What we saw. What it revealed. What we chose to do.
I’ve spent much of my life proving what I already knew; that hard work doesn’t always earn respect, especially for women in construction and other male-dominated industries.
I learned resilience early. My adoptive father was a roofing contractor who believed in showing up, doing the work, and pushing through, even when it was hard. When illness changed everything, leaving him paralyzed, unable to speak, and eventually in a nursing home; our family was forced to adapt overnight. I watched my adoptive mother carry the weight of caregiving, work, and survival all at once.
At fifteen, I got a job, partly to help ease the burden, partly because it felt like what he would have wanted. That moment taught me something I couldn’t yet name: responsibility is not distributed equally, and effort alone doesn’t protect you from struggle.
During that same period, I was exposed to another kind of divide. I witnessed, and at times experienced, the racism, sexism, and homophobia that shaped how my adoptive parents viewed the world and how the world treated them in return. I saw how belief systems, power, and identity, influence who gets heard, respected, or dismissed.
But I chose a different path....
Years later, working in construction and big-box remodeling, I recognized those same dynamics playing out again, in meetings, on jobsites, and inside corporate spaces.
The language was more polished, but the patterns were familiar: Women still had to prove more. Marginalized people were still overlooked. Silence was still rewarded.
That’s when it clicked: inequity isn’t about individual intent or corporate policies; it’s about ethics, morals, structure and normalization.
I realized I didn’t want to bend my values, ethics, and morals to fit systems that weren’t built to include people like me. So instead of continuing to perform within them, I decided to build something different.
That decision became Expose the Gap.
Expose the Gap isn’t fashion for fashion’s sake. It’s a response to everything I’ve lived, seen, and questioned. Each ethically made piece is designed to turn evidence into dialogue, blending research, real-world experience, and bold design to highlight the wage gaps, leadership gaps, and respect gaps that still shape our lives.
This brand exists to connect people to the why behind inequity and inequality; not to shame, but to inform; not to divide, but to empower; because when we understand the systems behind the issues, we gain the language and courage to challenge them.
We believe what we wear should reflect what we believe:
The courage to stand against hate and discrimination,
The integrity to hold ourselves accountable and expect the same from the systems around us,
And the curiosity to build compassion within our community.
This isn’t just apparel.
It’s fashion for the fearless; built for those who are brave enough to question the status quo, and bold enough to help change it.