Celebrating 1 Year of Joshua Miller Clothing

Introduction

Hello!

In honor of the one-year anniversary of the project that started this blog, I'd like to use this week's post to tell its story and share what I've learned along the way.

The story of how I got here is a messy one, but I think that's what I love about it.

I hope you find inspiration in this and feel encouraged to take a leap of faith in yourself too.

It can be scary putting yourself out there, but that's what makes it worth doing.

Now, let's get to the post!

The Story of Joshua Miller Clothing

As I stated on TikTok, Joshua Miller Clothing originally started as my undergraduate senior thesis. 

At the time, I was interested in Fashion Entrepreneurship (spending a summer at Little English just does something to you), so I did my project, STAR FEVER, on a women's workwear brand named JOSHUA MILLER. 

The brand was centered on designing professional workwear that would help a fictional woman, named Ellen Anderson, feel confident in herself and her ambitions. 

The project ended up being around 70 pages and involved:

• A 60-page business plan

• Six blog posts

• 30+ Instagram posts/carousels

• A 23-piece fashion collection

• Three factory-ready manufacturing instructions (called Tech Packs)

• An original case study on Lady Gaga (I'll get to that later).

Needless to say, I was busy my senior year of college. 

The thesis ended with a defense in front of my committee, and I passed without revisions on April 1st, 2024. 

While I didn't end up starting the JOSHUA MILLER clothing brand, for a variety of reasons, I knew that I wanted to do something with the idea of clothing giving people the confidence to be their best selves. 

I loved writing blog posts for the project, so I figured I should try writing blog posts about what I loved in fashion—and the rest is history!

There's been a lot of growth along the way, and that's what I think makes the project even more valuable. 

Over time, I've slowly started to develop my voice, and now I think I've honed in on my mission.

My goal is to help other people live with style, confidence, and enthusiasm. 

I plan to do this by sharing everything I know about Fashion Retail, Personal Style, and Performance Psychology. 

My most popular post, thus far, include The New York Post, Wear Your New Clothes, and "Two Accounts on Instagram" (TikTok posted above).

I also plan to start documenting everything I learn along the way so you can see that if I can do it ... you can too!

Anyway, here's what I learned from starting this blog.

What I Learned

When I turned my senior thesis into a blog, I was so afraid of being imperfect that I created in hiding. 

I told myself that I would be more vocal about the project once it was "good enough," but I don't think this is the best way of going about it. 

While I believe there's value in holding yourself to a high standard, at some point, you just have to say 🤷‍♂️ and post it.

Chasing perfection is a waste of time because it can prevent you from taking action.

Perfect is good, but done is better!

The best way to grow is by committing to consistent action with continuous improvement, regardless of perfection.

For example, when I first started my Reels/TikToks I told myself I was going to post every day for three weeks, no matter how good/bad they came out. 

At first, my videos were a little shaky (literally), but committing to consistent action—regardless of the result—has led to continuous growth and brought me to where I am today.

Conclusion

Starting JoshuaMillerClothing.com—and the social media accounts that support it—has been one of my proudest post-graduation accomplishments.

While it was scary at first, and still is at times, the only regret I have is not starting sooner. 

So, if there's anything you take away from this post, it's these two things: 

1. My mission is to help you live with style, confidence, and enthusiasm, and I'm here to help you in any way I can. 

2. If there's something that you want to do but are too scared to do because of what other people think or because you don't think you're good enough, you should do it anyway.

The only way out of fear is through it, and I'm trying to learn this every day. 

To conclude, thank you for all of your support, and here's to all of the exciting things to come in the next year!

Thanks for reading!

-JM

P.S. - My senior thesis is linked below.

CLICK TO READ STAR FEVER