TBH I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD HAPPEN. Not when I decided to defy my parents and apply for a job in fashion instead of applying to med school. Not when I recorded one Pilates video intended for a small group of my students and put it on YouTube. Not when I started selling motivational tanks out of my parents’ garage.
I had a dream I couldn’t ignore, and I followed it! The journey along the way was messy at times, but it allowed me to evolve and allowed my designs to evolve.
2012
My merch begins with motivational tanks. The “Train like a beast look like a beauty” design gets so popular that the exact graphic gets ripped off by a large dept store which directly impacts my small biz. I stop making tanks altogether.
2016
I decide to go after my childhood dream of becoming a fashion designer and launch POPFLEX. Everyone’s excited and it starts off pretty well at first!
2017
I drop my third collection “Dark Bloom” and it FLOPS. The fit is terrible and customers lose trust. The orders nearly come to a halt.
2018
The worst year of my life. Between the internet tearing me down for how I looked, intense toxicity on my own tiny team, and the biz falling apart, I nearly give up. Not just POPFLEX but Blogilates the channel too. I am barely hanging on but Sam tells me to try one last time. “Give it 30 more days” he says.
2019 (not pictured)
I refocus my energy on who I want to be, instead of being who others tell me to be. I rediscover myself, I rebuild my confidence, and as a result, completely transform my business too.
2021
I have an emotional breakdown. I realize that after 13 years of posting fitness videos and getting body shamed every single day, I had to take a break for my own mental health. During my break, I start showing a side of myself that no one’s ever seen before. Fashion designer Cassey emerges and my content shifts from teaching home workouts to sharing the creative process behind how I design my products.
2024
From Taylor Swift wearing the Pirouette Skort to hitting ?10 MILLION? subscribers on YouTube in the same year (WHAT!?), I am SO LUCKY to be living this life and doing what I love Every. Single. Day.
WHAT A JOURNEY.
Looking back at every time I wanted to give up, every learning opportunity, every time I worked myself to exhaustion, and every single person who supported (and STILL supports me!) along the way, I’m so overwhelmed with emotions. I really never thought I’d get here, and I’m so grateful.
Can’t wait to see what’s next!
