Behind the brand.
Premium. Ethical. USA Strong.
Each piece is made of premium-quality material. They are all made within 100% sweatshop free environments, that care for their employees well! Our acid-washes are all done by hand individually with lots of love! We are 95% based in the US. Our Land in Sight Sweater is the only piece created in the US and then assembled in Nicaragua. The rest of the pieces are made 100% in the US.
More than just premium apparel, it’s a story - a connection.
There is a story woven into each piece that we hope you can connect with along with a written encouragement and prayer. With each purchase, you’re also pouring into the community, where 10% of profits go to A21.
The story.
We hope this story is something you resonate with. That one of the pieces stands out to you and encourages you with where you’re at in your story. So grab the popcorn, turn the volume up, and I hope you enjoy.
Behind the Olive Tree -
An excerpt from Uninvited by Lysa Terkeurst
The Crushing Times are Necessary Times
“First, in order to be fruitful, the olive tree has to have both the east wind and the west wind. The east wind is the dry, hot wind from the desert. This is a harsh wind. So harsh that it can blow over to green grass and make it completely wither in one day. (The east wind is also the one that blew over Job’s house.)
The west wind, on the other hand, comes from the Mediterranean. It brings rain and life.
The olive tree needs both of these winds to produce fruit… and so do we. We need both the winds of hardship and the winds of relief to sweep across our lives if we are to be truly fruitful.” (2016, p 199)
The Crushing Times are Processing Times
“Another thing to consider about the olive tree is how naturally bitter the olive is and what it must go through to be useful. If you were to pick an olive from the tree and try to eat it, it’s bitterness would make you sick. For the olive to be edible, it has to go through a lengthy process, which includes…
washing,
breaking,
soaking,
sometimes salting,
and waiting.
It is a lengthy process to be cured of bitterness and prepared for usefulness. If we are to escape the natural bitterness of the human heart, we have to go through a long process as well…the process of being cured.” (2016, pp 199-200)
The Crushing Times are Preservation Times
“The final thing I want to consider about the olive is the best way to preserve it for the long run. It must be crushed in order to extract the oil. The same is true for us. The biblical way to be preserved is to be pressed. And being pressed can certainly feel like being crushed.
But what about 2 Corinthians 4:8 when it says, “we are pressed but not crushed”? Let’s read verses 8 and 9 in the King James Version: “We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
This was one of the biggest aha moments for me while standing in the shadow of the olive tree: crushing isn’t the olive’s end. Crushing, rather, is the way of preservation. It’s also the way to get what’s most valuable, the oil, out of the olive. Keeping this perspective on how we can be troubles on every side you’re not distressed… Pressed to the point of being crushed but not crushed and destroyed.” (2016, p 200)
Meet the founder, Alyssa Hodson, this brand is inspired by her personal life and faith.
We have to have the harsh and gentle seasons to grow us and get us to where we need to be. To reflect more of our God and love others better. With a love of fashion and a meaningful purpose, Olea Collective was created.
———————
When I moved to LA over six years ago, I always heard that LA either welcomes you or it spits you out. And it welcomed me into a tumultuous season. My career turned upside down and I kept restarting at the bottom. Failure felt like a part of my daily life, and life gut-punching felt normal. My identity was so tied to what I was doing so of course life was fun. I had always loved helping people do what they are passionate about, but I soon realized that work had become attached to who I was. I was then working four jobs and completely exhausted.
Then the pandemic hit and everything shut down. I finally received a much-needed reset on life. I got my life back and I relearned who I was/am. I wanted to start off saying that you’re so much more than what you do. What you do is just an opportunity to use your gifts to love on and serve those around you.
Who you are matters more.
Do you know who you are? Often, we let the world define that for us but I believe it’s important to let the One who created us define us. It honestly lifts a weight off. You don’t have this pressure of performance, which is especially strong in the city of LA. It feels as though perfect is a prerequisite for living here.
For me, my faith is everything. Having a relationship with God brings joy in my life and helps me navigate life on the daily. Because He first loved me, I get to love on other people.
Because of my faith, my heart to encourage others, and a love for fashion, over the years I’ve worked to find a way to blend them. I launched my first clothing line in 2018, did a clothing collaboration during the pandemic to bring hope to people, and last year officially launched my clothing brand, Olea Collective. This clothing company is near and dear to my heart, as it’s tied to my story.
Olea is Latin for Olive tree and I feel that represents the beauty in overcoming hard seasons of life. In order to have oil, an olive has to be crushed. Similar to life, when we have hard seasons they help us grow and actually sustain what we’re given. Our character is refined. We learn. We gain experience. We can use it all to love people better.
I hope that there’s a piece in each collection that encourages you where you’re at and that you can walk confidently in the season that you’re navigating. You got this.