One evening in 2023 I am in prayer with the Lord, and he tells me “Ciara, the well is going to dry up! It is time to move on to something else, I want you to get into Real Estate. I want you to learn how to invest.” I was completely shocked. I had JUST completed only 1 order at the time for my big new customer Mardel and you want me to just give all this up? Feeling frustrated with my conversation with God I made the wrong decision to ignore him. Months went by and my business started declining. I was getting less, and less orders and tensions were starting to arise in my marriage because this was our only “source of income” at the time. Then one day roughly 6 months later as I am working on a massive Mardel order my commercial printing machine suddenly breaks down on me. Though it was a bummer I thought to myself, no worries I’ll just use the other one I have. I go to turn that dusty printer on and it’s not working. Thankfully I have another backup printer I say, and I go to that one and it’s not turning on either. In one solid day all three of my printers for designs stop working and the words that God gave me six months prior came rushing back to my mind. “The well is going to dry up.” I instantly knew deep down in my spirit that God was closing this chapter in my life. With eyes full of tears and a heart not wanting to let go I had no choice. I knew trying to “fix this” would only bring more and more disaster and warfare to my life. It was time to step away. With great sadness I sent emails to my retailers telling them I was going out of business. Three years of building a business, what I thought was going to be my path to great success, done over-night.

A couple months pass by, and I pass my Real Estate Exam, and I start work in this new season. At the same time my husband received a word from the Lord for HIM to start a business. So off to new adventures we both go. At this point we are in the end of 2023. My husband Corey and I are both completely aware that God shut this door, and he shut it hard and if we were going to step into his blessings, we better get it together. So, he decided from the very beginning to dedicate his business to the Lord “smart choice”. I, on the other hand am also fully trusting that God has me in Real Estate for a reason.

I am there for 5 days and I still haven’t gotten direction from the Lord yet on my future back home. Until suddenly it happens! I am having a conversation with a new friend, and she began to speak into my life, sharing the words God had put on her heart to share with me. My heart leapt and my spirit jumped at the words that were coming out of her mouth! She said, “You are supposed to work side by side with you husband, because your strengths are his weaknesses and so forth. You have an eye, says the Lord, and you are supposed to do interior design with your husband! She continued to say... you two are supposed to be INVESTORS and you are supposed to do the designing of the homes while he does the flipping. She then proceeds to tell me not to get education in the area of interior design, she tells me that God has given me all that I need to create and design how I am supposed to do it. I need no outside education, she said if you do it, you’ll lose “the eye” God has given you.” Wow. Interior design!?

This moment wrecked me as it took me back to my middle school days where I remember my love for art really started. I have always been obsessed with arts and crafts, and I love all things music, melodies, dance, and painting. I also love love love to decorate and shop! What girl doesn’t! But I especially love to DESIGN! I knew this word that God ultimately gave her for me was truly from God because it had woken something in me that I long forgot about. I was even taken back to being 18 years old filling out “degree” paperwork for college. The question read, “what major or degree do you want to pursue a career in”… starting at the blank page I distinctly remember thinking Interior Design! But just as quick as the thought bubble came to my mind it was just as quickly popped when my mom had told me that I needed to pick a career that had more financial stability. How do you plan on making money in interior design? I remember her asking me. So, I wrote down Nursing. That’s a story for another time.

The bottom line is I have known since I was a young girl that I was creative, and that God gave me the gift of using design to bless him and others around me. I came home from Scotland feeling refreshed and excited knowing God was trying to pull out old gems deep within me. I began to seek him in prayer for the next month and really search his heart for his plan for me.
Starting a new shirt company has been in the back of my mind since I was told to put it down 2 years ago. The vision never left me, to own an apparel company. However, I knew that if I was going to do it again, it had to be on Gods timing and in HIS way.
As I searched his heart in prayer I began to ask him the question, Can I start a new company yet? His answer this time was yes, you are ready now. He began to tell me, “You have learned some really hard lessons not just in life the past two years but your character as well as your heart has been tested, and you’ve passed. Your stewardship of my kingdom principles and finances has also grown and you are ready to start a new company.”
You might be thinking, Girl what? Didn’t that lady tell you to do interior design? Yes! & trust me that is still the plan! However, it takes discipline and knowledge and wisdom to understand which words are for which season in your life. That word IS for me, but it’s not time yet for that specific word to come to pass.
Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes to diversify our investments and to not put all our eggs in one basket if we are to best steward what God has given us. Jesus also teaches us this principle in Matthew 25. What I didn’t mention anywhere in this bio is that I also started a ministry in 2022 called Spirit Speaks Ministries. I have even bigger dreams than just being an interior designer someday. I have dreams of expanding the kingdom of God in as many ways I possibly can before he takes me home.
By spreading the gospel of Jesus through the designs I make myself with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, I aim to fund kingdom advancement in the nations. My vision is global. To use my love for designing images and creating messages with Jesus to impact the world around me.