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Once Kissa “Starr” Thompson realized she couldn’t reach her fashion business dreams working for other people, she decided she couldn’t wait any longer. She started her company, Buttafly Unlimited after her second year of school in 2000.

“There’s a lot of times when you work at a job and it’s not really where you want to go or you don’t see yourself really going anywhere with it,” she tells Black Enterprise. “For me, I had some goals for myself and my company, and I was like, when I had reached this certain goal I want to make the step out on my own.”

Although Thompson had succeeded in starting her own company, in its initial stages she still had to work for others. Black Enterprise reports she found several 9-5 jobs with Def Jam, BET and Burberry. She also worked as a personal assistant to one celebrity. Thompson used each experience to help build contacts and her own personal brand.

“I think every experience, depending on how you take it, can take you to the next level,” she said. “It’s not in vain depending on how you used the time, so for me, when I’m in a situation where I’m freelancing for another company, I use that as a learning opportunity and I’m getting paid for it.”

Almost twelve years later, Buttafly Unlimited now sells hats, scarves andn t-shirts for men, women and children. Her designs have been worn by celebrities such as Alicia Keys and are sold in boutiques in New York, Atlanta, London and Japan, as well as through her website. Her most popular design features the words, “I Love My Hair,” and has inspired “I Love My Hair” self-esteem building workshops in New York City.

“The acronym B.U. is about being who you are and reaching your unlimited potential,” Thompson said. “Even though you’re different or you want to do something different or sometimes you thinking you want to do something different and you change who you are, it’s okay.”

Kissa Thompson, Buttafly Unltd.

For Kissa Thompson, founder and creative director of Buttafly Unltd, sometimes it’s just about trusting your instincts, stepping out there and believing that everything will work itself out.

Buttafly Unltd, a fashion brand specializing in classic pieces, is ever evolving. Named to highlight the metamorphosis of the individual and the possibility of being unlimited, B.U. is Thompson’s brand but her customers make it what it is.

“Our acronym is B.U. It’s really about being who you are. The scarves, the hats the shirts, you make it what it is. I chose not to have an entire clothing line because I didn’t want you to be identified by our brand. I wanted you to create the brand.”

Free spirited from childhood, Thompson wanted to be everything from a nurse to a psychologist. It was her unstructured childhood that taught her the importance of not limiting yourself in life, especially in her career.

Throughout her 36 years, Thompson has dabbled in a little bit of everything when it comes to the entertainment industry. She’s worked for several large media companies including BET, Def Jam and Fox 5. She’s also been a personal assistant to a celebrity.

But it was during her stint at Spin Magazine that Thompson realized that she could work for herself. She set goals and made it happen.

She told herself: “I’m going to get my stuff into five stores and make x amount of money from those stores and if I get that, then I’ll quit my job and then I know I can do it full time. So I set those goals while I was working and it was a hustle because every time I would have a break , I would be running to the stores, be calling clients, trying to get my shirts, checking out the print. When I got it into stores and obtained my goal. Then I worked for myself for three years straight before I started freelancing again. And it was really amazing at the time because the company was really thriving. I set goals every time. I had a goal chart every day.”

That goal chart, her hustle and all of those jobs over the years served to leverage Thompson’s business.

“I started to really work the system. I knew what people wanted to see and I used that to my advantage and everything started accelerating from there. I realized that me jumping from job to job wasn’t in vain, it really was setting me up for where I needed to be. I learned how to network and how to work with my friends that wrote articles and I met celebs when I worked for a celeb so I was like hey, wear my shirt.”

Her most popular “I Love My Hair” shirt was featured in several magazines and on several celebrities, including Alicia Keys in Rolling Stone.