Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Marshall.
Hi Melissa, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I am a mom of three amazing girls who keep my husband and I of 14 years on our toes for sure! Being a mother to three beautiful girls, I constantly feel a considerable pressure to ensure our daughters grow up to be strong, kind, happy, and confident women. Self confidence has been something I have struggled with myself growing up, and I have to be honest I still struggle with it now as an adult. I had always dreamed about creating my own business but never truly believed I could. I am constantly working on myself and trying to instill in our girls the importance of self love, honesty, kindness towards themselves and others and maintaining a positive attitude. I want to show them they can do anything and be anything they want to be. As a mom, and as a woman watching young girls trying to navigate growing up and dealing with big changes such as positive body image, negativity in social and social media settings, especially at school, along with struggling to build self-confidence can be absolutely heartbreaking.
Accentuate the Positive was created with the goal to empower and inspire girls of all ages to be strong, confident, optimistic, and kind human beings. When I started thinking of ways to make this happen. I started with the messages I wanted to teach my daughters and myself, adding fun, creative images to go with them. The mission quickly became a passion for me. I started by displaying my designs on TeePublic. This was a great start, but I was not fulfilling my dream of creating my own business. I decided that if I was going to start this mission and make it a success, I needed to do it on my own. I started saving money to buy the essentials I needed to print shirts from home. My next step was creating a website and social media presence to spread the word. Currently I am building my business from home. Printing and shipping directly to our customers.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think success and journeying down a smooth road do not go hand in hand. I think the bumps on the road to being a business owner make you better; they also make you appreciate how far you’ve come to get where you are and hopefully continue to drive you to better your craft; I know that is true for me. Creating this business and spreading the word has had many challenges, and I am sure that will not change for some time. As an online business, I am still navigating social media and marketing. Social media is a great outlet but with algorithms constantly changing it can be a bit frustrating to figure out. I am constantly trying to think of creative ways to get the word out about Accentuate the Positive. Once people see my designs and feel the quality of the shirts, they are immediately drawn to them. They agree and believe in the messages we are trying to spread. Another channel is managing it all. Family life and business wanting them both to grow and be successful is a tricky juggling game. Making sure I am spending quality time with both my family and my business along with, well, life, is always a constant challenge. I am still new to all of this, so I have a big learning curve that I constantly fight against. I have made several mistakes, but within those failures has been something that has made my product better, and I will continue to push, and fail so that I can make this business great.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
It’s funny my background has been in an office setting most of my life, not really the creative type. Although I secretly strived to be just that. Writing has been my way of expressing myself. My work, my designs as I call them come from things that inspire me, or that I want to fix. Sometimes I get inspired by a book I am reading,my mood or a song for example but most of my inspiration is just observing my girls and what they are dealing with in their life. I try to make my messages simple and timeless. If I can’t draw the images I have for a message I do work with Fiver designers to help me bring my ideas to life. I use sublimation for my printing. I enjoy this method because it brings more of a retro look to the shirts. We use a heat press for this method along with soft shirts that really make our products stand out.
Printing each shirt is special to me because it is my name that goes right along with our orders. That means so much to me, I want people to feel good when they put on our designs.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
How would I describe myself growing up? Wow, that is a tough one…no pressure… Growing up I would say I was a goofy, awkward, fun kid. I didn’t fit the “norm” of the girls I grew up with. They had straight hair while I had big curly hair among other things. I was the youngest of three and of course always had to have the spotlight like any youngest does. I loved making people smile and laugh (still do). I think I had a pretty good imagination and loved the stereotypical doll play, sports, music and movies. The hardest part of my childhood was losing my mom at 18.
Pricing:
- T-Shirts $20
- Hoodies $45
- Sweatshirts $40
- Tank Tops $18
- Baseball T’s (3/4 Qtr sleeve) $25
Contact Info:
- Website: https://accentuatethepositive.shop/
- Instagram: @accentthepositive
- Facebook: @accentthepositive123
Image Credits
Melissa Marshall Rebecca Sutton Rachel Waldron
