Why I Chose 100% Organic Cotton

This is actually my third time trying to build an apparel brand.

And looking back, I'm glad I didn't get it right the first time.

My first attempt taught me almost everything I know about the business side of apparel and print-on-demand. I researched products, printing, fulfillment, designs, pricing, and all of the little things you don't realize go into selling clothing until you actually try to do it.

I also poured an unbelievable amount of myself into the artwork.

I spent more than 1,000 hours creating my original animal graphics. They weren't designs I threw together just to have something to put on a shirt. I genuinely loved creating them, and I invested an enormous amount of time trying to get every piece where I wanted it.

Then I launched them.

And nothing sold.

That was hard.

When you've put that much time and creative energy into something, it's difficult not to question whether you should keep going. I was bummed, and for a while, I stepped away from it.

But I also learned something important from that first attempt.

I hadn't found the right clothing yet.

The artwork mattered to me, but I wanted the actual garment to matter too. I didn't want to build a brand around putting my designs on whatever blank hoodie or sweatshirt happened to be available through a print-on-demand company.

So eventually, I tried again.

Trying Again in Flagstaff

After moving to Flagstaff, Arizona, being surrounded by mountains and spending so much time outside brought a lot of my creativity back.

I found apparel that felt much closer to what I had been looking for, and I started rebuilding the idea again.

This time, the clothing felt right.

But the printing process didn't.

There was nothing necessarily wrong with it—it simply wasn't what I had pictured for my work. And after everything I'd learned the first time around, I didn't want to convince myself that something was “good enough” just because I wanted the business to work.

If I was going to try this again, I wanted to believe in the entire product.

Then I found Teemill.

Finding 100% Organic Cotton

Finding Teemill changed the direction of Stems from Love apparel for me because I finally found something that aligned much more closely with what I had been searching for.

100% organic cotton.

That mattered to me.

Healthy living is a huge part of my life. I care about movement, spending time outside, what I eat, the environment around me, and trying to be intentional about the choices I make.

So why wouldn't I think about the clothing I wear too?

I wanted the foundation of my apparel to be something I could genuinely feel good about putting my artwork on.

Organic cotton is grown according to organic agricultural standards that restrict the use of certain synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. And beyond that, I simply love the idea of creating nature-inspired clothing using a natural fiber.

It finally felt connected.

The Artwork Needed the Right Home

My artwork has changed and evolved over the years, but I haven't left all of those original designs behind.

After spending more than 1,000 hours creating my original animal graphics, there were some pieces I still genuinely loved. Those are the ones I've chosen to keep as part of Stems from Love today.

I didn't want to bring everything forward simply because I had spent so much time creating it. I wanted to keep the pieces that still felt like me and fit the direction the brand was becoming.

There may even be one or two more of those original designs that eventually find their way back.

At the same time, photography has become a much bigger part of what I create.

I'm constantly photographing mountains, trees, flowers, sunsets, storms, wildlife, and those little moments outside that make me stop whatever I'm doing and look.

Some of those moments remain photographs.

Others inspire artwork.

And some eventually become designs that I can put onto an organic cotton hoodie or sweatshirt.

That's when the apparel finally started making sense to me.

The older artwork didn't have to disappear for Stems from Love to evolve. It could live alongside the newer work inspired by my photography and experiences in nature.

Nature inspires me. Photography lets me capture it. Art lets me transform it. And apparel gives me another way to share it.

Clothing That Reflects What I Value

I'm not interested in creating clothing simply because I can.

I want the things I put into the world to have some connection to how I actually live.

I love being outside.

I love movement.

I love creating.

I love photography.

I love nature.

And I care about making choices that are thoughtful about the world around me.

Choosing 100% organic cotton clothing was one way I could bring those things together.

It may be a small choice in the grand scheme of things, but I believe small choices still matter.

From Nature to Something You Can Wear

One of my favorite parts of building Stems from Love has been seeing something that began as a moment outside eventually become something completely different.

A sunrise can become a photograph.

A photograph can inspire a drawing.

A tree, mountain or flower can become a piece of artwork.

And that artwork can eventually find its way onto an organic cotton hoodie or sweatshirt that someone wears on an adventure of their own.

I love that cycle.

Nature inspires me to create, and creating gives me another way to share what I see and love about the natural world.

That's what I want Stems from Love to continue becoming.

Something created thoughtfully.

Something connected to nature.

And something that, at every stage, stems from love.

— Stems from Love