Meet Ebony Belser | Ceo, designer/creator & creative director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ebony Belser and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ebony, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
People hear “risk” and may become fearful, but I honestly believe that a lot of our greatest accomplishments come from taking risk. Whether that be going to school to be a Dr. or the next Oprah Winfrey, you will have to take some kind of risk along your journey to get there. Taking risks got me where I am now regarding my brand/business. Quitting jobs, putting certain goals on the back burner, traveling to places I’ve never been before, all came from me taking risks and if I didn’t take the risk of doing all these things, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Ecbcreations LLC is a handmade brand/business specializing in crochet clothing and accessories. (predominately women’s/girls clothing and accessories) I, Ebony C. Belser, created Ecbcreations back in 2016, making only handmade crochet chokers while working my 9-5. Initially, my creations weren’t for sale until I started getting numerous compliments and inspiration from friends and peers that I should start selling my pieces, as they are simple but yet unique pieces. My theory behind my designs stems from my uniqueness as a person. Ive always been called “weird” ,”odd”, or simply taking a liking to things most people don’t. Crocheting was one of those things that stuck out to me because its not a hobby that’s “popular” so to say. When people think of crochet they think of a handmade sweater or blanket from grandma lol, but my goal as a designer and artist is to rid of that stereotype and put a afrocentric, yet fun and funky twist to crocheting and designing. Crocheted pieces don’t have to be “boring”. Im very proud of myself for how far Ive come from making crochet chokers to full on ensembles. I have so many people to thank that guided me, or contributed in some way, but I’m most proud of myself for my dedication all these years and my willingness to want to keep learning and growing with what is is I do. lets not forget the effort, energy, and time these pieces take to create with one hook and a ball, to several balls of yarn sometimes, its not as easy as it may seem. My artistic nature stems from my mother first as she is a teacher for younger children as well as me attending a Visual and performing arts high school. (Fremont: Paul Robeson school of visual and performing arts) I also went to trade school for Cosmetology so I’ve always been interested in the arts and using my hands. All of that lead me to where I am now with Ecbcreations, along with a lot of hard work, sleepless nights, investing, etc. It’s been a rough journey and sometimes it still is but nothing in life, including life itself was never supposed to be easy. Some days i’ll go from a ton of sales to months of no sales at all but the beauty is in not giving up. Create for the love of creating and the rest will follow, that’s my motto. Challenges will come but sometimes its best to step back, take a break, and refocus, that’s how I usually overcome any challenges I have. Self care is vital when facing any challenges, because if you can’t show up for yourself you can’t show up for anyone else. I learned my lesson with showing up for others more than myself and realized how it created an imbalance in my life to the point where I had no energy or motivation to create for the love of creating. This lesson mainly resulted from working 9-5s I had no real interest in or the only benefit it provided was “money”. By all means we all love money but all the money in the world won’t mean a thing if you aren’t truly happy, and trust me there’s no fun in settling. I realized I was overworking myself for a company that can replace me instantly rather than resting, and creating as much as I could had I not had a 9-5, for my own business so I took the risk of sacrificing my job for something that will last me a lifetime and some if I continue to put in the work. Yes I have rent, a car note, and the whole “adult” package lol but when your faith becomes greater than your fear God will make sure you have everything you need, just do what you feel by following your intuition. Do what feels right to YOU, not what works/worked for someone else, because no ones path is the same.I would have never known how much of an impact my art made if I didn’t follow my heart and do what it is I love to do, so my goal as a person and brand is to inspire people to be THEMSELVES. Do what you love and do it well and pay no mind to the criticism and opinions of others, what you love is not about anyone else but YOU. Ecbcreations is ART, wear your art, create art, art is life, and life would be rather boring without ART.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Im from Oakland ca, East Oakland to be exact and we are known for being the “Artsy” city, Oakland is filled with the arts and there is a ton of great organizations and businesses that all have artistic backgrounds. Organizations like SoOakland and Oakland first Fridays are major staples of Oakland bringing the city fun events like ‘first fridays’ and “So Oakland Day”. These events consist of music, art, dancing, food, etc. for any and everybody interested. Oakland has dope lounges like Parliament that hosts events such as “NoWahala Wednesdays” founded by Flygerianjeff of United tribes of Africa which is a favorite of mine, bringing you African music and culture right to the town. Food places such as Kingston 11 for authentic Jamaican cuisine or Good ol’ Chicken and Waffles right in the heart of Jack London Square. If you’re in town and need some town gear, accessories, plus more, make sure to shop at small businesses like Oaklandish, DopeEra, Queen Hippie Gypsy and Shop Taylor Jay .

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
God, my close friends, family and acquaintances. (Too many names to list)

Website: ecbcreations.co/

Instagram: @ecbcreations

Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCt_LHeJ57-z9aVkmCNPWIYw

Other: TikTok @ecbcreations

Image Credits
(by order) @jessiemariec @dopevisionsf @artbyblack @jessiemariec