These days have been very busy. Like drowning busy. Barely staying afloat busy. I don't think it's a healthy kind of busy either. I think it's more like... sacrificial busy. It's not cute, but I have to power through it until end of June before I can breathe a little easier and focus all my energy into my own design studio. (And that's when the stress I enjoy begins lol.)
The last few months it felt like I talked the ears off of my friends and family about the plans I have for Alaia Design Studio. There are so many things I want to do, but I also know that they're achievable. I just need to get it together so I can put down some roots and start playing the long game. Everything I've significantly done the entire month of May was for the studio — hiring interns to help me with pending projects, investing on proper equipment, taking on a job that I truly enjoy that will keep me afloat while I take a break from client work, and most importantly, putting together a creative team to help me build a strong foundation for the brand.
Throughout all of that chaos, I was wondering why it felt pretty easy and so familiar, and I realized it was because I've been here before. I've done this already.
10 years ago, 18 year old me was fully submerged in the world of Harry Potter. I was looking for merch that didn't have their faces on it, so I created a mockup line of shirts and posted it on Tumblr. It was well-received and it pushed me to actually sell them. I had no idea how to make shirts or run a business, but I did it anyway. My parents really just went with it without knowing how chaotic it was gonna be for the next 2 and a half years. None of us did. It was 90% learning everything along the way.
Back then I just really saw it as a fun summer project that I could do for myself and my fellow Harry Potter fans. And because I am me, I tagged my friends and acquaintances along every step of the way — photographer, stylists, hair and makeup, and even modeling. (So sorry I only paid you all in friendship and McDo! lol) Building that team was so fun because I tapped people who I knew really enjoyed that kind of work and people who supported me, so it was really such a fun experience for all of us. We were also in our late teens so everything just seemed so exciting when you're doing things together. That day was definitely one of my favorite memories. (Thank you Matthew for letting us borrow your house hehe)
When that business was up and running, a lot of people asked what DLM / Dream a Little More meant. And to be honest, it was really just a take on my then tumblr name ‘Littlemissdorkette’ (lol who is she??). "LMD" became "DLM" and I just thought that "Dream a Little More" sounded nice and it was something inspiring. Eventually, it came to mean so much more than I had intended.
In the heyday of DLM, 80-90% of our sales were global. We were shipping out shirts and totes by the boxes to Singapore, US, and The UK. I remember the first sale I ever made was shipped to Paris. Can you believe! On the weekends we had meetups in malls and people gave me letters and thank you notes, which I super appreciated and never ever expected. Facebook pages were new then and I saw our following literally going up by the hundreds and eventually by the thousands every time I refreshed the page. All of it organic. I never put out ads or anything.
Our dining room became my office. I had friends literally come in and help me with Excel sheets, sorting shirts to do meet ups in their schools (DLSU and UST), and sometimes friends came just to bring me food. It was only me and one employee who was actually making the shirts in-house (literally) and we somehow managed. I honestly don’t know how, but we did. That business allowed me to buy my very first Macbook with my very own money. And that's something I've always been proud of. She really did THAT at 18. I love her. She was the moment. Lol.
It was fun while it lasted. Starting and closing that business ultimately made me realize that what I really enjoyed the most was designing the shirts. I remember writing a letter to my parents saying that I wanted to stop the business because I didn't feel like I was ready for it. I told them that I wanted to pursue design and one day come back to it when I'm more prepared. Looking back now, dreaming a little more meant having the courage to quit while it had so much potential so I can prepare for bigger things and bigger dreams. It meant fighting my fear and anxiety of going to college in a wheelchair, taking another path when the one I was on was already working. DLM gave me direction and I haven't looked back since. Everything that I have done up to this point in time has been because of 18-year old Aia dreaming a little more outside of that bubble.
10 years ago, where I am now is exactly where I wanted to be. And it feels surreal to say that out loud, but it's true. This was exactly where I wanted to be when I was 18 — in a position where I can start building the small and meaningful life that I want to be living for myself through Alaia Design Studio. I want to build something that will connect people with their people. Hopefully as I live that out, it will give them some joy and value in their lives.
Today, dreaming a little more means sharing this dream I have with my team, my friends, and my family. Dreaming a little more means breaking those dreams down into goals and eventually making them into a reality. Because dreams are just dreams until you do something about them.
Here at 28 (turning 29 in a few days), I feel like I am exactly where I want to be. I am exactly where I need to be. And here is where everything begins.
Yours from afar,
Aia