I would like to introduce you to one of my greatest accomplishments to date:
I DID A REAL THING! Not only did I actually see something through from idea to working concept, I did it without blabbing to everyone within earshot about what I was putting together instead of actually doing it!! For me, that's nearly as much an accomplishment as creating a brand in the first place. I usually talk talk talk and get nothing done, but I'm at a point in my life where it's time to put up or shut up. I've wasted too much time and lost too many opportunities already.
If you know me from before my two year "hiatus", you might remember me talking pretty often about how I am one of those people willing to work 100 hours a week building my dreams just to avoid working 40 to help build a dream for someone else. As the saying goes; "Do something you love and you'll never work a day of your life." Despite that, I'd actually gotten quite comfortable with the 9-5 with a job I kinda liked working in the kitchen of a brew pub. I've spent the last two years as a single father, focusing more our immediate needs and trying to get by working as many hours at my job as I could. Then 2020 happened...
I'm one of the tens of millions of Americans who were let go from their jobs all the way back in March, and will not be able to return to work due to the continued rampant spread of this dumbass virus in my country... Before you cry for me, you might be as surprised as I was to learn that the end of the world could serve as a come-up for someone at rock bottom! If you've heard the stories of people earning more on the current unemployment plan than they did while they were working, they're likely all true. In February, I was earning $12/hour working 35-40 hours per week. After taxes I'd bring home around $750 every other week on average. That may not sound like much, but I also call Kentucky home, where the average cost of living is incredibly low. With the $600 weekly unemployment bonus (that just ended), I was getting $1400 every other week. A single weeks bonus was enough to pay a months rent on my two bedroom house. I've been very smart with that money, and should easily be able to coast through the rest of this pandemic, no matter how long it may last. That said, I'm going to go stir crazy if I just keep sitting around at home trying to avoid human contact, and now might be the perfect opportunity to build a ladder out of the rat race.
I've had literally dozens of ideas for businesses over the years, and they've all fallen through for one reason or another, but my biggest problem has always been following through with something I start. I've always been a bit of a tech nerd and a creative. I used to create silly free websites for various hobbies and interests back in the early 2000's. Over the last seven years or so, though, I've started not only honing those tech and creative skills but also learning new ones like writing and marketing. I've gone back and forth with myself for years trying to figure out the perfect way for me to utilize as many of the talents I've added to my repertoire as possible to create a better life for myself and my children than the unfulfilling jobs I've always worked, and I've finally found the one...
I can't count the number of times I've fallen, but I know I've gotten back up every single time. No matter what I've been through, I'm still here.
I'm a huge fan of the odd, the creepy, the disturbing. My mother raised me on the likes of Stephen King, Hellraiser, and AC/DC. I was present when she got one of her first tattoos. A large grim reaper on her back. I was six years old when The Nightmare Before Christmas released, and as I grew older my favorite types of music where the ones that screamed at me, or spoke on taboo subjects of murder and gore. I take comfort in things that make most others uncomfortable, as I'm usually uncomfortable in situations most would find ideal. I've spent my life struggling with mental illness, and for decades, refused to do anything about it for fear of being labeled "crazy".
After who knows how many trips, therapy sessions, and brainstorms, I've landed on something that incorporates nearly every part of who I am and what I can provide the world. In its current infancy, Still Here! is an online retail store selling apparel and home decor designed by yours truly. I'm currently working on a dropshipping setup, meaning someone else prints and ships the items that I design and upload to the website I've created for the brand.
I've spent around $500 and more than 200 hours so far to get everything set up to its current state, and I feel really good about how it's first form looks. That money secured my web hosting and the https://stillhere.store domain. I really wanted something less "commercial" than a .store domain, but the .com or even .net domains will require a much larger up front cost, which I'll have to work toward.
In "Phase 1" as I'm calling it, I can run this shop with very little overhead, relying on my dropshipping distributors to do a lot of the heavy lifting in exchange for a smaller cut of the profits. I'm totally okay with that for now. If this doesn't take off as quick as I'd like, it's something I can do while working a full-time job. When it is paying the bills and providing me a little more freedom, I have huge plans for Still Here!
As a brand, Still Here! stands for the struggles of mental illness that so often leads to suicide and domestic violence. Those are two big issues I've dealt with pretty much my entire life, and I can relate to anyone who feels like they have no options, who'd rather just finally go to sleep for the last time.
Since I'm able to do this for so little overhead, and while I work for the money life requires if need be, I don't need or want to be greedy with the money I end up earning, and I want to help support as many people as I can. From day one, 10% of the annual profits of Still Here! will be set aside for charities that address mental health issues.
The only further thing I'll talk about before I've done it is "Phase 2-3" (out of 6 planned "Phases") of Still Here! Once I've started earning money on the things I create/curate for the website, I'm going to start searching the darkest corners of the world for the creepiest artifacts and one of a kind dark art I can find, and showcase them in secret pop-up shops that feel like underground raves... It should be a fun and interesting way of finding artists new audiences, and finding audiences new artists, while making a few dollars for doing so. If that doesn't sound like an awesome "job", I don't know what does! Phase 6 is taking over the world, btw. Don't tell the cops.
Before I release you from this hell of my rambling, I have one last thing to show you guys who have been kind enough to read this far. In the spirit of the underground and mystery, this is a hidden page that can't be navigated to from within Still Here! Lemme know in the comments what you think about it! Just a little something special I put together for one of the greatest communities on that planet that is WAY more underground that I expect it will be in 20 years... Thanks for being awesome, and thanks for reading!