I Was Let Go Three Weeks Before Christmas
It was December 2023, three weeks before Christmas, the greatest time of the year.  I was starting to make my Christmas list, naughty or nice-didn't matter, everyone was going to something really nice!  I was at work when my manager messaged me and asked if I had a few minutes, I said sure, didn't think much of it.  He called me, put on my headset--I was at my cubicle, one of the many in the matrix. After a second or so, the dreaded "I have to let you go, there isn't enough work".  Crap, there goes my Christmas list and a lot more all at once.  What a gut punch and you know that's the worst part, I just needed six more months and I would have become a full time employee.  Well I proceeded to do the usual, updated my resume and reached out to recruiters and applied to jobs.  
Think and Think Fast
In the meantime I opened up a Turo account and added my car as a rental and guess what..I did pretty good and it was helping pay the bills, no extras just the bills.(Still applying and reaching out to recruiters) Then as it turned out the car needed some repairs that were a bit costly and I pulled out of the app.  Then a friend of mine was kind enough to put a good word in for me with his manager at an auto parts store and I worked part time as a delivery driver, then a few days later I found another part time job as a cashier at a furniture store.  And if my self esteem wasn't shattered enough at this point, I had a great friend provide me with a rainy day or two or three fund.  It was at this point I knew this couldn't happen to me again, there is no way in the h-e-double hockey sticks I was going to go through this.  I needed to do something, but what. 
Some 'Me' Time 
I decided after all of this that I needed to get out of the house and pick up a hobby, decided that it would be photography.  Purchased a small camera and was going around taking nature pictures but I decided if I was going to do this, I was going to do it right and found a very affordable photography instructor.  Being outdoors and looking for the right subject to shoot took my mind off of what I was going through.  Then while I was getting my hair done, I was showing my hairdresser the pictures I've taken and she then remembered of a client who taking a course to be a food photographer.  My jaw dropped and I just stared at her, was she kidding?! As it turns out she wasn't, she introduced me to this person, we met and I asked her right out of the gate if this was legit.  She laughed and said it was, after talking for a good while I went home and the next day I enrolled in the course.  I signed up and of course, immediately the burden of buying equipment.  Fortunately, my instructor lent me his camera until I was able to buy it from him.  Eventually I did, two two-hundred dollar payments. Purchased a light and other equipment that comes with photography.  Half way through the course, I asked myself if there was any foodie fashion out there, I started to look and there was some but not the way I was envisioning it.  I decided that I would put the course in the backburner and start to create something.
My First Designs
I had to start somewhere, what was going to be my first foodie design, went to the supermarket and walked up and down the aisles. It had to be simple, something everyone can relate to, creative but most of all it had to be fun.  After walking the aisles a few times, it hit me...a peanut butter and jelly design.  Arrived home and started to brainstorm, what if I did this, what if I did that.  Then decided on making as many unique designs as I possibly could.  I came up with six different designs, photographed them and handed it over to my graphic artist. He came back with a design that captured the spirit of Tastey Threads, PB + Jammin, and it was at that moment I knew this was the thing I knew I needed to follow through with. Tastey Threads was born!  From then on Smores Summit was born, a tasty gooey mountain of smores acting as the object for a mountain climber. Then there's Back Country Bagel, as a native New Yorker I love my bagel with cream cheese so it was apparent I needed to add it to my collection, and it acted as the perfect background for our snowboarder. And then, born out of the need for a crunchy snack, seeing pretzel bites I remembered how the day before I saw a video of jeeps that had been modified to crawl boulders and tough terrain and I noticed how in all these videos there was always a little dog hanging out with these guys.  And that's how Commander Crawler and Boulder Buddy was born, a pile of pretzel bites acting as the boulders for the scaling jeeps.
More To Come
These are just the first designs that I've launched with, I don't look at food the same anymore!  I have a huge list of designs that I know will bring fashion and a smile to everyone, head over to Tastey Threads and shop the collection that started it all.

With much love,
Ingrid, Tastey Threads Founder
With Tastey Threads You Can Have Your Cake And Wear It Too!