Twenty too clothing

Hello, my name is Mtisunge Lucy Ngwira (aka Tisu) and I am from Lilongwe, Malawi born in August of 1997. In 2000 my family and I migrated to the United Kingdom where I began to draw at age 4, I took heed in the leisure pursuit after my older siblings Malita and Harvey. During this time my siblings and I were in and out of foster homes. In 2002 my mom Jean secured a nursing job in Las Vegas, Nevada leaving behind Lot (aka Justin) My dad in the midst of the night. With such a strong and positive mother figure In my life, I identified as a feminist at age 8.

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Our family of 4 lived peacefully and happily in Las Vegas for 5 years until my dad fell ill of organ failure and passed away in December of 2007. 3 months later my mom fell ill of pneumonia and passed away in March of 2008 after fighting the illness valiantly. We were left as orphans Me age 10, Malita age 15, and Harvey age 19. To fulfill our mother's dying wish Harvey took guardianship over us.

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Life went onward for us and 3 years later I suddenly fell ill with what seemed like a harmless common cold, as time went on this cold would not retire and I was diagnosed with a fatal illness at age 13, I was told that I was lucky to be alive. 3 months later I experienced uncontrollable body movements and was diagnosed with seizures. These physical disabilities rendered me unable to attend school and I was transferred to an online school.

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At age 16 I came up with the proposal of running a clothing line, as I was very interested in fashion, design, art, and business. I had always worn stylish outfits for school in the past and was the artistic type playing 3 instruments and creating art often. Eventually, I came to my brother who worked in IT developments as well as his own business with the idea and he helped build me a website. At age 17 I made close circle sales through friends and friends of the family for a few years making $100 in my first month of business. At this age, I was already fully immersed in the body-positive culture having had grown up a plus-size girl for most of my life. I fully embraced the idea that there is no one way to be beautiful.

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Although in all my success, abuse at home and other subsequent stressful events persisted and led me to have a relapse in health where I became nearly bedridden and housebound leaving me unable to leave the house more than 2 times a week for a couple of hours and vomiting 5 days a week for 3 years. I was in almost constant excruciating pain and illness alongside having between 3-5 seizures per day at only age 19. I had lost hope in life and business and quit. Life seemed to be without mercy. Everything seemed so stagnant, I watched my friends go out and party and gain the independence I craved and coveted so badly while I lay in a dark room nearly motionless watching life pass me by wondering if I would ever get to join in. The isolation of being bedridden and housebound was agonizing. During this period, I still produced art, as well as playing my instruments, and doing different makeup looks in bed when I could physically handle it. Creativity and creation could not be killed in me no matter the circumstance. I endured this severe level of disability alongside abuse at home until I was age 21 when I had a PTSD-related psychotic episode due to the multiple traumas and illness. The prolonged overall stress of it all had gotten so intense that I clinically lost my mind.

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On nothing but sheer courage, I found a way to move out of the abusive household to save what sanity I had left in me. During this time I had nearly gone homeless trying to find a way out, I had no idea if I was physically capable of taking care of myself but I was far beyond desperate. It seemed I only had two options, find a way out or suicide. After some hard months of unstable housing and hunting for a new dwelling, I finally found a safe place to call home. I had always thought I needed someone to save me but I ended up saving myself. I still struggled to carry out basic life activities and take care of myself due to my disabilities as I only had myself to rely on. All my family was far away. But this change caused my health to finally begin to incline instead of steadily declining. I began to flourish and bloom in this new foreign environment, I was reborn. After acquiring an internship in marketing and taking classes in business and design I decided to open my business back up and thus Twenty Too was reborn as well.

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In those years lying in my bed unable to get out, I thought a lot. I thought about how disabled people are discriminated against, what we miss out on and how we are underrepresented, how brown and black women are misrepresented, and it made me think of all the different types of discrimination. it made me think deeper and made me more receptive to other people's struggles not just those of my own. Every time I saw a brand scream diversity and inclusivity it forgot about a lot of people. So I wanted to be the change.

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Twenty Too clothing now operates on the belief that everyone is equal and deserves equal representation. Our small team works around the clock to provide quality handmade products and works as hard as possible to be as inclusive and diverse as we can. We are determined to grow into a worldwide brand meant for all bodies. We believe representation can truly change the world.