The road to entrepreneurship wasn't easy. Working as a designer for PEOPLE magazineTM
by day and drawing all through the night, I didn't know the first thing about the business world or the fashion industry. Also, I had never taken a business class, which made the process even more challenging. As a result, I had only one source to draw from… my gut. I turned my passion into inspiration, and with $3,000 savings, out of my tiny New York apartment, Unsweetened was born.

The girls: It all started with a few sketches I made of my roommate. I created a character
that captured her personality and put it on a tank top for her as a birthday gift. That soon became the number one request among my friends. “When can I have a shirt of me?” The word spread. Not only were my friends dying for them, but now my co-workers and even people on the street. This is when I realized I was on to something big. I never dreamed a couple of doodles of my friends would inspire me to become an entrepreneur!

Naming the product: Most cartoon girls you look at could be called sweet, but these girls
are real. I drew them to capture their personalities --- the good with the bad --- they are absolutely unsweetened.