The first time I got the idea to do something in fashion was when I was 16 years old about to graduate from high school and I needed to find a prom dress.  I drew out a dress design that I had in my head.  When I showed my uncle, he said, “Wow! You could be a designer.” I left the conversation believing that I would eventually get into fashion even though I was on a different career path heading to USC as a declared pre-law student.  As for the dress idea I had, I didn’t find it. I ended up buying and wearing a dress I wasn’t fully excited about to prom.  Over the years, the various scenarios of having a vision of an apparel piece and not being able to find it have been reminders to my hidden goal to eventually expand my creative skills in fashion. 

 

When I think of purpose, which goes deeper than a career choice, I believe one of my purposes is to uplift people’s spirits and share a positive spin on life and circumstances. I remember a childhood friend use to tell me I was always “rationalizing” situations. In essence, she was saying whenever she or others wanted to complain about something, I was always coming up with a reason why the situation might not be as negative as it seemed. I guess I wanted to give every situation an opportunity for redemption or at least thinking of it a different way could bring more peace and less misery…haha! In everything I do, I want people to experience more peace and happiness and less misery.

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When I was going through a hard time emotionally some years back, I went on a trip and did a fast for spiritual reflection. I read a book called, Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard, which tells a story of a crippled Gazelle who gains the strength to break out from crippling fear and builds her hinds feet while journeying to the mountaintop to then discover there are more mountaintops. In essence, now you can leap from mountaintop to mountaintop –not just one. After this spiritual fast and reading, I fell in love with the concept of the “Gazelle.”  I started reading up on Gazelles and began incorporating the scientific name, Gazella, into my creative ventures. 

 

With the launch of GazelleBella.com, I decided to focus on accessories, unique statement pieces, and inspirational get-ups.  The tagline: Accesso-rising fashionably simply means “an accessory to your uprising (elevation).”  When you put on an accessory piece, you are enhancing the outfit. I want clients to feel uplifted on multiple fronts.

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I also feel it is important to create a space for “off-price” merch. I successfully worked in entertainment for a number of years so I understand the grit and grind behind the "glitz and glam," having to look the part for auditions, business meeting, etc.,  the necessity to constantly re-invest back into yourself and most importantly budgeting. With this in mind, I created “Gazella’s Garage,” which consists of funky fabs and finds to snag at sweet prices.

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