Behind The Rebrand: Sharing All The Details

This past month has been a doozy, in the greatest ways possible. Jordan and I have had so many deep conversations at the kitchen table after the kids go to bed at night. All of these conversations have been centered around the massive amounts of childhood healing and personal growth that he has held my hand through over the past several years. Those chats merged into deep dives into the intentions behind the brand/business and realizing just how impactful I want this brand to be in the lives of women. 

Through these conversations, a big decision was made. 

We decided to get laser focused on our vision, to move unapologetically in alignment with the calling that was placed on my heart years ago, and to rebrand Fourth Love accordingly. 

Today I want to introduce our brand, share more in depth on our vision, and chat a little about what you can expect moving forward. 

Behind The Rebrand:

Back when I was a mama of only 2 little boys, I had a dream to start a custom tee and denim brand that was mission focused on giving back to women and children. As a very young couple with 2 babies to care for starting a business wasn't something that was in the cards for us during that season. I started a fashion and home blog to fill my time and help make some income that I could use to help launch the brand I had excitedly decided to name, PHNX (Phoenix). A lot of life has taken place since that moment, but I am so grateful to my husband for spending many late nights over the past month to help bring about many "ah-ha!" moments and lots of clarity. 

THE MISSION 

Years ago, while on a coffee date with Jordan, we were both sharing our dreams and aspirations with each other. I divulged my vision for the brand I wished to build along with the mission behind starting it. To give back to women and children who had been victims of abuse, exploitation, and trafficking.

This mission is personal for me, I come from a line of strong women who survived generational abuse. I have seen first hand the pain this abuse has caused in the lives of the women I love. I have seen how the scars of abuse do not heal on their own and can easily lead to adding the scars of addiction, damaged self worth, anxiety and depression to the mix.

I have found that surviving the abuse tends to be the easier part, but learning to live with the darkness that is now invading every aspect of who you are tends to be a life long journey. Learning to recognize self-destructive tendencies, addressing low self esteem, finding the courage to speak up, seeking out help for anxiety and depression, are just some of the obstacles survivors face when rebuilding their lives post abuse. PHNX will be a brand that champions these women and children through their journey to healing by donating to organizations that provide safe haven, therapy, and life support for survivors.

WHY THE NAME CHANGE?

This name is one that I had settled on years ago, and still to this day seems so fitting with the mission. If you are a Harry Potter fan like I am you probably remember the scene where the phoenix catches on fire in Dumbledore's office and is then reborn. Harry freaks out thinking he somehow caused it and Dumbledore calms him by explaining that this is the life cycle of a phoenix and the it had "been looking dreadful for days." Years ago, this scene had me googling to learn more on this mystical creature (obviously knowing it was not real but wanting to learn more about its fictional existence). I'll spare you all the details, but seeing how something so beautiful can be reborn from literal ash resonates deeply with me. Abuse, trafficking, and exploitation leave women and children in ruin. Having to rebuild and heal in ways no human being should ever have to. It is from this connection to the beauty from ashes that the name PHNX (Phoenix) came about.

MOVING FORWARD

In order to build intentionally, we are scaling back to only graphic tees for the time being. All of our designs are our own which is allowing us lots of creative freedom! We took several weeks to source the right tees to use and settled on a truly amazing tee that aligns with our values. Our tees are made with USA grown cotton and manufactured in Los Angeles, CA. Garmet workers make anywhere from $21-35/hr and are given the ability to earn bonuses and receive paid time off. We are proud to be a small business that does not support sweat shops, child labor, unfair pair, and unsafe work environments that are far too common in this industry.

We look forward to sharing more behind the scenes of building PHNX and to wrapping up 2022 with intention and impact.