Georgia State University alum Dihandria Bright turns words into throw pillows. And it’s become a profitable business. Bright launched PillowScript in December 2021. PillowScript recently got picked up by Target.
The retail giant has started selling the PillowScript product line as part of their ninth annual Black History Month collection. The brand will remain in the chain even after February ends. Some of the PillowScript line can also be bought on its website. PillowScript is offering an expanded line at Target.
Words like “love,” “shine, “glow” are made in to PillowScript pillows that cost about $50 each.
Black History Month collection is part of Target’s commitment to increase Black representation by 20 percent at all levels company-wide by 2023.
PillowScript in the Making
Bright started setting her pillow plan in place in, and she faced difficulties amid the pandemic and during her pregnancy.
“I faced many challenges and heard many ‘nos’ and ‘it’s impossible,’ but I believed that if I could see the vision then I could create it. Life happened, pregnancy and the pandemic, so I put it on hold. When it was time for me to return to work after my maternity leave, I decided that I would pick it back up and make it happen so that I could have a better work-life balance and freedom to be present with my infant,” Bright told VoyageHouston.
One of the inspirations for Bright quitting her job and pursuing self-employment was Spanx founder Sarah Blakely. Bright took an online masterclass by Blakely in 2018. One of the tips Bright adopted was to write down her business dreams in a notebook kept by her bedside, according to The Philadelphia Tribune.
Bright’s LinkedIn indicates that she was a senior marketing specialist at MSI from 2014 to 2021, and before that she held a job designing and consulting at Epsten Group from 2008 to 2013.
“Never give up on yourself. You are capable of way more than you realize and once you break through the comfort zone, your biggest dreams and desires will materialize on the other side. Keep going, your best is yet to come! That is the spirit of PillowScript,” Bright said.
Another motivator for quitting her job was that she said her employer instructed employees to return to the office after being remote for a long period of time. Finding childcare for her then-1-year-old was not easy, and she was only granted a two-week extension to search for childcare. Bright found that all the childcare locations she desired were booked, The Tribune reported.
“We tried 15 schools. No one had any openings [because] it was still the height of COVID,” Bright said.
The stars seemed to be aligned for Bright to quit her job and pursue her entreprenuial dreams — and she did just that.