It Takes a Village

Let me start by saying this post is way overdue. In the chaos of launching our newest collection and then setting up our shopping event last week, I have failed to thank the many people who contributed to the success of both events. So, here are my delayed public messages of gratitude.

Luis and Stylists at North

First, I am so grateful to my friend and artist Luis, owner of local salon Stylists at North for his generosity. Not only did he open his salon on his day off to serve as a hub for changing and styling the models, he also offered his styling services. I was utterly impressed with how quickly he could change the models' entire look with a new braid, a little product, or a fresh part.

Elizabeth Cestrone, also of Stylists at North

I'm not sure people get better than my friend, Elizabeth. The first time I met her, I actually photographed and interviewed her for a website and remember thinking that we should be friends. Well, friends we became and I am fiercely loyal to her--both as a friend and as a makeup artist. Knowing she is there to help make me or my models beautiful (depending on the occasion) always puts me at ease; I have total confidence in her skills and her creative instincts.

Vanessa and Jackie

I met Vanessa and Jackie for the first time the day of our photo shoot. Luis recommended them to me as models and I'm SO glad he did. They are members of a PR firm located next door to Stylists at North. Vanessa and Jackie were fun and laid back when we hit bumps in the road, and of course look stunning in the resulting photos!

Sarah Marcella of Sarah Marcella Creative

My longtime photographer and friend, Sarah is a photographic genius. She has been my go-to photographer for personal and professional projects for years, and I have so enjoyed watching her business grow and thrive. She is so deserving of it!

Chris, Eva, and Anneliese

There were so many moving parts to this first photo shoot I needed all hands on deck. Chris interned for me years ago, worked for me at my previous job, and I texted him at the last minute the night before begging him to help. I just needed one more person!

Eva, the daughter of a friend, is also a stylish pre-teen who designs and makes her own clothing. When I can, I invite her to help out on photo shoots and despite her excitement and young age she always rises to the occasion when errands need to be run or shoes need to be taped. Finally, Anneliese is the current Threads by Nomad intern. Her calm energy is just what I need when I am particularly keyed up! I couldn't have pulled any of this off without these three awesome human beings.

Celeste Crutchfield and Kiskadee

I have never actually met Celeste Crutchfield, the new owner of Kiskadee (an Alexandria boutique), but that didn't stop her from graciously lending us shoes to use for the photo shoot. The store's selection was impressive, the styles on trend, and the prices super reasonable! Thank you, Celeste!

We got through the first photo shoot and as luck would have it I still felt like I was missing a few of the shots I needed. Lesson learned, I guess, but I had to hustle to get the collection launched. I scheduled a second photo shoot at 7AM one morning; the plan was to get the photos turned around quickly and go live that night!

Chelsea Park-Brouse

Even on such short notice and with such a short turnaround required, my friend and photographer Chelsea rallied. She understood exactly what I was missing and delivered! She even let me micro-manage the situation and look at every image as we were taking them so I felt good about being able to launch later that day!

Jen and Hannah

I couldn't ask even more of the models who had already spent so much of their free time helping us the first time around. I am lucky I know so many generous people, because my friends Jen and Hannah woke up before the sun and showed up looking beautiful that morning. And it was Hannah's birthday to boot!! Thanks to Jen, Hannah, and Chelsea, we were able to launch the collection on time and start selling our new garments!

Laura, Hope, and Marcela

These photo shoots landed right smack dab in the middle of the Hurricane Harvey drama and all but one of our September events were canceled or rescheduled. Thankfully, Marcela, owner of Marcela's Yoga Boutique, and Laura and Hope, owners of Vikriya Lab, opened their shared space to Threads by Nomad and hosted a pop up shop for us last week.

Why am I taking the time to walk you through all of this? Well, first, I really did want to publicly acknowledge the generosity of those who made it all happen. But even more important, I wanted to remind them of what they accomplished in doing so.

Because we were able to style the models, because we were able to photograph the outfits, because we were able to list them on the website, and because we were able to sell them at an event...Threads by Nomad is still in business at a time when many small businesses in the Houston area have had to shut their doors.

Thanks to these individuals and their businesses and thanks to all of you who have purchased Threads by Nomad garments in the past month, Hayder and Atia and Akram still have jobs. Thanks to all of you, we will be able to provide additional jobs to entrepreneurial artisans in other parts of the world to create our next collection. And thanks to you, Mom and I have hope. Thank you.