Behind The Brand

My name is Jasamine Fitzpatrick and we are LocdForLife. We were founded in July 2021 while I was in the process of completing my MBA. For years I wanted to start my loc journey, but I was always discouraged by the opinion of others.

There were 3 things that held me back originally: Stereotypes, Biases, and Judgement. These are 3 things that all African Americans can face due to the color of their skin but have you ever thought of how they also face these things when it comes to how they choose to wear their hair. There are thousands of people with locs and the number is growing by the day. However, just because the number is growing, it doesn’t mean that the stereotypes are decreasing but i decided i was going to give it a try anyway.

July 4, 2019, I made the decision to finger coil my hair. When I wore it people were asking if I was starting locs and I would always say "I'm not sure." This was solely based on the fact I cared about how others would feel about me having locs. After about 30-60 days of me wearing the coils under braids I decided that the choice would be permanent, and I wanted to wear them as they were. I've been on this journey ever since. I felt so invigorated and empowered the longer they grew. With this newfound confidence, the idea of owning a business for people like me started to fester. I went through quite a few ideas but one night in grad school, LocdForLife, came to me. Just like my loc journey, we have been through quite a few changes to get where we are today.

LocdForLife is an apparel brand that allows men and women in the locd community to express their love and pride for the journey. LocdForLife encourages the locd community that their locs do not define them as a person. We do not just sell apparel. We sell smiles, motivation, support, confidence, creative freedom, relatability and so much more. So some may see our t-shirts and think “do we really need more t-shirt brands”, but that’s what makes us different because we are so much more then that.

I am using my extensive educational history as well as knowledge obtained from completing the ECornell Womens Entrepreneurship program to build this brand and the people connected to it into something so much more. The ultimate goal is to become a one stop shop for all things locs, so stay tuned and stay connected.