Meet Sharisse Scott-Rawlins | Fashion Designer & Visionary

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sharisse Scott-Rawlins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharisse, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my success and the success of my brand is having faith in my God given gift. I was blessed with the ability to be a visionary who can express my creativity through fashion design and production, and after 13 years of business I can undoubtedly say that this is my true life’s purpose. By no means is being an entrepreneur easy, but knowing that through the ups and downs designing is my soulmate, it helps me to continue pushing through anything that I encounter because I know that God and the universe did not bring me down this path by mistake. The moment I knew faith in my passion was what I needed to lean on during my most challenging times, is when I was diagnosed with cancer immediately after graduating my senior year of undergrad. All throughout my senior year I had a large tumour growing from my throat down to my heart at a rapid speed, as I was enduring the most difficult year of college; creating my senior capstone collection, taking masters level courses, and captaining the Women’s Volleyball Team. Through immense pain I designed and it somehow helped me make it through this difficult time. After visiting multiple doctors and specialists trying to solve what was wrong, they all chalked it up to stress, and I would return to the sewing lab and release my pain and frustration through pouring into my designs. It wasn’t until after I graduated that I was officially diagnosed with Aggressive Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in the spring of 2016 and had to fight for my life.
While undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I continued to run my business consistently, showcased new collections, and had an ample amount of orders, including my first wedding dress orders. I truly believe my faith in my purpose and leaning on my passion during this difficult time is what kept me going and helped me beat cancer. Although it has not been easy running my business since the age of 15 in 2010, my passion to create has always uplifted me through my darkest times. Designing has always been the shoulder I had to lean on, the voice of my soul.
Work life balance is something that I continue to work on mastering each and every day. As a creative and an entrepreneur it can be quite difficult to evenly distribute all of the elements I have on my plate. I am an extremely detail oriented person who is also a perfectionist, which unfortunately makes it difficult, at times, for me to find the right balance and know when to step away from the sewing machine and pour into myself. For as long as I can remember I have been a workaholic, but now as a cancer survivor I do keep my health at the forefront of my mind. It is easy to work ourselves to the core when we are passionate about what we are doing, but that determination can lead us to unhealthy habits and routines without us even realising. It is clinically proven that overworking ourselves can lead to a variety of health problems, including cancer, which is why I am an advocate for self care and work life balance. Before being diagnosed with cancer I would push my mind and body to intense limits simply trying to strive towards greatness. It wasn’t until after I was diagnosed that I realised just how much that lack of mindfulness takes a toll on our bodies as I failed to function at full speed since my body was not in its best condition. Now that I am cancer free, I make it a priority to listen to my body, give her what she needs, and incorporate better healthy habits into my daily routine. When we pour into ourselves it allows us to pour into what we want with more abundance, especially our passions.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The start of bySharisse occurred due to a class project and divine intervention. In 2010, my sophomore year at Brockton High School, Brockton Massachusetts, I was assigned a non-traditional class project where we were told to present our topics in an unconventional way; so I decided to hand paint a t-shirt. Growing up I had always been a visionary who loved to create, and I was always interested in anything regarding fashion; but never in a million years did I expect that hand painted t-shirt to change my life forever. I wore that shirt to school, confident I was going to ace the class project, and ended up leaving at the end of the day with not only an A, but also a huge group t-shirt order. One of my teachers ended up hiring me to make 30 hand-painted shirts for her best friend’s bachelorette party, which were such a success that the mother of the bride hired me to make 30 more for the wait staff to wear at the wedding reception. This was the start of bySharisse. No long thought out plan, simply walking in the direction of my life’s purpose. Not too shortly after that project, my services were being booked for sports team attire, school club memorabilia, birthday parties, fundraisers, church functions, and so much more! As the custom orders rolled in I started to take notes and think about how I could best make bySharisse a full time business in the future. From making hand-painted t-shirts, sweatpants, hoodies, etc. in high school, my journey continued to college as I decided to obtain my Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design and Production at Lasell University, Newton Massachusetts. At Lasell I was able to expand my skills and learn how to construct everything from day to evening wear, womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, along with the production component of putting together fashion events. My junior year I was accepted into a high level semester abroad program at one of the best fashion schools in the world, London College of Fashion in London England. Where I had only known how to sew for a year but still managed to push myself and my skills to the top of my class, completing the semester with straight A’s. In 2016 I graduated from Lasell at the top of my class and was chosen by my department for the prestigious Book Award; an award/recognition for demonstrating the highest quality work and the student most likely to succeed in my graduating class.
Since 2010 my custom fashion design business has created 800+ hand made pieces to date, including wedding dresses. Without any prior knowledge of business before running my brand, I have been single-handedly optimising my businesses supply chain for materials and managing its finances while running day-to-day operations, including consultations, sketching, pattern drafting, fittings and sewing. I have also strategically planned, managed, marketed and executed dozens of fashion shows, collections, photoshoots, video shoots, pop-up shops, open markets, documentaries, flash mobs, and collaborations; collectively while learning how to best run my business as I excelled. In 2020 I graduated with my Master’s in Business from Howard University and founded an Entrepreneurship club/centre while I was there.
I always knew that I wanted bySharisse to withstand the test of time, so as I gathered first hand experience, I simultaneously wanted to have the educational background in my repertoire as well. Now, as I transition my brand into a full time job, I am learning about the most effective and fool proof ways to increase the ultimate success of my business. In October of 2022, I decided to take a leap of faith and expand my brand/business to Atlanta Georgia to continue growing and striving to achieve my brand’s highest potential. It took a lot of trial and error, strategic planning, and most importantly faith in myself to achieve my dreams thus far. I was meant to start my business before even knowing it was my purpose and it has all been based upon my love to create and inspire. Knowing that I wanted to provive the world with not only one of a kind designs, but a special experience to celebrate special life moments no matter the shape, size, or colour of who you are, has kept me focused and determined to succeed.
When it comes to custom orders, it is a very personalised experience. Clients work one on one with me to bring their desired garments to life. From sketches to pattern drafting to prototypes and fittings, the process is tailor-made to ensure that clients feel special as they get their one-of-a-kind pieces made. bySharisse does have ready-to-sell pieces that are sold upon availability. I am known for my attention to detail, I am very meticulous about my work. I am also known for my eye-catching prints and patterns that I source straight from Africa. In addition to creating, I am also a visionary. Not only do I create beautiful designs but I bring it all together with music, hair and makeup, accessories, and a complete visual.
The mission behind my brand is to create a positive, powerful impact in not only the communities I am a part of, but the world we live in today. Through my designs and production of my visions, I create a universe of Black Excellence that uplifts, inspires and celebrates our heritage and individuality; while bringing us all together. bySharisse is dedicated to diversity and equality, with a mission to celebrate all body shapes and sizes while encouraging confidence, individuality and equality. With everything going on in the world I am proud to be able to uplift my community, provide an unapologetic space for us to thrive, and hold our heads up high as the Kings and Queens that we are. I love to use my platform to take a stand and raise awareness to the issues that matter to me most; such as Black Lives Matter, Racial and Gender Equality, Cancer Awareness, Self Care and Celebrating Diversity in all shapes and forms. Too often society tries to turn our communities against one another and through my business I try to help bridge that gap and bring us back together as one; we are always stronger together. As a visionary, I intend to continue creating new and innovative ways to uplift our community by using powerful inspiration to create detailed oriented pieces made with love.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As I continue to create my heaven on earth in Atlanta, I am very intentional about the activities and energy I surround myself with. I believe that anything I am doing has the ability to not only inspire me design wise, but also contribute to my inner growth and personal happiness. With that being said, although I have only been living in Atlanta for a few months, I have found a few spots that I would take any of my close family or friends who come to visit me! Some of the activities I have found to be the most enjoyable and keep me coming back time and time again are Bamba Tuesday’s at Rocksteady, First Fridays at Underground Atlanta, Rum Punch Brunch, Bonfire, Deeper ATL, Your Third Spot, Reverb, Happy Hour ATL, Ponce City Market, Whiskey Mistress, Little Five Points, and any small black owned art gallery. All of these spaces are filled with high vibrations, culture, amazing creatives, good vibes, and a unique experience. 10/10 recommend. As a huge foodie I would recommend Rocksteady, Little Lagos, Roc South, ATL Breakfast Club, Sivas, Impulse Karoke and Kingston’s Caribbean Restaurant, to name a few.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to dedicate my shoutout to my mother, Pattie Rawlins, and my little brother Keith Scott-Rawlins. My mother and brother have been my biggest supporters since the start of my brand/business in 2010 and continue to be pillars to my success to this day. The two of them have wholeheartedly encouraged me through my most difficult times, helped give me the strength and confidence to continue pushing through, and celebrated me even when I have been too hard on myself. They have seen me at my best, my worst, my highest times and my lowest, and loved me unconditionally just for being me. Being uplifted by them has been one of the greatest gifts God could have given me and words will never be enough to express my gratitude. A major part of why I do what I do is for them; to make them proud, to break generational curses, and build generational wealth. I aspire to create a heaven on earth for them, for us, for my community, for my people.

Website: https://www.bysharisse.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bysharisse/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCic6AlR2IYK1I-jpBgv1Xvw

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bysharisse

Image Credits
@lifeofimagery @44shots.atl @brandenadamsphotography @kfreezyfresh @iaritzamenjivar @thorakphotography