Inside the Daisy Daydream

    I've been meaning to write this for a while now. It's odd- putting a lifetime of journal entries, dreaming, and adhd brain blasts into a blog post about "How I Got Here." Let's get real it'll be more than one post- but I can not promise you when I'll get around to writing another. 

    Ever since I was a kid I always dreamt of being an entrepreneur. Watching shows like Vanderpump Rules, Tabitha Takes Over, and What Not To Wear- I always admired these hardworking women that paved the way for young dreamers like myself. I've always known that I was going to be a self reliant provider, but I had no idea how I would get there.  

    This perspective of the story will begin during my sophomore year at ECU. This was the year where I began dabbling in the world of LSD. I was opening my mind, beginning to see things from a completely different perspective. My greatest fear in life is becoming stagnant or "sheep-like," and I genuinely think it started from this given era. I was extremely hardworking both in school & work, but equally as lost & depressed. I was experiencing paranoia, anxiety, and extreme depression- all for the first time. The stress of school was only alleviated by marijuana and a boyfriend that I couldn't understand why I never felt secure with. (Turns out it was ~because I'm gay~ but that's another story for another time.) 

   So anyways, I'm sitting in ECON and my teacher is blowing my mind about opportunity cost and the concept of time being money. I'm on my computer looking at how my loans are accumulating, while also signing up for my junior year classes. And it just dawns on me that I'm *literally* in school for no reason other than because it's what I was told was the next step in life. My fashion merchandising classes were just reiterating what I had already learned working in different areas of retail. And the only thing I was getting from my business classes was that my money was being invested into a piece of paper- only to set me back for at least 10 years while I pay off my loans. So literally right then and there I dropped out. I grabbed my book bag, left in the middle of class, went to talk to my advisor, signed the papers, and withdrew myself from school.  

   I called my family- they were all blindsided and blamed it on my relationship. Up until this moment I never confided in them about my mental health rapidly declining, or told them about my existential thought processes. I understood why they were mad but at the time I knew what I had to do and didn't want to hear anyones opinions other than the ones coming from my gut. I moved to Raleigh with my then boyfriend and began in my career managing various retail stores. 

   I started this cycle where I'd work 40+ hours a week, coming home from work only to get stoned and journal on my couch. I had no social life, but in hindsight this was such an important two years for the "dream" side of Daisy Daydream.

    So to sum up this part of the story from 1997-2018 I really wanted to be an entrepreneur, I dropped out of college, started my adulting life, became extremely stagnant, entered the 40 hour work force, and hated my life! 

   IN THE END OF 2018 I MOVED TO WILMINGTON AND MY LIFE FINALLY BEGAN. I met so many incredible artists while being there, experienced working in live music, started finding my own style again, just became a low key iconic lil bitch ya know. Like when I say I met so many incredible artists I mean I was truly finding "my people." Like I was finding myself through some of the greatest people I've ever known. I'm tearing up just thinking about them. 

    When the Pandemic shut the world down in 2020- like many others I lost my job. Unemployment saved my ass, but I always had it in the back of my mind that eventually it would run out- and I never wanted to go back to working for someone else. So I started funneling that money into ways that I could turn it for a profit. Thrifting, Modeling, Styling Gigs, Photography Equipment, etc. I then realized that all of those years resorting to my journal for info dumping about my dreams and ideas were for that very moment. I launched the ShopDaisyDaydream Instagram in May of 2020. 

• I moved back in with my parents in Southern Pines, NC
• Commissioned my graphic designer Kaley Shirley (@kaleylikespinkdrinks) to make the Logo and various gifs, stickers, etc
• Started doing Pop up Shops!! (check out the event page for upcoming pop ups)
• Grew a whole ass home photography studio 
• Grew a whole ass home shop studio
• Rearranged the said studio approximately 69 times
• Launched the website (for the first time) in October of 2020
• Got the business registered, tax id, etc!
• Started making beaded curtains but never finished them lmfao ~coming soooooon~
• Became uninspired from the website only to take it down and then wait 6 months to relaunch it
• Started styling musicians :)))))
• Relaunched the website on the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!

Thank you for reading :)