Our Story

I admire you. Three simple words that have taken a lifetime to speak, and ultimately believe.

Some people are born with a purpose. Some find it on their journey through life. Mine found me. My name is Joshua Dixon; when I was 8 years old, I was attacked by our family dogs. It was a typical day of arriving home from school. After entering the yard and securing the gate, I slipped on some ice, which is when one dog took advantage of me and attacked my face. He tried to pull me into the garage where he could kill me. The other dog pulled me towards the house in an attempt to save my life from the other dog. It was a tug-of-war with my face. I lost both ears, left eyelid, cheeks, nose, muscles, and veins. Little did I know it at the time, but this was the moment where my purpose was placed into my hands.

 The road has not been easy. I fought for my life, almost losing it countless times. I’ve endured 60 facial reconstruction surgeries. I was fed through tubes. I’ve been in a coma. I’ve had thousands of stitches in my body, with some of them being permanently placed inside my face. I’ve been bullied, relentlessly. The emotional damage impacted my family and manifested in mental abuse, physical abuse, and substance abuse. I had to re-learn to walk and how to chew…I’ve had to re-learn how to live. 

Growing up I was in and out of the hospital, the doctors and nurses became my family. I learned how to express myself through art therapy. I grew and thrived. I learned to drive, graduated from college, and had romantic relationships. Unfortunately, I learned first-hand about domestic violence and became yet another kind of survivor.

I have been through a tremendous amount of harm in life, but through the will of God, I continue to fight for tomorrow. With great pain and years of continuous healing, every day is a battle and a fight for tomorrow. I know this pain a little too well, and knowing that I could’ve been one of the 45,979 Americans who lost their lives to suicide in 2020; motivates me to use my story and creative abilities to help others who may be struggling not feel alone in their pain. God saved my life in December 2020 to help save others. A few months into my recovery from my December 2020 suicide attempt, my counselor told me how powerful affirmations were. One day I was crying after a very long emotional day; I looked in the mirror and said, “I admire you for not giving up. We got this.” I admire myself for not giving up on life.

I Admire you ( later became ‘Admire Wear’), which is very special to my heart. I pitched this brand to Adobe Creative Residency but didn’t make it past the second round. I was determined to accomplish this goal to create something for others.

At the core of that, being the founder myself, Joshua Dixon, my goal is to help save lives like mine and yours. As a survivor of dog mauling, 60 surgeries, sexual assault, rape, bullying, domestic violence, racial profiling, assault, discrimination of ability status, child abuse, suicide, depression, anxiety and myself.

Admire Wear was launched on Sunday, September 5, 2021, in conjunction with Suicide Prevention Month. I created this brand to help people potentially admire themselves and the world around them. I believe that all life is sacred and our lives are meaningful. I believe that together we can choose love over fear and learn to dance in the rain because our admirers aren’t alone, as we have each other along the way.

I NEVER want anyone to feel what I’ve felt and I want to be an example of how no matter how low you feel, what type of curveball life throws at you, there is always a purpose for you being here. I ADMIRE YOU. we admire you for exactly who you are, right now, and we love you for being the beautiful person that you are, in this life experience, and here on earth with us. YOU are admirable.