About Elliot Carlyle

The Truth of My Story…

Through much of what I accomplished in becoming the man I am today, I did it feeling like I was either too much or not enough. So, I took on a mission to make sure others didn’t have to feel this way when in environments with me.

There was a time in my life when music was everything. It was all I knew. I ate, slept, and breathed music from my grade school days through high school. After graduating high school, I received a full-ride music scholarship and had every intention on pursuing a career in music. However, during my second year in college I realized there was more to me that I had never given myself the opportunity to explore because I was so set on my musical aspirations. I would soon discover, too, that music was people’s dream for me and not necessarily my own.

Even though I didn’t know what this “more” was at the time, what I did know is that it was a moment for change. So, with my parents’ blessing and understanding, I made the decision to drop out of school. Yes, I’m a college dropout. My dad gave me three months to “figure it out.” So, I spent that time like any respectable teenager would — on social media. At the time, MySpace was the predominant social platform. Beyond making me believe that I was a master web developer because I added moving graphics and music to my profile, MySpace became the land of discovery for me. It was there that I had my first contact with the world of fashion.

Through my MySpace community, I learned about New York Fashion Week, which peaked my curiosity. So, despite having no knowledge of the industry and, really, no clue what fashion week was all about, I booked a flight to New York. I arrived to the tents where the shows were being held prepared to buy my ticket only to discover that it didn’t quite work like that. I won’t go into all the details, but, I found myself in a conversation with a lady in black outside the tents that set me on a trajectory to gain influence in the fashion industry. I went on to start a thriving PR business and eventually returned to school to get a fashion degree.

This, however, was no “happily ever after.” Though I had started to find success, my life drastically changed when I was met with an unprecedented upset. After returning home from a weekend trip, I found myself ill. I went to the hospital presuming I had a stomach virus. This trip to the ER turned into a 6-month health battle that left me with a death prognosis. I remember, clearly, my doctor coming in the room and telling me that if I wanted to live, I was going to have to fight — and that’s just what I did! By God’s grace, I survived.

Here’s what’s crazy… I made these shifts, found success, and even survived death’s door but still felt like I was too much or not enough. That all changed for me, though, when I moved to New York. I was attending the most coveted fashion shows, luxurious parties, and being looked to as “the voice” by those around me. However, for two years, I was leaving these spaces and going back to someone else’s home, sleeping on an air mattress. These were such imbalanced experiences that made me often wonder, “Am I really this voice people think I am?” It was at the point where my voice was all I had that I discovered that it was all I needed to create the reality I desired.

To make a long story short, I used my voice to go from sleeping on an air mattress at a friend’s house to living in a LITERAL dream home. As I charted my course, I realized I had been using my voice since I was that grade school boy performing at school talent shows. I realized it was my voice that helped me leave music and venture into an industry I knew nothing about. More than that, it was my voice that saved my life. It is this truth that informs the work I do to help others to discover and amplify their voices. I want everyone I come in contact with to walk away knowing they they are enough because they have a voice.