My journey started when I became a young mother at the age of 15. Getting myself trough this thing called “life”. Thankfully with hard sweat and tears im proud to say i graduated Wilbur Cross HS in New Haven, CT. By the time i was 23 i had a total of 3 beautiful children Ahlana, Kiana, and David Smith IV. They all have become my reasoning behind why perseverance is close to my heart, because it keeps me grounded on all of the things that I had to embark, upon such as learning how to become a young teenage mom. “Definitely no book on that”. Moving out your home state CT at an early age of 24 was definitely hard. I realized that my daughter had God given talent that needed to be broadcasted. She needed to be in the lime light. My children needed to be in a state they could call home and was sports driven. So we decided to move to Charlotte, NC. She began to play upon arrival to NC and upon showing her great skillz she began Traveling for AAU tournaments and playing school ball. Basketball has been a journey we all have been supporting.
By the age of 29 i was diagnosed with stage 3 Breast Cancer. With the grace of God, after 16 rounds of Chemotherapy and 7 surgeries later, and almost 7yrs later I am learning how to be a Cancer Survivor. Before Breast Cancer, I was a mom that went to all of my oldest daughters basketball games faithfully, and even after the ordeal I was faced with, I still continued to be there for most of my daughter’s games in the best spirit imaginable. It was big for me to have “family” represent for my daughter and this is where we all used to get together and come up with innovative ideas to show our support by creating custom t-shirts and apparel to support.
As my life evolved, I wanted to set expectations on what it was that I wanted to achieve and in doing so, it was important for me-to ascertain certain processes and set goals and come up with innovating ideas that would deliver value. In this stage, I can truly say that despite the challenges that I have faced, it has not prevented me from completing the task and doing the work that is needed to stay afloat.
Providing a product that gives the customer something to believe in and finding ways to make it even better creates value. This value is what delivers a brand and loyalty that RAK’D, LLC is committed to offering, which we hope will exceed our customer expectations.