We had the good fortune of connecting with Steph Bell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steph, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I (Steph), wanted to create something that stood up to online hate and bullying in the sport of Competitive Cheerleading. The industry can be very negative, and I wanted to create a clothing brand that not only gave me a voice, but also gave a voice to the thousands of others experiencing the same issues I was facing.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My art is in my brand! Our initial designs came from some doodles and experimenting on different design platforms. We then evolved to utilizing different vendors that offered different types of designs and ways to do so that we didn’t have access to. Working with these other vendors and brands gave us the access we needed to grow the brand across the sport of cheerleading. It gave us the power to design, when we didn’t have the resources needed to do it ourselves initially.
I am so very proud of everything we have accomplished so far. We continue to surprise ourselves with some of the designs we are able to come up with and collaborate with other companies on. We went from only being able to afford one prototype item and one for sale, to carrying around 40 product offerings.
One thing I want people to know is that others will always try to bring you down if you let them. People told me that BadFlyer was not a good idea because “Who would want to be bad at anything?” Not understanding that Bad didn’t mean bad in the traditional sense. My advise to others entrepreneurs out there or anyone afraid to start their own company is just to go do it. Love every minute of it and pour yourself into everything you do. Perseverance will get you to where you want to be, and don’t give up on yourself.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to shoutout my husband Patrick, as well as my friends Dakota, Kirsten, Ben, and Linda. Patrick has been my rock, and has been able to fill the gaps in BadFlyer to help make it successful. Dakota was the first coach to give me a real chance, and also helped inspire the clothing brand. Kirsten has been there for me for the past 3 years and has been one of the only constants in my life. Ben has been one of the most supportive people in my cheer career, and he helped me advance myself both athletically and emotionally. Linda has been there for me since 2018. She one of my closest friends and confidants and she helped me get BadFlyers manufacturing off of the ground. Her Daughter Savonna ultimately inspired me to begin cheerleading in the first place.

Website: https://bad-flyer.myshopify.com/?srsltid=AfmBOorK1Uiy_emys5fJ8w0uJJCH3D51_SMW6FGUGYoWOYxMcxx3TpYf

Instagram: @Bad_Flyer

Facebook: Badflyer

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