Portsmouth entrepreneur launches new aspirational and peace loving clothing brand

Politely Rebellious, which offers quality, eco-friendly unisex hoodies, t-shirts and active wear featuring a series of peace loving and inspirational slogans, is a lifestyle that Stewart has been living since the 90s, when as a child growing up on a council estate, she was poor but determined to build a better future.

Keshia said: “When I was young there were ‘expectations’ of what a girl from a council estate could and couldn’t achieve, and I realised early on I would have to break a few rules and expectations to create the life I wanted for myself. I wanted a life full of education, work and opportunity but I wanted to be law-abiding and keep people on side at the same time. That’s how my ‘politely rebellious’ streak started. I am living proof that politely (and lawfully) breaking the rules can set you free - and I am passionate about inspiring others to do the same.”

Keshia showed a keen business acumen from an early age and Politely Rebellious is her third successful company. Keshia launched TeachTech Solutions in May 2016 - which recently won a Global award for being the Number 1 Education Recruitment Agency of 2024 - and her wellbeing business with husband Joseph Stewart, JK Wellness, based in Drayton launched in October 2020.

Keshia said: “As an income stream, clothing appeals to a wide audience and can generate money even while you are sleeping, especially with an eco-friendly print on demand model like we have at Politely Rebellious.”

Politely Rebellious is also calling for unity among communities and an appreciation of the diversity that makes up Portsmouth.

Keshia continued: “Be kind but be heard’ is one of our mottos and this feels particularly pertinent now; with the demonstrations and riots that have been seen recently in the UK. I live in a mixed ethnicity household - my dad, along with many other Zanzibarians settled in Portsmouth after the revolution in Zanzibar - and I am proud of that, plus the fact that people from all walks of life can thrive in the UK. We should be celebrating how far we have come with diverse thinking, not going backwards. The new clothing range also champions that.”

To walk the walk, Politely Rebellious supports grass roots community groups and has already used profits to sponsor an Under 11 Paulsgrove based girls football team, a Ugandan based dance crew – AfronKingz – as well as local Mental Health campaign Don’t Suffer in Silence, launched by Marcus Tisson and the St Helena Wirebird UK charity. Politely Rebellious also runs business and entrepreneurial skills workshops and YouTube Podcast – Being Politely Rebellious in Pompey.

“Being Politely Rebellious is a personality trait, one which I highly recommend,” Keshia concluded. “It has worked for me!”