Hi, I’m Michael. WJS Merchants began as an idea to sell graphic t-shirts and build a legacy to leave to my children. At first, I tried to sell all kinds of different shirts. I tried to make people laugh, and sometimes I still do. But these days it’s clear that certain groups of people are seen as less than. I disagree. I think we are all equal, and I began making t-shirt designs that express that message. The message of kindness, equality, social justice, human rights, women’s rights, trans rights, and inclusion is more important now than ever. This is the message that I want to help people get across, through apparel, stickers, magnets, and more. This is what I want to be remembered for. This is the legacy I want to leave.
WHAT DOES WJS MEAN ANYWAY?
At the time of this writing, I’m 44 years old. I’m a Nashville native. I’m an African-American husband and a father. I love music, food, beaches, and my favorite color is purple. Look around my store. Can you tell? lol.
I’ve always been a bit creative. In grade school I played Clarinet, then Cello. After High School, I went into Culinary Arts and created on plates for the palette. Later, I would become a DJ and produce a little bit of music. I’ve done a little woodworking as a hobby. Now that I’ve crossed into my 40’s I thought I’d try my hand at graphic design. So here we are, viewing my brainchildren on apparel, stickers and a few other things.
Sometimes I see businesses or stores with letters in the name and I always wonder what they stand for. I thought I’d take the time to explain what WJS Merchants means here. Several years ago, it had become clear that my wife Abby and I weren’t going to be able to conceive. After a couple of years of fertility clinics and urologists, we decided to become foster parents. We took classes for months and we got our home ready to be inspected. At the time we had a small 3 bedroom home, and one of the bedrooms was my office.
The very first call we received from the agency was for a sibling group of 4 boys. With much heartache, we said no. We just didn’t have the room. They called back an hour later and said that they would have to split the boys into 2 families and asked if we could take 2 boys. We said yes. We took the younger boys. When it began to look like these 4 boys were headed for adoption we got our home and our hearts ready and we took the older 2 boys. On November 1, 2015, we had all 4 boys under one roof. At that time they were ages 2, 3, 4, and 6 years old. We had traded our sedan for a van and we put a contract on a brand new home with more room.
26 days later, on Thanksgiving Day, I was awakened at 5 am to the sound of Abby screaming at me from the bathroom. I remember having to keep quiet about it at dinner that day and for the next month as we decided to wait until Christmas to announce it to our family. And late in July, a little girl was added to the Webster family. Because Abby was making more money than me, we decided that I would come home to take care of the baby. I knew I wanted to start a home-based business but what would I call it?
As a father, I want the thing that all fathers want. I don’t want to struggle to provide my family with the things they need. I want a substantial college fund for my children. I want to leave my kids a legacy. I want to build a business I can pass on to my children someday. I want my boys to know their identity and history.
When they became our foster children, even though they had the same birth mother, they had different last names. The two older boys last name started with an S. The two younger boys last name started with a J. They would eventually take the last name of Webster when the adoption was finalized in 2017. I named the business WJS Merchants to include my family name and my son’s heritage and story.
If you’ve made it this far, I just want to say thank you for taking the time to read this. Thanks for stopping by my little website. Thanks for taking the time to see my designs. If you choose to purchase, take pride in the fact that you are supporting a black-owned business and helping a father raise his children.
Thanks,
-Michael