At one time in her life she was a world renowned wedding dress designer who was featured on Say Yes To The Dress.
I was invited to provide a cake for a "Meet the Designer Trunk Show" at a bridal salon in Delaware.
That's how we met.
She looked at the cake I'd created for the event and said she felt like she could create a dress based on the cake.
I was so nervous and she was so gracious.
I was immediately taken by her genuine authenticity.
Seriously, she may be one of the nicest people on the face of the earth.
After that event we stayed in touch and I did another event with her the following year.
A little back story here: Nearly 15 years ago this amazing woman signed a contract with a wedding dress design house that gave her her own named dress line!
It was a dream come true for any designer.
Because she is a glass half-full type of person, was so excited and flattered that it never crossed her mind that someone would do something that would cause her harm and did not have a lawyer review the contract before she signing.
When she asked questions, they said she could renegotiate any potential issues.
Well, that turned out to not be true.
Not only did they not allow her to renegotiate the contract but they stopped paying her, took her social media accounts, any sketches of any type of dresses and they took her name.
Yes, you read that correctly, she is no longer allowed to use her birth name.
Evidently it was written into the contract that she signed. Yes, she signed it but, in my opinion, there is a special place in hell for businesses and owners who operate so unethically. They knew what they were doing when they put that in there in the first place!
Anyway, fast forward a few years, many thousands of dollars and many court battles later...She still cannot use her name, she is barred from working in the wedding industry for five years because of the non-compete clause but she did get her pictures back from her social media accounts.
And... she has a new name.
She is Cheval.
She is powerful, strong, kind, loving, sweet, wonderful, smart, funny and a genuinely good person.
She is also now a shoe designer!
I know, right?!
Her shoes are amazing! Not only are they beautiful but I wore a pair, right out of the box, for her launch party and they were stupid comfortable!
Once I decided to forego reconstruction after my double mastectomy I made the decision to get a tattoo.
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| She is Cheval |
She did the rest.
The design is amazing! It needed a very minor amount of tweaking to make it perfect. I was so excited when I got the first drawing that booked the appointment months ago.
Today I had my first sitting.
Some parts hurt like a mother f$cker and some I didn't even feel.
Getting the color done will hurt too but..
It's already worth it.
Once my tattoo artist, Aly was finished and I looked in the mirror I almost cried.
For almost a year and a half all I've seen was scars.
Today I saw beauty.
A beautiful design created by one of the most beautiful and resilient poeple I have met in my life.
I am blessed to call her friend and honored to wear her art.
You can follow She is Cheval on Instagram
