LAKE CITY, Fla. — When a Lake City couple launched an apparel company in January 2020 they didn't know a pandemic was just around the corner. As the coronavirus crisis has impacted so many lives, they say their small business has come at just the right time.
“We've always had our faith, but it seems like more and more our business became a ministry, and so we just felt like we needed to do more and more of that exclusively and be more overt, more direct in our message, so that's really where Gconvo, Gospel Conversation Apparel came from,” Hill explained.
One of their T-shirts says "Hope. It’s a thing." It's their top seller right now.
“We ordered a small amount because we're a small business and we wanted to try it, and we're just about sold out," Hill said. "We will have more, but it's been amazing. People are hanging on to that word hope and I understand that. I get it. So are we.”
Made locally at Teeko Graphics in Lake City, the messages on the shirts like "Mercy. It’s a thing." and "Grace. It’s a thing." are resonating.
“I think for people who need encouragement, for people who are trying to encourage others, we have a lot of people that are in the faith already that wear our shirts because it helps them strike up a conversation with somebody else,” Hill said.
Her hope is the T-shirts will be a tool to help start meaningful conversations.
“I don't think we even saw in January where this was going to go," Hill said. "I mean, if people ever needed encouragement and faith and hope and all the things that we are about, it would be now.”
You can purchase the shirts online through Gconvo’s website and Facebook page.