Meet Will Michael | Apparel Designer & E-Commerce Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Will Michael and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Will, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Most people start businesses out of leisure or enthusiasm, they are passionate about a thing and have seen others gain success selling goods or services – whatever the industry might be. But the successful ones, whether the success is rather mild or overwhelming lucrative, start their business out of necessity. I chose the ladder. I worked in retail for a sneaker company starting in the stock room and ended my career running my own store before ultimately leaving the company. Having been around the streetwear culture and being so plugged into the industry I saw how I could blend my career experience with my storytelling abilities, through design, and out of necessity that led to a way for me to monetize my enthusiasm.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’d say most people when pursuing their goals, or a passion, at some point runs into adversity and feel like they aren’t supposed to be where they are or they aren’t supposed to be experiencing certain successes and even failures in life for whatever reason – lack of qualification, past mistakes, misplaced expectations, over qualification, you name it.

So, what I set out to achieve with Displaced By Design, and what I am incredibly excited about, is spreading this unified message that you may not be exactly where you thought you’d be – or want to be, but you’re still moving forward. The simplification of the message turned into our mission. To bring people together from all backgrounds with a message that reaches beyond cultural boundaries, through design, creates certain confidence we need to be whoever we want to be. With our signature statements, “I Hope You Find Peace” and “Expressing Yourself is Self Care” we are stating with intention, “live are your most authentic self, because we are. You are exactly where you need to be in life.”

Where I, and my clothing brand, are today after two years is the result of extensive work most importantly on myself, my skills, my understanding of the industry and how it operates, and trial and error. How does the cliche go? “If it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” The work is hard, there will be days you want to give up or nights you sit up comparing your experiences to others. I’m saying this having only been in this industry for two years! I had to learn the only way to see beyond what I’m going through, is to see what I’m going to(wards). There is no other way around it and I can say that I learned that the hardest way possible. Growing up certain things came easy to me, in a way, I had a misconstrued understanding of hard work because of it. Over the past two years, I learned that in every aspect of life or no matter what you want to do or be it will take everything in you and then some to place yourself in the right position to succeed every single day. Whatever success is to you, it’s out there and it’s yours if you work for it.

What I want the world to know is simple, don’t let one bad day, a bad moment, a bad experience, or a poor decision, temporary define your existence or demean where you are in life. If you’re down and out, displacement does not mean disqualification – if you’re up just know pride comes before the fall (Proverbs, 16:18) never forget your why.

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.
Where I’m currently at in life, isn’t where I’m supposed to be. While the zip code isn’t ideal the experiences have been what I’ve made them be! These days, I’m the type of person that enjoys deep conversation about any and everything or nothing. Starting my day being active is important for me. Getting out and going to the gym or for a walk helps me start the day in the right state of mind. That state of mind is, “Ok – someone or something might try you today but get yourself grounded and right with TMH because you should never lose your cool or speak out of frustration. Frustration only means a lack of understanding – success only comes from an abundance of good work. Let’s work.”

Of course, my closest friends know this! So starting the day moving helps us think and prepare our minds. Then it’s all about the experiences. Breakfast, brunch on the weekends, lunch, dinner, we will find an excuse to eat! Followed by a hoop session and after that, we will drink and be merely (that’s the PG/biblical version!) I’m a little different in the sense that I prefer rainy days and grey skies because then we’re forced to put in the effort to make the day good or great.

Laughter is the best medicine, so if my close friends are in town and there is a comedy show we will be in attendance.

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?
Of course, I wouldn’t be who I am without the support of my family and friends – one person, in particular, is my late Uncle, Walt Jordan. In fact, he took me to a screen printing shop after a lengthy conversation about my wanting to start a “storytelling” project. We sat there for hours while I talked through the inception of my clothing brand’s message and my plan to leave a mark on the fashion industry. While we didn’t print any garments that day, that night Displaced By Design was created.

Website: www.displacedbydesign.com

Instagram: @displacedbydesign

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willmhouston/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/displacedbydesign

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/iAmwilliamhouston