When Love Becomes the Blueprint

This story didn’t begin with perfect supplies, the right timing, or even a clear plan. It began with love, love for a man oceans away, love for a dream, love for creating, and love for the people I hoped would one day feel at home in what I was building. And when I look back now, I don’t just see the challenges, I see proof. Proof that love, faith, and determination can take the most fragile beginnings and turn them into something strong, lasting, and beautiful.

We could never have made it this far without the people who chose to pour hope and positivity into us along the way. This journey has been anything but easy, yet every single second has been worth it. I’ve never been more proud of myself than I am today, because what I see when I look back is something built from nothing but love. And that is the most empowering feeling in the world.

I’ll never forget those early days.. walking into Walmart to ask for spare boxes or stopping at Kroger to gather leftover newspapers, because I couldn’t even afford proper supplies to ship. This little business was born from $10 my mom invested and a dream I refused to let go of. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to discover what you’re really made of.

My hope is that my story whispers courage into someone else’s heart. That it reminds you that your dream is worth chasing.. CHASE IT like wildfire. Do it messy, do it scared, do it with tears streaming down your face and doubt heavy on your shoulders but just do it. Because at the end of the day, you’ll never regret trying. I’ve always asked myself: What’s the worst that can happen? That I lose it all? So be it. It will never put me further than where I started. Life is about risk. It’s about fighting for your chance in a world that so often pushes you down. It’s about hope! The kind of hope that one day someone will believe in your little venture as fiercely as you do. And sometimes, like in my case, that “one day” doesn’t come overnight.. it comes five years later after keeping tunnel vision, when the breakthrough finally begins to peek through the cracks.

Through it all, I owe everything to my God. More nights than I can count, it was only Him with me when I sat alone at 3 or 4 a.m., packaging boxes on a hard floor before Igor ever moved here. He’s guided me step after step, even when I felt too weak to walk. Every time I’ve lost hope, every time I’ve been beaten down .. whether through online bullying, devastating setbacks, or even losing my entire account to a hack, it was His whisper that pulled me back: “I wouldn’t have given you a dream you couldn’t reach.”

If I hadn’t listened to that small, steady voice, I would have given up long ago. But instead, I kept going. And now, I stand here not just with a business run hand in hand with that very man it started for, but with a testimony: that love, hope, and faith really can build something out of nothing.

Because when the foundation is love, there is NOTHING in this world strong enough to tear it down.