entrepreneur began to take hold and so I thought about ways to create a path to own a business. The first step on this journey was to look back over my life and figure out who I really am. I began searching my family history, asking questions that culminated in my first self published book titled “Birds Of A Feather, Secret’z Untold.” This self-published book was therapeutic for me and helped me understand what makes me tick. After self-reflection about my findings from the research, I decided to embrace my past and the family secrets that kept me paralyzed and dismissed the notion that I have a predisposition to follow in the same footsteps. Putting fear behind me, I started my first in-home business specializing in liqueur infused cupcakes for adults. I called the company Couture Cupcakes and the motto was “not only do they look good but taste good too.”
I got the baking gene from my mother, she is the family baker and always assigned the desserts for our family gatherings. As a one-woman show, the cupcake business was very demanding as I received and processed orders, baked and delivered the cupcakes, and did cupcake presentation for various events. As the business begins to grow, I sought to use an incubator but the restrictions on usage would deem unprofitable and securing financing for a brick and mortar was not feasible at the time. So, after two years, I dissolve the business, but never gave up on thinking about being an entrepreneur.
Fast forward to early 2018, I dreamed images of women with illustrations displaying the challenges we encountered every day. The images in my dreams were so vivid and it became clear to me that I had to get these images drafted and in print. I worked with a talented artist who brought my images to life and one year later Girlaxin formed into an LLC and my logo submitted for trademark.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Girlaxin has proven to be a challenge but I’m determined to make Girlaxin work. The first challenge was finding a graphic artist. The first graphic artist I hired was not able to capture my vision. So, after three months, I found another graphic artist who was able to see my vision. Working together, we were able to produce the images I saw in my dreams and I was able to finally get the images digitized into a file I could now take to print and have images printed on various products.
The next challenge was finding a business that could provide high-quality professional printing, meet deadlines, followup, and provide consistent pricing. I went through three businesses before I found a business that provided the services I needed to get my business started. It was risky forwarding my original files to businesses for print because having my images exposed could result in finding my creative work in print elsewhere without my permission.
The last obstacle was hiring someone to build my website. I learned the hard way that everyone who comes highly recommended may not be qualified for the job. It took over two months to realize the first web developer I hired was unable to build a quality website. So, I had to start from scratch and hire another developer who successfully built my website in less than 48 hours.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
For me Girlaxin represents the continuation of commitment, celebration, loyalty, and support of the sisterhood. Women already support each other and recognize our individual contributions. Why not elevate our experiences to a higher dimension and run up the tab on valuing each other.
The first three images are introduced in my first T-shirt collection called “Trizuri” which means beautiful three in Swahili. The first image called “Count Money, Not Sheep” describes women who are exhausted at the end of the day from all her activities that when its bedtime she finds it difficult to sleep so instead she counts money not sheep. The second image called, “All Day Everyday,” describes women who are experts at multitasking: she cooks, organizes, career-oriented, plans, makes decisions and she’s a homemaker but still carves out time for herself. The last image called, “Conquer The World” describes women from cities across the US that wake up every morning ready for challenges that await her.
Once these images begin to take on a life of their own, I thought what one name shall I call this dream, what shall I call this collection? Then walking downstairs into my living room one night when I couldn’t sleep the name Girlaxin hit me like a lightning bolt. Call your dream Girlaxin.
As the sole business owner of Girlaxin, I’m proud that I was able to stretch myself and be my number one fan. This journey has taught me that you don’t have to have all the answers and you don’t have to understand how everything works. If you have a willingness to show up and be present, God will allow the universe to send people your way you least likely think to support and offer guidance. I think what sets Girlaxin apart is I have a reliable resource who can print on demand, turnaround jobs less than 24 hours, provide website maintenance, a graphic designer who can make modifications, professional, always available, hands-on and more importantly believes in Girlaxin.
What were you like growing up?
I grew up on the north side of Omaha, Nebraska and let me satisfy the curiosity of many who will ask this question, “Do black people live in Omaha” yes, a plethora of black people reside in Omaha. As far as I could remember as a little girl I was shy and not much on a conversation but was active in girls scouts, played forward position on basketball team, ran 100 yard dash, 400 meter race and ran hurdles on the track team in elementary and junior high school. In addition, I played multiple positions on my church baseball team that yielded me the MVP trophy and competed in local gymnastics tournaments on the balance beam and uneven bars. I was always competitive and wanted to win or be first. I learned early how to cook, clean, wash clothes and care for my younger sister while my mother worked especially during the summer when school was out.
My fondest memory as a child was family gathering around the holidays. I have a big family comprised of four uncles and six aunts with all their children about 60 strong would meet up at parks around Omaha with food, drinks, ready to play games and compete. This was the one time as a kid, I could drink unlimited pop and get my hair wet. Another one of my fondest memories as a child was going to the candy store and going to the local pool to swim with the neighborhood kids.
As a young girl and well, into my teen years, my mother repeatedly told me to be independent, she would always say don’t wait for nobody to do what you can do for yourself. I never gave her words too much thought at a young age but her words resonate with me as an adult once I complete college, got married and had children.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.girlaxin.com
- Phone: 770-335-7552
- Email: girlaxin@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/girlaxin
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/girlaxin
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/girlaxin
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