Deeply Rooted is a lifestyle clothing brand created by Chicago, IL native Monique Atkins. Her unique character based clothing line has reached an audience worldwide and has been featured on a number of celebrities throughout the country. We had the opportunity to speak with Monique and learn more about the Deeply Rooted movement and the message behind the brand.

Tell us how Deeply Rooted came about 

Deeply Rooted came about in 2007 when I was starting my love for drawing and painting.  The inspiration came about after I realized what all races had in common which was BARING, STRUGGLE & PAIN. This slogan help me form my brand into what it is today. We all share the same similarities because we all go through pain and we all struggle and while we going through that we baring it we overcoming it.  

Talk to us about the initial startup stages with your business career
The initial startup stage of the my business was in 2007 at the kitchen table with my brother and sisters  as well as my illustrator  and one other person.  We came together with design concepts and how the brand was going to reach the people. We thought by using the slogan mentioned in the first question and using the characters to represent us as a people. Each character has a characteristic that reaches some individuals.

What is the most rewarding part for you about what you do? 
The most rewarding part about what I do is to see my customers wear the clothing and post pictures without me asking them to post and them just showing me love thats the most rewarding thing. 

What has been the biggest lesson about overcoming obstacles and failure that you have learned throughout your business journey? 
The biggest lesson about overcoming obstacles and failure that I learned throughout my business journey is to plan things out and I learned how to break things into collections it make things much easier and keep me organized with everything. I also learned how to stay focus on the mission and not try to follow the trends just stick to my brand and what it represents and I can win

Tell us about upcoming projects you are working on
Deeply Rooted upcoming projects is us working on our new collection called The Warfare Collection: Checkmate, attending the first annual soul music awards and keeping our store up and going. We just opened a clothing store Oct. 10th in Chicago area. 7000 southwest hwy Chicago Ridge, IL 60415   

Leave us with some words of advice you can offer to aspiring and current entrepreneurs 
Words of advice I can leave current entrepreneurs is one of our slogans “Don’t ask the struggle what it did to you ;ask what it has done for you”   Also to trust the process and to lead by example. 

What are 3 fun facts that most people don’t know about you 
Three fun facts that most people know about me is i have a sense of humor, I love making people laugh and smile and I am ambitious.       

To learn more about Monique and the Deeply Rooted brand, visit WWW.DR07CLOTHING.COM andIG: @Deeplyrooted07