Today we’d like to introduce you to April Holsey.
Hi April, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My love for fashion actually started when I was 11 years old. I auditioned for a visual and performing arts school in Gary, Indiana, formerly known as Emerson VPA. During the audition, I was asked the question, “What do you hope to be in the future?” I honestly didn’t have a perfectly planned-out answer, but in that moment, a random yet very clear vision of fashion design came to mind. Looking back, I realize it wasn’t so random after all. It was the first glimpse of something that had always been inside of me.
As life often does, other priorities took over, and that dream was put on the back burner. I eventually became a mother to two beautiful girls, and my focus shifted to my family and life as a mom.
After giving birth to my second daughter, however, my life took an unexpected turn. I was diagnosed with heart failure after developing postpartum cardiomyopathy. Suddenly, life looked very different. I had to face my own mortality in a way I never expected, and it made me think deeply about the dreams I had put off and the things I kept telling myself I would do “one day.”
One thought kept coming back to me: Life can be short, so make the most of it.
That thought became the push behind Crave.
After undergoing heart surgery and spending about four months healing, I decided it was time to stop putting that dream on the back burner. I wanted to create something of my own, something rooted in my love for fashion, creativity, and self-expression. That’s when Crave was born.
The business originally started as Crave Dior Boutique, primarily online, and over time it evolved into what is now Crave Fashion Haus, or Haus of Crave. The name changed because the vision had grown. I realized I didn’t want Crave to be limited to one particular style or even one particular customer. I wanted it to be a fashion destination where people could explore different sides of themselves.
Today, Crave offers men’s and women’s fashion and accessories, ranging from event-ready gowns and suits to streetwear, statement pieces, and everyday styles. We’re also expanding into handmade “junk” purses and our own Crave-branded pieces, along with styling and curated fashion experiences.
The journey hasn’t always been easy, and there have definitely been seasons where Crave became quieter while I figured out what the next chapter needed to look like. But I’ve learned that a pause doesn’t mean the dream is over. Sometimes it gives you the space to come back with a bigger vision.
That’s really what Crave represents to me. It’s more than clothing. It’s a reminder to myself and to the people who shop with me that life is meant to be lived, expressed, and enjoyed. You don’t have to put yourself or your dreams on the back burner.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No, it definitely hasn’t been a smooth road, and honestly, I don’t think I would want to tell the story any other way.
One of the biggest struggles has been learning how to balance being an entrepreneur, a mother, and simply being a person with a life outside of the business. There have been seasons where Crave was thriving and seasons where I had to step back. My health journey and everything that came with my heart failure diagnosis and recovery obviously changed my perspective, but life continued to bring its own challenges afterward.
Another challenge has been staying consistent in an industry that changes so quickly. Fashion is constantly evolving, and so is social media. There have been times when I felt like I was finally figuring out what worked, only for the platforms to change their algorithms, reach, or the way people consume content. As a small business, you can put a tremendous amount of time and creativity into something and still not know how many people are actually going to see it.
There was also a period where Crave became quieter. That was difficult because when you’ve poured so much of yourself into something, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind when things aren’t moving at the pace you imagined. But that season taught me something important: a pause isn’t the same thing as failure.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’ve always considered myself an artist and creative. Art has been a major part of my life and education for years, and creativity has always come naturally to me. Fashion simply became one of the ways I found to channel that creativity and bring my ideas to life.
Through Crave Fashion Haus, I curate fashion and accessories for both men and women, but I don’t see my work as simply choosing clothes to put on a website. I’m constantly thinking about how pieces work together, how they make someone feel, and how I can turn individual pieces into a complete look and experience. I’m also very hands-on with the creative side of the business. I’m involved in styling, product curation, branding, social media content, campaign concepts, photography direction, and finding creative ways to tell a story through fashion. A lot of what I do starts as an idea in my head, and I love figuring out how to turn that idea into something people can actually see, wear, and connect with.
What I’m most proud of isn’t any single product or collection. It’s the fact that I took a vision I had as a young girl, put it on the back burner for years, and eventually found the courage to bring it back to life. Today, I get to use that creativity in a way that is completely my own. For me, that’s the art behind Crave: taking fashion, creativity, and a little bit of attitude and turning them into an experience people can make their own.
How do you define success?
I define success a little differently than I used to.
Of course, I want Crave to be profitable, grow, reach more people, and become a recognizable fashion brand. Those things matter because a business has to be sustainable to continue growing. But for me, success is much bigger than numbers.
After everything I’ve experienced in life, especially becoming a mother and going through my health journey, I don’t take the opportunity to pursue my dreams for granted. Success, to me, is being able to wake up and know that I’m actually doing something I once only imagined. It’s having the freedom to create. It’s being able to take an idea that’s in my head and turn it into something tangible. It’s watching someone put on something from Crave and seeing their confidence change. It’s hearing a customer say, “I felt so good in this,” and knowing that something I curated helped them feel that way.
I also define success as building something my daughters can look at and say, “My mom created that.” I want them to see that it’s possible to have dreams, put them on hold when life requires it, and still come back to them. I want them to understand that your circumstances may change your timeline, but they don’t have to determine your destination.
Success is also growth—not just growing Crave, but growing myself. I’m still learning, experimenting, making mistakes, changing directions, and figuring things out. I don’t think I’ll ever reach a point where I say, “I’ve made it.” There will always be another idea, another collection, another creative project, and another level I want to reach.
Ultimately, I define success as having the courage to live the life I once dreamed about and creating something that allows other people to feel confident enough to live boldly in theirs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hausofcrave.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cravefashionhaus/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cravefh
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@cravefashionhaus
