Aloha and Good Morning Yall.
I just wanted to send a little motivation to you all this morning.
I was medically retired from The United States Air Force on 25 November 2019 after 17 years, 6 months, and 4 days.
I sooooo wanted to traditionally retire after 20 years of service. Therefore I did everything in my power to stay as long as I could. #ButGod
Once I got out of my own way and “accepted” the fact that I wouldn’t be able to stay in... I prepared to retire from the Air Force. I was out processed 5 days after I received notification.
I struggled mentally, physically, emotionally , and financially from Nov 2019 -Feb 2020...as my disability had not kicked in. There were weeks I didn’t even get out of bed. #Ikeptthefaith
Jan 2020– A BravoTV personality reached out to me and ask if I would outfit her for a Mardi Gras Parade. Of course!
Two months later—COVID was brought to light! I was given the vision of masks and immediately jumped on it!
I pivoted my business at the end of March to sell African Print Masks. I found a seamstress that lived in Accra, Ghana and she and her brother quickly became my allies.
By the end April of 2020 my business ,Aloha Glamour, had been featured in 20+ national and international publications and headlines to include but not limited to: Travel+ Noire, Blavity, BlackEnterprise, Forbes, CNN, GQ, Allure as well as netted 120K+ in two months.
What’s important about this story is not only did I grow my business but theirs as well.
I didn’t realize the impact you all had made due to your buying power until Danny, my partner in Ghana, asked me if we could hire two workers to help contribute to the workload. I said, “it’s your shop you can do whatever you want.” He said, “ No Sis, thanks to you this is OUR shop but you are the boss...I would really like to hire these two ladies to help with orders, can we hire them?” I had to look around like, " Are you talking to me?"
They were able to buy and renovate a safer, indoor location to work out of. I purchased two new sewing machines for the shop, and we’ve been able to hire more women who were out of work due to COVID.
My Chief of Operations, Danny, was able to purchase a car so he no longer has to ride the bus when sourcing our products.
In Oct 2020, they honored me dubbing their workspace as Aloha Glamour International Manufacturing and placed a photo of me in their shop as their CEO. * insert ugly cry*
Y’all! I opened my very own manufacturing office in Accra, Ghana... and I’ve never been there before.
I literally have to google my business monthly to see what else I’ve been featured in.
I say all of this to say... there is life after the military. When you get out of your own way—out of your own head and just trust God—EVERYTHING is possible!
Whatever your plans are, start now.
I started my business in Feb of 2017.
Due to being one of the first to sell African Print Mask, we went viral.
To know that I am able to directly affect 9 families in Accra brings tears to my eyes every morning. *insert ugly cry*
I have to go hard for not only my family but theirs too!
Our sales have decreased tremendously due to bigger brands offering masks and I really want to continue to help grow their business so I thought about opening the manufacturing plant up to other small business owners who would like to have items manufactured in Ghana.
Keep going. You never know who you are inspiring.
In celebration of my retirement and to provide a good Christmas Bonus for our families in Ghana—I am hosting a $17.64 sale tonight in my Aloha Glamour Group Facebook Page at 3pm.
Everything on the live will be $17.64!
If you can't come to the live...there is a link below for you to shop on our website below.
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Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Love, Peace, and Glamour
Lexi Williams
