For as long as they can remember, Tiffany Melenzio has been knitting and sewing. But it wasn’t until quarantine that the UNC junior turned their hobby into a local, Black-owned business: Cup of T.
“I’ve been sewing and knitting since I was a kid," Melenzio, a dramatic art and psychology double major, said. "And during quarantine I was absolutely losing my mind, and I saw that people were recreating Harry Styles’ Today Show sweater."
This trend led Melenzio to recreate the sweater that inspired the creation of Cup of T, their crochet business that makes handmade clothing items and accessories.
“I was like, ‘OK, I absolutely need that (sweater) because I’m obsessed with Harry Styles,'” Melenzio said. “I actually knit the entire thing and then my hands cramped for two weeks, and I was trying to find a more sustainable way to make the things I wanted.”
Melenzio wanted to explore the idea of creating an online business that offered quality, handmade sustainable items, such as tops and totes.
At first, Melenzio said they faced challenges with timeliness and keeping up with the quality and quantity of orders as they were being placed. But, as they note in the bio of Cup of T’s Instagram account, “let’s be real, slow and steady won’t win the race… but it will result in a 100% handmade item.”
However, before the pressure to fill orders began to rise, Melenzio first needed to decide where to start their business as a young student.
“I asked my mom because she started her own business when I was in high school, and I asked her about the steps that she went through,” Melenzio said. “Although she sold clothes, it’s still the same path as creating an online store.”
As a young woman starting a business, the process was not free of struggle or unforeseen challenges, Melenzio said, but they made the decision to continue.
