Meet Taylor Thomas, owner of Live to Love Apparel!

I have to admit… I’m having a little fangirl moment right now.

I’ve followed Taylor since she became “myspace famous” for dating the lead singer of one of my favorite indie bands in college. Never did I think years later I would be interviewing her on my blog!

Taylor is a super sweetheart from Texas, and everything she does exudes the message of her business… live to love. Simple things like sharing encouraging scripture on her Facebook to posting about her job as a therapist or her love for rescuing kitties will make you really grow to love her as a business owner and person. I hope you guys enjoy this interview and learn from her story of building a thriving business while working full-time.

Please leave any questions you have for Taylor in the comments section below, and I will make sure to connect you!

Meet Taylor:

And let’s get to it!

From Taylor: “Hi guys! I’m Taylor. I am a full-time psychotherapist by day, at a residential treatment center, for adolescent boys in CPS that have lived through severe trauma and all forms of abuse. I am also the owner/founder of Live to Love Apparel, which is a clothing company and recently a print shop, with a goal to shine the light of love and spread a hopeful and positive message. I have a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and a master’s degree in counseling psychology with a specialization in marriage and family. I am a newlywed with a wonderful husband and 6 beautiful kitties that we have rescued and love dearly.”

Hillary: What did you do before Live to Love Apparel, and how did you decide to start your own business? How did you discover your passion?

Taylor: Before Live to Love, I was a full-time student. My parents always wanted me to focus on school, so I seriously never had a real job (besides babysitting in high school) before being a full fledge business owner.

I decided to start LTL while attempting to graduate a semester early with my undergrad at Baylor. I knew that I wanted to start some kind of a business that would positively impact people, but I wasn’t specifically set on clothing until I realized that was the best “vessel” to use for spreading a message. My actual desire to do something positive was sparked from going to shows and concerts, and the wonderful world of myspace, and noticing the surge of negativity that seemed to become a trend…whether it was in songs or actual clothing that kids would wear. It actually bothered me to see the offensive shirts that I would see kids wear to shows, and it really weighed heavy on my heart. Even if I could affect one person, I wanted to attempt to shine a little ray of hope and positivity to our society that seemed to be driven by darkness and negativity.

Can you give us a brief history of L2L? How long have you been in business? What has your growth looked like?

I brainstormed to come up with a name, and I knew I wanted the name of my company to also double as a message in itself…and Live to Love Apparel was created. This was back in October/November of 2008, so I guess it’s officially been over 6 years ago. I had little to no experience with photoshop, but I managed to make a simple logo to brand myself.

Like I said before, I was a full-time student, so money was not anything I had. The only money that I had was from the cash my parents would give me when I would go home on a visit, $20 here and there, that I had saved up. I remember going to Wal-Mart and buying $75 of Hanes white v-necks, and I started to hand-dye the shirts because I wanted every shirt to be a unique creation. I did not start LTL with any expectation of monetary success, and my goal was ultimately to just spread a positive message. At the time I had a lot of friends in bands that helped promote, and I was pretty big into myspace, and very surprisingly LTL took off. I was hand-dyeing shirts at all hours of the night, fulfilled every order by hand, graduated from college, and then began working on my master’s degree in graduate school. LTL continued to grow, I took it on tour down the east coast with bands and a non-profit organization for nearly a month, would set up at music festivals and Warped Tour, I expanded from hand-dyed shirts to more products, and using an actual graphic designer to help with my designs. The next thing I knew I had shipped to over 30 countries!

Growth for LTL happened pretty quickly, which was such a blessing. It helped to be so involved in the music industry, and to sponsor bands and musicians who would represent the brand.

What’s your WHY? Why are you in business? What is your ultimate lifestyle goal?

Here I am in my 7^th year of owning LTL, and my goal is still the same, to spread a positive message and to hopefully leave a positive impact on someone. I didn’t start a business for the money, yes it’s definitely a nice bonus, but it’s more about trying to make a difference and inspiring others to do the same. My ultimate lifestyle goal is to be able to continue to spread the word, and continue to be blessed with the opportunity to make positive products that people love.

Where did you find your mentors, or resources to help learn about entrepreneurship and running a successful business?

I literally googled any question I had, and have just been learning as I go. I can’t say that I had a mentor or used any resources, but I had so much support from my family, friends, and my incredibly creative and supportive husband along the way that kept me encouraged and motivated.

Can you tell a story of a specific failure you encountered while building L2L? What did you learn from it?

I’ve had many instances where things failed to meet my expectations, whether it was products, designs, or I have gone to certain events that I had high hopes for and they didn’t turn out. As a business, I have used every failure as an opportunity to grow and learn from. The way I see it is if you aren’t failing or making mistakes, then you aren’t trying, and business is all about taking risks and definitely failing along the way.

What would you consider are your strengths as a business owner?

I think my biggest strength is not being afraid of hard work, and enjoying a good challenge. I have always been really determined to achieve whatever I have my mind set on, while being really resourceful along the way.

Do you currently have help or do you do everything? If you have help, what advice do you have to give about scaling your business or outsourcing responsibilities through hiring or piecework to help grow?

I don’t currently have any help, other than my family who have always been great help whenever I need help fulfilling orders, or helping me set up at festivals, but LTL is basically a one woman business.

How many hours a week do you work? How do you balance work and home?

I work on LTL in my spare time, so whenever I’m not at my day job since I’ve always worked out of my home. I’ve never clocked my hours, or thought of it as “work.”

I balanced work and home better when I was still in school, and didn’t realize how much more difficult it was going to be once I started my 2^nd career. It hasn’t been until the last few months that I’ve really been able to give as much attention to LTL as I would like because my husband and I bought a house a couple of years ago, spent about a year and a half remodeling it, got engaged, planned our wedding, and then we got married. It’s been really tough to balance home and LTL for the last couple of years. I’m glad things have settled down, so I can let my creativity flow.

What type of lifestyle does your business afford you?

Besides the financial benefit, it allows me to travel and exercise my creativity. I was able to open an extension of LTL in the last few months, ‘Live to Love Prints’ on etsy, where I’m able to offer prints of our most popular designs, as well as brand new designs.

What has been the #1 most effective way you have marketed L2L?

Taking LTL on the road to various music festivals and events has always been great exposure for the company, and seems to gain supporters that maybe wouldn’t have found LTL otherwise. I also think it’s been really important to keep our supporters promoting on social networks by posting photos of our products that they have purchased, which we always make sure to re-post on all of our social networks. Social networking is key.

What has been your biggest business “win” or success so far?

Growing internationally has been surreal for myself and LTL. It’s always incredible to see a random person wearing LTL or to have someone tell me they saw someone wearing LTL, but I’ve had multiple people email me to tell me they saw someone wearing LTL when they were in another country. Unbelievable. I’ll never forget the moment I got an order from a country that I had never even heard of! Such a cool feeling!

What is your ultimate vision for your business in the coming year? Where do you see L2L in 5 years?

2015 has already been a year of ‘making things happen’ with LTL. We now offer LTL for kids and babies, and also opened our etsy print shop selling high quality prints, so I hope to see that growth continue in those areas. I want to continue to expand our demographic to more age groups, and continue to offer more quality products. In the coming years I would love to be able to sell our products in local boutiques or stores. I also want to continue to focus more on expanding our products for infants and kids.

What’s holding you back from where you are now and your end game?

I think not being able to put all of my focus and energy into LTL definitely holds me back, as well as wanting to continue to do everything myself. LTL is my baby, so I have a difficult time letting go of that control, and the mentality that I need to do it all.

What is it that you need help with right now, and if you could get free advice that would solve your problem right now, what would it be?

I need help and advice on how to clone myself, so I can be at two places at once haha!

If you could sit down with any entrepreneur for a 2 hour lunch and pick their brain, who would it be and why?

I would sit down with Walt Disney because I have grown up having the greatest love for all things Disney, and he clearly had a brilliant and innovative mind. He’s no longer living, but children and adults alike know who he is and have been impacted, in one way or another, by what started out as a simple dream.

What advice would you give your “just starting a business” self knowing everything you know now?

I think I would tell my younger self to take more risks; starting a business can be pretty overwhelming and scary, so it’s easy to play it safe.

Do you have a morning ritual or routine?

I feel as though I’m the best version of myself in the mornings; I’m super productive and feel as though I can take on the world, but it is VITAL to always eat breakfast and have some “me” time if any world domination is going to happen. 😉

If you could do anything in the world, with no possibility of failure, what would it be?

I would make all animal shelters into ‘no-kill’ sanctuaries where homeless, abused, and neglected animals could thrive and find safe and loving homes. Similarly, I would love to also open low-cost clinics in all countries where animals can be vaccinated and altered to help control the pet population, giving animals a fair chance at living a full and healthy life.

What’s been the best business book you’ve read?

I don’t think I’ve ever read a business book, but one of my favorite books is “The Gifts of Imperfection” By: Brene Brown

Side note: I’ve read that and it’s one of my faves as well!

I enjoy reading books on self-improvement and self-growth, which have been valuable for my journey with Live to Love Apparel, because if I’m continually striving to become the best version of myself, then my business will naturally reap the benefits.

What’s your favorite success quote?

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney

Courage truly is facing difficulty and fear straight in the face without backing down, and to be an entrepreneur I think takes a lot of it.

Closing thoughts or advice to other business owners out there:

Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from trying to achieve your dreams because you can succeed at whatever you set your mind to! Failure is a necessary ingredient for success, so when you fall down, pick yourself right back up and know that you will become that much better because of it. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to work hard! Nothing worth having comes easily, so stay encouraged and don’t lose sight of your dreams; make them a reality!