Audacity over everything fuels Keisha Fullerton’s rise from sketching clothes as a child to building her bold fashion brand, Raiment. She shares how her Jamaican heritage, a move from New York to the South, and mentors like Daphne Adams shaped her vision, her design aesthetic, and her belief that clothing should make women feel powerful. Listeners get a behind-the-seams look at how she turned wholesale relationships into growth opportunities, balances motherhood with entrepreneurship, and channels her grandmother’s seamstress legacy into collections that celebrate confidence, heritage, and audacious creativity.
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Audacity Over Everything In Fashion & Entrepreneurship With Keisha Fullerton
House Of Raiment
We are talking with Keisha Fullerton of Raiment. Keisha was raised among strong women and fueled by sketching before she ever learned to sew. Keisha Fullerton turned her creative spark into Raiment, a fashion brand that celebrates heritage, empowerment, and bold self-expression. In this episode, she shares how lineage, audacity, and self-care shape her journey as a designer. Angela, what is your superpower?
It’s interesting. I loved hers and we’ll wait till she offers it in the segment. One of the superpowers is just being able to empathize and be genuine with people. I tend to connect with people that way. When she shared hers, I was like, “I feel somewhat kindred that I do share a lot, but I listened.” I feel like I can empathize with others, which I’m grateful for. I am that moderator, the person in between that can hear both sides of an argument. Not always agree with both sides of an argument, but have the capacity to understand where someone else is coming from. How about you?
My superpower is being present, so being able to just be there and be in the room. They talk about be wherever you are, and that’s what we’re supposed to be. I have been quite intentional around being. I enjoyed being present and listening, as you mentioned, and being empathetic, but just being there.
You sometimes say you don’t have patience, but you’re present. You can be patient with those that tend to follow squirrels and the nut. It is helpful that you remain present and engaged, particularly with me. We are so excited to share with you what Keisha Fullerton’s superpower is. Without further ado, we’ll get into the episode with Keisha Fullerton as she talks about her involvement with her brand Raiment.
We are speaking with Keisha Fullerton of Raiment. Welcome to Boss Leap, Keisha.
Thank you for having me, ladies. I’m excited to speak with you both.
We’re excited to have you. I had the pleasure meeting you on a couple occasions now. You tend to glow wherever you go and certainly, your style is bar none. We’re very happy to have you here and just to share your experiences with our audience. We usually get started with getting to know you. Maybe tell us where you grew up and how that shaped you in terms of your outlook on life and perhaps, if there was anything that you knew that you wanted to do when you were young.
From Childhood Sketches To Fashion Dreams: Keisha’s Early Influences
I shared with you guys before we started that my parents are from Jamaica. I grew up in New York and then we moved to the South, probably like middle school for me. I would say from a very young age, before I even knew how to sew a stitch, I knew that I wanted to design. I would sketch things for my mom. Those would be her Mother’s Day presents like, “I’m going to do this one day.” I would do sketches and then we moved to the South. This was before all of the trains. Now in Atlanta, you asked somebody where they’re from and it’s not Georgia.
When I moved, that was not the case. I was the odd man out. I had this thick New York-Jamaican accent. I kept getting like, “Huh? What are you saying?” I had to quickly adjust because it was completely different from what I was used to. Where I was in New York, we had Haitians on our block and Puerto Ricans and Jamaicans.
Where are you in Brooklyn?
We were in Queens. Even where I went to school, I went to Catholic School. We had everybody. It was a mixture of people. To come to the South and have to adjust was a little bit of a culture shock. On top of that, my mother moved us, maybe two months left of school. Instead of moving, we end up like where we would have started with the new school year. It would have been a little bit better. I would have been just the only new kid. Literally, eyeballs were on me. It was a big adjustment but I’m grateful for that because I had to get some tough skin very early, and my refuge was sketching. That was my creative outlet. That was shutting out the world and just focusing on that.
I didn’t know what it was called. I just knew that I liked to create. It probably was until I would say, maybe I was 17 or 18. In my senior year of high school, I was in a commercial art class and my teacher took me under her wing and directed me like, “This is where I see you. You’re good at this.” He helped me cultivate that and I was fortunate. My mentor who is like my family now, Daphne Adams. She literally taught me how to sew when I was nineteen.
I did not know how to do anything and she took me under her wing. To this day, I can still call her up if I have a thought in my head. I’m not executing it the way it should be. I’ll call her and she’ll say, “This is what you do.” If I could be like a quadrant in her brain, I would be more amazing because she is bar none. She is fantastic at the way her brain works. I was just fortunate to be able to get under her tutelage and learn. I went to college for it.
Defying Expectations & Serendipitous Connections: Keisha’s Journey Into Fashion
I was going to ask. You’ve given us so much just in the first few minutes of our conversation but let’s go back. When you finished high school, did you know that you wanted to go into fashion design?
I knew that I wanted to design.
What did your parents say? How did you navigate that?
I have Jamaican parents, so it was like, “No, you don’t go to school for that.”
Doctor, lawyer or engineer.
Exactly that. I ended up listening to the parents. I applied for FIT. My mom said to me, “No, you need to be closer to home. You want to go there.” I submitted my portfolio, but this is everything like God’s timing. It was not meant for me to be there.
The Fashion Institute of Technology?
Correct, in New York.
I ended up going to Georgia State. I did two years there then I decided, “This is not what I want to do.” I remember having a conversation with my dad in the kitchen like, “I’m going to transfer.” He was not very happy about it, but I had to do it for me because I knew if I stayed at Georgia State, I was not going to graduate. That would have been a giant waste of money at the time. Again, I’m grateful for my experiences there because some of those friendships and those relationships that I established there still have to this day. For me, it’s all about God’s timing.
It's all about God's timing Share on XWhat did you transfer to?
I transferred to American InterContinental University. I don’t even know if it’s still existing anymore. It was like a Boughner back then. It was at Atlanta’s version of an FIT and that’s where I ended up going to study and graduate from. It’s funny. I didn’t get to graduation. I got pregnant with my daughter in my senior year of college and was grateful that I was still able to finish though I was told I was not going to. Even if you tell me I can’t do something. I’m like, “I got you.”
I did, and I have an amazing daughter now. She’s my biggest cheerleader. It wasn’t until I would say my daughter was maybe about 3 or 4 years old when I got my first opportunity in fashion with a celebrity stylist, Tameka Foster Raymond. That opened a whole different avenue from me. She initially hired me to help her with her clothing line.
How did you get connected to her? How did you find the grid or the perseverance to create that opportunity because that just didn’t fall out of the star?
God created it for sure from me because I created this collection. I did a photo shoot and it was my first collection. The photographer that I hired was working for Wolf Camera. I don’t even think that’s still exists anymore. She was getting some pictures developed and they started speaking. I’d say people mentioning your names in rooms that you’re not in. He did that for me. He showed her some of my pictures and was like, “I need to meet her.” That’s at Lenox Mall at California Pizza Kitchen. We sat together for like three hours talking and we instantly gel and that’s where it started.
It was to help her originally to start her clothing line. I would sketch things out for her then her assistant at the time didn’t work out. She’s like, “I need a new assistant.” Basically, telling me, “This is what you’re going to do. You’re going to do the line and you’re going to be my assistant.” I got to work with her on some great projects like Usher’s 8701 album. I think that’s when she first started working with him, like just helping her make calls to different showrooms to get clothing and being able to see the quality of the products that we were getting in.
It just started having my mind work in a different way. How watching her merchandise looks together, putting things together and certain colors together. Although I had that design background, being able to utilize some of those things working in that space with her was a shift from me. I worked with her for four and a half or five years. Again, I still have a relationship with her to this day. Again, everything is just timing.
How did you need to transition from being the assistant? It sounds like you were working as a designer with her moving forward and making your next lead.
It came down to, I was working so much for her like a lot of late hours. I had a small child and it was just taking up a lot. It came to a point where I had to choose. She had helped with her boys. I would help her.
You were the help, too. Sorry. I’m not saying it in that manner but yes.
That was the reality and I had to make a choice for me and what I was valuing, my family. That was the other shift. I had a conversation with someone. They spoke my name again in a room I was not in and I got into wholesale repping other designer lines. That’s what I’ve been doing in conjunction with building my brand for over two decades.
The Jamaican Roots Of A Bold Fashion Brand
That is definitely where I want to lead you in terms of telling us about Raiment. I understand you’ve talked about the legacy and lineage of your grandmother, mother, and aunts that are also seamstresses, if I’m correct. How does that tie into your brand?
As I said, I always knew that I wanted to be a designer. I remember like my paternal grandmother, my father’s mother. We would go to Jamaica every summer. Part of the summer, we would spend in Kingston with her. She had this big sewing machine. This was before I knew about fashion and anything like this. I was surrounded by it. I don’t know if it was a subliminal thing. My aunt in Jamaica also had clients that would come to the house. They had this huge house in Jamaica. She had a whole sewing room downstairs in her house.
We would always be playing there. I was always surrounded by it before I even knew in my mind that’s what I wanted to do. My grandmother had such a great sense of style. She could go into a department. I think about it, back then, she had four kids that she was raising on one side. My grandfather was a police commissioner. She was a stay-at-home mom. She would go into something like a department store and see something and be able to recreate it. I would hear this growing up all the time.
Even as an older woman, she still would sit on the porch with her pearls on and she would have on her housecoat. I have pictures of her. To someone else, they would see it just as a housecoat, but I’m looking at the print in it like, “How can I recreate that?” My mom, to this day, she dresses for church. She would change our first service and second service. She’ll be in the garage making her new outfit.
Does she still wear stockings and gloves?
Yes. She doesn’t wear gloves but she still wears stockings. It’s hot outside and she’s still wearing stockings. They just had their own sense of styles, so I was immersed in it. It didn’t start coming together until I realized, “This is what I want to do.” Now when I create things, I pay homage to them. There’s a Viola dress on the collection that was my grandmother’s name, Esme Viola. There’s a talk. I tried to name things after beautiful parts.
The whole island is beautiful but when you are on the North Coast of the island, there’s like Moret Bay and the seven mile and all of the Northern side. It’s like all of these touristy places but like if you live there, that’s your everyday. I try to take some of that and infuse it into the brand because that’s a reminder of where my family comes from, even when I didn’t realize that that thing for me was my plan. That was what I was supposed to do.
Fashion as Empowerment: Keisha’s Philosophy On Confidence Through Clothing
Can you talk a little bit about clothing and fashion and what it represents?
To me, when we moved to Georgia, I remember I had to wear a uniform. I want to go to Catholic schools. I had weakened clothes but these kids have the latest greatest and I have a single mom. I didn’t have the latest and greatest. I literally was made fun of for those things. To me, when you look good, you feel good and you feel like you can conquer anything. It’s like a hair toss and you feel like you’re a whole different person. To me, that’s what clothing is. That’s what getting dressed is. When I made stuff for people, I used to do a lot of custom. That’s how I started.
When someone puts on a piece of my clothing and they feel like that sense of confidence because I didn’t grow up with that. I knew that I had a gift. It’s not curing cancer but it’s a feeling. It’s a feeling that you get when you put something on and you feel like you are the Queen of England. Every time I create a collection, that’s what I go into. I’m thinking like I want the person wearing it to feel like they are their most confident. They’re most empowered. That’s what I honor with Raiment.
When I see your pieces, that’s what I think, empowered women. Do you have a brand idea in terms of what your entire collections are? Is each collection a different side of you and it may be a different style that you would classify it as?
I always think I take classic pieces. It’s just like the top that I have on. I love pin tucks, pleating, and fabric manipulation. I always want to take something simple and make it greater than it is. To me, you can do that with fabric manipulation. You can do that with a print. I design a lot of my own prints. I was walking with my niece outside and there were these little stink bugs all over New York, but I’m seeing a dead one on the concrete. I’m like, “Look at the pattern of that.” I’m taking pictures of it because I want to think about how I can recreate this in silk or cotton. That’s just how my mind is.
I always want to take something simple and make it greater than it is. You can do that with fabric manipulation. Share on XEach season is just different. It starts with an idea. It could be something as simple as a flower or a stink bug. I think that’s what they’re called but looks like a moth. I think of it like a moth. It looks like that. I literally just take an image and I build around that. I like some of the trendy things but I’ll take maybe an idea of it. It could be a slave that has like this pin tuck. This was just a freestyle, but even how you see how these stripes are. These are minor. I made it this way because all this is a cotton shirt. I manipulated it to be greater than what it is. An average person may just see, “The stripes are going to go this way.” I’m always thinking about how I can up the ante.
I see that in your work.
Audacity Over Everything: The Entrepreneurial Mindset Behind Raiment
The tailoring and the attention to detail is lovely. I was going through your website and there were quite a few things that I pinned and put in my cart but I need to sit tight for a moment. Certainly, your fashion is, I would call it audacious. What does being audacious mean to you? How do you build that into Raiment?
That campaign that you’re speaking about, the Audacious. I was listening to another show.
It was Boss Leap, I hope.
It was Emma Grede interviewing someone. I listen to a lot of entrepreneurs. I listen to a lot of women who took something like what you guys are building. It makes me think, if they can do it, I can do it. It’s not like a crab and a barrel mentality for me ever. I always want to uplift people and like to celebrate people. When I was listening to their interview, they were speaking like, to be a business owner, to be an entrepreneur in this day and age, you have to be a little off. You have to be about to be a little crazy.
That’s where the audaciousness comes from because if you don’t believe that you can build this thing that no one else is. Not even you see it yet because it’s not in front of you. It’s so parallel to having faith because that’s what faith is. It’s believing something that is not seen. To me, that’s what audaciousness is. As an entrepreneur, you have to have that like, come hook or crook. This is happening. That shift happened for me because literally, I’ve worked for someone for two decades of my life and I love what I do. I’m very good at what I do.
I build these relationships and I’ve always done Raiment on the side. I’ve been building this brand for as long as I’ve worked for my company. My dad called it my side hustle or my hobby. The last conversation he and I had about it, he was like, “How long are you going to make this be a hobby?” It was like, “Hold on a second now. This is not a hobby.” I’m grateful for that conversation because it allowed me to not just do this on the side, even though I still have my full-time job. The reality is, my full-time position is funding my dream. I can do this. I will because I’m still in that creative space. I’m still in the fashion space.
It’s aligned with what you’re doing.
Exactly, and the relationships that I’ve built in working in wholesale has allowed me to pivot into some of these same companies by Raiment. It’s just everything in timing. I could have said, “I should have been doing this twenty years ago, but if I had tried it.”
We don’t do should on Boss Leap. Should is a dirty word.
Everything happens when it’s supposed to. For me, taking the step into saying, “Thanks, dad, for that conversation because I decided then I’m going to hire so that it’s not a conflict.” That was a big part of my hesitancy. If I do this, then is it going to affect my 9:00 to 5:00? You get afraid because it’s like, “Where’s my money going to come from?” It’s because I have the relationships that I had, the first showroom that reps my brand is also someone that I’ve known for over two decades. They’ve always known that I’ve had Raiment and they believed in me as well.
I approached them and I said, “This is what I’m thinking of doing. I can’t do it myself because I’m still working for this company.” There were no questions asked, yes. Everything has been relationships since then. Everything that I’ve been able to pull from has been the relationships that I’ve had. As you said, there’s no should. All of the experiences that I’ve had, have gotten me to this point. It doesn’t matter if in my brain, “I could have.” No, you’re doing it now. You’re taking steps now and it’s growing. It’s slow and steady but I will take it slow and steady.
Building A Brand: From Side Hustle To Full-Time Dream
We’ve heard a lot. This is such good and rich information, particularly for somebody that has maybe been doing a hobby or what they call a side hustle. Part of and not to say someone can’t be successful doing something completely different than what they’ve been doing, but you’ve been doing it in alignment with something that’s your passion all along. You’ve been working in an industry that is aligned with Raiment, but you’ve had your own dream.
Continuing to pursue your own dream when other people can’t see it is a common thread amongst entrepreneurs that ultimately become successful and continue in that line of work. It’s just continuing to work one step in front of the other. Your journey may not be as fast as the person next to you, but building relationships and working hard and doing good work. Having that pure intent of producing something that’s special for someone.
That’s the thing and that’s where the audacity is. My tagline for it now is like, “Audacity over everything.” You have to be delusional. It doesn’t matter if you’re doing something in that space. It’s just an idea. Everything starts as an idea and there’s always going to be that person. We are our own worst critics because if I had listened to all of the crazy in my head, I wouldn’t have made the steps.
Audacity over everything. You have to be delusional. Share on XIf I had listened to anybody else or to my dad saying, “This is just a hobby.” I wouldn’t have made the steps. Sometimes, you can share things with people. You have to be very mindful of that. You have to be very aware of who you’re sharing your dreams with. Even your own family sometimes will be naysayers. Sometimes, you have to hold things close to the best and, “Watch me,” that’s all I can say.
I can show you better than I can tell you.
Exactly. I’m so grateful because even meeting you. Chandra has been a part of our family forever now. I wouldn’t have met you had I not known her. She even mentioned it to me before. She’s like, “I spoke to her about this.” Again, it’s surrounding yourself with people who will uplift you. Again, I said it probably three times in this conversation. People who mention your name in rooms that you are in. That is important.
Many of us have this, but not us on this call. Many women are like, “If I give this information, then.” It’s information. It’s not going to hurt you to share. It led me to create this like an eGuide. I did it on my staycation, this pastoral line. Sharing my experience as an entrepreneur in the wholesale design space. I would get so many women coming to me and even men coming to me asking, “How do I do this, this, and this?” As I’m talking to you now, I would just have a conversation with them like, “Have you tried this? This is what I did. This is the person that I spoke to.”
Studio to Storefront: A Guide For Aspiring Fashion Designers
Where can they find the eGuide?
It is going to drop on 9/25. It’s going to be online.
You have to be very aware of who you're sharing your dreams with. Share on XWhat’s the name of it?
It’s called From Studio to Storefront: A Guide for Emerging Fashion Designers. It’s to help people because I made so many, not mistakes but missteps that cost time and money. It’s things that I wish that I had known going into developing a collection. If people want more information, then they can sit down with me. It’s literally like a step-by-step. It doesn’t give you all the sauce, but it gives you enough to get started and to get your mind working on the questions to ask, what to see when you are trying to develop everything. To me, it doesn’t necessarily just align with fashion. It could be for anything because a big part of it is research, knowing, relationships and how to create that for yourself in that space.
That’s so beautiful. I’m just going to add. I told you at the beginning, I’m in New York. I just happened to be invited to this conference of Sistas in Sales. It’s just a testament to how powerful we can be as a community. This happens to be a community of women, a community of women of color in particular here, but they’re all in the same field. I was grateful to be invited and all the information that I’ve gleaned has been invaluable.
To see these women that are basically all competitors, they’re in the same field of sales but they’re working together, networking with each other and ultimately, they’re lifting each other up. That’s exactly what you’re saying. That’s the key. If we can have that mentality, then we’ll see more women that are succeeding in all of these fields. We thank you for that.
We think about how other communities do that and that’s why they’re so much further ahead in some areas. We did that, as you said, as a collective more regularly and shared information more regularly. It would not seem impossible to so many people because as I said, everything starts with an idea. It could be a simple conversation that shifts you to get you started. Why not encourage somebody to do something outside of their norm?
Mentorship and Self-Belief: Advice for Young Creatives
Only because that may not be your lane, why not encourage someone or even offer? You never know what someone is going through on a daily basis, what their internal conversations are with themselves. It could take one conversation to shift back for this. However, for me, I always look at it as if I could just help one person because I’ve had so many people help me along my side. I didn’t do this myself. I have had so many people helping and I cannot be here and not pay that forward.
Along those lines. If you could go back to your nineteen-year-old self, what would you say to her?
Get out of your own way because again, we all have our internal conversations with ourselves about why, would have, should have, could have or I shouldn’t have said that or I shouldn’t have done that. Get out of your own way. Sometimes you have to do the thing. I did the thing that scared me the most. It’s starting something that I didn’t know or where the money was coming from. There’s times where I’m producing a collection now and I’m like, “How am I paying for this?” I’ll tell you. He always works and provides. Get out of your own space.
Feel free that you can do it. That’s my philosophy. I know you have this eBook and we’ll make sure that we lead people to that. Can you tell us, maybe a little bit of advice that you would give to the person who maybe is considering a career in fashion? Maybe some words of wisdom.
I’m thinking of people going into college. Find a mentor ASAP. It doesn’t have to be exactly what you’re thinking of, but within that realm. Find someone that you can shadow and learn from. Take every single free course now. I didn’t have access to AI when I was nineteen-years-old. There’s so many things that you can find or prompt to show you, whether it be like, “I don’t know how to sketch it.” For me, I know how to sketch but I didn’t know how to sew.
If you want to design and you know that you want to be the best dressmaker. Let me start. Let me shadow someone that’s already doing that. Maybe start with the hardest thing because then everything after that is going to be like, “I could do this in my sleep.” Having those conversations with people that are in that area because they will help you. You get in that space and you see how things work and you may pivot to something else like, “I don’t want to make the dresses. I want to create the pattern for the dresses.”
Get out of your own way. Sometimes, you have to do the thing that scares you the most. Share on XThat way, you’re seeing everything. You can learn every single thing about your craft. Do it to where you literally are dreaming about it. That is what I would say to anyone that’s wanting to get into it. Immerse yourself in the community of it. Immerse yourself in all the nuances of it and just be a sponge. Learn as much as you can because it’s only going to benefit you down the line. Everything else will fall into place.
What do you enjoy most about fashion design?
I enjoy having the idea of creating something, seeing the finished product and then seeing the person in it and being their best selves because of how they feel in it. That’s the best part for me. The best part, as I said I was a kid that didn’t have the best of the best, and I know what that did for my confidence. I also know what it feels like to feel amazing, look amazing, and what that does for you. I want to pour into that side of it for anyone.
I’m going to take a step back and to what you were just talking about in terms of finding a mentor. Maybe the interview you’re referring to Emma Grede was on Mel Robbins, which was a fantastic interview. It was the first time I’d heard her entire story. One of the things I found interesting is that it wasn’t necessarily a mentorship but the fact that she knew she wanted to be in the fashion industry, but just couldn’t get in the door. She worked all along as she was trying to get there. She did jobs as a bartender and clothing store.
She’s the woman on SKIMS who partnered with the Kardashian.
A $3 billion business, but just a fantastic interview and life story that she had. One of the things she mentioned is that she worked and you would probably be able to speak to this better, Keisha, in fashion shows building the stage, creating the backdrops and taking it down. She was in space with all of these people but not necessarily working right beside them. They saw how hard she worked all along but she did a lot of things for free. She was doing that for free.
She was working her full-time job, but because she knew she wanted to be in this industry, she found a way to be in the room but not necessarily getting paid for that part of it. The value that I heard of, especially for young people, is that when they hear of doing an internship or an apprenticeship, that’s the first thing. I get that part but perhaps you can find a way to still pay your bill. I was curious how you felt about that part.
As I said, I work a job that is more than 9:00 to 5:00. In a previous month, I could count nine days that I was in my house, but it’s a means to an end because I know that I’m going to be at the helm of running my own brand on a full-time basis soon. I’m going to be able to not have to do both. I know I’m working towards that and it’s different from our generation in a sense of you put your time in. You have to work on this. Granted that their experience is a little bit different now. It’s rare that somebody is at a company for more than five years before they shift.
The Power Of Relationships: Networking And Community In Fashion
I feel like I’m an anomaly being with Trina for this long, but I’m grateful because it’s allowed me to build my relationships. That’s the other thing, the networking part of it. I feel like social media and this phone culture. We even have it. We’re always on our phones too, but more so than we know how to have conversation and we’re with other people, ask questions because you never know what someone does or who they may know. It’s not like you’re doing that to get that, but that’s how it starts.
Be polite, respectful, on time and showing up. Everything is meaningful. Those little things that you do that speak to who your character is and who you are as a person, that’s the thing that people are reminded of.
They will see that and they’ll want to go to bat for you. They’ll want to speak up for you if an opportunity comes. It could be between you and three other people, but because you have a relationship with that person and they know your work ethic. That puts you apart from everybody else and we want everything fast.
Sometimes, you have dues. We’re dues with certain things as well and I shouldn’t say all because I feel like there’s some that get it because they have people like us around them that are pouring that into and they have to make their own way from what we share. It’s having the conversation first to guide you. As I said, I never shy away from speaking to anyone. You can ask me anything. I’m probably too transparent, but that’s my superpower. Some people may think of it as a weakness. I think of it as my superpower. I’m going to be 50 soon.
Welcome to the club.
I’m looking forward to it because there’s many things, like you asked that question. What would I tell my nineteen-year-old self? Get out of your own way because we put so many boundaries on ourselves sometimes just because of how we were raised. As I said, I have Jamaican parents and it was like, “You want to do fashion? What is fashion?” You go to school for business. You go to school to be a lawyer or doctor.
Sometimes, we allow our immediate space because that’s what we’re comfortable with to dictate our steps. As soon as it clicked for me, as I said I went to a school I didn’t want to go to for two years and then clicked. I said, “No, I’m not doing this for you because at the end of the day, I have to wake up with myself every day and I have to be happy with what I’m doing.” To be from there to now and to have that understanding about myself and appreciate that about myself, you can’t pay for that.
We talk here about your boss leaps, which you certainly made from maybe one lily pad to the next and sometimes, it’s the things that we realized that we don’t want that helps us move to that next step. Going to Georgia State for the two years made it crystal clear, “This is not my path.” Sometimes, I don’t think there are any mistakes that we’ve necessarily made. It’s just as long as you learn from them.
As long as you have the goal. I would say that to a young person, too. Always keep your eye on what the end goal is. Sometimes, we get wrapped up in the emotion of it all. You have to separate that. Focus on what it is you want and how you’re going to achieve it. For me on a daily basis, that is what I have to do to build my company. I have to focus because it’s very clear. I see it very clearly. I see myself in a building that I own. I see a creative space where I’m doing my photoshoots. I see another space where I have my own manufacturing when I’m crafting my fabrics.
Everything is going to be in one. I’m still going to outsource certain things. You’re not always going to be able to find certain fabrics locally but I want to be surrounded and immersed in it on a daily basis and I see that very clearly. I see it so clearly like I am sick with just anticipation of it. That, to me, it is done. That is audacious.
We hear that.
The Vision For Raiment: Building A Fashion Empire
Thank you. It’s going to happen and I don’t care what anybody says. If it’s going to take me two more years or three more years. It’s happening. I have to remind myself every day of the small wins. This is my third collection. We’re in the middle of shipping my Fall/Winter 2025 collection. As I said, every season I don’t know how I’m doing it, but it happens. Every season, not just from me but from the buyers that buy the collection, from the showroom that reps my brand. It’s gotten better and better.
My voice is very clear. What I want to do is very clear. I am listening to me a lot more because fashion is like with prints. Prints are very personal. I can create something and that might not be your colors, or it may be triggering. Whatever case may be. Not everything is going to be for everyone but I always try to stay true to where I want the brand to go. As I said, it’s a feeling. As long as I’m focusing on how I want you to feel when you’re wearing this.
You have that favorite jacket. That color looks amazing on you. You have that favorite piece that’s always going to be your go-to. That is what I want Raiment to be. They have that favorite dress or that favorite top because it gives them that feeling of, “I’m conquering the world.” That’s it. That is the feeling. As long as I stay true to that, everything else is going to fall into place. I can’t design for everybody. I’m not going to have something for everybody but that’s okay. Who I am for, I will be for. That’s it.
I’m a fan and Sylvia mentioned, she already got some items in her basket.
I appreciate the support. That’s the thing, too. This past July, I hired another showroom representation, so I have a Southeast cover. Now I have the Southwest.
Can I ask you, Keisha, for our audience to understand. When you say you hired a showroom rep, explain that.
With the collection, in order for me to be in specialty boutiques. I’m not in any major department store and I do not want to be. Specialty means mom and pop. In Atlanta, there’s Tulipano that’s off Peachtree Street. They are carrying a brand. They have been supporters of me for a long time. The showroom is my agent, you would say, that would take my collection of samples and they showcase it to the stores.
We showcase that market. We bring the collection to you physically in the store so you can see it. We send you lying sheets and you buy from that. You’re buying wholesale for your store. Now with me hiring another agent in another region, which is a Southwest. I now have access to boutiques in Texas, Louisiana. That whole side. That helps me as a brand because that’s going to help me grow faster with my minimums. It helps me with costing because I am able to produce more because I now have not one person selling for me. I have two people selling for me. That’s my reach out further.
Again, that’s the relationships that I’ve built. I’m not a multimillion-dollar brand yet but a lot of these showrooms, that’s what they want. They want you to have X, Y, and Z in sales already and because they believe in the collection. They believe in me. They’ve been willing to support and it’s been a win-win because now we’re in some great stores. As I said, slow and steady. In my mind, I said when I started, “I want to be in 170 stores throughout the Southeast.”
In the last few years, we have consistently been in a little over 30 stores. Now, the trajectory is going up. Now, with these past two shows. We’ve gotten into ten more stores. It’s not like Rinky Dink boutiques. These are boutiques that carry lines from Veronica Beard or high-end contemporary brands. I’m in the same space as them.
As you should be.
Thank you. Some of my biggest supporters, as I said, Tulipano in Georgia and the Fitting Room here in Georgia. She’s been a great supporter of me from day one. We have Peacock’s Plume in North Carolina. We just got into Asbee’s. I think they’re in Texas. Rebecca and Co. and Monkee’s of Greenville. I’m just trying to name some of them because they’ve been such great supporters of the brand and they’ve been selling it well. They’re supporting me but they wouldn’t come back if it didn’t do well for them. I’m grateful for this space. Everything in God’s timing because I don’t know that I would have been able to establish this prior to now. I’m very grateful.
The Quality Of Raiment: A Testament To Passion And Craftsmanship
One last comment on Raiment because I wanted to talk about how you take care of yourself. It’s very clear that the reason why people want to have your product in their stores is the passion that you bring to your designs. I can also speak to the quality of what you put in your designs because each of those pin tucks that you had. I happened to see the beautiful garment that you made for your daughter at the wedding that we all attended.
The reason why people want your product in their stores is the passion you bring to your designs. Share on XThe detail and the quality reminded me of going into my mom’s favorite store when I was growing up. It was Lord and Taylor. If I was going to Lord and Taylor, I was going to get something nice back then. It was like, “This is special. This is quality. This is something you’re going to put in your closet and it will be in there forever.”
Let me tell you. Sylvia, you didn’t get to see it in person but my daughter is a fashionist on her own. Our aesthetics are a little bit different. When she showed me the original of what she wanted, I said, “You’re going to pay me back for this?” She said, “Can you make it for me?” She’s so particular. I was nervous because I haven’t made this young person something since she was maybe 3 or 4. For her to commission me to do it, I was like, okay. I had in my mind how I wanted it to look and I started to go that way. I said, “No, I’m going to give her exactly what she wants so she can say it’s a game.”
She let me have my creative process. There were certain things that I added to it that were of Raiment. Because I’m not going to copy somebody exactly. She was so happy to wear it. When I tell you, this girl was feeling herself at this wedding, and that is the confidence that I am talking about. That is how I want women to feel when they are wearing my things and to just see it on my daughter. She’s beautiful naturally, but she looks great. You could tell she felt great. It was just reinforcing for me, “This is why you do what you do.”
That’s right and you’re doing the right thing.
I love it. Thank you for sharing that. Do you do other commissioned pieces?
I do. I just need time because I travel so much. You tell me you want something. I can work on that. I want to get more into that space. I want to get back into that because when I’m designing now, I have to think for the masses. It’s like, “I got to put to sleep or not because this person doesn’t want to show their arms. It can be too low because it happens to be bra-friendly.” When I’m able to do certain things for people, we sit down together.
I sewed a lot of prom dresses back in the day and that became a headache because mom wants one thing, who’s paying for it and the daughter wants another. Sometimes, the two didn’t meet in the middle and it just caused more stress. I missed that. That was the other thing about designing that garment for Zi. It was like, “I’m back in my creative bag,” in that sentence where it’s like one of one. I love to do that for people, so yes, if you want something.
Good to know.
Let me know what’s in your basket. I’m curious. I want to see, and maybe I can send you something. Both of you.
Very sweet. That would be amazing.
Balancing Ambition: Self-Care For The Driven Entrepreneur
Certainly, you wear a lot of hats. You’re an entrepreneur.
I’m the social media manager. I’m in shipping and logistics, and accounting. I’m all the things.
How do you practice self-care? How do you refill your cup?
Can you give me pointers, because maybe that’s why I’m so tired all the time. Working out. As I said, I’m turning 50 and I’m very grateful for that. I’m very excited. For me, with getting older, it’s all of these changes. Working out for me is how I pour back into myself. It keeps me sane. It makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something. It helps me practice discipline. That’s part of my self-care. Even something as simple as going to get my lashes. That self-care to me because I always say I want to feel like a human and that’s part of it to me. It’s doing those little things that make you feel pretty.
I can look good in what I’m putting on. I have that space covered, but I don’t know how to do my own hair all the time myself. I don’t know how to make my own lashes. I make time for those things, but working out has been the biggest thing for me as far as self-care because I want to be here for a long time. There’s a lot that I still want to do, and I feel like the things that we can control, do that.
I can’t control someone else driving stupid and that causes me harm. I can control what I put into my body, so how I’m treating my body so that I can help preserve what I’ve been gifted. There’s a gift. Not everybody gets that every day. That’s important to me. I need to do other things. I feel like some massages might be good. I keep saying that I need to start incorporating that more.
It sounds like you are taking good care of yourself when you can. We hope that you get to do more of the massages and other things. We cannot thank you enough. Thank you for taking out time. We know you’re traveling all around and getting your line. It’s constant work on your part, so we’re very grateful and honored that you took out time to be with us. We’re certainly supporters. Let us know how we can help support you and we will put down your eBook. Also, how we can contact you. As we part, if you have anything else you want to say to our audience that’s reading but certainly, how they can reach you and view your beautiful products and purchase as well.
The website is HouseOfRaiment.com. On social, I’m @Rai.ment and the same thing on TikTok. You can definitely reach out to me there. We have new collections that just dropped. This is Autumn/Winter 2025 and there’s something to me for everyone. I have the eBook dropping on the 25th. It’s From Studio to Storefront: A Guide for Emerging Fashion Designers. I’m just sharing my experiences and how I can help others in that space. Check out the website if you haven’t already. I always try to put things on my Instagram page to showcase what pieces are important for that delivery.
Your Instagram is on fire. What are the sizes? We didn’t talk about it.
As I said, I feel like I have something for everyone. Our sizes are either extra small through 2XL. It would equate to a 0 to a 16 and we are true to size. As you ask, I do custom things. You just have to commission me early so we have time. Don’t call me next week and ask for a dress that Saturday for a gala.
I could put some lips together for you for sure because that’s also something that I love to do, is to help women take things that they already own and tweak it mother. Whether we’re adding little small pieces to it, a new top or a new sweater. I love doing that. That makes me so happy because you’re looking at the same clothes all the time. To me, it’s a canvas. Learning how to mix and match things that you already own. That’s what Raiment is also. It’s a capsule. It’s pieces to elevate what you already own.
Keisha, you are speaking to the right person. She didn’t know she’s going to hear all this, but I may have to shut this down. Otherwise, we may not have the budget to continue to do Boss Leap. We are so excited for you and look forward to the rocket ship that’s going to take off for you from here. As you are at the helm of Raiment, doing it all on your own and all of the rooms that you envision. We see that for you as well and until we meet again. May you be well.
Again, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you. Kudos to what you guys are building. Yes, I am now reading the show. Anything that helps us, I’m about it. I am a fan of yours and what you guys are doing. I’m excited to see who else you interview coming up.
If you ever get the bench ear of Emma Grede, you let us know.
You and I, both. We could do it. Thank you, ladies.
Thank you.
Thank you.
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Sylvia, that was awesome. I think we connect with style. We were excited that Keisha was going to come on and talk about her line. Learning about the woman and what is behind the person and the brand oftentimes is a reason for me to connect with that brand, so learning about the person and what they’ve been through, their experiences, what they believe in. I can certainly speak to the quality of the clothing that she produces but she clearly represented the passion that’s behind it.
It makes me want to buy her clothes. I went through the website and now all these things are in the basket. Now you know the why and the inspiration around the line. You just want to support her, her audacity, and her vision.
Do you have any pearls that you want to share? I can give you some of mine. How about I go first? I loved the fact that Audacity was the name of a line. Basically, it just shows me there’s intention behind what she does. Some of the garments are named after things from Jamaica or Viola and from her family.
That leads to women’s influences in her life that she gives credit to and again that common thread of the one person, so her teacher in high school showed her that she has a gift. Sometimes, we just think, “Everybody’s doing it,” but you hear that one voice and it turns something on in you. Again, just a reminder. When we see that in someone else, whether it’s a child or a young adult or a friend that’s in her 50s. You have this gift and if this is something you want to do, go for it.
Don’t just say it to yourself. Say it to the person.
The last part which I was inspired by is, we didn’t know that she has an eBook coming out. The impetus behind it was completely in line with our book, The Game Plan: A Woman’s Guide to Becoming a Doctor and Living a Life in Medicine. We sat down and said, “We’d love to just give someone that’s at the stage that we wish we had somebody maybe poor into us that had the knowledge to give us and to make maybe our lives a little easier or show us other paths.
Not make those same misstep, as she called it. Not a mistake.
I love that she wanted to just be able to share. What she said is, “Why would I keep this to myself? If I share this, then someone’s going to become more successful than me.” That’s like that crab mentality if you follow that your whole life. I love this space that we’re in of being collaborative and lifting other women up. That’s what I got from that. How about you?
There were so many things that she said that resonated with me. Certainly, one of my favorite expressions is, “Everything is a relationship.” She brought that home for us as well, all the little things that you do, all the people that you meet, and how you interact. All of those things are building a relationship and you never know. It’s not as if you are intentionally trying to do things so that you get something on the other side.
It is about being true to your own sense of integrity, your sense of how you want to present yourself in the world and that goes into the relationship. I enjoyed that. She talked about feeling like a human now. How do you feel like a human now? I feel human when I put on perfume. I will perfume every day. I wear one type of perfume until the entire bottle is empty and then I move on to the next. I typically only have one bottle of perfume on my counter.
I have two this time because there’s one that I don’t like as much but I’m determined to use it. I got a layer of it. We got to finish that and finally, when she talked about clothing as confidence. I always think, “What am I going to wear?” Even for all of our episode taping, we hope you are seeing us on YouTube and you are being a subscriber. I am thoughtful about, “What am I going to wear? What’s the color going to be? Are there earrings? What’s my lipstick?”
I love them, girl.
That confidence helps to move me forward in all of my endeavors.
It’s an expression of yourself.
It’s confidence.
I agree with everything. What a beautiful episode. It definitely filled me as I ended up in New York and seeing all the fashion and certainly, at a conference where women are dressed to the T. We just have such a style. I’m very grateful for being here with you and our audience. We hope that you will connect with us in all facets. You can reach us at BossLeapPodcast.com, and you can leave us a message. Any ideas that you have for the shows or anything that you’d like to share with us. We hope that you will read, like, and certainly subscribe to YouTube.
You can leave comments for us there as well. We are just grateful for you. We hope that you are learning something. Certainly, I hope that you will share this with someone in your life that might inspire. You never know who you are speaking life into when you share something positive. We hope that you would consider that, and until we meet again. May you be well.
May you be well.
Important Links
- Keisha Fullerton on LinkedIn
- Keisha Fullerton on TikTok
- Keisha Fullerton on Instagram
- Raiment
- Sistas in Sales
- The Game Plan: A Woman’s Guide to Becoming a Doctor and Living a Life in Medicine
About Keisha Fullerton
Raised among a lineage of talented women: my grandmother, mother, and aunts—I discovered my own creative superpower. Despite not learning to sew until I was 19, my passion for sketching became my refuge, a means to express the designs I longed to see in my own closet. It was this journey of self-discovery that propelled me into the world of fashion design.
RAIMENT is more than just garments; it’s a celebration of confidence, empowerment, and self-expression. Each piece is meticulously crafted to evoke the same sense of pride and elegance that my grandmother exuded effortlessly. With every stitch, we strive to empower individuals to embrace their unique style and heritage, just as I have embraced mine.
Join me on this journey as I honor the past, celebrate the present, and inspire the future with each collection.