THE FULL MCG ORIGIN STORY

Reaching 3-2 sets a different tone. You wake up with this overwhelming sense of celebration, peace, identity, clarity, pride, urgency, evolution, and purpose. You've reached a stage where you have a decade's worth of carefully crafted experiences, adventures, and memories in your arsenal. You constantly reflect on the events that have set your foundation, whether personally or historically.

​

As you propel towards a new future this time you are prepared with solutions and confidence. Despite everything, you feel unstoppable. In this Phoenix era, you now know that you can do it, and the only limitation is You.

​

With respect to the pivotal highlights that have led me to this moment, my origin story starts at the age of 17 when I decided to attend the Howard University as a business major. From my hometown of Bowie, MD to Washington, DC, I was ready to embark on a life-shaping adventure at the Mecca.

​

The School of B's syllabus was solid, but at the time the strict mandatory conservative corporate black below-the-knee skirt suits, stockings, and 1-inch heels were a definite no-go for me. Today I relish in such a worldly uniform. However, the following Spring 2010 semester of my Freshman year I immediately transferred to, the now, Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. I was set on a 4-year track to earn my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Merchandising.

 

From that choice to throughout my Sophomore year, I had fully immersed myself in campus culture including being the co-captain and then co-coach of a winning dorm step team, joining a competing university step team, earning crowns in dorm pageants, volunteering as a resident assistant, working part-time retail, and interning the extra hours as a mix between a step coach for a local middle school, a fashion blogger for a Howard Alumna, an assistant visual merchandiser for Calvin Klein, and a social media manager for a local fashion trade association. Life was buzzing and busy, yet in the quiet midnight hours of my dorm room, I found myself with YouTube open mastering the art of sewing and fashion design.

​

By the end of my Junior year, during Spring Break 2012, I finished writing my first 61-page business plan and afterward took a first-time trip to New York City. With a round-trip bus ticket and $0 in my wallet, the desire to seriously pursue a creative career was planted when I saw the entrance of an exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of CFDA, the Council of Fashion Designers of America. During my NYC adventure, I participated in a televised street interview and earned a whole $20, enough to buy lunch and safeguard a dream. When I returned to DC, I launched the fashion brand Simply L3ve with a lookbook photoshoot and an attempted runway show on the Yard.

​

As graduation approached in the Spring of 2013, I juggled earning my final credits and my first invite to showcase during New York Fashion Week. The snowball effect from that runway show alone was life-changing. For the next 3-4 years I would showcase my latest collections simultaneously during New York and DC Fashion Weeks. The press, events, shows, pop-up shops, and clients became a fabulous dream-come-true lifestyle.

 

Then in the Spring of 2016, everything came to what felt like an unbearable halt. I was now coping with a break-up from my college sweetheart. 6-years of a relationship ended suddenly, and the realities of innocently promoting a brand inspired by the spirit of Love just weren't the same. I wasn't the same. Insecurities crept in, passions drifted, self-doubts settled, negative self-talk loudened, lights dimmed, functional depression lingered, and anxiety grew. Collection themes darkened surpassing the notorious Anti-Lemonade anthems.

​

For the following 3-years, full spiritual healing was the only way out. During the interim period, I worked as a Graphics Coordinator for a Virginian marketing agency, then taught at a local high school vocational program in Washington, DC. I was back in the neighborhood of the Mecca. There amongst the youth of the next generation, I regained my spark. I was then challenged with the question, if money wasn't an obstacle what would I truly desire next? The answer was simple ... Paris, France. A new vision was born.

​

In the Spring of 2019, I was accepted to study at the International Fashion Academy of Paris. The following Fall I relocated to Bagnolet, a suburb on the east side of Paris. I was now on a 2-year track to earn my MBA in Fashion Management as a Media major. Seizing the actuality of living daily in the French fashion capital of the world, I finally believed again that dreams do indeed come true.

 

Exactly when my life seemed to be realigning, the infamous year of 2020 hit. A blur of isolation, fear, stagnation, distraction, and rage. With an expiring student visa, before I knew it I was blowing out 3-0 Joyeux Anniversaire candles, boarding a plane, and headed back to my childhood bedroom. No job, no master's degree, no hope. Life was spiraling in an exaggerated direction of failures and regrets.

​

Gratefully to a childhood friend, in 2021, I restarted my job again as a Teacher at the vocational high school program in Washington, DC. This school year's schedule was filled full-time with instructing Fashion Design, Graphic Design, Videography, Photography, and Modern Art. After 2 long transformative years, I had finally regained a clear glimpse of my creative entrepreneurial lifestyle again.

​

At the start of 2023, I embraced that the only way forward to personal and financial freedom was to obediently pivot. A way to thrive, help others, use all of my talents, and consciously create every day. With this newfound independence, I moved from a studio apartment in Washington, DC to my now at-home atelier in North Bethesda, MD. Consequently, the brand Simply L3ve transformed from Michelle C. Gibson to Michelle Charise. Likewise, the brand was split into three sub-brands: Muse Goddess Media for creative direction projects, The Charise Collection for fashion design clients, and Decor by MCG for interior decoration endeavors.

​

For me personally, this season is not only for my 4-0 year-old self and future mini-me's but a rededication to God. A commitment to use all of the talents that He has bestowed on me. And graciously with the advances in technology, since I don't technically have to be in Paris (just yet) I was able to re-enroll in live online classes to finish my MBA Fashion Management program. With only 2 modules left and 1 thesis to go, the light has never been brighter at the end of the tunnel. Graduation set, Class of 2024.

​

So cheers to actively writing the next chapter; may it be filled with fearlessness, connection, manifestation, discipline, intentionality, execution, truth, confidence, prosperity, creativity, play, and joy!

​

xo,

MCG

​

p.s. A larger than the universe thank you to my Mom & Dad for their unconditional love. An owed amount of gratitude to Ric for his consistent support over past seven years. And a heavenly hug for my Angels: Papa, Grandma, Aunt Donna, Aunt Ethel, Marcus, and Coco for haven always been beacons of light. This one is for you all.