Life and Work with Josephine Mawejje

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josephine Mawejje.

Josephine, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was born and raised in Uganda but later migrated to Boston, Massachusetts; where I have resided for the past 15 years. With my roots deeply rooted in Uganda, I chose to infuse my brand with rich and vibrant prints along with solids to symbolize the millions of vibrant and strong women from all walks of life. Laletty&Co. intends on bring together and empowering women all over the world as well as passing on that empowerment spirit & culture to our children. My mission is to merge different cultures through fashion.

How it all began. I grew up around my mother and grandmother who were both seamstresses in Uganda. However, I never really learned to sew while I was there. Just like any other young child, I was most interested in playing games with my peers, exploring around the neighborhood and so on and so forth. To the say the least; I was a very outdoorsy, little girl with a tomboy attitude. I was surrounded by mostly boys, so I wasn’t the girly type. However, little did I know, not that I realize; that my mother and grandmother’s sewing genes would be passed down to me in a very passive & undetectable manner. Yes, I grew up around seamstresses but not once did I ever sit down and formally learn how to sew.

Little did I know that years later, in my early 20’s would this family trait or craft manifest itself through my creative nature. I first picked up a needle and thread kit from my local JoAnn Fabric store in 2010. I purchased a pattern that I couldn’t comprehend once I opened it, but continued to cut out what looked somewhat like a skirt pattern. Long story short, it was a total disaster. I didn’t know how to read patterns or draft one from scratch, attempted to hand sew the seams together and I didn’t have notions (elastic or zipper) that were needed for the skirt. This was just the beginning. As time passed, YouTube became my university for fashion design. I constantly watched MIMI .G as she documented her sewing journey and her step by step tutorials on garment construction. I learned how to use commercial patterns, and modify them to fit my style, and took it day by day.

However, 2013 came along and I had a beautiful baby girl. My whole life took a whole new meaning. Over the next year and a half, I worked hard to complete my college degree at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. However, my urge to create also took on a life of its own. After my graduation, I decided to take my hobby to the next level, with faith that it’ll inspire others.

With little experience in business management or even fashion design, my creative nature just pushed me to delve into this unfamiliar territory. So, it all started with the urge to create custom clothes for my daughter and I. I found that sewing really made me happy, cliché; right? I thoroughly enjoyed surging the edges of the fabric and being able to modify patterns to make custom apparel. Now, I did all this for fun and relaxation but then it became more and more apparent that people liked what I made or what I wore. So, I’d occasionally make simple pieces for friends and family. After years of practice, I realized that the creating custom and unique clothes allowed me to express my creativity, my inner beauty, and style. The unique process of sketching out an outfit idea, to picking out the fabric, to drafting & modifying a pattern was all intriguing and intimate at the same time. The rhythm, the pace, the process of watching mere pieces of fabric transform into a ready to wear the garment is a very rewarding feeling.

Has it been a smooth road?
No, it hasn’t been a smooth road to get to where I am today. I am still growing as a person, a mother, a business owner and a designer. Some of the struggles I face on a daily basis is maintaining a healthy work-life balance. At the moment, my brand is growing faster than I anticipated; it solely depends on one person but I am slowly building a team in order to appropriately and efficiently accomplish the needs of our clients as well as the business.

Capital is also a challenge that I sort of knew would be an issue but I didn’t let lack of upfront costs become an obstacle to fulfilling my dreams. I started off with $700 dollars, I’ve managed to slowly grow my brand and reinvest what I make back into it.

My advice to other women is to never let anything stand in the way of achieving and following their dreams. If you have a vision, believe in yourself and others around you will too; clichè but true. Surround yourself with like-minded people, maybe not in the same field but as long as you can learn something from them, it’s better than none. I’ve learned that collecting bits of knowledge from like-minded peers in different career paths lead to being well versed in a lot of stuff. Knowing what you know and knowing what you don’t know will make a big difference. Always have an open receptive mind, ready to learn.

Another piece of advice is to educate yourself; one thing I really wish I did is pursuing a career in fashion design. It would have given me the tools to propel my creativity to the next level. However, that didn’t stop me. I take the time to educate myself on a regular basis, whether it be business related, fashion related, manufacturing, trends, marketing and so on and so forth. I continually read and research in order to do what I do really well.

Put yourself out there, this is something I am constantly battling with. It’s a scary world but putting yourself out there brings you closer to your clients your target market. People relate to you only when you put yourself out there sincerely. Sharing your struggles, celebrating your wins; big or small will make others appreciate all the blood and sweat you put into your brand.

Stay organized. This is something that is very critical in efficiently running a business. Documenting and logging everything is important. Staying on top of things as far as legal documents, day to day spreadsheets, daily planner entries, and organizing your thoughts and ideas all make a major difference in your life.

Allocating me-time is another important challenge that I am learning to implement in my life. Many times, I have lost myself in my work, losing total control of everything around me and being unable to function normally. When this happens, I walk away, regroup, and return. This is when you critically need a team. To take on different tasks that you can’t take on all at once by yourself. It takes a team. So, me-time is important. Take a break, re-evaluate, then return.

There’s so much I am learning, so many things I’m doing wrong along the way, and so much advice I could give but the most important advice I will give to all the women out there is to PRAY, TRUST IN GOD AND HAVE FAITH. Because, with God, all things are possible.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with LALETTY&CO. – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
I design and make women’s apparel using African print textiles. I love and enjoy merging my culture with western silhouettes which makes my brand wearable, fun, and trendy. What I am most proud of as a brand is that I am slowly establishing my presence locally here in Boston and to connect with people from all walks of life and be able to share my craft with them both on the runway and other events as well. Knowing that there’s always a way to connect and merge cultures through fashion pushes me to work even harder so that I may go further in the world, beyond Boston, Beyond the US. I think that what sets me apart from others is my passion and drive for my brand as well as my clear vision for Laletty&Co. When asked about Laletty&Co., from the minute I start talking to the minute I end, I have the widest smile on my face, my cheeks actually hurt.

Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for the opportunities. In your view, are there opportunities that you see that women are particularly well positioned for?
We are currently living in a world where feminism is at the forefront of many social movements. From women rights, social justice rights, political agendas, business, etc. I believe that with the media highlighting so much of the challenges faced by women, there is also an uprise of what I’d call solutions to some of these challenges. We have female-driven campaigns aimed at putting the needs of women first; such as investment firms for women, business loans, and grants aimed to propel women-owned businesses, and movements such as the united state of women, with a mission to amplify collective action towards full gender equality. I believe these are all opportunities that are meant to solve some of these challenges we face as women, and women should take full advantage of these resources both online and on the ground locally and become involved in what I believe is a greatest female revolution of all time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lalettyco.com
• Phone: 781-600-1283
• Email: laletty@lalettyco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lalettyandco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laletty.co/

Image Credit:
Vogefashionrunway, Oscar Arinaitwe, Christophefur

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