1993 – Awearness, Inc.

 In 1992 I interviewed with Jostens, who was at the time the largest seller of class rings in the United States.  I visited their show room in Tennessee.  One of the gentlemen who interviewed me and gave me a tour of their showroom told me that the company has a hard time attracting the African American market.  As soon as he made the statement, an idea for a class ring that might attract the African American market came to my mind.

 On the plane back to North Carolina I wrote about the idea I had.  A few days later when I discussed the job opportunity with them as a follow up to my interview, I told them I had an idea for the king of ring that might help them attract African Americans.  They wanted to hear more about it and see what I was talking about. 

Once I had an artist rendering of the kind of ring I thought might work and the copy to accompany the idea, I sent it to Jostens.  After about two months, they told me that they weren’t ready to segment the market.  I told them that the market was already segmented and that what they would be doing was taking advantage of the African American segment.

 Pissed off, I decided to make the rings myself.  I incorporated under the name “Awearness” in 1993.  I worked for a few years to identify a company that would manufacture my afrocentric class rings.  I had prototypes made in China and New York before finding a company that made class rings and recognition jewelry.  Town and Country, who was later purchased by Jostens agreed to make my rings.  The idea was to use positive enamel instead of stones and embed the school colors into a band, thereby getting rid of the bulky class rings.  They manufactured a couple of class rings and my first recognition ring, the Liberation design.

 I was working a part time job, kicking off my business, and trying to raise my son.  The need for funding, time, and parenting got in the way.  I had to take a full time job, which left less time for my business. Then one day my representative from Town and Country called to say that they were being sold to Jostens. I dropped the whole idea and concentrated on raising my son and work, but the idea continued to gnaw at me.

 2003 – Origins, Inc.

So in 2003, I found a local jeweler who agreed to make my rings.   I incorporated the new company under the name of Origin’s, Inc. because my former company name was no longer available. This time, the designs had shifted to stackable bands.  The idea was that college students could buy a school color upon completion of their sophomore year and the other color at the end of their fourth year.  The concept focused more on recognition and the celebration of any achievement, rather than simply college.

 Green symbolize liberation and were ratified in 1920 by the Universal Negro Improvement Association as the colors of black people.  These colors symbolize the struggles black people faced then and face now.

 As part of the launch for Origins, I designed a t-shirt called “Liberation” that uses the colors red, black and green and the words struggle, people land on the front.  People liked the rings, but thought they were too expensive.  On the other hand, people loved the t-shirts and hoodies I had made to launch Origins.  Because I had so many made, my son started selling them on the side to make extra money. 

 2014 - Struggle People Land T-Shirts, LLC

 People liked the shirts and hoodies I made to launch Orgins, although the afrocentric class rings were too expensive for the market I was trying to reach. The liberation t-shirt, our signature t-shirt and the company’s name sake, was the impetus of my new company, Struggle People Land, T-Shirts, LLC (SPL), which became a legal entity in 2014.

 The driving force for SPL is the same as it was when I started Awearness.  People define themselves by what they wear.  People celebrate themselves by what they wear and they invite others to celebrate with them.  T-Shirts have deep and historical significance.  They are personal bill boards that show what we believe, who we are now, and who we were then.

 T-Shirts have deep and historical significance.  They are personal bill boards that show what we believe, who we are now, and who we were then.