As the story goes, EyeDope was not originally designed to be a luxury sunglass brand. My plan initially was to create a doped out contact lens carry case with a completely unique design. But as fate would have it, on Christmas Day 2015, I was watching Shark Tank reruns with my family in Michigan and became highly motivated and inspired to move even further forward with my concept.
That evening I went to bed super-inspired and awoke the next morning with the inspiration that the brand EyeDope should be a luxury sunglass brand. And the brand name was perfect - EyeDope!!
I left Michigan the following day and drove to Chicago to visit my brother and his wife. As I drove along, my enthusiasm, energy, and excitement were growing over about my newfound endeavor. Ever since high school, I was interested in fashion so this new business concept was something I could really put my passion behind. While in Chicago, I continued my research into the sunglass industry and its major competitors.
Upon returning to Tallahassee, I got to work right away. I soon had the brand name trademarked and got ownership of the domain www.eyedope.com. While undertaking my initial research, I felt the need to think of some way to distinguish EyeDope from other luxury brands. This train of thought lead me to a hashtag that is a play off the brand name - #Dopemoment – which is a hashtag that I associate with all things positive, beautiful, exciting, and transforming. Through our website and social media, the goal is for #Dopemoment to become synonymous with EyeDope. We encourage our supporters and followers to showcase their positive, beautiful and exciting news and pictures with the hashtag #dopemoment.
We officially launched EyeDope in April 2017 with a launch party in Atlanta. Like any entrepreneur will tell you, the early years have been challenging and EyeDope is no exception. But it has been exciting and rewarding as well. I am very encouraged about the upcoming year and plan to have our new aviator sunglass for sale along with a lots of other innovative sports and fashion styles.
So stay tuned and join us for our journey, we’re just getting started!
