How does an architect become the owner of a million-dollar T-shirt business? With one bottle.
Kalilah Wright, a former store planner and architect for Under Armour, started MESS in a Bottle with one bottle that contained a T-shirt with a positive message on it in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray, who died just steps away from her Baltimore home while in police custody. She’d lived in Baltimore for several years after having attended Morgan State University and had immersed herself into living in the city. When the Freddie Gray incident happened, it was her first time being thrown into that type of uprising.
“It was hurtful to know that in this day and age, police brutality and the things that were happening in our community were happening,” she told Blavity.
She would drive to work downtown at Under Armour headquarters, where there were no burned-down buildings, and her non-Black coworkers would insist on having conversations about what was happening in the city and specifically in the area she lived in. Seeing the contrast between the two different realities was shocking.
“There were places in Baltimore where the city was burning down and other communities were watering their lawn,” she said. “I didn’t know how to feel. But I knew many in the city were unimpacted and out of touch. It was a helpless feeling. It’s one of the reasons why I created MESS in a Bottle.”
The idea was birthed during a regular day at the office. She told one of her trusted coworkers that she was going to put a message in a bottle. At the time, Chance the Rapper had a new mixtape out entitled Coloring Book, and she was inspired to sketch. “I remember feeling like the world was a mess. And that’s pretty much where the company name came from,” she said. Within a year, she quit her job and embarked on being a full-time business owner, using the power of social media and an appearance on a television show with Mark Cuban to sell her T-shirts, which eventually turned into other branded items, including bags, jackets and sweatshirts.
The same night, she went to IKEA and found craft bottles that she figured were each wide enough to hold a rolled-up T-shirt. She ordered a pressing machine, cut the vinyl herself, and did the work. Nine years later, the company has a production space and has multiple brand partnerships with the likes of Target and Issa Rae. And she’s done so all from the heart of Baltimore — but it was not without its challenges.
In 2019, she moved out of her home (the same one she started the business in) with less than $500 and invested in more materials for her business. She sold various products, including baby onesies and anything else she could put a message on. She began renting a space because prior to that, she’d sold her merchandise out of her home. Unfortunately, she was the victim of an armed robbery in her first production space, which caused immense trauma.
“I had a young son. I started questioning whether it was worth it for me to continue doing this. Starting the business out of a tragedy and then being involved in a personal tragedy was a lot,” she said. “I wanted to stop the business. Instead, I posted it on social media when the robbery happened, and we received thousands of orders. I was floored.”
The business grew, and when the pandemic happened, it grew even more, with her staff doubling. She said she now realizes the robbery was necessary to continue the message.
“It’s been just a journey of unexpected mess and it really allowed me as a person to sort of figure out how to recover from things that are hard that you don’t even cause,” she said. “You have to create and own your own message. And I own that shit is a mess. But it’s how you recover from that mess.”
There are ups and downs as an entrepreneur. Coming out of the pandemic, there were financial challenges. And she had to learn to pivot, which meant downsizing her staff. Now, it’s just her and two to three others, depending on the time, doing the production on their own. But they get it done.
“I am in a rebuilding stage,” she said. “But it’s worth it.”
Outside of everyday production, she hosts group sessions during which people can create their own messages. She also hosts a special session for youth on the importance of messaging and self-esteem, right in her production space.
