Chamiah Dewey on being self-employed and energised!
Hello, my name is Chamiah Dewey, I am the founder of DEWEY, the revolutionary apparel brand for adults under 5ft; and if you attended my Latte Lowdown virtual session with LCF, you’ll know that my journey as an entrepreneur has been full of some of the highest highs, and lowest of lows.
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My journey started from as young as I can remember. As a child, I dreamt of one day starting my own clothing brand that made women feel amazing in their bodies; then when I met a short stature person (with a condition called Dwarfism) in 2018, it gave that dream even more meaning. I learnt so much about the challenges someone who stands at 4ft faces, that I began researching the clothing market for the community and found that nothing existed that was stylish, affordable, and accessible.
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Fast forward a couple of years into my Fashion Design and Development studies at LCF, I enrolled on the Enterprise Diploma in Professional Studies (EDiPS) course, and found myself ready to fully commit myself to making this business idea a reality. I found out very quickly that to be successful, I’d have to push myself out of my comfort zone to really immerse myself into the community my customers found themselves in. I hosted live streamed conversations on social media (which were watched by a maximum of 14 people at one time), sent hundreds of surveys out (to get a handful of responses), and was constantly in the DM’s of my customer (to be ignored by the majority) to be able to understand what their challenges with clothing really were.
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At the time I started DEWEY in 2020, I was studying on the EDiPS course, working full time as an LSA in a school in London, supporting myself living on my own in a studio, and building DEWEY after hours and on weekends. This was how I lived for a year before I hit my first major wall in November 2021… Burnout.
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For me, burnout looked like being on the edge of a panic attack at all times. My body was so exhausted from the constant working from 8am-11pm at night, that it was screaming at me to take a break. So one very traumatic panic attack in November made that happen. I was forced to take a step back from my final year studies, and DEWEY for at least a month to calm my nervous system down. This happened again after LFW in February 2023.
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The moral of the story here is that nothing is worth your mental and physical health. I’ve had to learn the hard way that when we burn the candle at both ends, wearing ourselves into the ground, our bodies will let us know about it. Now I am not perfect, but I have learnt to listen to my body better than I was before, that looks like at least prioritising sleep, my diet, and incorporating exercise and socialisation into my days (at the time of my first burnout, I had secluded myself from all of my friends and family, I couldn’t have been more lonely).
Another big topic that is important to discuss is the idea of being scared to make mistakes in business. In the first couple of years of DEWEY, I was riddled with self-sabotage and self-doubt. I found it hard/cringey to call myself a ‘fashion designer’, yet that’s exactly what I was. I constantly had this nagging feeling that I wasn't doing business the right way, or that my processes were too messy to be a ‘real business’. But what I’ve learnt since working with people who are far more seasoned than I am in business, is that that’s just how it is. There is no rule book when it comes to setting up your own business, whether that’s a full-on company, or as a freelancer, it does just feel very messy and eclectic. I’ve learnt to love that.
You can never know if a decision will be a ‘mistake’ until you do it, so fail quickly and pick up the pieces and move forward quickly. Unless the decision is make-or-break to your business, then the risk is worth taking, you’ll at least learn something. Take it from someone who has lost thousands of pounds trying to cut corners in the early days, and still ended up burnt out. Starting your own business is hard, but it is equally as rewarding! They key thing is to know that over night success is a myth, and it’s hard graft to get there. The best advice I can give is to keep working at it, but to make sure you’re taking the time to take care of yourself as much as your business, because at the end of the day, your business can’t succeed without YOU, so the best way to serve your business is to look after yourself, physically and mentally.
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