So this all started on a normal Sunday night on a commercial break from watching Insecure, which I'm so sad is done for the season, aka #teamissa, anyway during this episode Issa was wearing a sweatshirt that said "Niggas" on the top right corner. I remember turning to my husband and us agreeing that the sweatshirt was hot, but I thought "would I ever actually wear something like that?" I'm the girl who doesn't like to bring any attention to herself so that shirt was out for me, I don't even own any graphic tees for that reason. However, it left me thinking during the show what would a girl like myself wear and wear without giving a crap about what people thought. That's how Fine Girl tee came about. Being that Mission Lane name originates from Sierra Leone, West Africa, Fine Girl is a common term to describe a woman who has it going on. It’s not just used to describe your physical appearance, but used to say this girl is “the shit!”.  

Then the process started.  I learned through Google on how to do all the artwork. Made different color variations, looked for prints I liked. Toggled between different prints vs. different color tees, and at the end of the day thought keep it simple, and decided to offer one print on either a black or white tee. Done!  Well so I thought. This was just the beginning of so many other decisions and learning lessons.

 This process took me longer than I expected and it shouldn’t have. I had this vision in the middle of August and it hit the website the last 2 weeks of September. In my opinion that's horrible!!  Anyone could have easily shared the same vision and had it out the next day.  What held me up you ask? 

·         Figuring out the cost for the Tee and trying to get the best quality without making it expensive. I researched what other tees at a similar quality cost to make sure I was at least competitive. I learned so much about printing and tee quality, I should be certified.

·         I love Fiverr!! If you haven’t used or aren’t familiar with Fiverr.com, it’s the best thing ever.  I’ve gotten so many random things done from this site for only $5.  Especially since I'm not a Photoshop pro yet, I use them often. I sent my idea over to a pro and they created a file for the printer to use that took a good 4 days; only because I didn't want to pay for express. Sigh, but it all ties back to costing.

·         After figuring  out the fit of the tee and quality I wanted, next was figuring out who could make it.  I've worked with one printer out of state (Denial Print) and although they were awesome, I really wanted to see the item in person prior to printing an entire batch. What if it looked bad and the idea just needed to stay in my head? I would've preferred to spend the money on one tee versus multiple. After reaching out to so many local printers, the ones that were responsive (-_-) were out of budget so I stuck with what I know. Before putting anything into works, I found a local printer and got one sample made and once I knew I was sold on the look of the tee, it went into production. 

·         I had this huge idea for a photo shoot and it was honestly holding me back. So I just put the tee on myself, and my hubby and I had a photo shoot with my day old makeup from a wedding. I hardly slept the night before trying to make sure it would look good the next day.

Through this experience I learned so much and especially that having a quick turn around is so important. 

Hope you guys love this shirt as it’s our first exclusive from Mission Lane!  Feel free to share things you would like to see.