About Alyssa
I’ve always been drawn to fashion, textiles, and sewing. But it took me a good long while to put all the pieces of my life together into creating Tangle Syx. I’m not sure where all of the years from my 20’s through my 40’s went, but they included working in the mortgage industry, freelance writing, becoming a mother of twins, and caring for my husband who developed and later died from FTD, an early-onset dementia.There were some tough years in there, but life goes on, so now I’m working on a new chapter, wherein I get to play with fabric, flex my environmental roots, and just generally create a company that reflects the type of world I want to live in.
1% for the AFTD
At the end of the year, 1% of sales go to the AFTD, an organization whose mission is to improve the quality of life of people affected by FTD and drive research to a cure.
What is FTD? Also known as Frontotemporal Degeneration, FTD is the most common form of dementia for people under age 60. It represents a group of brain disorders caused by degeneration of the frontal and/or temporal lobes of the brain. The progression of symptoms – in behavior, language, and/or movement – varies by individual, but FTD brings an inevitable decline in functioning. The person affected may experience increasing difficulty in planning or organizing activities. They may behave inappropriately in social or work settings, and have trouble communicating with others, or relating to loved ones. Average life expectancy is 7 to 13 years after the start of symptoms.
My husband, Chris Radcliff, was diagnosed with FTD in 2012 barely a month after our twins turned two years old. The last two and a half years of his life were spent in an assisted living facility, because he needed 24/7 care and supervision. Before FTD, he was a senior engineer, an all around great guy, and a new dad. FTD stole all of that from him, and stole him from us. He died in 2016 at the age of 53.
Now I help others going through their own FTD journeys by facilitating an AFTD-led support group, because talking to others who had been there made all the difference for me. Somehow through those tough times I found the courage, strength and resilience I needed to start this company that I’ve been dreaming about for 20 years. So when deciding how to give back, it felt like a natural fit to give 1% of our sales to the AFTD to help find a cure and to help those struggling on this difficult path.