Starting Your Own Clothing Brand With Chidi Fashions

Blessing: I think, especially now, we’re looking for ways to make sure that everything that we produce has like, an indication of Africa. So I think that’s one of our biggest inspirations, or motivations is just making sure that when people see our stuff, like, they can see our roots, if that makes sense. And so that’s one thing that we’re very adamant about.

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Zeke:I like to welcome everyone to another episode of the Let’s Gather Podcast. I’m your host Zeke. In this episode, I have my friend Blessing this week to speak about starting her own clothing brand. You can find more information about her clothing brand, by clicking the link in the description below. I like to give a content warning for any strong language used in this episode. And I hope you have a nice day and enjoy the show. 

Zeke:Good. So, welcome to the podcast.

Blessing: Thank you. Happy to be here.

Zeke:Nice. So the first question, or the act is what your origin story be? And how would you like to represent it can be real or fake. 

Blessing: Um, going through because I’m not that creative. So it’s pretty straightforward. So I was born in Kosovo, which is a city in Benin, that’s a country in West Africa. But I was raised in Nigeria, my parents are Nigerian. My parents are ministers. So I traveled a lot for my childhood was never really one place for too long. And then, I think it was, oh, he came here to visit America, USA, oh my god, really glamorous. I was like, Oh, my God, I really want to stay. But I was like doing what Americans would call like, summer break. So after summer break, then we went back to Nigeria, and then came back permanently. A few years later, when we came back, that was Middle School. So I did middle school here. And then after that, you know how to assimilate into the culture because school in Nigeria and school here, definitely not the same thing. So that took a little bit of adjustment. But then after I graduated middle school, I went to high school obviously, the high school isn’t that big, was willing to release small, graduated top of my class, then started college at 17. I think, Baruch, which is I know us EAC went to book together. And then I went to move to study accounting. So started in 2015. And then junior year 2017, I started a business with my sisters. So that was very fun and fulfilling, and then graduated 2019 with my BBA in accounting, and then Baruch offers this integrated program, which you nosey. So I did that for my Masters, I did information systems with a concentration in data analytics. So that that four year graduated last year last summer, because you know, Baruch, and their curriculum, everyone knows. So I ended up graduating in the summers of the spring, but that’s fine. And then after that, has just been working on the business, and just finding ways to grow myself. So that’s where I’m at now.

Zeke:How’s that represented? What would you make to represent your origin story?

Blessing: Like, if I was to pick someone to represent my story?

Zeke:You could make a movie or book.

Blessing: I think it would probably be more interesting as a movie. It might be might be a little bored as a book. So probably do a movie and find ways to like spice it up a little.

Zeke:By adding extra stories that never happened, remember when we when we all coming to America.

Blessing: Stuff like that. Just add some little spice, a little salt, a little puffer you know, make it tasty.

Zeke:So when you first came over, like, I was taught in public America, like proceeds like if I lived in America my whole life. So I know lots of people oh God America is like a great place to be.

Blessing: Yeah. I think that’s the perception of a lot of people coming into the US is like, you know, the land of opportunity. Like it’s glamorous, everything is easy. You know, people come here thinking like life is easy, and money grows on trees and stuff like that. But then when you live here for long enough, but that’s not the case. But yeah, that’s definitely a misconception that a lot of people have, like, you know, granted that you know, US has its opportunities, there are ways to, you know, get out there and hustle and make money for yourself. But it’s definitely not as easy as a lot of people think it is coming to the US and they think live will automatically like be on like a goal for like, however long but that’s most often not the case.

Zeke:Okay. As I’ve been here my whole life. Yeah,

Blessing: How was how is your perception? Have you always seen like, you know, US as, I don’t know, like, what’s your what’s your perception of I’ve never had the other perspective.

Zeke:Like when I was a child I’m more susceptible to like (inaudible), US like the best country in the world. And you start to get older you start seeing the cracks in that statement. And just like this is trash. Like he said, that quote in the movie. Where you have the (inaudible) guy saying to the college students like this isn’t the best country. The US is great. But who said that? Yeah. Like there’s still like, better than some places. But even though you can’t just like he says, You got to believe he can do better. He could be more. Yep. Agreed. Here’s the stories in my childhood, not bad. I don’t have to complain too much.

Blessing: Too much, to complain a little bit. Okay, that’s good. 

Zeke:Yeah. And then, assimilating, how was that assimilating to the States? 

Blessing: Um, I think it was hard at first. So I’m the last of five. And obviously, like, being the younger one, like, I don’t want to, like burden my siblings because they have already, at that point have been through the assimilation process. So it kind of was just like something that I felt I had to navigate on my own. one incident that I do remember, vividly when I came was when I went to high school. I mean, middle school. Um, I wore like, I guess, obviously, the dressing is different, too. I had wine like a turtleneck under my uniform, and I think our uniform would like a bright blue. Bad one, like a like a darker green. turtleneck, because obviously, like it’s cold, like wintertime, obviously, like back home, it’s hot a lot. So I put on like this really bright. wasn’t really that bright, but like a, like a lime green type orange, a lime green. What is it called? turtleneck. And then I had a blue shirt, which is our uniform, and I wore that over the sweater. And then I went to school and like people were laughing. And in my head. I’m like, I didn’t get it. Because I’m like, what’s, what’s so funny? Um, but obviously, that was like an eye opener. Like all that’s, you know, dressing matters here and like, color matching, like your outfits are the thing people did. And obviously, like, I didn’t know that I didn’t really care for that. So I went home and kind of was like, yeah, this, this wasn’t a good day. But then moving forward, I kind of knew to like be on the lookout of what’s the normal, like, what’s not acceptable, what’s okay to do and stuff like that. So it definitely took it was definitely an adjustment period. But after a while, a few months in, I kind of got my sea legs, if you will. So it took a while. But I got there eventually.

Zeke:Yeah, even if you were born here you still have adjust when you go to new school. So like to do sort of pressure, you still have the pressure. Do you just like alright (inaudible) own personality?

Blessing: Yeah, I think for a while I was more introverted, I guess, like I didn’t want to do too much, if you will, like I wanted to watch and observe and see like, how people operated and how other kids reacted to things that happened. Just to kind of observe and make sure that I was in the know. And doing what is, you know, society, society? Correct. I don’t know if that’s a, that’s a term. But then after a while, I think once I got comfortable, it was more natural for me to kind of show my personality versus where in the beginning, I was a little bit more hesitant because I didn’t know whether or not like what my personality is and the experiences I’ve had would be accepted in that environment.

Zeke:And then since you’re the youngest, how’s that being the youngest, I’m the oldest? How’s it being the youngest?

Blessing: How is it being the youngest? Um very fun. I think I get away with a lot. I’m also a daddy’s girl. So obviously, you know, and then a little thing I went to my dad. He’s been me to me, and then my dad is like, stop, stop. She’s the last one. So I did get away with stuff. Um, but then as I as I get older, I mean, it’s really not. It’s really not the same as when you were younger, because I feel like when you’re younger, there’s like, more competition and like, I don’t know, when I don’t really I don’t really feel. I don’t really feel the age difference really among me in my family anymore. As much as I did when I was younger.

Zeke:I’m the oldest. You have all these flexibility. You can do print and everything. Yeah. Okay, cool. I’m the first one in school and their parents okay. So this has worked for you the experiment as most of you And then we get to like the second was,

Blessing: I’m glad that little bit was not mine to take on because it’s a lot.

Zeke:Yeah, I complain about every day. For all like to ask me questions where people are going, like, do you want to be watching? All the church struggles. So now you have a business with your sister do? How did that come about?

Blessing: Um, so we started the business in December of 2017. So that was the year I was in junior. I was a junior. Yes, I was a junior, right? I think so. December 21? Because 2015 2016? Yeah, I think I was a junior. So it kind of came from a place of, I think we all wanted more for ourselves, then, I guess what we were seeing at that point, obviously, like I mentioned coming to the to the US, it’s kind of like, oh, like, things are automatically going to be better, like, I’m going to be making like, bank basically, you know, I will be a millionaire in late two years. And then you come here, and you’ve been here for like, five years, six years? Are you just like, yeah, like, What happened to them? millionaire status type thing. So I think we were kind of like, shocked to get here and like not, not have it be what we thought it would be. And we just kind of wanted more for ourselves and expected more of us of ourselves. And that point of our lives that we all were in. So we decided that since we want more, what else can we do in addition to where we’re at to kind of achieve, or that would put us in the right track to achieve the status that we want. And that was basically starting our own business, right? Because at the end of the day, like for me, personally, long term, I don’t see myself like working for someone all my life. At some point, I do want to have, like my own sort of independence. And that was the same for my other sisters as well. So there’s three of us that started the business, me and my two other sisters. And I think that was a uniform value that we all had. And then we kind of just sat down and thought about it like, Okay, this is where we want to go. But what can we do to get there? What What do all three of us have in common that we can kind of, you know, push to get this started. And that uniform thing was fashion. Like we all love fashion. We all buy shoes, we all love clothes, we like to mix things up, we like to be unique. So we can run with that. So that’s exactly what we did. We decided we’ll start a fashion online boutique. Obviously, because we were new at it, we didn’t really have experience in it. We just started online research did whatever we need to do. planned it out. We didn’t really dwell on it too much. I think we didn’t want to like get discouraged. So as soon as like we thought of it, we kind of just went for it. We didn’t allow ourselves to be distracted by like, Oh, do we have the knowledge to do this? Or do we have the capital to do this? We just kind of went for it. And I think that played well in our favor?

Zeke:No paralysis of analysis. I like that. That’s a good way to put it. And then how do you like working with family. So people say don’t mix business with family and friends.

Blessing: I mean, it definitely has its ups and downs. There’ll be times obviously where you’re not always going to get along, you’re going to have someone who disagrees with something. But I think at the end of the day, just knowing the reason why you’re doing what you’re doing, I think that’s what brings us together and allows us to kind of work through the disagreements and find a compromise. So like, if we’re picking a fabric and someone says, Oh, I don’t like this, and then you know, we kind of we don’t attack them, obviously, we’re like, oh, you know, What don’t you like about it? Or, you know, how can you make it better? What do you have in mind? I think just being cognizant of each person style and personality, and finding ways that we can draw from each of those three unique experiences and bring something together that would be you know, engaging and excited for other people.

Zeke:My mom said that when the podcast is bigger that she wants to work for me and I’m like you sure?

Blessing: Now it’s, I mean, it definitely has its downsides, but it’s upside as well. Like you don’t have to, you know, go looking for outside people to do stuff like all my family. They’re invested in the business. So like me and my sisters, obviously we own the business, but my brother is a photographer, so like he helps us shoot stuff. So that was that’s an expense that we’re saving on because you don’t have to go pay like a videographer for time. afraid to come in and like copas, you know, do our shoots and stuff. And then my other brother, like, he’s a trainer. And so obviously he models our stuff make it makes it look good. And then my parents, obviously the support, you know, they reach out to the network, when new stuff drops. So it’s definitely, there’s definitely an upside to it, you save money, you get to work with people you love. And you just build, you build a bond, like working so close together. So it’s, it’s, you got to you got to take the bad with the good.

Zeke:And then you got functional roles, have you guys to work on the roles for example example, you say one brothers photographer wants to train and so on.

Blessing: I think we just played to our natural strengths, strengths, and to our like, our interests. So my brother, he’s a photographer, so obviously, he’s not going to be doing like the accounting and stuff. He’s gonna, you know, work with what he does best, which is the camera. And then my other brother. You know, he trains people. So, you know, he has muscles, I guess. So he models the clothes. And then we post them up, because I was like, Oh, my God, that’s your brother. I feel like he could beat me up. And I’m just like, yeah, yeah, we get that a lot. And then me, obviously, because I’m in business, I studied business. I’m more in like taking care of the books type of thing. My oldest sister, the oldest one, the first one is more into administrative like that comes easy to her handling paperwork. Dealing with like government agencies and all that stuff. she handled it Hansel handles, we’ll handle that. My other sister is more outgoing. She she’s so sure. So she handles the social media, the marketing and all that stuff. So we just played to our strengths. And that, again, just worked well. And it just worked out that way. There was no like, Oh, we need this, we need that everyone just kind of like took a stick. If that makes sense. Then went for it.

Zeke:Like a whole team you are capable of being assertive, this is your position and thereby plays a role.

Blessing: Sorry, say that again? I heard was roles.

Zeke:Just like a team meeting. Okay, cool. So what are you good at? Okay, so you handle that? You may check in but then you got that?

Blessing: Yeah, exactly.

Zeke:You know, wasting time, charging everything.

Blessing: And I think again, the fact that we’re family also came into play, because it didn’t really need to be like a formal type thing, I think, because we know ourselves, we know each other, we kind of know what we’re good at already. So it was more like an informal type thing. There was no like, you know, official media meeting where we sat down and said, okay, like, who wants to take this? Who wants to take this? I think we just like naturally assumed because that because we’re good in those things that everyone would just kind of take it up, which is exactly what we did.

Zeke:And then we made this idea to your parents, they were born with that. Question. What is this?

Blessing: What is this? Um, no, I think my parents are pretty cool. They didn’t like, it wasn’t new for them. Because my dad is an entrepreneur, too. He started like multiple branches of different churches in different countries. So he has that experience of like starting things up from scratch. So I think they were just happy to see that we’re doing something for ourselves and building something that is like our own, not like something that they gave us, but something that we’re taking initiative to build. I think they they love that. And they’re kind of like pushing for that and encouraging it. So if anything they like they want to support it more not like oh, like what are you doing? What is fashion? Like? Nothing, and nothing like that

Zeke:It’s not like the story when they have like, their parents who like your doctor, lawyer, or engineer. And that’s it. 

Blessing: Yeah. I mean, I feel like that’s very, that definitely used to be the case. I think growing up like that was definitely like conversations that took place in the house. Like, oh, you know, if you be a good businesswoman, you know, you make a good doctor, you make a good surgeon. But then you know, as life happens, and you evolve, and you grow, like you realize that there’s more out there than those four occupations. And I think they also kind of grew with us when it comes to like the mindset. So then that like as traditional as most African parents are, or, you know, just people who lived in the olden days, they’re not as rigid as they were. they once were. So that’s good.

Zeke:United States version involving go to college, get their city job and get their own future health benefits and that are kind of the United States crazy. Well, this New York version of their story, pretty much. That’s cool. Parents that supports you,

Blessing: Major key.

Zeke:My mom, I had to, like, explain to her what podcast was, and then to home research. And then when she was on the podcast, he was like, Oh, this is fine.

Blessing: Ah, that’s cute.

Zeke:Passion, what kind of inspires inspires you guys fashion. 

Blessing: Um, I think, especially now, we’re looking for ways to make sure that everything that we produce has like, an indication of Africa. So I think that’s one of our biggest inspirations, or motivations is just making sure that when people see our stuff, like, they can see our roots, if that makes sense. And so that’s one thing that we’re very adamant about. Moving forward, and just growing, knowing, having making sure that people know that, you know, this is a brand that’s associated with like a rich culture, you know, not necessarily deep messages, but like empowering messages and lessons that people can take away and kind of hope rewrite their own story and just inspire people, I think, especially knowing where we came from. And knowing what we went, do, we want other people to feel inspired to do the same and not be restricted by the realities, like, if you don’t like where your life is going, which is basically not that we didn’t like where it was going. But we wanted more. So that’s the message that we want to get across. Like, if you are not content with, you know where you are, you can like pick up the pen, flip the page, and start writing the story that you know, you want to tell the world. So those are like, excuse me, are one of our two biggest motivations and inspirations for the collections and stuff that we make.

Zeke:And then, so how you guys incorporate Africa into it. 

Blessing: Um, I think most people like once they see anca, they, you know, they think Africa. And so that’s one of the things that were one of the biggest things that we’re playing to making sure that we’re using a lot of African fabrics, you know, African slangs things that just points back to the culture, or things that we’re using to kind of incorporate that, like, Afro modern culture and the brand.

Zeke:Yeah, also seems like a big like push and more apropos for African people or something to African roots. We are so that was the business.

Blessing: You say one more time? 

Zeke:I I know, it seems like a more question, like a more focus on Africa, African roots. Because so that was the business.

Blessing: You said you there’s been a big push on African one,

Zeke:Like a big push, like a specifically Africa like African roots. You know, so that was the business people like come see it. 

Blessing: Um, I guess I think because of the whole, like, all the movements have been going on, obviously, people are becoming more aware and stuff. So we definitely seen a bigger, like, I guess attraction or interest in the in the brand in the culture. But for us, it’s always been a thing. And that’s one of the things that we’re trying to promote, like that African culture. So we want them, the more of them that, you know, I interested and you know, want to know more about the roots, you know, there’s a place for them to kind of come to an explore that. So, absolutely.

Zeke:So when you’re um do, like entrepreneurial stuff have your dad ever come in, right, like, I will do it this way. I won’t do it a different way.

Blessing: Um, they’re not. They’re not as involved in the process. We don’t let them be. I don’t even think that they’re interested in the recipes to be honest. Um, I mean, it’s one thing if like, they’re actually like, interested in care and say, Oh, no, don’t Do that do this. I think they trust our judgment. And they just kind of say, hey, like, whatever you like, whatever we get they they get or like, whatever we make they get, they don’t really like question. Like, what the process was like, what the meaning is behind what we make, they just kind of like take it for what it is. So they’re not like as hands on. And intrusive, I guess, to the process. So that’s good.

Zeke:I was going to ask. Like my children are entrepreneurs, maybe behind, like this, what they doing. Just showing you guys off.

Blessing: Yeah, they’re very, they’re very, like, you know, parents, like, be very vocal, like, Oh, my child is there’s all my daughters are doing this. So this is definitely like, what’s the, like, a point in the conversation or like, something for them to like, brag about, like, when you’re talking to people? So I’m just like, okay, I just prescribed and just walk away. Like, it’s not it’s not happening, because, you know, sometimes they over exaggerate, too. I’m just like, Isn’t that how it happened? But okay, like, tell me how you want to. But yeah.

Zeke: 

Nice. Nice. All right, guys, what do you see, so we got going with a business with like, a big plan, but big ideas.

Blessing: Big plans. Um, so as of last, last year, and in the last year, 2020, we started the process of turning the business into an LLC. So that’s being finalized. Like as we speak, just getting like the final or the finalized paperwork from the state and stuff like that. But in the future, you know, God will in, you know, this would be like an international cooperation, and would have like branches, or like headquarters and stuff, like in different countries. And, you know, hopefully, if, you know, trends change from like, online, we can even start opening physical stores. But people are seeming to shop more online. So we’re in the trend, at least, so that’s good. But definitely having physical stores when the time comes, because it’s definitely more capital and a lot more things that go into it. But just having like an international presence, potentially turn it into a corporation. And just impact in as many lives as we can. is the plan long term.

Zeke:Hiring my resume,

Blessing: I’m not hiring right now. But if positions do open, like, definitely let you know. Obviously, like, we’re still starting up, we’re still small. So we’ll, we’re building it out. But that’s definitely going to be the case in the future where we’re going to need people from different talents. And I’ll definitely keep you in mind. You got it.

Zeke:About a lot of businesses doing. So when like, entrepreneurship came up, you know, like, it was like a new beginning for you or was it just like, something you had in the back in your mind,

Blessing: It’s definitely something that I had in the back of my mind. I knew from jump that I wanted to have independence, I know obviously, you have to work for other people, but you can build your network and your connections before you can actually get there. But it is something that like I’ve always taught, thought about, and then my family is basically we’re all entrepreneurs pretty much from my dad, you know, building his churches, different countries, different branches, different states, to my mom, starting up our own school. And then even now in my my siblings, like, we’re all entrepreneurs, like my brother, you know, he has his own business. He’s a trainer, my brother, my other brother has his photography business, you know, and then there’s the girls who have our own business. I think it’s definitely been a mindset that was ingrained in us. Even just growing up I don’t think we realized that like we grew up and kind of look back and saw the patterns, but it’s definitely something that has a mindset that has been you know, ironed in from from childhood and we’re basically seeing the fruits now that we’re older, but yeah,

Zeke:More of like, there’s bound to happen anyway. If you like someone, and you want to be like that if you’d like to be the sixth millionaire

Blessing: Yep, that’s the that’s the plan. That’s the plan God willing.

Zeke:Yeah. That’s cool. It was fun something here. Yeah, I kind of have that tool on top. So like, books and stuff, like elementary and middle schools, I tried to make money so.

Blessing: Start from when you were young, and you know, gotta, you gotta gotta start way back when.

Zeke:Do enjoy the business where there’s a point where you just say, I can’t do this. But that doesn’t, it doesn’t. Like, there’s a quarter inch job, the parts and there’s also like, parts where you can do this, but I need to take a break. How do you deal with that?

Blessing: There definitely, those moments definitely happen. Especially when, you know, there are people that you see every day and you’re like, kind of tired of, like, if you’re arguing about something, you’re tired of hearing their voice and you just like, yeah, I’m done. Like, I don’t I don’t want to speak on this again. I think you definitely like in those moments is definitely important to take those moments of breaks, is in that he have you know, maybe tension or like argument, you don’t want to say the wrong thing, or like say something hurtful that you’re going to regret. So we’re definitely cognizant of that. And making sure that if things get a little too hot, that we like, Great the meeting, like take a break, and then reschedule it to come back and kind of talk about it, and then put it on like the topic like the to dues for the agenda for that meeting for the next meeting. So taking a break is definitely something that we’re mindful of. But I think something else that we do that I really like is really getting to the, to the root of the problem, I guess. So really like asking that person, like, oh, what, what is it about the situation? Like, how would you change it? Or like, what are your thoughts? I’m really big on hearing each of us out because there are three voices in the business and you don’t, you never want like one person’s voice to feel not heard. And I think that’s something that we’ve done, at least up till now really good. A good job of just making sure everyone speaks up and like their ideas and their you know, whatever it is that they want to bring to the table. It’s like, they have the free reign to do so. So that’s really big for me.

Zeke:Like communication is key. Absolutely. Every time like a family like this you start right? Like I’m the big sisters I’ll be right.

Blessing: Yeah. Oh, yes. Yeah, that’s, that’s definitely. I mean, it obviously doesn’t come out that way. Or, like, they don’t come out and say like, oh, like, I’m the big sister, like, I’m the middle child. So like, I must have this day, but it’s almost like you don’t, no one is trying to like, push their opinion and their thoughts. It’s more like, like, why do you feel that way? Like, like justify where you’re coming from type of thing. And then if you can’t justify then it’s kind of like I then you can’t really you can’t really like have much of a say if you don’t really validate where you’re coming from. So it’s just making sure that you know what you’re talking about, and you can stand behind what you’re talking about. If not, then it’s clear.

Zeke:And then do you feel like the stuff you’ve learned from school about business, it’s that time until you are the entrepreneur, your business now? 

Blessing: Um, I think a little bit not not like I think the business classes obviously communication like communication classes really helped me I think personally the biz not as much the account like the you know, how accounting broke like gets really crazy. The accounting classes not so much for the business, you only need like a basic understanding of like accounting your stuff. So like, just the basic classes would have been enough for the books, but obviously it’s better to know because you know, as things as the business grows and like gets more complex, you know, maybe those information that I learned would be useful. But right now, just a couple of things. were helpful like I was able to pull from, to bring value on my end to the business, but some things not all, not not everything, but definitely some things.

Zeke:Yeah, people are counting drunk that software, you know, quickly. So you know, what’s out there all that? Yep. That’s cool. And there was like this is you almost always running on the fly how to deal with that learning on the fly? Yeah, how’s it going with that? 

Blessing: I feel like you, that’s too. And I think a big part of that is having an open mind. And knowing that you don’t know everything, and accepting that, accepting that, you know, because I don’t know everything I have to be willing to learn. I have to be willing to take corrections, I have to be willing to take feedback. Obviously, with the three of us never having done something like this before, it’s important that we are cognizant of growth, and being able to take valuable information from people that have done this before and know how things work, and be able to learn from them. And be and be able to be quick with it too. And taking that information and reapplying it to the business immediately to make sure that we’re seeing like that growth, if that makes sense. But being able to learn on the fly is like, as important for any job not just like, magic, not just like owning the business. But if you’re working for another firm, or like we’re a company, like you need to be able to learn on the fly, like their information that you’re gonna come across that you didn’t know, but you have to grasp that and like put it in your toolbox and run with it. So definitely a valuable skill to have.

Zeke:So how is it growing up with two parents?

Blessing: Oh, man. That’s very fun. It’s very fun, because like, I think a lot of the times they play like good cop, bad cop. So it’d be like, you asked your mom for something. I had him I’ll be like, Oh, no, you can’t have that. So then I’ll run to my dad because you know, I’m a daddy’s girl. And dad’s like, Oh my god, Dad, I need this and be like, Oh, yeah, sure. And then he would just you know, you just give it to me. So I think growing up at least as a child, like that’s something that I really enjoy. Like, I grew up seeing my mom as like this like, what’s the word was a good word? Not like loving but like strict like tough. And then my dad is more the you know, the pliable like soft one where like you could just go and like if he did something wrong like you would go to him like oh, I did this versus like to your mom like you’re more scared like okay, like I’m gonna go um, but it was very fun to have both parents I think you get like, the full experience as a child Yeah, it was just very fulfilling I think my whole fam because we’re kind of a big family kind of made it more fun too as well because then everyone’s personality. Imagine like seven huge personalities in a home like it’s a lot, but it was it was definitely fun growing up.

Zeke:I have my mom she’s bad cop, bad cop.

Blessing: Bad Cop. You could give yourself the good cop.

Zeke:Nice. Who? So what’s the business? We’re going to do the decompression business? What do like to do for fun?

Blessing: What do I do for fun? Oh god. It’s I’m starting to realize that this is a bad habit. But like, binge on Netflix has been like a harmful habit that I’ve picked up over quarante like I would just sit and watch for like hours and hours. You know? Um, so definitely like watching shows is a big distressor listening to music. Specifically Afro beat to I feel like afrobeat has that like, like, you have no choice but to kind of like get up and like dance and just, you know, get out of your head. With COVID obviously, we can’t really go out anymore, but like spending time with friends, doing activities, fun activities, active activities, activities that like require you to move so whether it’s like going to the arcade Like going bowling, whatever, just getting out there and just doing stuff. But you know, we can’t really do that as much anymore. So it’s just been being indoors. Learning the piano is something that I started doing over quarantine as well. And reading I’m trying to read more, but, you know, when you’re stressed, you don’t want to, like add more, more of like, you know, just it’s the opposite. You want to take it out of your head. So, you know,

Zeke:I’m so stressed I got grey hair.

Blessing: No, I don’t need more. I need less. I need you to like suck it out of my brain so that like, I can just relax myself.

Zeke:Let me think. Couple more questions, then we’ll be done. There was a piano I remember in elementary school trying to learn the keyboard. I don’t get that. I don’t know where middle c is. On this, like, what is this?

Blessing: I’m learning piano. I mean, it started off as not like that, like a choice I wanted to make. But then, as I started learning, I’m like, No, this is actually kind of cool. Oh, I actually, like started to enjoy it. So now it’s definitely like, once I’m like practicing, I’m like, in my zone. I’m like, tapping my feet. Like, I wish I had like, drugs playing on the side. But no, it’s it’s fun. I enjoy it. It’s, it’s cool. You should pick it back up.

Zeke:Um, oh, man. How to make beach. See difference? Give me a keyboard anyway. That’s more people with a play. You’re all you can make it down to the key to the display like that.

Blessing: Sure, if you know how to do that.

Zeke:Know how to do it. Me. That was a cool, fun episode. So one more question. And be what would you name your origin story?

Blessing: What would I name it?

Zeke:Yeah. 

Blessing: Oh my god. That’s a hard question. What would I name it? That’s hard. Um, give me like one minute to think. I’m, like blanking right now. So bad. Um, the only thing that I can think of that come into mind is Blessing:s race. Um, but yeah, that’s about it. Nothing else is like, popping into my head. We are Blessing:s race.

Zeke:And the reason why the actors were gonna play or actress was gonna play you your movie.

Blessing: Um, I have to pick like an actual actress. Oh, god. I’m an actual actress. The only other person that is coming to mind? I don’t know. Why is Gabrielle Union. Oh, I’m not sure that she would want to play this. Yeah, she’s dope as I can think of right. Oh.

Zeke:Oh, thank you for coming on the podcast.

Blessing: Thank you for having me.

Zeke:Yeah. And when the metrical No, that’s right. This is going to be off everywhere. Everyone will be able to get it.

Blessing: Yo, where can I where can I get a hoodie?

Zeke:I’m working on it like my brand. Okay. Okay because you know ain’t got economies you get screen printing yet.

Blessing: You get there you get there. Okay.

Zeke:(inaudible)

Zeke:That brings another episode of the Let’s Gather Podcast to a close. Again, I want to thank my friend Blessing for joining the podcast. For next week, I am catching up with my friend Tremayne and reminiscing about high school.  I hope you continue to have a nice day and hope to see you there.

[Music]