Today we’d like to introduce you to Nia Richardson.
Hi Nia, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
My name is Nia Paul Richardson; I’m from Charlotte, North Carolina, and moved to Georgia in high school. Growing up, I hated my middle name (hate might be a strong word, but I struggled to feel confident saying it was mine). Now that I’m 19 and 20 years old, I’ve been in Atlanta for about 7 years, and I have grown to love it. I love it so much that it’s all I go by. People rarely call me just “Nia.” It’s Nia Paul, Nia P, NP, etc., and those are all nicknames given to me by peers. I love the friends I’ve made here and the complete sense of community and family. When people say Nia Paul, there’s no other me, and I take so much pride in that and being different. I started my brand in 2020 by customizing clothing for people other than just myself. I had my first drop on January 8th, 2020. I had been working on my idea for a while since July. The boy I liked at the time had upset me, and I decided to focus on myself and put money first. Which caused me to paint a money sign on a heartline where the heart is supposed to be. It took so long for me to actually turn it into something because, ironically, I started dating that same boy, and that little design escaped my mind; then it slowly came back into my head, making me realize it never left. Being driven and independent should never leave my soul, regardless of whether I was in a relationship or not. Fast forwarding to me now, in 2024. I am a second-year student at the SCAD Atlanta campus. I love it here and couldn’t see myself at any other university. At this current age, a lot of people question me on “why school,” seeing as now you don’t necessarily need it, and there are a million ways to make money. Personally, I’ve always loved school but lost love for the actual academic side of it in my senior year of high school. I would literally skip every class except art. I knew I still wanted a degree and that feeling of accomplishment, but I just couldn’t wrap my head around an actual university. It just wasn’t for me. So, in January 2022, I applied early and got accepted. SCAD was now not a dream but a reality. I’ve had a lot of fun being surrounded by creatives 24/7 and learning from professors things I just wouldn’t on YouTube. Some people continue to think school is a waste when you want to enter the creative field, but it’s all about what you make it and how you’re using the resources. May 2nd, I will have my first clothing design movie feature in a BET Plus film. I designed and handmade 3 hoodies for the movie “The Despaired.” One of my own brand hoodies is even featured in the movie. Small but meaningful accomplishments like those inspire me to keep going. As of now, I am working on a rebranding process for my clothing, and I want to stem back into custom clothing. I feel as if everyone is losing a sense of creativity and originality and do everything for money or fast cash. Causing a lot of designs to be very cookie-cutter. That’s something I want to stray away from.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My journey has definitely not been easy, but when is something worth experiencing ever easy to do? Staying consistent and positive in your life can become quite difficult when you have a business. Anything you’re going through in your personal life can’t always be put first. You have a business to run, emails to reply to, orders to package, and things to make. So, I would take breaks to regain the strength and willingness to continue to do both. I still experience it now. When you’re going through things on the side, it’s hard to not hate or start to not enjoy the thing that once made you so happy to do it.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I believe strongly in custom clothing and 1of1 garments. I’m basically known for that or my appearances at pop up shops I never have the same products. My creativity and the fact that I can say I literally handmake everything is something I take a lot of pride in. From my burlap money bag packages are shipped into sewing satin in my hoodies and making my own rhinestone templates. My work is versatile and could stem from a more clean-cut look made with a pattern or some patchwork that doesn’t really have any sort of direction; it’s just built up as I go. My most recent drop was skeleton shorts that I originally made for myself, but I posted in them, and people were asking me to drop, which is what I did. As of right now, I’ve taken a break, and a lot of people that I’ve recently met didn’t know I did what I did. My break stemmed from just not being happy. A lot of people take the manufacturing route, which is smart and sometimes, in other cases, easy. A lot of people that have brands don’t really even have an accurate understanding of how clothes are made and everything that comes with it. They just draw up a design and send it to someone else to make, which is cool, and I respect their process, but it’s just something I haven’t found a passion in. It’s hard to maintain a passion for some things in this world without it being primarily driven by money, which is more than understandable. In this world we have a cost of living, nothing is free. So, for some, your love turns into something you now have to monetize to survive. Which leads most people down one of two paths. Taking the easy way out, creating nothing unique for an easy profit in an even faster turnaround time. Or letting it become a task or chore they may even start to hate. So, for me, I had to find a why that stemmed deeper than money or because I have to pay for school. The richest people are unhappy, and I had come up on a lot of money doing what I was doing but I was still unhappy something wasn’t quite being fulfilled. Now, I’m working on rebranding and want to use my creativity and success within it as a vessel to help others. I give back a lot more now that I’m older, and it’s something that’ll make my whole day rather going to make some money because two seconds later, I was thinking about how to make more and stressing myself out over it. Drop days where fun and all, seeing the money come in, but it still wasn’t enough to me. So now, my main focus is structuring myself with values that last and creating something worth building.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
COVID-19 really took a toll on my mental health in a few areas, such as consistency, motivation, and the drive to really get up and do anything. I did online school, so I was just in my room all day. It’s easier said than done, but I really just learned how to stand where my feet are and focus on the present. While doing so, you also have to structure yourself with values that last. Everything you go through is for a reason. I learned to not just feel at a loss through every hardship and instead turn something into nothing. Now, when I get upset or overwhelmed, it’s like a switch in my mind that tells me to lock in, push those negative thoughts out, and just keep working. Keep working, or this would all be for nothing. Nothing is cool, but who wants nothing?
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Ally Wood
SaucyMarr
