Hey, Hi, Hello!

Hi! My name is Grace, and I am the owner and founder of Fall From Grace.

I thought I would introduce myself and tell you a little bit about me and how the brand came to be!

So, hey, hi, hello. Please bear with me, I am terrible at talking about myself; I have never thought myself particularly interesting. This has always been one of my struggles (that’s a whole work in progress). Take, for example, the ever so formal job interview. The interviewer opens with “tell me a bit about you” and you can almost hear the tumbleweed rolling around in my head as the internal monologue screams at me to answer.

“I’m Grace, I did a degree in criminology uhm…I like reading and drawing?”

Very inspired, I know. Thankfully, I’ve never been asked what kind of biscuit or fruit I would be because I genuinely would not know where to begin answering that one. Some good old-fashioned overthinking anyone?  That’s not all there is to me though!

 So yes, hi. I’m Grace. I am 23 years old; I live in Suffolk with my mum and my dog Trevor (who is quite possibly the most adorable dog – I’m not biased, I swear. If you want to follow him on Instagram he is @trevorthepooch); I drink far too much caffeine (both tea and coffee, I’m really not fussy); I own more pyjamas than real clothes and I love to read (my bookshelves are my pride and joy). Essentially, I’m a bit weird and a complete nerd. I love Harry Potter (not J.K Rowling – if you know you know), The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, Sherlock, Supernatural…probably all pop culture fandoms!  I have anxiety and depression and I am on anti-depressants. This is not something I’m ashamed of and you shouldn’t be either. I also struggle with a helping of imposter syndrome and a dash of social anxiety.

 I did in fact do a degree in Criminology and Sociology at the University of Lincoln. I do not use my degree per se, but I am eternally grateful for all that Uni taught me. It was, in-fact, during Uni that I “publicly” came out. I don’t really have a good coming out story. I remember telling my mum that I liked a girl and just sort of slipped it into conversations with all of my friends. Luckily everyone I have told has been amazing and I am so grateful and lucky that everyone in my life accepts me for who I am and honestly probably wouldn’t care if I told them I was an Alien (if you’re reading this and I haven’t told you I am Queer…oops, very sorry but I like everyone - pansexual if you’d like a label but I’m still figuring it out. Hope that’s all good with you!). To be fair I think most people probably knew before I did.

That aside, I met some fantastic people at Uni and the friends I made there have been a great support on this business journey! You know who you are if you are reading this. As I said, I do not use my really cool criminology degree. When I graduated, I got a retail job that was meant to be temporary, but I somehow ended up there for 2 years, and although I moaned and complained about it I think it actually did help me grow as a person. It helps that I made some great friends there too!  I’m not entirely sure how (hello imposter syndrome) but I completely girl bossed, and I managed to get a job as a graphic designer/marketing assistant which I absolutely love.

So, this brings us to how my little business came to be: in the midst of those two retail years Covid struck, and we had to shut down for a bit. In those glorious early days of lockdown (banana bread anyone?), I decided to start drawing again. This somehow morphed into an Etsy shop (if anyone remembers the days of GR Art let me know!). This small Etsy shop became F!NE Apparel, during which time I got a market stall, and has now grown into Fall From Grace.

The main aim of Fall From Grace is to remind everyone that we are all human and we all share this planet. We are all the same. So why are we fighting with each other about where someone comes from? Who they love? How they identify? We want to make people aware that mental health is real – the majority of people struggle with it so why is it still taboo? We want to change this. We want to spread the message of love and positivity and to make people feel seen. To let people know that they are not alone in this world. We want to be the change that this world needs.

So, here is to positivity, to be the change and to not struggling alone. Here’s to embracing and loving the person you are, the person you were always meant to be. Here’s to being you.

P.S Thank you to my amazing best friend who read the terrible first draft of this and made it sound amazing! Love you lots.