Christy Lee Velez, a.k.a. FlyChica, has been to hell and back. The 30-year-old survived life in a Miami gang, a debilitating skin condition and cancer. Art and God got her through, she says.
Sick, nearly crippled and unable to hold a job at the age of 26, Velez made ends meet by selling her nameplate rosaries. The one-of-a-kind, handmade religious neckwear is personalized with small alphabet beads. Custom slogans are spelled out in the center, nicknames are strung on the back. She doesn't charge much (from $12 to $15) and even now, she's hardly turning a profit.
"I believe this is God's plan for me. Whether I make it or break it, I'm just happy doing it," she said. For FlyChica, customers' kindness and gratitude are sufficient to keep her spirits high, her attitude positive and her craft-turned-business alive.
Hate mail was the last thing she expected in response to an article about her Nashville-based company, FlyChica Productions, for a popular teen-webzine. A number of readers expressed vehement opposition to her so-called exploitation of the church. Never mind the popular musicians who wear crucifixes and little else as they curse, grope their bodies and smash their instruments on stage.
These angst-ridden teens posted these messages on the company's website:
"Rosaries are NOT meant to be worn, they aren't necklaces or bracelets, just prayer tools."
"Keep religion in your heart, it's your beliefs, not a fast-cash fashion gimmick."
"God isn't about looking good."
"[People] wear religious symbols to show fashion. They don't give a ---- about the meaning that those things have."
It may well be true that countless individuals wear religious symbols without deference to religion. FlyChica's nameplate rosaries can't even be used for prayer. Even so, they are symbolic of religious faith, made and used for religious inspiration. Moreover, Velez ensures that every slogan is optimistic and, above all, respectful.
"Paz En El Barrio," "Smile Now Cry Later" and "Confio En El Rosario" are customer favorites. FlyChica is anything but shy about refusing unholy nameplate requests.
"I won't put anything offensive on the rosaries," she said. "One time, a girl asked me to put Bruja on the necklace. It was her birth name and she even showed me her license. But I said, look, I respect the name you were given at birth and you have to respect that it's just not my style to put that on the rosary."
Regardless of the angry web-postings, FlyChica is receiving more and more orders, particularly off the company website. The growing success is partly owed to music industry legends wearing nameplate rosaries in performances and on the streets. At the Ultimate Breaks and Beats 2 show held this April in Nashville, FlyChica presented a rosary to Galt MacDermot, composer of the Broadway musical "Hair." Renowned Dominican hip-hop group The Beatnuts wear nameplate rosaries, as do other hip-hop artists including 1999 DMC Scribble Jam Champion DJ Precyse.
Outside of the hip-hop scene, FlyChica Productions has retail outlets and an Internet business that's picking up pace. In spite of all the press, praise and problems that come with newfound popularity, FlyChica stays loyal to her customers in the streets of Nashville. The locals know to find her on regular routes from liquor stores to barber shops, convenient marts to fast-food joints.
After all, it's the local clientele that kept her from going broke when a severe outbreak of psoriasis disabled her for three straight years. The lesions on her feet were so thick she couldn't wear shoes; in fact she could hardly walk. So, she'd ride the bus and sell rosaries to supplement her food stamps and disability pay. With just enough money to pay for basic necessities, she again thanked art and God for survival. Now recovered, FlyChica hopes for a boom in business that will allow her to provide job opportunities for the disabled.
"If I get a big contract where I can have financial freedom, I intend to hire people at the disabled high-rises where both elderly and younger disabled live," she said. "I want to give back to the community."
Back at the teen-targeted website, opponents of religious fashion continue to post their two cents. They criticize that religion and fashion don't mix, they question the motives and faith of companies like FlyChica. Velez, disappointed but not subdued by the hostility, responded with a post of her own:
"I stand proud and strong by what I am doing. It helped me personally with my relationship with God and also gave me the strength and confidence to leave a large Mexican gang... Without it I would have starved or slept in the streets. No one can ever take that from me."
Amen.
