Twenty-year-old Maya Garvey has a vision to create a cultural niche by putting innovative ideas on display for the world to see, one product at a time.

Her first venture is ‘Trendsation’, the products of which highlight aspects of Jamaican culture.

As a creative with an undying passion for event decor, interior decorating and fashion styling, Garvey’s business has been thriving with these skills.

“My creative nature is at its fullest with Trendsation where I am always coming up with, not just design and product ideas, but also social content which I continuously produce for Trendsation,” the young entrepreneur told OBSERVER ONLINE.

Garvey had always wanted to create her own products since discovering her love for fashion. After approximately one year of intensive planning, Trendsation bloomed from an idea to a successful venture in 2019.

“This is a business that provides Jamaican expressions and slangs while providing the option of personalising items,” explained Garvey.

Her creative concept brings Jamaican culture to life with popular and relatable terms in patois. These include ‘Me run tings’, ‘Nuh touch mi tings’, ‘Yaadie 876,’ Man a yard’ and more.

“I’ve had a love for fashion and personalised items from a tender age, but whenever I try to purchase one it is either too expensive or there were some things I really wanted to change about the product. So, I decided to start personalising my own items. When I realised there was a market, I started a business,” said Garvey.

The name originated from brainstorming concepts that include the word ‘trendy’ since she wanted all her products to stand out. After conceptualising this idea, the next step was to source suppliers for the items needed to make the products and seek capital. After getting some capital, she tested the quality of her products and started sharing the idea with others for their opinion on its feasibility.

Today, her business offers customised tote bags, branded mugs, tumblers, wine glasses and canvases with Jamaican terms available for purchase online. These products are ideal for weddings, bridal parties, and seminars.

As a young CEO, Garvey’s everyday life includes constantly seeking opportunities for growth as she thinks of the next big ‘move’. One of her greatest achievements thus far is having her products available for purchase in Fontana Waterloo after just the first year and a half of operation. She tries to outdo each achievement by constantly brainstorming how to improve brand awareness and customer satisfaction.

Although it gets overwhelming at times, her customers are her ultimate source of motivation.

“They are always looking forward to new items and become very disappointed when the store is closed or when I am completely out of stock,” expressed Garvey.

This journey has taught her a lot about business management but she admits that there is still room for improvement in the area of social media marketing. This includes strategic posting and engagement tactics to build her brand. Garvey is also a student and has another job so time management is of utmost importance as Trendsation continues to grow.

“It’s kinda tricky because I also have school so I try to utilize my after work hours, before work hours and weekends,” explained Garvey.

In the next five years, Garvey aspires to take Trendsation to even greater heights by raising more brand awareness among Jamaicans and expanding her operations globally. It is also her dream to provide non-traditional jobs for creative professionals in areas such as fashion design, social media marketing or graphic design.