Life & Work with Shakilya Swinton of Lees Summit

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shakilya Swinton.

Hi Shakilya, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I grew up in Kansas City, MO, and was born and raised in a single-family home with my mother. I never really spoke to my biological father as he did not want children and felt as if my mother trapped him; my mother was not supposed to have children; she fell out of a window sleepwalking at 2 years old from a 6-story building. She was lucky she had long hair that saved her life to wrap around the electrical pole lines, but her pelvis bone did pop out, and the doctors informed my grandparents at the time my mother would never be able to have children. So, it was an absolute miracle she made it through her pregnancy with me after several other miscarriages. My father and mother split up when I was a couple of months old after my mother caught him trying to smother me with a pillow all because he said I wouldn’t stop crying, so she “picked his *ss up and body slammed” on top of those big back in the day TV sets. She gave him a try again around the age of 4 or 5, but I was a heavy-set kid all my life so I would wet the bed, and he would get upset and make me wash my panties by hand. But one day, he got really upset and whipped me so hard with a green metal switch that it left huge welts on my legs and behind, so we had not spoken or seen him since then except for when child support was making him pay $100 a month that’s when he decided to call.

I continued to have these hurdles throughout my life, from being overweight, which led to so much bullying at school simply because I didn’t look like them. My mom was disabled from her obesity problem, so we did not have money to buy me these name brands that the other students were wearing. Still, the kids at the school did not know my obesity problem was linked to the sexual abuse I endured and dealt with at seven from my mother’s boyfriend for over ten years, which I now have a child by.

What saved me from suicide while I was pregnant was my dedication and love. I had grown to Jesus Christ as I started attending church at 12 years old and learned a whole new positive way of living. Yes, being a Christian in our world is hard, but you live and learn every day. I heard of taking it one day at a time, working on bettering yourself and your relationship with God one minute at a time, do not overwhelm yourself with other people’s growth or how they are living; you must live for you, not worry and of course be good and serve God’s people.

I was finally able to leave my mother’s home at 20 and moved in with my now business cofounder. She understood and went through the same thing with me as far as the sexual abuse, and so the last 8 years together, she has become someone I love and admire; to have someone accept your flaws and all, help you work through your insecurities and push you into your destiny with no ill intent is hard to find these days in our society. As I stated, my mother suffered from obesity at 35 years old and was declared disabled and put on oxygen 24/7. It took a toll on her, constantly being in and out of the hospital with congestive heart failure, diabetes, lung diseases, and other health complications. She was put on hospice back in 2019, but in Dec 2019, she had a stroke which left her blind and in a vegetative state with short-term memory loss. I took my mother in and cared for her with the help of my partner and son while working two full-time jobs and going to school for my bachelor’s in accounting. For the last 3 years, we nursed her back to good health. She lost weight, gained control to breathe independently without oxygen, and learned to walk and talk again with physical and speech therapy assistance.

Things were on the right track as I had just graduated with my bachelor’s in Accounting in August 2021 and was offered a sweet gig to continue being a dispatcher as that is how I made my living for the last 7 years since 2016. I could multitask and study while at work because I worked nights, so I took advantage of my free time. When the first full-time job I had been a part of for 6 years lost their contract because of COVID, I decided to stay with the second job as a dispatcher that I had just started a couple of months prior, and they were in the middle of selling the company March 2022 to new owners. I got an offer to be the new accountant and eventually would be moved into working payroll working from home; the new owner understood I had to take care of my mother and spend time with my son, so I was able to do accounting at home and then go into the office 3-4 days a week for dispatching position still due to staff shortages.

Seven months into my role as a dispatcher and accountant for the new company that took over, I was killing it as I became the lead dispatcher in no time; everything seemed to fall into place when I worked, and I was congratulated by the owner and several of my coworkers at the time. The only issue there was with the VP that I communicated with daily and that “taught” me the walk-through of accounting. The owner had informed me the VP sometimes had a hard time communicating with people. Still, she meant the best, so I like to give people the benefit of the doubt even after the owner stated the VP did not want me working from home because she had difficulty trusting people.

I believed in the company and how I could help improve the company with my ideas, but at the end of October 2022, the VP told me another coworker would be getting trained in accounting “in case” I needed a “Vacation,” I said oh ok that’s great for covering. But then, when I continued my duties in accounting later that week, I was told by the VP to stay out of accounting because I was making mistakes, and she had to do several refunds. I’m a detective by nature. I went through the accounting emails and found no one asking for a refund. Of course, I grew suspicious and asked the owner to weigh in on the situation because it was so confusing that I was removed from my duties out of nowhere and then lied to about it. Two weeks went on, and when I began asking more questions about what was happening, the VP and I had an intense discussion where I was told more lies, stating it was now a security issue, but Caucasian employees worked from home. I was told the other employee could “just get it done here in the office, and that way, no one doesn’t need to work from home.”

I informed the VP I was upset and felt lied to, manipulated, and played the entire 7 months because I was supposed to get trained on timecards, payroll and emails for accounting finances by the VP. Still, she gave those to the same Caucasian employee. I couldn’t believe it. I had terminated my full-time day job when the owner called me back in April to come and help the VP in accounting because she was “drowning.” But since I was offered great overtime for accounting, I was fully invested in my role at the company, working day and night shifts to give other dispatchers time off and still working my time at home to stay caught up in accounting. The following Monday, the VP sent me a text message stating, “Shakilya, your terminated, effective immediately. Thank you!”

I was in complete shock, like I was being punked. How can I be one of your “best assets” to the company on Friday and terminated Monday? If I had been properly informed that maybe they were going a different direction with accounting and no one was going to work from home like no one then I could have found another daytime job as I did before, which is what I was doing before I was fired as I stopped working day and night shifts the two weeks we had this issue with accounting and only worked night shifts which only frustrated the VP but I had to provide for my family and needed my hours from accounting to pay my bills, and they both knew that. So, I sat in my sorrows for 2 weeks after being terminated a week after my 29th birthday. I didn’t understand how someone could do that to another human being for no reason. I vowed and prayed I would not have to return to working for people like that again.

Something clicked, and I said “now is the time”. Now is the time I start to change the world and answer my calling that my pastor pointed out in front of the entire congregation when I was a teenager that God had told him I was the chosen “One,” and it brought me back to the idea I had a year ago of ConTroversT’s. My first shirt idea was “TREAT ME WHITE” I would change the world through apparel.

I knew I wanted ConTroversT’s to be for everyone, not just for the black culture. I wanted to stop this stigma of exclusion; that’s the issue; no one should be excluded; we all go through trials and tribulations throughout our lives, and however, we want to look at it, another person from another race somehow or someway is helping you, either serving you food, transporting coal to keep you with power, answering your customer service calls, picking up your residential trash, constructing your house, teaching your children and so many more Nobel acts we all perform for each other. We all need each other, and the sooner we realize that, when we will go further.

I watched YouTube videos and researched how to start my business from scratch, apply for the EIN, set up the domain, get the charter number for the LLC, get a sales tax license and business bank accounts, design the t-shirts, and learn code for my website design. Each task was a challenge, and each day, I wanted to give up and go back to working a regular job and move on from what happened to me, but I was not going to let that situation define me. Instead, it motivated me and pushed me to the beginning of my destiny. I applied for jobs and had the interviews, and they all seemed to go well, but I never would get a call back. I knew this was God’s way of telling me to finish this brand because we need this; our world needs this. ConTrovers’T was made to make us uncomfortable and make us stop walking around as if these controversies are not what is dragging the US down mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. It was made to call out the cultural controversies in all of us to get us talking about these EPICC controversy conversations that can shape our world’s past, new and future generations. EPICC stands for Equality Purpose Integrity Communication Change.

Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
Oh, it has been everything but a smooth road, but I was expected to jump into a new field of entrepreneurship. The hurdles include registering the business and having all the proper information business phone, address, and email, to start obtaining those and learning the other little quirks that make up your business especially having an LLC.

One major hiccup we have had is marketing and getting our brand awareness across the way we want. We have had some concerns that our brand is confusing them because I have “TREAT ME WHITE,” which triggers people to think it’s an all-black-owned brand. Still, they have a problem with some of our videos and pictures for the T-shirts and hoodies that included “white people,” but that is what our brand is all about. Yes, some Tees may relate more to a certain culture, but that’s also the idea that ConTroversT’s is For US The BOLD, for anyone of any race that stands with that message “TREAT ME WHITE” “I Will Not Be Silenced by Your Violence” “Stop The Killing Start The Healing” “Stop The Hate Spread The Faith” requires BOLD people that is ready to see change and make it a part of their weekly apparel; wearing controversy apparel designed to start our thoughts and conversations and bring us together as a nation. Wearing ConTroversT’s provides daily awareness of these controversies in a true forward fashion. This is for you, you, you, and everyone of all cultures, generations, and backgrounds.

It was our fault as more social marketing could have been done better to let everyone know who we are, what we represent, and how they helped me start this movement in true change through controversy apparel ConTroversT’s. A week after we opened, my mother unexpectedly passed away due to cardiac arrest, so it’s been a tough month. Still, I know my mother would want me to keep going and truly inspire Us through my apparel and accessories. We also had to understand that only some people will want our brand and want change, but we are on a mission to persuade the change; we know and believe unity is possible, and we will do it through something we all love; Apparel and accessories!

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Since I was terminated in November, I have been on a mission of entrepreneurship. We were finally able to open ConTroversT’s Feb 1, 2023; it was so exciting to finally see everything we had worked for come together in our designs to photographs of our brand.

I specialize in people. I connect with people in a way that they are easily drawn to me and feel safe and secure. I love giving people advice when I have the correct guidance to give. I am all for coming together, as I believe and know we all have a purpose. We need to find it. Sometimes for people to find it, they may have to drop certain people in their life, focus truly on them, and get involved with a good church or positive group of friends that can hold them accountable. Choosing either one of those will put you on the right track, and of course, we all know true change takes time.

I am most proud that I have overcome so much in my life and have continued to defy the odds because I am worth more than the old scars in my story. I could have been bitter, out making bad choices and being mean to people because of what happened to me as a kid and teenager, but I am choosing greatness. I am choosing to be happy despite the hurdles because those hurdles are what challenge and push me into my next step, destiny.

What sets me apart from everyone else is nothing. Like everyone else, I have a story to tell; I have a son who is looking up to me; I want to see change but am still stubborn sometimes on understanding all of us.

We all may have our family DNA and different shades of skin that uniquely makes us up, but there is nothing else that separates us; we are all the same and gorgeously made in his image. It’s society’s fault we can’t see the absolute truth; You! If only we could see there is nothing wrong with you we just need to change our view; to the positive view.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some changes you expect to see over the next five to ten years?
I see ConTroversT’s expanding globally in the next 5 years and nearly most, if not all, of the world on the bandwagon to true change through controversy apparel. We would love to see our storefronts and warehouses across the globe producing controversial clothing and accessories. One big shift We will be once our company reaches the profitability mark of $100,000, we as the company will add $1.00 to every product purchased to assist with homelessness in our communities. We couldn’t offer this from the beginning because we were in debt with our finances and needed to work on building financial freedom first through us and then to everyone in need. We want to get our community involved in our brand, so we will start taking suggestions on controversies and see if we can turn it into a shirt based on the votes of our peers. ConTroversT’s will be the new wave throughout the following years and decades to come; it’s going to be how people stay encouraged throughout the days, weeks, months, and years, just by reading their friends/stranger shirt has encouraged them or sparked a conversation.

Pricing:

• T-Shirts $25-$30
• Hoodies $55
• Hats $20-$30
• Mugs $15-25
• Water Bottles $20-30

Contact Info:

• Website: www.controversts.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/controverstsllc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/controverstsllc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ConTroversTsLLC
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@controverstsllc