For those of you who don't know me, my name is Skyler and I am the owner of Stay SMTH Apparel! After experimenting with a bunch of other business ideas that never came to fruition, I started working on this brand in January 2023 and have been working relentlessly since then in order to turn SMTH into something special.
Growing up in southern Delaware, I was interested in business and money from a very young age. As a kid, I had set up a little pop up "business" in my house (A Lightning McQueen kids folding table). I would get matchbox cars and other small toys and things I could find around the house and set them up with a small piece of paper underneath it and whenever someone came over I would ask if they wanted to bid on any of the items I had "listed". Although it sounds like a small detail, this is where my interest in running my own business got started.
My experiences throughout my life so far have led me here without me even realizing it. High school was really tough for me mentally, as it can be for a lot of other people, and it was tough to get through the day sometimes. It was tough dealing with stresses that came from my at home life, talking about colleges and my future when I had no idea what I wanted to do, and my extreme social anxiety that not too many people know that I deal(t) with. I followed an Instagram account at the time that posted motivational quotes and it really helped me get through the tough times when I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to sometimes.
Another factor was that I was definitely overweight in high school, but I played football so I was at least kind of in shape. After school I gained a bunch of weight and was by far the biggest I had ever been in my life (my weight in school was about 210, I weighed 280 at my absolute heaviest). Last year I decided to start eating better and going to the gym and over the past year I've gotten down to 200 lbs and cut over 10% body fat and have the most self-confidence that I've ever had.
My idea to start the Stay SMTH brand actually just came to me one day when I was looking for shirts to wear to the gym that were simple but clean looking and were light enough to wear to the gym but heavy enough to be able to wear out and about. The only brand that fit that description had very expensive shirts and had reviews that were sub-par. So i just said I think I could do this myself, and the rest is history! I combined the 2 things that I really liked, the gym and motivational quotes, and put them on a shirt!
Stay SMTH Apparel isn't just a brand for people who go to the gym, though. If someone is struggling through a tough day, a small reminder that you got this could be all the difference that they need. If you need a gym shirt that makes you feel confident while you're there, It can do that too! If you just want something nice to wear while being comfortable when you go run errands, Stay SMTH works perfectly. It can double as casual wear and gym wear while also looking clean and stylish no matter the occasion!
It has been a blast running this brand so far, and as a one man show, I definitely have my hands full; but I enjoy everything about the process. I love getting an opportunity to prove people wrong, I love building something like this all on my own, and most importantly I love supplying a brand that people can wear confidently and relate to personally!
If you've read all of this I appreciate you big time. Hopefully you can relate to my story in some way or another and feel a deeper connection to Stay SMTH instead of it just being another random clothing brand. Thanks to everyone that has supported me to this point, it means more to me than you'll ever know.
But as always, make sure you Stay SMTH! ;)