We were lucky to catch up with Christina Degreaffenreidt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
The journey of finding my purpose was interesting. I always knew I was put on this earth to inspire others and put good out in the world. At first, I thought that meant my career in apparel. I have worked in the apparel industry for almost two decades. When I first started in the industry, I had an overwhelming dismay of fashion for plus size women. I positioned myself to be the positive change for plus size fashion and started my own apparel company catering to plus size women. After years of attempts and re-strategizing, the business never took off to be successful so I closed the business and took a hiatus from my attempts at entrepreneurship. After a few years, I took another final attempt at entrepreneurship but I didn’t know what that would be. I send a survey to my family and friends asking them what I was good at that I could monetize. There was a variety of responses collected and I remember stating, “oh, I”m multifaceted!” From there, the brand name Multifaceted was trademarked and turned into a business to accomplish my initial goal: spreading joy, putting good out and inspiring others. That quickly turned into meeting my initial goal through flower candles.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
In exploring my next entrepreneurship journey, I discovered my authentic love for nature, flowers, fragrance and all things aesthetically pleasing. While creating Multifaceted, I decided to put all those elements together and launch a home fragrance line of candles. I have a passion for people and the planet. With these passions, I did extensive research to make sure our ingredients are premium and non-toxin. Our consumer can safely burn our product in their homes without worries of getting sick or effecting the air quality of their home. We partner with a sustainable supplier to do our best to help in saving the planet vs harming it. Our vessel supplier uses recycled glass to create our entire glassware line. We also use unbleached cardboard packaging to ensure we have biodegradable packaging that does not stay in the landfill for years.
In the spirit of spreading joy, I created flower top candles that have symbolic meanings. Each candle is handcrafted by my team to capture the natural beauty of flowers. I added symbolic elements to the flower candles to make them special, memorable and uniquely creative. Every aspect of our product line is thoughtfully curated to appeal to our unique market niche. Our product makes everyone’s day a little brighter.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
My perseverance is the #1 quality that I hold while navigating entrepreneurship. Perseverance is essential as you are trying to build a brand/company from the ground up, and sometimes alone. Entrepreneurship is not for the weak. It requires a ruthless number of hours, determination and drive grounded in perseverance.
My formal education has also made a tremendous impact on my journey. I graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a dual degree in Business Administration and Apparel Design. Having such a diverse training has benefited me greatly in running a business. I can utilize both my analytical brain and my creative brain, such as my studies in undergraduate. I returned to college in an effort to get my MBA but ended that journey after I discovered it just wasn’t for me. I like to refer to entrepreneurship as an on-the-job MBA. To me, the knowledge base and business savvy needed to run a business easily compare to the information gained while getting a MBA.
Additionally, working in corporate America has enhanced my multitasking skills as I have worked in several demanding roles with tight deadlines. In the apparel industry, you must get the job done and have quick turnarounds. My work experiences have easily transferred over to my role as a business owner. My role as the owner varies from day to day. One day may be all spreadsheets and the next day can be candlemaker and custodian worker. There is no one role in being a business owner.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The book that I have enjoyed in my professional development is a quick read that I reference often. The book is “Who moved my cheese” by Spencer Johnson. The narrative is so simple but the message is profound. This short read reminds me that we all have to adjust to change or we will never meet our goal. Change is unavoidable. I have learned to expect change and quickly adjust to whatever is thrown at me, especially in running a business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.multifacetedgso.com
- Instagram: @multifacetedGSO
- Facebook: @multifacetedGSO
- Linkedin: MultifacetedGSO
Image Credits
Our images are from two amazing sources:
– Personal Touch Solutions
– Madalyn Yates Creative
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
