The heart behind the brand
Every Piece
Tells a Story.
The gift was always there
Creativity didn’t begin with the business.
Creating has been part of my life for decades.
As a teenager, I was already sewing and creating. In high school home economics, I chose to make maternity clothing and even created my daughter's diaper bag.
A life-changing chapter
Resilience became part of the story.
I Made It by Conya was born from resilience after brain surgery that changed my life.
Creating became my therapy, my joy, and my testimony.
Each handcrafted piece is made with purpose, strengthened through faith, and created to remind others that beauty can rise from life’s greatest challenges.
“Creating became my therapy,
my joy, and my testimony.”
The years between
Life continued. Creativity remained.
Life continued, responsibilities grew, and I went on to build a 36-year career in federal service. But creativity remained — it traveled with me through every season of my life.
- Creativity
- Career
- Perseverance
- Purpose
A new chapter
Then came the moment to begin again.
After retirement, I entered a new chapter — one where the creativity that had traveled with me throughout my life could finally take center stage.
I Made It.
I Made It by Conya represents more than what I make.
- It represents perseverance.
- It represents purpose.
- It represents creativity that survived every season.
- It represents the courage to begin again.
- And it represents the belief that our gifts can continue to have purpose at every stage of our lives.
Created by Hands. Strengthened Through Faith.
The artist behind the creations
Meet Conya
Behind every creation is a woman whose creativity has traveled with her through every season of life.
Today, that creativity has a name:
I Made It by Conya.
Encouraged to begin
From Hobby to Business
Artwork by Dionne C. “Lady D” — The Name You Like
What began as something I simply loved to create eventually became I Made It by Conya. Along the way, I was blessed with encouragement from people who recognized something special in my creativity and encouraged me to take it further.
One of those people was my dear friend and fellow entrepreneur, Dionne C., affectionately known as Lady D, owner of The Name You Like. Lady D encouraged me to turn my hobby into a business and created a beautiful I Made It by Conya artwork especially for me. It remains a meaningful part of my journey—a reminder of the people who believed in my gift and encouraged me to believe in it too.
Guidance that gave the vision structure
The Strategy Behind the Vision
Joseph Stoddard, Business Strategist with IMG GROUP LTD, is also a childhood friend who has followed my creative journey for years. After watching my creations evolve through social media, he sent me a message that would help change the course of that journey:
“It’s time to turn your hobby into a business.”
Those words became more than encouragement—they became a strategy. Joseph helped me understand the steps required to move from creating as a passion to building a legitimate business with structure, direction, and purpose.
What began as a conversation became reality. His business guidance helped me take the steps that ultimately led to the establishment of CJ Graham Enterprise Group LLC and I Made It by Conya.
I am grateful not only for Joseph’s belief in my creativity, but for helping me see that what I had been creating for years could become something greater.
Joseph Stoddard
Business Strategist · IMG Group Ltd
Why “I Made It”?
The name has never meant just one thing.
- I made it as a teenage mother.
- I made it while raising my two daughters.
- I made it as I watched my daughter Allyson graduate from Virginia State University in 2012 and begin her career as an educator.
- I made it through a 36-year federal career.
- I made it through two years of epilepsy—enduring three to four seizures a day while raising my school-aged daughters and building my career—then underwent a right temporal lobectomy in 2000.
- I made it from first-time homeowner to building something lasting for my family.
- I made it into retirement and a new beginning.
And when my daughter Ciara’s life changed, I became her caregiver. Together, we continued building a life with purpose—one in which disability would never determine her value or her place in our family’s future.
Today, Ciara and I share ownership of the home where we begin this newest chapter together.
Long before “I Made It” became the name of my brand, it was simply my answer. I wore my own creations, and when people asked, “Where did you get your accessories?” I proudly answered, “I made it.” Over time, those three words came to represent not only what I created with my hands, but everything I had made it through.
So when you see the words I Made It by Conya, they mean more than “I made this with my hands.”
I made it through.
I made a way.
I made a life.
And yes… I made this, too.