It's embarrassing cos you acted embarrassed

When I was in secondary school, I was a victim of bullying. Scratch that, I have always been bullied, and the only time I experienced a form of mutual colleague or classmate relationship was in university.

When I was in JSS1, I told a silly lie, and people called me Linus Mba. In JSS2, my classmates thought it was a funny prank to give me rotten tangerines. I did not know they were rotten until I tasted them, which gave me the nickname “rotten tangerine” for a week or two.

This trend of nicknames continued till SS2. I used to be slow at catching jokes, so my classmates named me “Slow Booter”. Obviously, this whole experience was just from a select few.

I hated it till I decided to own the name, and I changed the name to Scharlet Blue, which were my favourite colours at the time. Of course, only I called myself that, but it was my little way of freeing myself.

Fast forward five years, and Scharlet is my business name. And honestly, I don’t even remember how I felt then.

Many people have asked me how the name came about, and I never tell the truth. But yeah, my brand name is a reminder that you can reclaim your life. That the thing that was meant to embarrass you can be used to elevate you.

XoXo

Scharlet