We asked some of the city’s most brilliant and creative minds to tell us about the most difficult decision they’ve had to make.

Marie Caroline Shulman | Owner of Preppy Trendy

As the pandemic changed the world lifestyle, I had to examine Preppy Trendy closely and make some serious adjustments. Retire some of our designs and reformulate our vision. Pivoting wasn’t easy as it required me to change our process from design, construction to marketing.That said our meme sweatshirts among many other designs which were an all time favorite had to step back to make room for new idea and style. Read more>>

Ela Nasahrhette Gbawa Ewa | Tantrika & Divine Masculine Healer

Divine Timing is Everything, ASHE! I had committed to getting this article to you by the end of last week, and I was unable to meet my commitment because I had to remove my soon-to-be EX husband from the premises of our home. So, yup. Divine Timing on this question, for real! But I struggle slightly with the word difficult, for at the moment when I was having an Iya Yansa moment, and I was throwing his clothes over the balcony, IT WAS AN EASY DECISION HONEY. EASY, THE BURDEN WAS EASY, AND THE YOKE WAS LIGHT. The difficulty was the 20 years of lessons I was too hard-headed to PERCEIVE. The difficulty was my womb shutting down and having incurable BV! The difficulty was losing my ability to BECOME anything for myself. The moment, naw, that was easy baby. The difficulty was my experiences. THE difficulty is watching the aftermath, THE difficulty of the moment?! Naw, that moment was liberating. The moment wasn’t the decision. The moment was the follow-through. But your purpose is your story, so let’s see where your questions lead to see what story might be told, Ashe!. Read more>>

Dave Noodlez | Creative Director & Founder

Growing up I loved hip hop so much I wanted to be a rapper. My favorite rappers were Eminem, Jadakiss, Nas, DMX and Method Man. I released demos in high school, freestyled in the lunchroom and everyone knew me as the rapper Noodlez. When I got to college I was heavily into writing songs. I had always loved cool looking t-shirts and wanted to create my own clothing. I just never knew where to start. I spent most of my time making music as well as working weekends to save money for MPC’s, keyboards and a computer to make my first album. After 5 years of hustling, hard work and creating my dream came true. My first album ‘Live, Breathe,Eat’ was set to drop in 2008. I wrote and produced the entire album. It was recorded, mixed and mastered with the help of my friend Christian of Projectivity. It was one of the best feelings in the world. I thought my time was coming to be in the spotlight with some of my favorite artists growing up. Read more>>

Allison Dubovsky | “Coach Allison”

Prior to teaching swimming, I was a school teacher and then a stay-at-home mom. So, transitioning into the role of “Coach Allison” was something brand new for me. Many children are naturally afraid of the water, so when parents passed their children to me in the pool, a very vulnerable place for those that can’t swim, I had to quickly gain their trust, like immediately, in order to teach them the life-saving skills their parents wanted them to have. Talk about a daunting task!. Read more>>