From Severance To Seven Figures With Maxie J

What does it really take to turn a $10,000 severance and a suitcase of faith into a thriving fashion house? We sit down with designer and pastor’s kid, Maxie J, to trace the real road: childhood in church benches, early wins in style, a corporate layoff, and a launch that proved demand fast—but not profit. Maxie gets honest about the season that nearly broke her: doubling overhead on Melrose, halving sales, and working herself sick while the register stayed quiet. Then she shares the pivot that changed everything—ditching “pretty but pricey” habits, mastering margins, and taking a risky flight to Istanbul to partner with a struggling manufacturer who needed her as much as she needed him.

From a living-room warehouse and walks to the post office to a 2020 relaunch that out-earned her best years in months, Maxie lays out a blueprint for creative entrepreneurs who want staying power. We talk quality without waste, lean inventory, and why factory diversification across Turkey, China, and Pakistan is operational insurance, not overkill. She explains the difference between passion and gift, how to build a brand that refuses sameness in a saturated market, and why customer community—not celebrity cosigns—creates durable revenue. Still, those full-circle moments matter: Sarah Jakes Roberts in a signature suit, a ten-year runway show that felt like calling confirmed, and a $10,000 day that arrived after she gave her last $95.

Maxie also opens the doors to SheCom Club, her mentorship for women in e-commerce built on real strategy instead of fluff—unit economics, sourcing, launch cadence, and marketing that moves product while protecting brand equity. The throughline is unmistakable: start imperfectly, learn in public, guard your margins, and refuse to quit. If you’re scaling a fashion brand, launching a DTC shop, or just need proof that faith plus execution can rewrite a life, this conversation is your map and your push.

If this story moved you, tap follow, share it with a builder who needs courage today, and leave a review so more creators can find us. Your words help the next founder keep going.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Let

Meet Maxie J, Faith-Fueled Mogul

SPEAKER_00 0:10

me think. How do I want to start this off? Today's episode is going to be iconic. Why? Do you ask? Because we have an icon on the show today. We have an LA native, which is already iconic with so many transplants. We have a mogul. She is a business one man. And she is beauty personified. She is that girl. She's one of one. And I cannot wait for us to dive in. Y'all make some noise for the beautiful Miss Maxie J. Maxie J. Hi, Z. Hey girl. Hey.

SPEAKER_01 1:00

Hi. Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Thank you for coming on. Of course. We're so honored to have you on the PK Pod. So most people think that the PK Pod is just for PKs, but it's for our PKs, our CKs, which are our church kids. And for all people of faith, because we all have platforms, but they may not be the pulpit.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 1:18

So we like to highlight extraordinary individuals from different backgrounds and industries to encourage our listeners that we can all be who we are. God created us to be if we just tap in. Absolutely. So we're gonna tap into your story and your journey and just find out more about how we got to this mogul that I'm looking at right now. Um and all of the things. So childhood, like, did we literally did we grow up in church? Was church a part of our childhood foundation, or is that something that you discovered along the way?

Growing Up PK And Owning Her Faith

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Well, I actually am a PK. My dad is a pastor. Yeah, he's retired now. He's almost 80 at this point. But yeah, he owned churches my entire life. So yes, I grew up in the church. Okay. And um he was a pastor for 35 years. So, you know, it's like I always say my dad reminds me of um TD Jakes. When I listen to TD Jakes preach, he reminds me of my father so much. In my father's perfect world, I'll be another Sarah Jakes, I'll be out here, you know, preaching too, but I just decided to do fashion for a living. However, I still like I tell my journey and I always lead with my faith first because I really do believe that no matter how qualified and talented you may be, if God cannot trust you with the love of success you're working so hard for, then it just will not happen for you. I truly believe that. And even me, you know, growing up in church, it's like, you know, I still was a young adult becoming and growing into myself. And I've always, always, always kept God at the forefront. But when I started experiencing trial and tribulation, that thing brought me like this to God. I'm like, I was like this to God, but like that. Then it was bestie God. Exactly. God became that bestie and not just something that I knew that I had to, you know, that I was raised to acknowledge and praise. But it's like I started to really, really build my own relationship with God when I got into entrepreneurship. But like as a child, like I've always been into fashion. I've been winning best dress since I was in junior high school. Wow. Yeah, and most popular, unfortunately, since junior high school as well. Well, fortunately and unfortunately, it has its pros and its cons. But um, I just I've always, always been that faith girl because my mommy also is Christian and my dad was a PK. So my mom used to, they they've been divorced since I was seven, so they were married at a point. So she was a pastor's wife at a point.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Um, but they she still always stayed in her faith as well, even once they uh divorced. So no matter whose household I was at for the weekend or the week, I was always in the church. And even as I grew up as an adult and was able to choose my own faith walk, I still always just chose to stay close to God. I feel like if if there was like why question it? I always say that. Like, if it's been working for me all my life, I'm not gonna go look up nothing, research, not in who wrote the Bible originally, that listen, it's been working for me just fine all this time. Hello, why? I am not even interested in all I'm not even interested in anything else. Like, I know God is real. He's worked too many miracles in my life for it not to be. It's impossible. Like it's impossible for him not to be. So yeah, God has always been at the forefront, even since a child. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Okay, so you and bestie God.

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Yeah, we bet we we are best. What I'm talking about locked in, we are locked in.

SPEAKER_00 4:40

We all locked in since childhood era. Yes. You went in best dress, you went in Miss Popular. So when did you know, like, okay, me and fashion, we go together?

Gift vs Passion: Choosing Fashion

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Oh, real bad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

So I my first initial passion was dance. I was in modern jazz, hip-hop, tap, all the things as a child. And I just knew I was gonna be the next Debbie Allen, baby. You cannot tell me I was gonna be that next, you cannot tell me I was gonna be the next baby Debbie Allen. And as I got older, I was, I'll never forget, I was sitting at my desk. I was working at 905. I worked for uh eBay. I worked for Rent.com, who was they was owned by eBay at the time. Rent.com was an apartment finding website in the building department. And I worked there for six years. Wow. I didn't stop working there until I was about 27. I've always been having a job since I was 17. So I've always had this ambitions and this hustle since I was young. And I remember sitting there and I watched a YouTube of uh Steve Harvey, and he talked about the difference between being gifted and passionate about something. Being gifted at something versus being passionate about something. And that short clip hit me like a ton of bricks. When he describes being gifted at something, he's like, your gift is the thing that you do with the least amount of effort to your best ability, and you're still exceptional at it. That's your gift. And then there's things that you are passionate about, but it doesn't always mean that you are amazing at that thing just because you like it a lot, right? And I have been training since seven, since I was seven years old. And I could still to this day only do two fortees and not three. And I was training all the years. And then people was cutting me up on them all dishes. I'm just like, okay, so I plie, plie. Like I must try over and over again, baby. And it was still two turns every time. And I'm like, but then when it came to fashion, I'm like, my friends have been asking me to revamp their dresses and their outfits. I was turning jackets into dresses and t-shirts into dresses and like cutting. I don't know if you remember back in your mind. I don't know this before your time, but back in the day, it used to be a party called the t-shirt, the white tea party. Y'all remember that? Yep, in my t-shirt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I used to turn t-shirts into all kinds of things dresses, two-piece, a top, a crop top with a skirt, a skirt with a slit. I mean, the t-shirt was t-shirting, okay? And I was literally always designing outfits for my friends to look different and to stand out at a white tea party because everybody's wearing white t-shirts. I'm like, well, what can we do to look different? We would take men's t-shirts and I would just cut them up and make all kinds of outfits out of them. And that used to come so easy to me. Like that was like, that was not even something I even had to think that hard about. And I was always really, really, really good at it. And all my friends, every time they were get dressed and everything, they would always call me for my advice on like what to wear, what should they put with this, and da-da-da. So when he was, when I was listening to this message, I'm literally like thinking about the things that I'm actually really good at versus the things that I just happen to really, really like. And I'm like, I think I'm a good dancer, but like, can I outdance Beyonce? It's not given. Let me have that real conversation with myself. Okay, got it. So that's the thing I'm actually passionate about, not necessarily gifted. And then the other thing that I actually really liked was actually my gift. That was a thing that I can do really, really well, even with bare minimum effort. So that's how I realized, like, oh, fashion, that's my thing.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

That's your jam.

SPEAKER_01 8:09

Yeah, that's my jam.

SPEAKER_00 8:10

And then came LA Liskay. Like, how like the origin story. Like, yeah, when did you know, you know what? No, this is a brand.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:19

This is a moment. Like, we got to tap in.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

Absolutely. So I would style my friends and stuff all the time. And I will always be in the malls, like, it's so whack in here. It's like, this is what these people think. Like, I just wish that this was like that, and then that was like this. This would have been really cute if this was like that. And I will always have that epiphany when I would be out trying to help my friends style them for events and stuff like that. And I was just like, I wish I could make my own clothes. And then God, because I hate when people say something told me it wasn't something. It wasn't something. Yes, it wasn't something. Like, what is something? Who is something?

SPEAKER_02 8:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:51

God told me, like, you can make your own clothes. And it literally was like a light switch went off. And I'm like, hmm.

Layoff, Severance, And First Launch

SPEAKER_01 8:58

I literally Google how to start a clothing line on my phone. Like, literally. And not even two weeks later, I was getting laid off by my job. Wow. And I was getting, I was there for six years. I was getting a severance of $10,000. And I had a choice to either put that in a savings account, go get another job, or invest that into a clothing line and just sign up for unemployment. And I'm like, I'm going to invest into my clothing line. My mom's like, yeah, no, you need to go get a job and do that and do that on the side. I'm like, no, I think I want to do this like full time. And um, I actually did not qualify for unemployment because of my uh severance. So I literally just really had to believe that God was gonna meet my efforts because I'm about to bet my whole little coin on this journey. And literally, I'm like, I had a I had a little bit of savings though. You know, I did have a savings that I was able to live off of for a couple months. And it took me a couple, it took me three months to launch the business. And from month one, I made $5,000, which was more than I made in a month at my job ever. And I worked there for six years. So I'm like, Month one, five five thousand. Mm-hmm. Yeah, my first year of business, I did 250,000 in sales. My first year. Now I was broke now. I only had $500 in the account, but that doesn't mean that the that it didn't work. So it didn't mean I wasn't on to something. And that's what my mother said, which was interesting. My mom had taken me to get my taxes done for my first year. And we were, she was drinking coffee, I was drinking some tea, and the man was like, he's doing the numbers. He caught he clicking and clacking. He was like, Okay, Maxie, well, looks like you brought in about 250K this year. And my mom said, but she spit her coffee up. She said, Who, who made 250? I said, Who made 250k? I got $500. The math is not mad. The math is not math, this sweetie. And then and God rest his soul because he passed away. But he literally was like, Well, Maxi, at least you know you have something that works. Now you need to figure out how to make it profitable. And even my mom, who was the person that was discouraging me at first, I was like, Wow, Max, I'm proud of you. You have something that works. Now you have to figure out how to make it profitable. And I was like, wow.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Do you feel like that's the biggest thing that most business owners struggle with? Is going from what works to making it profitable?

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yes. Or I think that the in the in the beginning, as a creative, you're so caught up in the creative part that you don't understand how important the business part of it is. And that was my hurdle. That I'm like, I have to use the best of this, and I have to use this, and I have to use that. And it's like I'm still that way, but I'm still very cautious of my margins. So it's like, I won't even put out the dress if it's gonna cost me too much to make it because it has to be profitable. But back when I first was started, I didn't care how much it cost me. Even if I take a cut on my margin, I'm putting it out because it's beautiful and it's amazing, and it was made with real silk and it has feathers. You know what I'm saying? It's like it's like, okay, girl, well, there's other kinds of silks out there that's not as expensive, you know, just ways to make sure that you still are putting out quality, but watching your margins, and I just didn't know how to do that in the beginning.

SPEAKER_00 12:04

Wow. Oh, but you mastered it now. I mastered it now. Because we then went from six figures to seven to eight to beyond. And 10 years and counting still. Yeah. Like, Max, are you killing it? Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 12:19

No, like, thank you. Thank you. We're not seven figures. We're working towards eight. That's where we got to be working, we got working on that. But we got figures in Jesus' name. Amen. All 2026 because that's the goal. So thank you, sis. Thanks for speaking.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Like, honestly, this is amazing. Thank you.

Revenue Without Profit And Margins 101

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Thank you. I think one of the things that I really love about your brand is like I can go there and find something that don't nobody got.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Absolutely. And I pride myself on that. So thank you for also saying that.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

No, for real. Like, not a lot of brands want to be unique or different.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Yeah, yeah. They're scared, which I understand because sometimes when you step out too far, it's ahead of people's comprehension of where fashion is going. Yeah. And you can possibly not sell it. You know what I'm saying? So you try to play it safe where it's like, I need to put out what I know people are going to buy. Yeah. And then, but then, like, you know, that now puts you in the same lane as all your competitors. And then when you're in a industry like mine that's very saturated, you gotta be okay with gambling a little bit and putting out things that maybe might not be the most popular. Yeah. But the girls will get it. The girls who get it gets it.

SPEAKER_00 13:35

It's a reward in taking the risk.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

Absolutely. It's definitely a reward in taking the risk.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

It's literally a reward.

SPEAKER_01 13:41

That's how about the marketing? You know, you might be stepping out on the edge, but if you market it right, the girls will catch you.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

Yeah, for sure. So you had a storefront. Yes. And then I had two of them. You had two storefronts. One on Melrose. They were both on Merrill's. We're literally prime real estate. Yeah. Like, if okay, so if you're not from LA, let me just school you. If you ever have a store on Melrose, you are literally that girl. You made it. You made it literally like that. Is like the Madison Square Garden. Yeah. For LA business owners. Yeah. You had two storefronts on Melrose.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

They whipped my butt too.

unknown 14:23

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Girl, they whipped my tail. That's probably the most. That's probably the most, like, I would say the hardest season of my business was really when I had those stories.

SPEAKER_00 14:35

What made it challenging?

SPEAKER_01 14:37

Well, my first one did amazing. And it was much smaller. Okay. And it did really good. And that's what made me open up the second one. That was only up the street because we were, we were falling out of the store because we were selling so fast and replenishing so fast that the store was starting to look too crowded and it wasn't looking like a store anymore. It's now looking like uh storage. That's what it was starting to give. And I was like, I need space and I need it quickly. Um, my first year there was amazing. I went up the street, only like four blocks up the street, and it was still on Merrills, and it was huge. It was three times the size, double the overhead. And I'm like, I'm taking it. I need the space. I know I'm gonna be able to make the money. God please me, my efforts like you've been doing all my career. We're gonna get this, we're gonna do this. Yeah. And I get down there and it is crooked. So the the foot traffic on that end of Merrills was very slow, much slower than my first store. I was not experienced. I was only three years in the business when I did do that expansion. And I did not know in retail how important your surroundings are and like who your neighbors are, and if you guys can piggyback off each other's foot traffic and all the things, I didn't even know to look into that. I was looking at the store size. And I literally dumped my entire savings into that store. I believe I spent like $150,000 on that store, and it was beautiful. It looked like a Nordstrom's in that thing. And I was very proud of it. And it was also like my biggest mistake that I made in my business. I expanded too quickly. So I didn't realize how important it was that like sometimes your business might go through a season, and that doesn't necessarily mean that's your new norm. And you gotta give it more than just a year to know that that's your new norm or not. Um, and I didn't do that. I actually, I actually didn't even give it a full year. It took me three months to open up the store. So I really went in like eight, nine months. You know, say eight months is when I started to expand. I didn't even give it a full year, child. I was like, oh, gotta go. We we falling out of here. This is to go up the street now with the with the with all the things that don't complement the comp the business. Yeah, that's where I went. So um

Risking Originality In A Saturated Market

SPEAKER_01 16:45

I went there, I opened it, and I went from being able to like, you know, have a team, a small team. I had two people, two employees working for me at my last store, to just me working by myself. I was doing everything, shopping for the store, the customer service, the helping the customers try it on, checking the customers out. And mind you, the store was like 3,000 square feet. So every time I was in the back of that store helping a customer try on, I just knew I was getting robbed blind. I just knew it. I'm like, I don't got nobody, I don't got nobody up there watching the store child. It is stressful. And the sales had dropped drastically in half, and my overhead was double. So I was literally only, I was making 22k a month, but my overhead was 25,000 a month. So every month I was in the red. Every month I was in the red. And I was just like, it had got so bad that I had, I was working myself to death, literally. Like I was, I'm like getting emotional because that was crazy season. I was working so hard, I was like losing mad weight. I could not even afford to like eat. I was choosing like inventory over like food. Yeah, I was busting my little tail child to where I was like putting myself in a hospital and everything. And at that point, I was like, okay, I have to make a choice. I either can walk away from this and try again, or I can keep working myself to death, and then I probably won't be able to be here to do what I want to do for my family. Because my whole reason why I wanted to be successful was to retire my parents. That was my entire reason. Like, yes, I love nice things and all the things, but my initial goal was to take my mom away from that paralegal job and to assist my dad. My dad is um, he was already retired, um, but he was in the army, so he was getting very minimal like money to where he had to move all the way to the Philippines to be able to afford to have a decent life. Wow. I was like, I have to help him. I have to retire my mom. Like she hates it at her job. Like that was my goal. So I'm like, I have to try again. And but

Melrose Stores: Expansion And Hard Lessons

SPEAKER_01 18:50

I was really scared to walk away from it because I invested so much. Yeah. And I really didn't have to see how I was going to shake it back because I ain't had no money no more. So I was like, God, this is where I really need you to show up now. Uh Bestie God. Ring, ring, ring.

SPEAKER_03 19:08

Hello, hi.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

It's me.

SPEAKER_00 19:10

It's Shigaria.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Literally. And my father, oh my God, he was like my man. He was my knight in shine in the armor. He would always, always motivate me through my hardships and remind me that God has never taken his hands off of my off of my life. And my dad would say, Maxie, I don't care how hard it is, you better sit Indian style in the middle of that floor and somebody better drag you out of there before you give up. Like, just don't give up. He always used to tell me that his biggest regret was giving up on his churches and not trying again when he lost him. So he's like, if I could have done anything differently, I would have tried again and again and again until I got it right. And I'm like, okay, dad. And that's literally what happened. I was in the middle.

SPEAKER_00 19:56

That's a word, because I'm over here like, that's a lot of things.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

All of it is hard, you know. Like being broke is hard. You know, having money is hard. If everything's hard, you might as well choose the one that makes, you know, at least you can go to spa when you have a bad day or you know, go on a little shopping spirit, a little once a little caviar. A little caviar, a little chicken or something. When when things are hello. Because all of it is hard. All of it's hard. You know what I mean? And so that's that's pretty much that's that's what happened. So I did end up losing the store. Yeah. That was in 2019. And I moved all my dresses to my living room in my house. And I turned my car in and I was walking, literally taking my packages that I was still being able to sell online. I was walking them to the nearest post office. I didn't have no car. And I was just like, uh I really, really need you to meet me somewhere as I am discouraged and I am worn out and I am whooped, but I'm determined. Like I'm not, I was like, my dad told me not to give up, so I'm not giving up. So literally, eventually, uh, one of my manufacturers that I was working with, um, I literally had all of two weeks to figure this thing out. I said, ooh, I them them bills are still the same, baby. You know what I'm saying? The bills still there, huh?

SPEAKER_00 21:13

Then we find out Sally may calling you just like she calling me. Because what is happening?

unknown 21:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 21:20

I said, Listen, I was talking to one of my manufacturers that lived in Turkey Instable, and I was like, I have two weeks to design a collection, flip it, and sell it because my bills are due and I don't have any other way to make money. This is all I know. Wow. And um, he was like, okay. I was like, well, matter of fact, I'm gonna just come there. And mind you, I had all the $5,000 in my bank account. My bills are over $20,000. So I'm like, I'm literally taking my last to go down here and make some shit. I don't even know what I'm about to do when I get back. I don't even have enough money to even give you, man, sir. I'm like, I don't even got the money to give you for the collection paper, but we're coming down here and got. gonna help us figure it out. Like used my charismatic personality, Betty's lashes or something. Got to shake. So I look like how long I paid you like two weeks or no. Like I was just okay. I was just trying to see. So it was like lived through that's what I did. I took what I had and I was a firm believer that if I just take what I have, God with me my efforts. And I took what I had and I flew my butt down there. He caught me so sitting between five different people back hurting and all of that on a 12 hour flight away stayed at a hotel nothing fancy and I designed a collection. We made samples I had definitely had enough money for samples. And when

Hitting Bottom And Choosing To Try Again

SPEAKER_01 22:40

he came to bring me my last round of samples he himself looked a little whooped like his little hair you know because he wore his hair a little swooping that I was like hanging off and he was wearing shoes was wearing everything. I was like did you run here? You know are you okay? And he still to this day cannot lie. He's Muslim and he's just like I must tell you the truth I'm losing everything. I say you two sit down child little tall let's figure it out baby okay so he's telling me his thing I'm telling him mine. I was like well let's partner I'm like I know there's a demand for manufacturers that are trusted that you can trust and you that are a lower cost because you know at first I was manufacturing in the States and it was very expensive to do. One of the things that I did to make to widen my margins was start to manufacture overseas. And I was just taking my chances on people. Most people are scared to do that. You don't know what's where your money is going all the things I just took my chances on this man. He had all the 30 followers on Instagram I said I was like well FaceTime let me see a factory. As long as I see a factory we're gonna do some business and that's what happened and literally he's like okay well partner I was like okay cool we literally just shook on him. So I said I paused my business and I had him take me down to his factory I marketed to my audience that I can help you start a brand and since I'm trusted and people know I'm not gonna well people know I'm a standard person. Like I do right by people I don't play around with people's money. In one week I made $50,000 and started with 10 clients 10 clients starting small collections and we did that for a couple months I saved my money up I stopped manufacturing other brands and I relaunched LA Les Gate in 2020 yeah in September of 2020 I relaunched the brand and from September to December I made $4000 which was double than what I have ever made in a whole year.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

And ever since then we just been up and up and now we're making $300,000 a month what in the Lady Gaga what in the lady gaga Maxie there was so many gems in that like you're going all the way to your manufacturer thinking like okay this is I need your help when in all actuality he needed your help.

SPEAKER_01 24:57

Yeah and we helped each other it was really we started out with five employees and then we grew it to like 30.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

That's how you know it's God ordained. Yeah like he'll literally put you in a position of where you are being a blessing to somebody and you don't even realize it in your time of need.

SPEAKER_01 25:15

Exactly and oh and and baby me and that one has been through it that's been a journey all by itself and that's that's a story for another time because I've been bored y'all with all the with all the stuff that's happened with that. But that was tough too you know it was a lot of language barriers that was happening misunderstandings trust issues I didn't trust him at time he didn't trust me at time we didn't have no contract we literally just trying you know what I'm saying like like we didn't have no options but each other and it's and that was in 20 yeah that was in what 2019 is when we met and we still working together to this day. Now our work relationship has fluctuated you know over the years over like like two years ago we had stopped working together I walked away from the factory because it was just too much drama we started working together about a year ago and it's been I'm a little bit more healthier you know what I mean but I no longer have all my eggs in one basket too I've also learned that you know um with that situation that like just in case you and a business partner or somebody that you are hiring to run your fact manufacturing

Istanbul Bet: Partnering With A Manufacturer

SPEAKER_01 26:20

facility um if it doesn't work out or if it's not going your way you need to be able to have a plan B, C's, and D's and I only had a plan A. So I um had to take some losses with that too when I decided to walk away from that and I wanted my peace more than the business and I it took me several months to get other manufacturers to work with me at the capacity that I was used to operating at with my own factory. He went through some things, lost some things and he ended up coming back like you know what I feel like the devil came between us a couple years ago and I really want to try at this again I and he apologized and I gave him another chance but this time he's not my only you know manufacturing facility I I work with several. It's the only one that I own myself but I actually work with several just in case for several reasons not even just if business doesn't go my way but Turkey has holidays when China doesn't and Pakistan has holidays when Turkey doesn't and so on and so on. So I can always be able to operate no matter who's on holiday and who's not and yeah so that situation taught me that as well. And that's why she's the mogul boss that she is because didn't nobody think about that but you messy said how do we get the money to flow 365 with no delays right yeah yeah yeah let me diversify we love it we love that for you and so you just had your 10 year anniversary this major fashion show which everybody wanted to be there all the who's who's were there I mean you had the Combs twins in the Ellie Lisquet and they looked like little young ladies oh yeah they're grown grown I remember when I first my best friend Simone is like family to them and that was who um connected me to them to for them to walk in my show and I was like yeah can you get the girls to walk in my show I think they would do amazing if they opened up for me and she's like yeah I was like let me make let me design something that's you know classy and cutesy and very appropriate she said girl them girls is grown you know what you're talking about I was like oh yeah I don't know why I was looking at them like they were babies I need to put a little bow in their hair and stuff and they ate down ate it down ate it down oh my God like how did it feel just knowing like you went through all of the things that you went through over 10 years and now to have literally this dream fashion show where people are literally coming to celebrate who you are and the importance of your business and your baby. Yeah it's an overwhelming feeling like I was backstage like when I was watching the girls like walk and I'm seeing the people I'm peeking through the thing I'm seeing the people's like reactions I had a promo video that played that like where I did like a recap of my story like in a nutshell uh talked about my 10 year my 10 years in business like a a debrief of it you know not too like detailed but I hit you know certain nails that was my my my biggest milestones in my business and like just watching it and watching people's reactions to it and like the crowd just looked so inspired and I'm like yeah God that's what you put me on this herb to do. Wow that's what you put me on this earth to do like and that's one of the reasons why I'm so transparent about my journey I've always been that way that's just why I don't mind doing things like this. Like I really do feel like God uses me as an example. And I remember being like God I don't want to be your strongest soldier no more take me off the list please I then got whoops anybody else want to be God's strongest soldier today?

SPEAKER_00 30:03

I'm truth is I'm tired. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

And honestly I'm like

Rebuild To Breakthrough: 2020 Relaunch

SPEAKER_01 30:10

the the the DMs that I get from people when I would talk about my journey and I would say what I've been through and it's like I never want people to think that I just went to sleep and woke up and was just successful and rich and making multiple six figures in a month like oh you know overnight or something like no no no no no no no I lost a lot of stuff while I was building this business and I sacrificed I literally just did not stop. That's the only thing that I did differently I just did not kept going stop. Yeah and I always feel like you know I don't know one successful person that hasn't faced trials and tribulations.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

You know what I mean? And it's like the only difference that decipher the successful from the not is that the successful people just didn't stop. It's not that we did anything special or God loves us more. Absolutely not yeah God loves us all the same and we just we just didn't stop. You know what I'm saying like that's literally the only like that's the that's the the that's the the the magic potion is like not stopping and and let and letting God meet your efforts. Because I think a lot of people allow themselves their current situations to stop them from the pursuit because you're looking at what you have and what you think you need to get to where you're going. If I knew it was going to take all this I just told you guys I started with the $10,000. But you know what a website is $5K the logo is a thousand and we ain't even got to the samples and the pattern like that 10 piece was gone early way early in the career and I still God just kept meeting my efforts. I'm things that I just didn't even know all of a sudden the IRS I'm getting a back pay something I didn't even know that was coming next to you know it's another $3,000 here. Oh you overpaid in your taxes I did okay that's another $3,000 that goes into that you know it's I'll never forget another time when I was losing my stores I was like I had made $500 that day and I had to make about $900 a day just to pay the rent in that store. So it was one day that I made $500 and I already my account was already negative. So when it when it deposited it aided up and I only had a $100 I said you know what with my $100 I'm going to Starbucks across the street to go get me a hot chocolate and I'm walking to Bible study up the street from my store with my now you know $95 and I need to go I need to hear a word because at this point I need a miracle. And I remember hearing the word feeling moved that I gave my whole $95 to the church. Wow and I said God I just I need a miracle at this point I did all I can to flesh like I just don't even know what to do. And I'm just bawling crying I'm like at the pulpit like crying on my knees I get up I go to work the next day same old same old store is slow it's molasses I'm like about to close it's like 10 minutes before closing

Diversifying Factories And Operations

SPEAKER_01 33:05

and this woman just comes in with her man. She's like please please please please don't I I traveled here with no suitcase on my new booth like I need some clothes I'm like okay come on in she bought $10,000 worth of stuff no very next day I can nobody cannot when I say nobody cannot tell me that wasn't God I was that was my first time making $10,000 in a day that was my first time I was like I'm like yeah I'm I'm like I'm like literally I'm showing her all kinds of stuff I'm like girl you need this you need that you need that but I'm like genuinely like dressing her like according to her personal style she showed me her Instagram and I'm just like oh you're gonna eat in this you're gonna eat in that like my talent really showed through at that time and she she don't even know like we still follow each other on Instagram to this day she don't even know how she's say to me financially around that time like I'm like I needed that cash injection at that time I mean I still ended up losing the store after that but that carried me over to the next month that gave me another month to figure to figure it out that was God literally showing you like his way of sustaining you. A hundred percent I'm like that's why I just what research what figure out what for what what are y'all talking about is real okay I don't care what a life say that's the post that is really that's the post God has showed up for me too many times in too many ways when it was beyond like what I can do for myself. Yeah there's just no way that like it was just beyond like I couldn't even give myself that credit so I want it was something you said early on about your father his teaching style reminds you of Bishop TJ I remember this was recently um Sarah wore one of your suits she did I was like wait hold on let me pause and I'm not a fangirl over many people baby but I let me find out that Sarah knows up that you know about the LA Liskey honey I said what I have to ask you knowing being the PK girl that you are Sarah Jace has entered the chat like what do we do like oh my lady gaga like what she is in LA Liskey and I have more and I have had so many celebrities wearing my brand that I was grateful like thank you when I saw her I was like she has no clue how much her sermons and her father's sermons got me through entrepreneurship. It was so much of a moment for me that I had my team draft an email campaign to my whole entire community of over 150,000 subscribers to tell them people how a fangirl damn I am that Sarah has worn my stuff. Now I know we didn't have some celebrities and that stuff but this this yeah it's just it was a full circle moment for me because there were

Ten-Year Show And Calling To Inspire

SPEAKER_01 36:08

so many different sermons that her husband and TDJs have preached that gotten me through one of some of the hardest times of my career. So to see her wear my designs I was floored I could not believe my eyes I know you will be Jay Bolin is her style that's my boy I was like thank you for thinking of me I'm so grateful. That's literally that was a moment that was that was a moment that that was like and you know what's so crazy is that like being from LA you already know we're not impressed with the celebrity thing because we grew up around it. I tell people that all the time I'm like the implants got y'all confused okay because people from here we are not phony we're raised to be very real and authentic know that word weirdo? Yeah that's what we say when you're not being authentic and genuine. That's what I like because we think that's weird when you're not doing you're not being yourself. Or when you're not being authentic. Like it's the implants that come out here with the vendetta of like I want to get ahead in life I don't care who I got a cutthroat whatever I gotta do to get there and then they're meeting each other and now now LA is Hollywood. Yeah it's really not how we are it's not how we were raised either you know and so I really I'll be happy when celebrities wear my stuff I've never like fangirled out about it. I feel like my customers are the people that that have changed my life those are the people that's buying for me you know 100% celebrities aren't the ones that's like buying you know it's the it's the people that's coming back for their birthdays and their monumental moments and referring their friends like that's what changed the conjecture of my family's life. That's how I'm able to retire my mom and take care of my dad you know so like I'm grateful for it but it's just not what changed my life but that lady where that lady wearing it I almost felt I mean you would have thought Beyonce or Kim K or something like that's how I looked at that like that's literally how I looked at that and I was so happy like I was in tears I ain't gonna lie you did your big one yeah I was in tears honestly I was so happy that Jay Bolin like literally I was like thank you Jay and number two I'm like Sarah's the perfect girl for this perfect girl like literally I'm like this is a suit that she literally embodies yeah so that was the perfect like olive suit right the hair was laid down the hair color everything I'm everything was good. It did what it was supposed to do. It did what it was supposed to do. Right I mean I always tell her too I'll be DMing her when she'd be on on camera I'm like I'm trying to listen to the word but the hair is doing what it's supposed to do it's doing what it's supposed to do the look is looking maybe the boot is booting. I said let me rewind it because I didn't miss the word I didn't even miss what was said because I'm just like yes okay so let me ask you this dream world if you could design something for Sarah to wear at the Met Gala Yeah oh my God like what would that look like oh my God I don't even know I would need to do some thorough deep research to get my inspiration because I would definitely wanted to give business baddie gown gala all in one like I would want it to give some type of like blazer coat gown something you know what I'm saying like it needs to be all in like one it can't just be a blazer it can't just be a gown.

SPEAKER_00 39:33

It gotta be like a blazer gown thing like yes I love that like I I feel like that'll happen. I really do I feel like she's she's the type of woman that would definitely deserve to be in that type of room number one. Yeah and I feel like she will need a statement piece that only you can design to put her in that room yeah I feel like that would be the perfect just like yeah it's like God you just keep on yeah you just keep on keeping so yeah we are putting that one out there thank you in advance med committee call me of the corresponding we absolutely love it so we

Faith Stories: Provision And $10K Day

SPEAKER_00 40:15

have to talk about she comm club because you've dropped so many nuggets and shared transparent transparently about some of the obstacles you face obviously there's so many like you said the industry is saturated yeah there's so many e-commerce business owners people that feel inspired they want to start but they're overwhelmed by technology tell us more about SheCom Club you know when I first started my business um I had a few friends that was already in the industry and I remember just reaching out to one and I'm like you know what's the difference between like an LLC and like a DBA like I was starting from there right and I was just like oh I don't know I don't remember my accountant did it or I don't know you know it was it was always just like didn't want to really throw a bomb and uh that friend does not have that brand anymore and my brand ended up surpassing and I'm like you know we cannot gatekeep that's not what God put us on his earth to do you know what I mean it's enough money for us all to get and I'm like I bowed to myself like there's two there's two things that really really really motivated me to start a SheCon Club one was that that I wanted to be a resource for people to get real information honest information that was not gatekeeping that I'm not worried about you coming to take my spot or anything like that.

SPEAKER_01 41:38

I do feel like God blesses us to bless other people and I want to be the vessel that people can trust to get honest real information from. There's a lot of people out here already selling courses but they're selling you fluff smoke and mirrors stuff that's Google searchable not real strategy real experience and that is I that's one of the reasons why I really want to start She Kong Club and the second reason was that when I was struggling building my business um I told God that if he trusted me with success that my success will make room for others to win. And I'm keeping my word with that so I want to start my community She Kong Club a women's e-commerce no matter the product whether you are selling hair skincare clothes doesn't matter if you have a physical product that you sell online my strategy works. And so that is why I want to start it and I want to be able to give people the game I'm not worried about I actually want them to exceed me if they can like why not like that I would feel so blessed honestly like I would feel so blessed. Like like wow you actually didn't have to choose fabric over food and walk to to the post office every day and lose your weight and going to to the hospital you actually didn't have to go my route yeah I feel blessed to be able to be that vessel with somebody and that's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

Yeah like like you said so many people want to gatekeep nowadays and it's like child life too hard to be tell me tell me where I can get the good bundles because I'm tired I'm spending my money on the synthetic fibers. Like just is it good hair or not?

SPEAKER_01 43:13

But just pass it on like come on yeah I'm the same I'm a real real girls girl like a true one like a true girls girl like I was just in the elevator the other day and I had my nails were red at the time and there was a young lady and she's like I just love your nail card I'm like oh I get it off Amazon I'm like let me show you I'm like pulling it up and like holding the door to make sure that she gets it and takes a picture she's like girl thank you like people can just oh you know how I get that's like I know how hard it is to get that right red red and right red and straight you deserve your time back to help you out.

SPEAKER_00 43:50

How many red polices I went through this why would I make you do that? I don't want you to struggle I don't want you to do that more than that Literally. If you can pick your struggle, please don't let it be the overread nail polish. We already all out here trying to pick up big towel. Okay. Exactly. I love that. I'm super excited about it. I think that's needed. I think that it's not a lot of transparency going on for people that are trying to mentor. Yeah. Like you said, there's a lot of fluff mentorship. Yeah. But I think people are hungry for to learn from people that have proven themselves in the industry. Absolutely. You have proven yourself. Like their track record precedes you, Maxie. So it's like, even if I'm unclear on, well, I don't know if I can learn from somebody because I'm not in fashion. It's like Maxie has proven herself. The end. That's the post. Proven by Maxie. That's the post. So I absolutely love that. I absolutely love that. And I know you're about to kill it with that too. Oh, thank you. I cannot wait. You don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

I'm dropping it in January. I cannot wait. I've been working on it all year. Exactly. I do not have that, which is why I have not launched it yet. I'm like, it needs to be perfect. And it's still not perfect. Yeah. And I feel like when I at this point, I just need to launch it because I feel like I don't want to waste another year trying to perfect. That's not how I even got to where I'm at.

SPEAKER_02 45:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:23

I just started.

SPEAKER_02 45:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 45:24

So at this point, we're going to just start and we're going to perfect along the way. We're going to work through this together. But in the meantime, the girls are going to be getting this money. Okay. Ain't no point in we trying to figure out all this other little miscellaneous stuff. Like,

Celebrity Moments And Community Over Clout

SPEAKER_01 45:35

uh, listen, we got to get it out there so the girls can get this coin. The girls need the coin. The girls need the coin. The bills are about to do okay. It is 2026, baby. These men's not cutting the tracks that they used to. So we didn't know we didn't know who. We the new cutters. We the men that they're not the borrowers. Hello. Hello. We the new ones with the cutters. We the new ones. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 45:56

Okay, so I want to play a game with you. I like to play a game with all of my guests. Okay. Um, and so I'm excited to play this game with it. Okay, so this is a group of questions that are very random, but I think they're funny. So I'm gonna start by asking you. Okay. If you could style any of the following ladies, who would you pick? So your options are Erica Campbell, Megan Ashley, Jackie Hill Perry, Jaquelin Carr, or Leandria Johnson.

SPEAKER_01 46:39

I'm terrible. Well, I don't know what not one of them people. Wait, I'm so bad at names, so maybe if I said they just I'm just like, mm-hmm. I was hoping that one at some point the name was gonna click out.

SPEAKER_00 47:00

That was the best moment today. I absolutely loved it. Oh, I loved it. Okay, let me go back. Okay. If you can style, if you can style any of these ladies, okay? Let's say Kiki Wyatt. Okay, um, Fantasia Barino. Okay, Natasha Cobbs. And let me throw in one more. Um Taylor Swift. Who would you pick? Wow, that was uh that was uh that was a wide range. That was very wide. I was like, I have to see my body types in my head. I'm like, hold on, wait.

SPEAKER_01 47:49

Um, you know what? I would like to challenge myself because I feel like I would nail all of the initial ones that you said. Taylor Swift would be a challenge for me, tapping into her personal style and elevating it. Yeah. Because it's not necessarily my personal style, so I'll have to really exercise my talent with her. I would choose Taylor Swift. That's a good one. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:11

I could see her in something though. I can see I can see that one cooking. Okay. Who would you rather hear as a guest preacher at a church? Tip Michelle Obama or SJR, Sarah Jake Roberts. I you said, but who was the last one? T I. Michelle Obama or Sarah Jake's Roberts.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

But I but now you know that answer. Because I was just about to pick somebody else, but I thought you might have said that third one. Like I thought you might have said that. Obviously, we're gonna go with exactly my girl. I'm sweeting up out of my bed and coming wherever she is at. Honey, I don't even care what time it is. It don't matter. Yes, it's only I'm there, I'm in that thing. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 49:03

Okay. Who would you rather sit by in church? DJ Khaled, Rumi Carter, or Kevon Stage.

SPEAKER_01 49:18

I only know DJ Khaled out of all three of those.

SPEAKER_00 49:20

You don't know, you know Rumi Carter. Beyonce's daughter, the little little one. Oh, the baby. Oh, baby girl. I would choose Roomy. I was gonna say you would choose Roomy. 100%. Because Rumi is a good time. She's the vibe. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's my mood. She literally sits my vibe. Yeah, exactly. Okay, yeah, we're sitting by Rumi. Yeah, we're sitting, we're sitting by sitting by Rumi. Um, okay. Who would you rather see in concert? Now you know I'm an RB girl in here. I know. Okay, okay, okay, hold on. Let me think. Let me think. Let me think. Okay, let's go. Anita Baker.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

Gotta put some pass and some presents. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alex Isley.

SheCom Club: No Gatekeeping, Real Playbooks

SPEAKER_00 50:01

Johnny Gill. Or Music Soul Child. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 50:07

It would definitely be in between Anita and Music. I would have to roll a coin on that one. I can't believe you ain't say Kelly Price because that's my.

SPEAKER_00 50:16

I didn't say Kelly. I think she just got on tour and I'm like, you know, she's she's she's one-on-one. She is my okay. So Kelly would.

SPEAKER_01 50:26

Kelly Rowley. Yo, she would try. I wouldn't even have listen, I'm gonna forget about everybody you just listed. Kelly Rowley. No, I'm talking about Kelly Price. Kelly Price? Yes. Kelly Price? I love her music. I did not know that.

SPEAKER_00 50:42

See, I'm on here showing these people that I'm 38. That like only real ones know that Kelly Price is legendary. Yeah, no, for real.

SPEAKER_01 50:52

Like she's one of one. One of one. Like bubble bike. Back to front. I know it from front to back, back to front.

SPEAKER_00 51:02

Kelly Price, we actually need a concert from her. Like we 100%. That's what I said. Kelly, where are you at? Where are you at, my girl? Because the people need just a just a pop-out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just a quick one-to. Okay, Kelly. Yep, yep, yep. We love that. Okay, my last question. Would you rather walk around for offering or pay electronically?

SPEAKER_01 51:26

I pay electronically every time, child.

SPEAKER_00 51:28

You don't want to walk around and show them what you're wearing? I just feel like it's the fashion show part. Like we want to see what Maxie got on.

SPEAKER_01 51:34

Because honestly, I wear sweatsuits to church. Okay, okay, okay. All right.

SPEAKER_00 51:39

Okay. All right. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 51:41

I'm trying to show my little twist, my little aloe sweatsuit, y'all. Y'all gonna be like big deal, girl.

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Right. And sense. And sense, right? Noted. Noted. Oh my God. Maxie, this is so fun. I could talk to you all day. Me too. Because literally you are a girl's girl.

SPEAKER_01 51:59

Yeah, you have a person, a similar personality.

SPEAKER_00 52:02

Yes, you get it. Thank you for coming on the pod. Of course. Thank you, Pat. Tell the people where they need to stay connected with you, Chad, because you got a lot coming up.

SPEAKER_01 52:10

Okay. Well, my personal Instagram is Maxie J Official. My brand Instagram is LA Lisquay. And then, of course, please follow me on SheCom Club because I am launching my mentorship program in January.

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Listen, y'all, show some love for the legendary, the lovely Maxie J. And until next time. Hey friends, thank you for tuning in to the PK Pod, where we highlight incredible PKs who might have a platform, but it may not be the pulpit. Be sure to follow us on all social media platforms TikTok, Instagram, to stay connected to weekly episodes. We will release it here first. Make sure that you're connected.