Meet Alexis Litsch of Peace Alien in Cumming

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Litsch.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Peace Alien wasn’t an intentional company. I think many great things happen unintentionally or just happen to snowball from a passion into something greater.

The start of Peace Alien happened when I was scrolling through Instagram casually and saw an influencer or model on my feed wearing this long sleeve tie-dye shirt. It had a neat design on it of a mixture between a skull and a pineapple where the top of the skull had leaves coming out of it. Instigating my curiosity in this shirt, I followed the link with an interest to buy it. It was $40!!!

I felt discouraged by the price of this neat shirt I wanted, but it was possibly a blessing in disguise because this was when I decided to get some tie-dyes, a plain white tee, and a fabric marker

I wanted to make unique shirts for my personal wardrobe at an inexpensive cost. Aside from the affordability, I loved the process of creating them and wearing my creation. It was an outlet for my right-brained self as I have always been creative and a maker of all things since I was small

When I proudly wore my artwork to school, friends and family vocalized their positive feedback and admiration. They were willing to pay me to make one of their own in, customizing their request with a different size or color.

I had a handful of designs I made that were “out there” two of them were alien-related one a quote saying, “aliens don’t believe in you either” and the other being the now well-known Peace Alien logo. This was the one that stood to be most popular.

So, when I decided to take this hobby/humble side hustle to the next step and make the image more durable and professional than just a hand-drawn image.

The “peace alien” is what I moved forward with by popular demand. How I took this next step is by getting a heat press and heat press transfer sheets of the design

My dad has always seen the potential and young prodigy in me. So, when he saw the commence of this great thing, he encouraged it. My dad is also a successful entrepreneur and knows a great opportunity when he sees one. He invested in a heat press for me and helped me to operate the 400-degree machine. Through this whole process of developing Peace Alien, it brought my dad and I closer as he was a business mentor to me. He helped me more with the number side of things and setting up official documents like an LLC, tax license, resale license, etc.

Because I was a junior in high school and more right-brained, I knew nothing about that!

I can’t take credit for coming up with an alien holding a peace sign (because the idea that aliens come in peace has always been around) in the same way that Nike can’t claim the creation of a checkmark. But I can take credit for building a community of people, who I like to call the #AlienArmy, who love to embrace vibrant colors and aren’t shy to show the weirdness we all have inside of us.

I kept taking the business to another level as it kept growing. As I saturated the market of Forsyth county where I lived I decided to go online and started simply with an Etsy page. As it grew, I decided to increase the quality of my print of the shirts and outsource screen printing. This also freed up my time to ideally focus it into another area. I use Advanced Embroidery and Screenprinting in Cumming GA and I have been using this same company from the start. We have built a great relationship! Special shoutout to Daniel. I started an Instagram that has now reached over 10,000 in a couple of years. I then made an official website

And in between these leaps, product wise, I expanded the options for products with different t-shirts short sleeve and long sleeve, designs, stickers, dad hats, hoodies, crewnecks, beanies, bucket hats, buttons, turkish towels, woven bracelets. The list seems never-ending and it will never be concrete as I continue to produce products for the #AlienArmy to express themselves…

Secret insider info, kinda, maybe the product will be out by the time this magazine issue is, but I am in the works on releasing a holographic fanny pack for all of my festival-goers and ravers. This has been in high request for a long time.

And that seems to be a brief description of the timeline of my company from when I was a junior in high school to now! I was 17 years old, March of my junior year of high school when this all began. I am now a Junior at Kennesaw state university 20 years old. It has been about three and a half years.

It started so humbly, and now I have products in all the states aside from two (North Dakota and South Dakota- if you know anyone from there, send them our way!!!), 35+ available products online, thousands of happy customers, and celebrity Jake T Austin even has a Peace Alien shirt!!!! He was a character on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place. Aside from online transactions from my website I have done dozens of festivals where I get to interact with and meet my supporters face to face in person. I love this feeling nothing beats it.

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?
My endeavor has not always been an inclining line or smooth sailing! It became a challenge when I was furthering my education by going to college. I had to move to Kennesaw and my office with my inventory is in Cumming. I’ve managed to store a small inventory at my apartment at school and fulfill orders from here and be in Cumming on weekends as needed. But the part that became challenging was juggling five classes and wearing all the hats of running a business. I really do everything myself. I design the products, fulfill orders, manage and create content for all social media platforms, do festivals, etc. In super overwhelming events like festivals, I will take a helping hand from family. They are always willing to help but I am super independent and do all the jobs myself to ensure quality.

The only other obstacle that stands out the most to me is the creative blocks that happen from time to time. All artists experience these periods of time where the creative gears just don’t move like they normally do. I can get discouraged in these times or when numbers are not what I would like to see whether that be sales or Instagram engagement.

I have learned from these obstacles that they are just temporary phases and my success is not defined by the number of people who like an Instagram post!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
i have always marched to the beat of my own drum.” instead of “i always marched to the beat of my own drum. Peace Alien is a clothing brand, with products that are dominantly t-shirts but is not limited to that. It is a brand that wants you to be your true self and embrace your inner weird. To be bold and vibrant and stand out in a crowd as well as stand for what you believe in. Peace Alien is a brand that wants inclusivity for its community of people of any race, sex, or sexuality. To help people feel acceptance and community and EMBRACE YOUR TRUE COLORS. Something that makes me so proud of this brand is the way it makes people smile. When I am at a festival even if people don’t stop at my booth/table, they will walk by and read, “Peace Alien” out loud and smile.

I specialize in hand made tie-dye and bleach dye shirts.

What sets me apart from other brands is the personable aspect that I prioritize. I always get back to my follower’s messages in my direct messages, take the time to respond to the comments, meet them at festivals, and care about each and every one of my supporters.

What were you like growing up?
I recruited my mom to help me describe how I was as a young girl she said, “You were a wild busy child, through toddler years, then creative from age four onwards. You liked to explore in the yard and things like flowers in the garden and asked a lot of questions.” I was an adventurer where my pursuits and curiosity would often lead to mischief and trouble brought upon myself. Above all, I was a climber. You could always find me ascending a tree. My parents had to stack multiple baby gates in doorways because I would climb over them.

I preferred sandboxes, getting my feet in the mud, and venturing the creek in our backyard as opposed to any barbies or dress up. I was very much a tomboy as I can remember. My mom also said that I would wear mismatching outfits if I could with rainboots. There’s something to say about my fashion sense at a young age of being bold and out there that carried into present-day and possibly even influenced Peace Alien!

I still like to wear mismatching things today- like socks and earrings that don’t match. Or just a mismatched outfit, in general.

I always marched to the beat of my own drum. I wanted to have a boy haircut but my mom wouldn’t let me so I cut it as short as she let me which was just below my ears. I nicknamed myself “Spike” I even would cross out my real name on my nametag in grade school and correct it to Spike. In fourth grade, I only played football with the boys at recess.

Pricing:

• I like to make Peace Alien a brand that is affordable. My best selling shirt goes for $21.95 but other products can be as inexpensive as a $1.99 button or sticker

Contact Info:

• Website: www.peacealien.com
• Phone: 770-833-7267
• Email: peacealien@yahoo.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/peacealien
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/officialpeacealien
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/PeaceAlien_

Image Credit:
CJ Rees (for the fair photos)

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