Olivia Dawson: The Phoenix Risen From Alexandria, To Tell Her Story 🌎✨

Once upon a time, I was just a poor baby girl, with big histrionic dreams and a mountain of hurdles. Born in a place lost in time, with a community where the only thing renewable was the generational cycle of disadvantage, I had to claw at the walls to escape. My family? Oh, they believed in traditional roles—women don’t design, women don’t travel, and women don’t dream. But here I am, a Renewable Materials Designer with an all too well stamped passport, and a heart full of maybe and that time. 💔➡️💪

At 18 years of age with nothing but a backpack and the $200 I earned from selling my handmade jewelry, I set off, often looking back on only a memory of a dream. I slept in hostels with questionable hygiene, ate or did not eat and worked jobs for exposure in exchange for experiences that made me cry more often than I want to count. But every tear was watered my seeds of resilience. One day while sifting trash for dumpster diving materials (yes, actually), I had an epiphany. Trash can be treasure. I downloaded design software onto a busted smartphone; I hustled to secure a scholarship; and now, I design sustainable fashion from what others assumed was trash. ♻️👗

It was not pretty (I think I spelled "survivor", SURVIVOR). There were several nights where I starved, there were days where I thought I was displaced, and there were some moments where I nearly gave up. The world? She's a cruel and beautiful teacher. Every scar has a story to tell—like the time I nearly died lost in the Amazon with zero service (always pack a satellite phone!) or I sold my beloved* vintage jacket to fund my first prototype. (Pour some liquor out for the jacket—you're forever in my mood boards jacket).

Now, I'm living proof that passion + grit = magic. I travel to places far away, and remote from the extractive efforts of preposterous industries, sourcing materials and teaching others to see the beauty in broken. Because babe, if I can turn my pain into purpose, so can you. 🌱

P.S. I am still terrified of cockroaches. You never really heal from certain traumas. 🪳💀