Who is Totally Fierce?
Glad you're here!
And glad you want to learn more about Totally Fierce. On this page I want to show you who is behind Totally Fierce, what was the inspiration to start my own online store, what inspires me and what I stand for both as a person and as a brand.
Are you ready for a little Totally Fierce journey?
We are Totally Fierce!
I'm Thomas (born 1978), and this is my sweet french bulldog Holli. And we are Totally Fierce. We live in the south of Germany near Stuttgart and make the country life here a bit more colorful with our products, our attitude and our way.
In 2022 I decided to become my own boss and start my own little one-man business. My company "Thomas Fürmann Design & More" was born. And as part of that, Totally Fierce was also born as a store for unique designs and products inspired by knitting patterns.
For one or the other, this might also explain the TF, both in my company logo and in Totally Fierce. It represents my initials.
My background
Even as a child I was rather on creative paths. Besides the obligatory drawing and painting, I was also quite a good singer and rubber-rope jumper! Then in school I learned crochet as a little boy and was immediately taken. This was joined by the knitting dolly and the endless knotting of friendship bracelets. As a teenager, such hobbies were of course totally uncool, so I rather occupied myself with other things ;-)
Against all expectations, I didn't start with something creative after high school, but studied computer science. In my defense: It was 1998 and the whole world was talking about computer science being the future and everyone should study it. Computers, technology and the Internet had certainly interested me, but not so much programming as chatting with others, making my own music on the computer or creating graphics.
In short, as a creative person, studying computer science was not my thing. So it wasn't entirely inconvenient that I was also coming out at that time and was thus standing in the middle of a gigantic rainbow that naturally wanted to be explored.
This new colorful freedom reawakened many creative paths I had taken as a child. And so my career as a graphic designer followed my rather unsuccessful detour into computer science. After my training as a digital and print media designer, I started out in packaging design at an international design agency. From intern to art director, I got to know so many new tasks, great people, exciting brands and fascinating countries.
And since the air was literally out after more than 12 years at the agency, I allowed myself some creative time off to reorient myself. Today we would call it a sabbatical. It was at this time that Holli entered my life, or rather our lives. And she inspires me to this day (more about that later).
After my time off, I went into marketing. Working for a large local real estate agent, I learned a lot about how marketing works and what opportunities you have. The downside is that creativity falls a bit by the wayside. In other words, I needed a combination of work and creative expression.
In the meantime, I have made this combination come true for me. So when I'm not working on new designs, optimizing my store or shooting funny videos for Instagram and the like, I work part-time in marketing for an IT company and live the good of both worlds.
My muse
It's hard to put into words how much this wonderful creature with her 4 paws and sweet face continues to inspire me. Without Holli, there would be no Totally Fierce.
It all started with our Instagram page. Actually created as a gag, I was able to win some followers relatively quickly with funny, creative posts. As the person Thomas I was always in the background and used Holli as my mouthpiece.
And since the dog of today needs a certain wardrobe, I combined my passion for crochet and knitting in the making of dog sweaters, scarves, hats, bikinis, and and and. If I could, I would crochet dog stuff all day and sell only that. But anyone who also crochets or knits knows how much time it takes.
My passion
Besides my love for beautiful design and of course my french bulldog Holli, working with yarn is without a doubt my greatest passion. When I crochet or knit I completely immerse myself in this world of stitches, wool and patterns. It's not called crochet is my yoga for nothing.
I make almost all my pieces without a pattern or instructions. I see something and copy it in my own way. It's not always perfect, but it doesn't have to be. And every year again I make things like a new scarf, although I already have more than enough scarves in my closet ;-)
Totally Fierce
As you may notice, each stage of this little journey leads to a very specific point: Totally Fierce. I always say that Totally Fierce is my creative playground. And when I look back at it myself, it's even more than that.
Totally Fierce brings together not only my love of dogs and inspiration from my muse Holli, my passion for designing and working with shapes and colors, my passion for all things crochet and knitting, but also me being part of the LGBTQ community and the PRIDE movement.
Totally Fierce is 100% authentic. 100% real. 100% me.
It empowers me, it inspires me, it sustains me, and it encourages me to do what I want, what I love, and to be exactly who I am.
Hence our motto: Be YOU. Be FIERCE.
Thank you
If you have read this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your attention. I hope I could give you a little insight into who I am, who we are and what Totally Fierce is.
If you have any questions or just want to say hello, I would be happy to hear from you.