Missalign is a brand that sells merchandise such as makeup, t-shirts, and self-care products with designs based on strong women in recent history. The women I chose to base my products off of are Diana, Princess of Wales, Maya Angelou, Frida Kahlo, and Malala Yousafzai. These women each overcame various traumas throughout their lives and definitely did not align with society’s unrealistic expectations.

This brand gives much of its profits to organizations that aid in helping survivors of many different kinds of trauma, especially trauma from domestic and sexual abuse which hit home for me and are two major issues among women in particular. I named the company Missalign because my eyes are misaligned and the company is, of course, about women. I chose to use the eyes of these famous women as icons for that reason. I also chose eyes because trauma often makes you feel like you are the only one in the world struggling with it and the reason for this is because every single one of us can only see the world through one lens and that is our own: our eyes. Truly, the perspective that each of us have is one of the only things that makes us unique from those around us.

This brand seeks to show those who have experienced trauma that they are not alone and give them products that inspire and uplift them. Missalign also seeks to bring the act of talking about trauma into the realm of normal conversation because talking about it is the only true way to heal from it. At the end of the day, I wanted to create a brand for women who have had to suffer from trauma like mine and create something that would bring us together and encourage us to be strong and speak out about what we have been through.