Today we’d like to introduce you to Sheree Lambert.
Hi Sheree, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for sharing your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
Thank you for this opportunity to introduce my Domestic Violence Merchandise (Merch) to your readers. I am a Jamaican operating an online business. I Volunteer at Women in Distress of Florida and have a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with The Domestic Violence Hotline, wherein part proceeds of the profits go to these two Organizations. I have always had this instinct to “run to someone’s rescue” ever since I was a child. As an older 50-year-old child, I want to agitate greater support for eliminating Domestic Violence. Why? Look around you. When you’re at the bus stop, a restaurant, the park, etc., do you ever notice the pain, lack of life and distance on the faces of some individuals? Mostly women. Do you notice the frightening behavior of some children at the mall, at school, or on the roads? Have you ever drummed up a random conversation with a stranger (adult or child)?
My close friends call me Xenodochial, which means I am friendly to strangers. I had no idea I was doing this, but people who have known me since I was a teenager prefer to bring an issue to me because I exercise good problem-solving techniques. I am brutally blunt with a great amount of empathy. I will get a pen and paper and log the pros and cons of dealing with the issue; this is how it all started at the San Antonio Airport in Texas 6 years ago. I attended my sister’s wedding, and she took over an hour to pick me up. I was sitting on a bench outside, waiting to be picked up, and I conversed with this young lady to pass the time. The conversation led to her telling me she was in an abusive relationship and had jumped on a plane to escape. My ride came right then and there, but curiosity led me to one of the things that I like doing best: research. I needed to know just how many persons are experiencing Domestic Abuse. Why would anyone allow themselves to be abused? The data I discovered reduced me to tears.
For years, I researched and tried to identify signs in people I work with, go to church with, interact with, or walk by. I wasn’t judging people; I just wanted to see why others couldn’t see it, abuse, in the people they love and hang out with. Our eyes are trained to see physical injuries, but how do you see the unseen? I worked in an Organization for 20 years, and for the last 9 years, I felt like I was being raped. My competence was being exploited for the benefit of others (I would love to write a book on this someday). I wondered if the lackluster professionalism displayed by others in the Organization was as a result of them feeling similarly to myself. I have 20 years of working Lean Manufacturing experience with core competence in problem-solving, so I’m exercising the 5-Why technique to get to the root cause. I guess having a curious mind helps! LOL. Behavior impacts results, and if we don’t diagnose behaviors accurately or as close to accurately as possible, we can never yield the intended results, so I started to gather the data a lot of coworkers presented mentally; a lot of which were personal such as non-performance of children in school, unable to meet financial responsibilities, spouse not pulling their weight, spouse mentally or physically abusing them; no Matlock, no Sherlock Holmes. It just needs an intentional desire to want to see better.
Looking at the data across the USA, the Caribbean Islands, and Africa, I wanted to see how best I could agitate greater support and commitment to the fight against Domestic Violence. However, I wanted to navigate it from the standpoint of pride. Are you proud of your Nation? Are you proud of your State? Are you proud of your Island? Are you proud of your Home? If your answer is Y-E-S, then you need to invest in ensuring your Nation, your State, your Island, and your Home are N-O-T on that list/graph where the statistics show cases of Domestic Violence, you ought to have that pride for others to want to benchmark, but how do I get this across? How do I help to entrench this in people’s DNA? Wearing the t-shirt might appeal in passing, to join a movement, form one, or seek out an organization that assists victims or speaks to our youngsters. On the back cover of my spiral notebook, I’ve included “Recalibrating the way we deal with issues in our Homes and Relationships” because of the domino effect on how children resolve issues, how we carry out our functions at work, I am no psychologist, could be a result of emotional or physical abuse. I also have merchandise for Companies because our human capital needs more than a paycheck. One of my hopes is that an abuser will see the extensive commitment from a varying cross-section and ask for help. How do we take an abuser out of abuse mode? The puzzle is a family activity to help guide our children away from domestic abuse. It’s all about #sayitloud #wearitproud. You wear your hoodie into the barber shop or to a game; others see it and may not say anything, but it can appeal to their core values. #uncomfortablefact, our children are the next set of abusers, future abusers, as parent, guardian, society we have to prevent this.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I started my collection in July of this year, 2023, as I wanted it to be a gift to myself to do something meaningful for others for my 50th birthday. I am still in “getting traction mode.” I am on Instagram as purpledivasheree and Tiktok as @purpledivasheree; purple is also my favorite color and, more importantly, “the symbol of peace, courage, survival, honor, and dedication to ending violence.” The current struggles are to get people on board, whether Organizations or individuals. I have to opt for print-on-demand because it’s not easy to accumulate start-up funds, but my continued commitment will agitate support. I am excited to be able, with support, to donate to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and Women in Distress of Florida. Donations can never be enough. Housing entire families for undisclosed periods, too few understand the work done by these entities. They are amazing. Also, I’ll be partnering with Women in Distress in having a Fashion Show on October 28 at Ispalina Restaurant in Boca Raton, from 4pm – 7pm, where I’ll be showcasing my Collection, I’m very excited about that.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Business Systems Coordinator for 20 years. I am now retired and have been actively following my calling, Volunteering. My Domestic Violence Collection is a subset of my volunteering as I can add another layer to donating, not just my time. Lean Manufacturing has varying stability tools to enable sustainable results, growth, and success through Continuous Improvement. These include problem-solving – getting to the root cause or the reason for this problem and coming up with solutions that, as best as possible, eliminate this problem; then you’ll need to revise the Standard Operating Procedures (the way the work is done), to now include the revised way the task is to be done (remember you had a problem and an improved way to do the job has been identified based on your solving the problem) you not only now revise your documents, you also have to retrain on the new/improved way the task is carried out. We do this every day: we wake up at 5 a.m., brush our teeth, shower, eat breakfast, and leave home (defined route to as best as possible avoid traffic) to be on time. That’s your morning’s Standard Operating Procedure, your Routine, a cyclic task. If you realize you’re not getting to work on time, you must revisit this procedure and see what subset within these tasks can take a little less time or possibly a night before prep can help; who knows! It requires routine review, testing, revising, implementing, and testing again to ensure this is now a better method of getting you to school or work on time. Finding inexpensive, workable, simple solutions is key.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting?
Write it down: the shortest pencil is better than the longest memory. Make your mockups; even draw it on paper, cut it out with scissors, and stick it on your mirror. Talk to yourself about your idea every day. Be your biggest critic so that when you’re comfortable enough to share, and someone has a critique, you’ll have grown a backbone for that criticism so it won’t mess with your confidence. Do research day and night; start small. Be able to distract yourself when you’re feeling overwhelmed. My phone’s domino and solitaire games are my saving graces when I hit roadblocks. I shed a tear, a few cuss words that Mommy wouldn’t be proud of a prayer, and then I’m back to Sheree unstoppable again. Pray, pray and pray somewhere, never underestimate that we all have the power to heal, bring out the Healer in you…Rev. Michael Elliott reminded us in one of his sermons and I am doing my part, the best i can, for as long as I can, for all whom, I can.
Pricing:
- All prices include shipping.
- All products are printed on demand, so getting to you may take extra time.
- Orders 12 and over will be cheaper and get to you faster, as I have an alternate source for bulk orders on T-shirts.
- You have a budget on orders 12 and over; I’ll do my best to ensure I match that (a group of friends or family, too).
- Products are of high quality.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.caribbeanapparel.net/collections/sheree-collection
- Instagram: purpledivasheree
- Twitter: @purpledivasher
Image Credits
All are my designs via Printful
