Who Am I: Evan Page
Ever since I was a kid I had a passion for art and design. Growing up in Philly, I spent a lot of time with my dad. We walked everywhere. We walked to the store, we walked to his job, and my favorite walks, of course, were to the park. And throughout these walks, I was exposed to a lot of art. Not all of it was in the traditional sense. Sometimes you had your wall art or sculptures, but living in the city there was also a lot of graffiti. But that was just my environment. It may not have been the most beautiful place, but we still found beauty in it. My dad always instilled a strong sense of financial responsibility and entrepreneurship in me and I truly believe that’s something that helped me become the entrepreneur I am today. And on the other hand, my mom was a good artist. I remember her showing me pieces that she did even when she was my age. So I guess you could say I got my artistic talents from her. Growing up my mom took me to church faithfully every Sunday, just like her mom did. But as much as Christianity was ingrained in me from a young age, it certainly wasn’t easy living it out. On top of not fully understanding my faith, I got teased a lot for being the “corny Christian” in school. Plus I moved around a lot, so friends weren’t easy to come by. So naturally, I compromised my walk so that I could fit in with the cool kids. I thought that if I had the freshest clothes or the newest Jordan’s that people would like me more. And to an extent, those things did make people like me more, but deep down inside I knew they only liked me for what was on the outside; not who was on the inside.
It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I realized how unhappy I was. I can’t remember the specific day that it was but I just remember coming home one day and balling my eyes out. I was just so tired of being something that I wasn’t. I was tired of trying to find my happiness in things that wouldn’t satisfy me. And this whole time of me trying to be this undercover Christian, I realized that I never had an actual relationship with Jesus. And the crazy was, I was so busy focusing on people liking me for what was on the outside, I never realized that Jesus loved me for what was on the inside. He knew me outwardly and inwardly. And he wanted to have a relationship with me so badly that he died for me. And it was then that I realized, all this time I was chasing happiness and satisfaction in other people when Jesus was chasing me this whole time. After recommitting my life to Christ, I started intentionally wearing a lot of clothes from Christian brands that had strong biblical messages. And I’ll admit, not all of them were designed well, but at the point in my faith...I didn’t really care. I just knew that my identity was no longer in the things I wore, but the God I served.
As I entered college to become a designer, I learned just how much actually goes behind a good design. I realized that there was such a large gap between good design by the world’s standards and good design by God’s standards. I truly wanted to see what good design and a heart for God would look like. And that was something that stayed with me throughout my college experience. As I learned what it really meant to be a good designer, I took that and applied it to my faith. And I started asking myself, “How does my faith impact the way I design?”. At first, I thought, since I was a Christian, God would see me and just rain down dope ideas. But what I began to learn was that it wasn’t until I spent time in God’s presence that I began receiving my most creative ideas and designs. And I realized that to truly design and to create how God intended creation to be, you truly have to have a relationship with Him. And as I continued my career as a designer, I just knew that whatever I did, I wanted to give God glory through it. And that’s what really inspired me to use Colossians 3:23 as the basis for the brand’s mission. Whatever I did, I was going to work from my heart in excellence for God rather than for people. I was chasing the approval of people for so long I just decided that whatever I did was going to be for God and His glory alone. So when you buy our products or use our services, you’ll know it’s done in excellence. And because of that, I pray it will challenge or encourage you to have a better relationship with God, just like it challenged me before and continues to challenge me every day. And this is just the beginning. I‘m excited to see what God has in store for this brand, but at the same time, I’m also scared. But I realize that the more time and effort I put towards my relationship with God, in turn, He will help me create everything in excellence.
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