Honestly when I made the first t-shirt, my only intention was to express myself and start creating. I didn’t have an intention to start a brand or start a business. Now, 3 years later, those intentions have obviously changed.

The first cllctd. tee ever made is symbolic of taking action on your dreams. It’s symbolic of bringing ideas to life. It’s symbolic of taking a step towards the highest potential that life could be, even if you don’t know what the next steps are. 

We have all been through a lot in the past 3 years. I'm sure we all wish we could have appreciated "normal times" more when we had them. We truly didn't know what we had until the complete unexpected came, and now we can look at the past and try to understand how we got here.

In these past 3 years much has changed (don’t make me say that C-word). cllctd as a brand has evolved drastically, you and I have changed and grown, and the world feels a lot different. The only constant IS change, just as it always has been. I am realizing that if you can’t learn and adapt as the world changes, then you will be left behind. Maybe “left behind” isn’t so bad, but maybe it’s not necessarily a place you want to be either. 

To continue that point, for cllctd. as a business, as a brand, as a community; in order to survive in this ever changing world we need to constantly analyze and adapt how we live and work. 

This brand continues to be an ongoing project. From making the very first t-shirt to now creating a blog, creating videos and hosting events with friends, to meeting hundreds of different people, it has been a miraculous journey indeed. 

Don’t get me wrong, there has been countless hours of work and conversations to keep this ship afloat. “The grind” isn’t always a pretty process, it actually often isn’t. 

When I made that first post on Instagram in 2019, what I felt most was relief. Relief that I finally put something out in the world. Relief that I didn’t just have an idea, but I acted on that idea. Many people have a lot of good ideas, executing that idea is the hard part. Honestly, crossing that bridge from idea to action is still a struggle for me today. The context and mental approach is always different, but generally going from idea to real thing brings about hesitation, doubt, procrastination, or many other things. 

I’m sure we have all been there at some point; that feeling that you are just watching life go by or watching others make it happen while you sit on the sidelines. 

But oh man, stepping into the game itself, now that’s the fun part. When you realize that everything you say and do directly impacts the people and the world around you, life starts to get really fun. 

What idea have you been waiting to act on? 

What small step can you take to bring that idea one step closer to fruition?

Take the step.