They don't want to see you go back down memory lane (Dj khaled voice, part one)

Its 2011 I'm 21 working in a flagship store for a popular retail brand and I say to myself 'Fuck this, I'm leaving'. literally, After years of slave labour and going the extra mile for ungrateful area managers and head office staff, I decided I was going to start my own business journey. A lot of people ask what was the final straw. I would say when my sponge bob manager Nutella i think her name was appeared in my dreams ordering me to clean out the shoe cupboard. THAT WAS IT! From the age of 18 I had worked for this company, I worked my way up to acting manager of the menswear floor (i was a supervisor doing a managers job,basically got mugged off). During that time I learnt a hell of a lot. I learnt about the importance of staff work ethic, I learnt team work, stock taking, how to do figures (eventually), the importance of being a good leader and the importance of having the a good leader. The biggest negative I ever faced was management. One my managers of three years had left. you know what they say about too many females in a work place, unfortunately this sad stereo type was majorly perpetuated after my male manager left the team to work for another retailer. When he handed in his notice, I handed in mine. because I knew with him leaving, the slave ship was about to land and I was not willing to break my back no longer for a establishment that gave no fucks about staff. So I quit my job, Come august it was Bon voyage and hello new life. A lot happened when i left but for the fluidity of this story I'll elaborate on that in later entries. So its 2012. i decide to launch my first collection of work. So i create this body of work, get a basic photo shoot done and wait to make my millions... So you know this thing called life, decided to hit me with One sale on ASOS market place. The sales actually which ended being a Fraud sale. So in a nutshell, I got robbed, Great stuff. 2013 I get a Major opportunity to have my products in a store in the mailbox, a few doors down from Harvey nicks (mom i made it RS voice) this experience was amazing for me, funnily enough on my 2012 shoot inside the custard factory, I met the girl who put my name forward to be in the store, moral of the story, always be nice to people, you never know where I smile can get you. So I join this store, and business starts booming. I had not even launched my project and I was making good money just of the sales from the store. So after the robbery from my first collection, I pluck up the confidence and courage to give my dreams a second chance. So this time round I actually plan. I research the market, I research music, I research culture. I plan a photo shoot, I work on my social media and create a hype for my project. Launch day comes, I upload my pics to my website. First day SOLD OUT. WTF do you mean? This is when I realised just how important preparation is, 'IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE, YOU PREPARE TO FAIL'. Never a truer word said in jest. My first project had no background research, my second was a sell out (part one TBC)