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When people see Bow-Aholic today, they see the bows, custom apparel, senior pieces, accessories, DIY experiences and all of the colorful things I've had the opportunity to create over the years.
But Bow-Aholic didn't begin with a business plan.
It began during a time when I needed something for myself.
After becoming a mother, I experienced postpartum depression. Motherhood brought so much love into my life, but there was also a part of that season that was incredibly difficult. Like many mothers who experience postpartum depression, I was trying to navigate everything I was feeling while still showing up and taking care of the people who depended on me.
During that time, creating became an outlet for me.
I started making bows. Sitting down, working with my hands, choosing colors and turning pieces of ribbon into something beautiful gave me somewhere to put my energy. It gave me moments where I could focus on creating something instead of everything I was carrying.
I didn't have the language for it then, and I certainly wasn't thinking, This is going to become a business.
I was simply creating.
And creating was helping me.
Eventually, people began noticing what I made. One bow became another. Orders came. Ideas grew. Bow-Aholic began to grow right alongside me.
Looking back now, I can see something I couldn't see while I was living through it:
What began as an outlet during one of the hardest seasons of my life eventually became part of my purpose.
Creativity Can Be More Than a Hobby
That's one of the reasons creativity means something different to me today.
I'm not saying that making bows cured postpartum depression. It didn't. And creative activities aren't a replacement for professional mental health care when someone needs it.
But creativity gave me an outlet during a difficult chapter of my life.
And I know I'm not the only mother who has needed one.
Sometimes motherhood can become so focused on who needs you that you can lose pieces of yourself in the process. Having something that belongs to you—painting, crafting, writing, exercising, gardening, starting a business or simply making something with your hands—can give you space to reconnect with yourself.
For me, that something was creating.
And eventually, it became Bow-Aholic.
Confidence You Can Wear
There is something special about putting on something that feels like you.
A senior wearing something customized especially for her. A little girl choosing accessories that make her smile. A woman carrying something with words she needed to hear that day.
Those things may seem small, but I believe confidence is often built through small moments.
That belief has shaped what Bow-Aholic has become.
Today, I think of Bow-Aholic as the product side of confidence.
We create things you can wear, carry, give, customize and create yourself—but behind the products is a much bigger message:
You deserve to feel good about who you are.
From My Healing to Helping Girls Grow
Years later, I began to understand another piece of my story.
I thought about the little girl I had once been. I thought about the encouragement I needed growing up, the confidence I had to develop as an adult, and the role creativity continued to play in my life.
That eventually helped lead me to create The Confident & Creative Girls Club, a nonprofit dedicated to helping girls build confidence, explore their creativity and discover the courage to lead.
And that's why Bow-Aholic and The Confident & Creative Girls Club make sense together even though they are two separate organizations.
Bow-Aholic helps you express confidence.
The Confident & Creative Girls Club helps girls build it.
One is a business. One is a nonprofit.
But confidence and creativity are woven through both.
More Than Making Pretty Things
Whether I'm creating a custom senior piece, putting together a DIY experience, designing an affirmation product, or standing in a room full of girls during a Confident & Creative Girls Club program, there is a common thread.
I want people—especially girls—to walk away feeling a little more confident than they did before.
That's also why you'll begin seeing more than products here on the Bow-Aholic blog.
We'll talk about creativity, confidence, celebrating milestones, encouraging our daughters, affirmations, entrepreneurship, DIY projects, senior year, gift ideas and the stories behind what we create.
Because Bow-Aholic has grown.
And so have I.
What started with bows became a business.
What started as creativity became purpose.
And now I get to use both to remind girls and women that there is power in creating, celebrating and confidently showing up as yourself.
Welcome to the next chapter of Bow-Aholic.
With love,
Dessaray Seay
Founder, Bow-Aholic
Founder, The Confident & Creative Girls Club
To the mom who may be in her own difficult season: Find something that gives you a little space to be you, too. And if you're struggling with postpartum depression, reaching out for professional support can be an important part of taking care of yourself.
