After getting laid off, Sealy woman gets fresh start with new clothing line

Thursday, December 1, 2016
SEALY, TX (KTRK) -- For Crystal Cleveland, getting laid off from the oil and gas industry was a blessing in disguise.

Back in April, when she lost her job at Schlumberger, the single mother of four didn't have a clue what her next move would be -- so she went fishing, as she has done since she was young.
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But this time was different.

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It just so happened that she was wearing a custom-designed shirt that the people fishing next to her noticed and asked to buy.

"I didn't know what to do, so I went with a free spirit and just winged it," she told Eyewitness News.



With only $15 to her name, Cleveland founded Top Fin Outfitters, and announced her new idea on social media.



Before her clothing line was even ready, she was selling out.
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"I put it up on Facebook and said 'coming soon,' and people just started buying it," she told Eyewitness News.

Now, she sells everything a fishing fanatic may want, from cancer awareness tops to baby onesises.

Cleveland's kids are her biggest motivators.



"Putting them to bed and then working till 2 in the morning, and then you are up at 5 -- that's what pushed me, the drive of making my kids see I'm not going to give up," she said.
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