Post by: Team UMAG

In 2005, Patricia Dobine-Brewer\’s husband was diagnosed with MS, leaving her to quit her job to care for him full-time. \”I had a million things going through my mind,\” says Brewer. Because leaving her job would mean major income loss for her household, Patricia knew she needed to come up with a plan.

She and her husband developed a routine during her downtime. One day, they were watching an episode of Family Feud with Steve Harvey, when inspiration struck Patricia.

$\"\"$ \”It hit me, [Steve] went over to the guy and adjusted his tie and I told my husband, \’I\’m gonna make a tie\’. That was something I had never done. I sewed everything from curtains, to wedding dresses. But I had never made a necktie.\”

From that moment on, Patricia Dobine-Brewer was driven to succeed. She followed her instincts despite being facing hardships and pitfalls. Through trial and error, she taught herself the business of fashion by way of mentors, shows and networking.

\”I had this design in my mind, I\’m not drawer by any stretch of the imagination, but I had to get this thing together. Once I had it together, and I showed it to family and friends, the next step was to protect my idea.\”

She worked diligently, studying what was needed for her to ensure no one else could ever claim the idea for The UN-TIE. She learned the basics of social media from her children. She invested time – and sometimes money – in invention showcases at organization gatherings like those held by the SCORE Association, but found that those circles weren’t the arena for her creations.

\”I put money into invention companies [who said], \’bring your inventions to me\’, but a lot of what I saw there were gadgets,\” she recalls. But after turning to investing her time into social media, Patricia found inspiration in the number of “likes” for her products.

$\"\"$ “Oh my god, when I saw that people liked my stuff, that inspired me more,” Patricia remembers. She has slowly, but surely, found her way in the fashion industry. From a white collar worker, to a fashionista may seem like a stretch; but it seems that fashion is inherent in her nature.

“I am definitely branching out. I want to get into the wedding market. I want to get into doing weddings. I want to get into doing fraternities and sororities groups,” says Patricia. “My new ascot is coming out and I’m really excited about that.”

Photo Credits: THE UN-TIE & UMAG