How is an architect the owner of a $ 1 million t -shirt business? With a bottle.
Kalilah Wright, a former shops planner and an architect for Under Armor, began to be wrapped in a bottle with a bottle containing a t-shirt with a positive message Baltimore at home while in police custody. Had lived in Baltimore for several years after attending Morgan State University And he had immersed himself in living in the city. When Freddie Gray’s incident happened, it was his first time he launched himself in this type of revolt.
“It was detrimental to knowing that on this day and age, police brutality and the things that happened in our community were happening,” he told Bravity.
He would lead to work at the center of Under Armor’s headquarters, where there were no burned buildings, and his non -black co -workers would insist on having conversations about what was happening in the city and specifically in the area he lived. To see that the contrast between the two different realities was shocking.
“There were places in Baltimore where the city was burning and other communities watered the grass,” he said. “I didn’t know how to hear -but I knew many in the city were not impacted and out of contact. It was a helpless feeling. It’s one of the reasons I created a mess in a bottle.”
The idea was born for a regular day in the office. He told one of his trusted co -workers who would put a message in a bottle. At that time, Chance the Rapper had a new mixtape with right Painting bookAnd he was inspired to outline. “I remember feeling that the world was a disaster. And it is practically where the company was called,” he said. In a year, he left his job and undertaken a full -time business, using social media power and an appearance on a television program with Mark Cuban to sell their t -shirts, which finally became other brand items, including bags, jackets and sweatshirts.
The same night, he went to Ikea and found artisanal bottles that he thought were wide enough to hold a coiled t -shirt. He asked for a pressing machine, cut the vinyl and did the work. Nine years later, the company has a production space and has multiple brand collaborations with the tastes of Target and Issa Rae. And he has done everything from the heart of Baltimore, but he was not without his challenges.
In 2019 he moved from his home (the same as the business started) with less than $ 500 and invested in more materials for his business. He sold various products, including babies and anything else he could put on a message. He started renting a space because he had sold his merchandise in his house before that. Unfortunately, he was the victim of an armed robbery in his first production space, which caused immense trauma.
“I had a young son. I started asking,” if I was worth continuing to do this. Starting the business out of a tragedy and then being involved in a personal tragedy was very much, “he said. “I wanted to stop the business. Instead, I published it on social media when the robbery passed and we received thousands of orders. I was floating.”
The business grew and when the pandemic passed, it grew even more, with its staff doubling. He said he now realizes that theft was needed to continue the message.
“It has been just an unexpected disaster journey and really allowed me as a person to find out how to recover from the difficult things that do not even causes,” he said. “You have to create and possess your own message. And I have the shit is a disaster. But it’s how they recover from this mess.”
There are ups and downs as an entrepreneur. Leaving the pandemic, there were financial challenges. And he had to learn to pivot, which meant reducing the size of his staff. Now she is only her and two to three others, depending on the time, doing the production on her own. But they do.
“I’m in a reconstruction scenario,” he said. “But it’s worth it.”
Outside of everyday production, it welcomes group sessions during which people can create their own messages. It also hosts a special session for youth on the importance of messaging and self -esteem, just in its production space.
