Podcast SANS END

Meet Robert Bowhan. Rob didn’t really get into fashion until after he graduated his master’s in business management. He became close friends with another young man whose family owned factories in Egypt - apparel manufacturing factories. They clicked right away and even talked about becoming business partners in starting a boutique in Geneva, Switzerland, where he was going to school. While that didn’t work out, it did open up the door for Rob to go work for his family as an agent - to come to America and find brands to have their shirts manufactured in Egypt. He was extremely under qualified for the position, but that didn’t stop him from trying.

Rob took the job with high aspirations. After spending three months in Alexandria, Egypt, learning about how shirts are made, he moved to America. He landed in New York, New York and was ready to take on the world - get brands like Ralph Lauren, GAP, and Polo. That didn’t happen. He did, however, find a niche in smaller, up and coming brands. After a year and a half, they amicably parted ways and Rob spent the next seven years in jobs ranging from wholesale to brand management (especially brand management). 

After living in Switzerland, Egypt, and New York, I asked Rob what brought him back to his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin to open the shop. During his time as a sales rep, he traveled around the country getting orders, visiting accounts, and doing market research. He visited all of the big cities, of course, but he also did business in the smaller cities too. All of those big cities - oversaturated. While the smaller cities were left open with more potential for growth. If you want to make it in a big city, you probably need more than just a good idea. Something like a celebrity endorsement, or an angel investor to get you off the ground. A good idea, however, could go pretty far in a lot fo these smaller cities. During his travels, Rob befriended a lot of these small-town shop owners, all the while keeping an eye on Madison. 

Next, Rob moved to Detroit to work as an apparel buyer while remaining in touch with his friends and previous coworkers back in New York at The Foundation. An opportunity came up for Rob to work with The Foundation while living in the midwest - an opportunity to represent Under Armor - he had to give it a shot. While working in the corporate world, provided him with a steady stream of income, he soon discovered that it just wasn’t for him. That was the kick he needed to leave and start a shop of his own. 

Rob opened August in October of 2017 - a year ago this month! It was definitely a big jump from working in a stable corporate environment. There was a lot of budget balancing for sure. Rob and his wife had to go into this process knowing that the shop wouldn’t bring in a lot of money at first (or in some months, any at all), so they lived mostly off of his wife’s income.

Even in the small(er) market that is Madison, where the competition is low and opportunity abounds - this takes sacrifice.

And that’s exactly what Rob’s doing at August. 

The first thing Rob advised, right off the bat, is to just jump in and learn - learn as much as possible about every aspect of the industry. All of his experience across the fashion industry gave him a more well rounded perspective. Nearly everyone he works with while running his shop does something that he’s had a bit of experience doing, so he knows where they’re coming from and can work better with them. 

And it’s that process of paying your dues, of learning, of working with people in the industry that will build your network and prepare you to go in on your own (because you won’t really be on your own). Work for free. Go intern somewhere, swallow your pride, and put in the extra hours. All of that work will build your reputation. 

Rob has been in the industry for twelve years working, learning, and growing his skill set and network. He worked a lot of fun jobs and he worked just as many not-as-fun jobs, but every part was a piece to the puzzle. 

Next I asked Rob about building brand equity - something he’s very good at. It really starts in the brick and mortar shop. Rob took great care in getting the space too look and feel inviting. Everyone who works for him has really interesting backgrounds and interesting personalities - they love art, music, pop culture. Next is the extra value he’s providing the customer past simply being a retail space. One way he does this is with August Aux - the performing arts extension of August, giving a platform to local artists to express themselves. 

I recently launched my first mini line of clothes. I don’t think they were retail ready, but I wanted to experience as much of the process as possible, so I approached Rob about putting my clothes in August. He took a look at what I made and gave me some stellar advice. I’m making more clothes now, and am hoping to approach a few more local spots about the possibility of putting my clothes in their stores, so I asked Rob what advice he’d give me after I first met with him. 

There’s so much product out there, so there’s got to be a hook. Overall, you need one of three things. Did I create something that no one’s ever created before? Do I have a celebrity endorsement? Or is my product as good as my competitors, but I undercut them in price? You’ve got to find a way to check at least one of those boxes. And for someone like myself (and maybe you too), who’s young and up-and-coming, the most accessible is the first. This could be an event, where your clothes are almost an accessory to the experience.

Rob had a perfect example: only a few weeks ago, August hosted a fashion/performing arts show organized by a young creator. If he had approached Rob simply asking to put his clothes in August, he probably would’ve gotten a “no.” Instead, he came to Rob with an idea for an event that he would organize, promote, and execute. He wasn’t just asking Rob to provide him value, he was providing the value to Rob and that made all of the difference. 

Rob’s final advice was on taking feedback. First off, don’t get discouraged. People will tell you your stuff sucks, whether it’s true or not. Don’t take it personally, but don’t completely disregard it either. Analysis criticism, and learn from it. Don’t take positive feedback too heavily either - especially when it’s coming from friends and family. Don’t let either the criticism or praise fill your head; instead, let them both drive you to be better. 

@_augustshop

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Mark, creator of The INC. Mark started the brand in college. He had always been into clothes, not necessarily fashion, but clothes. At first, the brand was strictly streetwear, such as The Hundreds and Diamond Supply. He did that through and after college on the side. When fashion began making the shift towards high fashion, the brand shifted with it and became a sort of streetwear, high fashion hybrid. That’s when Mark made his first official collection. He was still living in his parent’s basement then, but they made it clear that he needed to get some sales, or try and move onto something else. 

So, he found a couple of models and a photographer and shot a look book. Then he sent a press release out to Highsnobiety… they picked it up! Before long, some German sales agents hit him up asking to sell the brand! He didn’t really know what they meant, but after some back and forth, they had a deal and The Incorporated was put into six stores around the world.  

Also on the phone was TJ, the sales director for The INC. Mark brought TJ on the team right before their first Paris fashion week. Mark needed a team to help. He had met TJ through some artist friends of his - he was a stylish guy, young and excited. When Mark offered TJ a spot on the team, he jumped on it, and they’ve been going strong since.

I asked Mark about the process of going from initial idea, to that first shirt. He had worked at a screen printing shop, but most of his knowledge came from Google. When it came to making his first collection, he had a connection with a factory owner in LA. When he discovered how much it’d cost to work with them, he found a student from the local art institute who knew how to sew and got the clothing made that way instead. 

To this day, Mark and TJ have a lot to do with the making of their clothes. It’s cheaper and they have more control. 

Next we spent a bit of time discussing their time at Paris fashion week, how fashion weeks work, and how you can work fashion week for your brand. Their first fashion week was a bit of a whirlwind. They had never been before, and just sort of threw themselves into it. They rented a random spot, ran around Paris trying to find audio equipment, and invited every retailer they could find. DM’s, emails, and whatever else they could do to get the right people in the door looking at their clothes. Some of the best retailers in the world ended up coming through and making orders!

Fashion week isn’t nearly as structured as I, or Mark originally had thought. There’s no “sign up” necessary. You just go. If you can find a room and get people in your doors, you’re officially a part of fashion week. It could be an Airbnb!

Since their first fashion week, Mark and TJ have been to five and things have changed. Historically fashion week was simply a place to connect with retailers. Now, it’s more of a cultural event. A showroom isn’t enough - it has to be an experience for retailers and fashion lovers alike. 

I asked Mark where he thought fashion week belongs on a brand new brand’s priority list and his answer was telling. “If you’re planning on spending $100,000 or more on your first collection, you should definitely go.” But there’s a distinction: going is different than showing. And that’s so important, because, odds are, you’re not planning to spend that much money on your first collection, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go.

Since that transition into a streetwear, high fashion hybrid, things at The INC. have gone really well. Fashion is always changing, so it’s really just a matter of adapting to the times while remaining unique to your brand.

One change as of late is a drop off in their retail sales. Not only does fashion change, but the way in which people buy fashion changes and is changing fast! Like everything else in our world, the internet is taking over, so Mark and TJ are making a greater effort to create a better presence for their brand on the web. 

Mark also shared a bit about their Hard Work Vacation capsule. For him, it’s really just a mixture of his experience in LA and Seattle - he imagines the beautiful red sunsets of LA setting on the trees of Seattle. He really wanted to put a personal touch on this collection with hand painted imagery. It’s dope - go check it out. 

They’re also looking to make a transition from releasing a big collection every season, to dropping smaller capsules more often. They want to make more and engage their audience more while doing it. I mentioned Chinatown Market - a brand that successfully releases new clothes on a weekly basis. I’d check them out too. 

For new brands, fashion week can be an important cultural experience to have under your belt - GO! To show, on the other hand, may not be worth it - especially at a low budget. Now a days, Instagram is the new show room with a much larger audience and much lower entrances fee (it’s free). 

As important as Instagram is though, it’s still important to get out there. Maybe going to Fashion Week isn’t even an option - do you have local retail spaces that might be interested in carrying your clothes? There’s no shame in starting small, in fact it’ll give you the experience to grow into larger ventures, and it’s far better than not starting at all! 

“There are so many different ways to sell shirts and become successful, and they’re almost always unique.” Mark talked about the urge we can so easily have to do what we see another brand doing to achieve the same result, when in reality - it’s doing your own thing, and doing it well, that works.

Money is a lot easier to spend if you have it, and will save you time… but at first Mark didn’t have the option, an odds are you don’t either. So, he spent the TIME necessary to learn how to do things on his own. Need a website? Go learn how to design a website. Hint: when it comes to a lot of things, Google is your friend. 

@theinc0p0rated

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

I usually start out phone calls by giving the guest a little bit of background on me and how the show’s going to go, I edit that out, and then we start our conversation. I was going to to ask Matt a bit about his work with influencers like John Hill and George Poulos (EP 8) later in the episode, but we sort of jumped right into it naturally. I’ve done a bit less editing on the intro than usual to give you a little peak into what that initial conversation was like before jumping into Matt's story.

Meet Matt Gresia, creator of Canswer Sock Company. Matt grew up just outside of New York City in a smaller town with a slower pace. He’s always had a desire to have a clothing brand - he can’t really explain why, but he does know that he’s super passionate about it. The idea of seeing people wearing something he’s made really resonated with him. Coming from skate culture himself, he knew that the desire of many skaters is to get sponsored as a sort of right of passage. He had dreams of creating a skate team through his clothing company, so that he could sponsor kids and make their dreams come true. While Canswer Sock Co. doesn’t have a skate team and probably won’t (Matt’s looking to expand beyond only the skate scene), its purpose in helping others remains. 

Cancer had always been something that played a role in Matt’s life. His grandfather was taken by cancer before he was even born. And as he grew older he saw cancer’s effects on the friends and family he loved. Now, he’s no scientist, but he did know that he wanted to start a clothing company, and he could use that to help raise money for cancer research. 

So, that’s exactly what he did! Like there are now, two years ago when Matt began this journey, there were a countless number of clothing brands on Instagram - sometimes it feels like EVERYONE’S got their own brand. How could he distinguish himself right off the bat? Socks. He had that idea in his freshmen year of college (Manhattan College) when he was sixteen.  That same year, Brett Conti, creator of Fortune NY, and alumni of Manhattan college was giving a lecture on how he started his company. Matt had no idea who Brett was, but definitely knew Fortune, so he took a friend and attended the lecture. Matt saw a bit of himself in Brett’s story. He pushed past his shyness to introduce himself after the talk and even got his email, but didn’t yet mention what he has in mind for Canswer. A couple days later he emailed Brett. 

That led to their first meeting, and that first meeting led to their friendship. So, with his dad’s help (an entrepreneur himself) and Brett’s experience, Matt spent his summer (and his money) on getting an LLC, trademarking the name, and getting everything else covered on the legal end. Then he found a manufacturer, made a design, put it on his socks, and has been running Canswer Sock Co. ever since!

Lately Matt’s been super flooded with working on new projects. “It’s like the best busy can be.” Since socks, he’s expanded to hats, hoodies, and shirts! Basically, all he’s doing now is trying to grow. He’s working on getting into a franchise store (a huge source of income for clothing brands). 

He’s also working heavily on his brand. September 15th is the day he opened up his website for Canswer. He wants to make that “Canswer Day.” September 15th 2018 is obviously just around the corner as of the release of this episode, but in 2019, Matt is looking to do a popup! He sees that day being a movement where everyone posts pictures of their Canswer clothes. In the meantime, this year, Matt is dropping a shirt in three different color ways - stay tuned! 

Matt started skating when he was around eleven or twelve. Unfortunately, he broke both of his ankles… twice. While he’s not skating as intensely as he was before, he’s still very much involved in the culture. When he found skaters on YouTube, he saw himself in what they did and started watching them all! When it came time to send his socks to “influencers,” he knew exactly where his first socks were going. 

Now Matt has the relationships, but it wasn’t always that way. He mentioned he was a shy guy. So am I, and maybe you’re shy as well, so I asked Matt how he pushed past the anxiety of stepping out to create those relationships. 

It’s that same theme of regret that we explored in our last episode with Gerald and Elena Flores. Are you going to regret it if you don’t [blank]? Or, in other words, how much do you want it? Here’s the bad news: the anxiety usually doesn’t go away until after you take that step. Here’s the good news: it usually goes pretty well once you do. 

I always like to ask what my guest would do if a kid walked up to them at one of their pop ups and asked them what advice they’d give in how to start a clothing brand? It’s a question that isn’t looking for a super specific answer, but something simple enough that even a kid could understand and use towards chasing their dream. Funny enough, that exact scenario happened to Matt at John Hill and Brett Conti’s popup. Matt had gone with George Poulos, and for the first time in his life, kids knew who he was - they were asking him to sign their clothes and get pictures with him, and one kid happened to ask how he could start a clothing brand of his own. The answer isn't a short cut, or magic word, or key to success. It's committment, hard work, and love.  

@canswer

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Elena and Gerald Flores. Elaine owns Sew Bonita, and Gerald, Taco Gear. Together they make up Sew Taco (an amazing podcast). I discovered them on the podcasting app, Anchor, and knew I had to have them on the show - they were kind enough to join me!

Gerald has a history in graphic design, it’s what he’s done and still does for a living. Of all the work he did in graphic design, he seemed to gravitate most towards simple logo design. One day he thought to himself, “maybe I can make some shirts.” Directly following that thought though, was the thought of how many brands already exist. What did he stand for that was any different than all the rest? He couldn’t think of anything, so he kind of gave up on the idea until he started looking for a taco shirt to wear. He couldn’t find one, so it only made sense to make it himself. He made a super simple design and threw it up on an online store. When he shared it with the small following he had amassed in freelance graphic design, he got a few orders, and that’s when Taco Gear was born.

Elena’s journey began when Gerald bought her a sewing machine. It was the perfect gift, only problem was she had no idea what she was doing - she couldn’t sew! So, she took a local sewing class and just started making things for fun. Soon friends got involved and she began to see some potential in her work. She knew she wanted to tap into the Mexican American culture using a t-shirt brand, so that’s exactly what she did. She launched her first t-shirt and it just blew up! Now she creates accessories and t-shirts to empower latino women under the name Sew Bonita. 

Their podcast’s tagline is “two side hustles and a microphone,” so naturally I asked what Elena and Gerald do full time. Gerald works full time as the creative director for a digital agency on web design, branding, and video production. He loves the work and loves how he’s able to exercise his creative muscles on his side hustle and his main hustle. Elena works full time in social work as a case manager for adults with mental disabilities. There’s a lot of behind-a-desk type paper work involved, so she doesn’t get to use a ton of creativity. It can be draining to do the exact opposite of what you want eight hours a day, but she goes home every night and finds the energy to get it done anyhow.  

Both Gerald and Elena are focused on being involved in their communities, especially on the local level. Whether it’s supporting local businesses, getting involved in Taco Fest (I want to go), Tacos with Creatives (Gerald’s), or Small Business Saturday (Elena’s), their both heavily invested in their fellow local creators and makers.

Elena is hoping to release a skirt line soon (way cool) and her own custom fabric. Because of the way his business is structured, Gerald is able to release a lot of different designs in a short amount of time. Making the shirt is one half the battle, the other half is figuring out what the people want! He’ll make one design that he’s sure of, that does okay, and another he’s not as excited about, that does amazing. 

For both of them - this takes a lot of time. And because they’re both working full time, it’s taking a lot of their free time. Side hustles take a sacrifice. If you’re thinking about diving into your clothing company, know that the journey is beautiful, but it’s life changing too. Gerald and Elena need to be super selective with how they spend their time. Meetings with friends aren’t impromptu, but scheduled. Weekends aren’t a time to take off, but a time to work extra hard. 

Don’t be pissed when you don’t finish that project in the hour you had. Set high, but realistic expectations for yourself and patiently work towards your goals with the time you have - you won’t get more time by dwelling on what you don’t have, you’ll only loose more of it!

Another thing Elena, Gerald, and I have in common (besides our love of side hustles and tacos (duh)), is our love of Gary Vaynerchuck. He’s a big reason why I started this podcast in the first place. Anyhow, a big part of what Elena is talking about here is self awareness. To know that you have a creative gift, and know it young, that’s huge. As Gary says, stop worrying about what you’re bad at, and start doubling down at what you’re good at. 

After you know you’ve got it, start! I have historically researched myself into oblivion before beginning a venture, only to never actually start (this podcast?). Being prepared is one thing, but there’s a fine line between preparing and over preparing. In my experience, over preparing is a side effect of fear. I’m afraid I’ll fail. Slowly, I’m beginning to understand that failure isn’t all that bad and it’s allowing me to start before being completely prepared. This piece of advice from Gerald is much needed for me, and maybe for you too. We’ve seen this before with other guests too - Noah from Madhappy comes to mind. Him and his friend started their first clothing line without knowing a thing! In fact, it was that first line that taught them what they needed to know to try again. Did they fail along the way, of course, did they let that stop them? No, and you shouldn’t either. Rant over, thanks Gerald. 

Elena’s next piece of advice actually comes from one of her creative friends in Houston. 

Moral of the story: just do it. And I’m sure, if you’re anything like me, you can think of a million reasons not to “just do it.” Things will never be perfect - the stars won’t align unless you make them. Elena and Gerald were once at a conference with friends when one of those friends had the opportunity to share lunch with some big wigs in the creative scene, but she didn’t want to leave them behind. Gerald stopped her doubt in its tracks with one simple question that we could all consider a bit more often.  

If you don’t start your company, if you don’t ask the girl out, if you don’t take that plane ticket - are you going to regret it if you don’t? If the answer is yes, then I think you know what you have to do. What a beautiful question to fight against the fear that stops us from chasing our goals and dreams. 

Elena’s last two pieces of advice are pretty dang practical, but important nonetheless. Number 1: be nice. Be nice to other creatives (yes, even (especially) your “competition”), and be nice to your customers (yes, even (especially) the haters). Number 2: learn how to run a business. Running a business doesn’t always come naturally to creatively minded people. Maybe painting a picture is the easy part for you, but selling it… well, maybe not so much. Learn sales, learn marketing, and learn finances! 

Geralds last piece of advice: check your ego. Stop worrying about what other people think. It’s a bit of a paradox, because your entire business is often predicated on people liking your product enough to buy it, but on a grander scale, don’t let other people’s opinions stop you from at least trying. Also, don’t let your ego stop you from interacting with your “competition.” When one of us wins, we all win because, as they said, “there’s enough sunshine for everybody”

@sewbonita

@tacogear

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Kenneth, creator of Shisty (rhymes with feisty) clothing. Kenneth’s interest in making clothing began as a hobby. He used to make clothes for friends, “distress jeans and stuff.” In his Freshman year of college, the name Shisty came to mind and he kept it. Under the new name, Kenneth began by making hats. He’d buy patches off of eBay and Amazon and iron them on. That alone began to get people’s attention, and that’s when he thought, “Okay, if people are enjoying the things that I’m doing with these hats, why can’t we translate it into clothes?” 

Since then, he’s gone all in on Shisty, releasing his first collection just last June. Going into the design process for that first collection, Kenneth knew he wanted to model it after what he liked to wear, but not so much so that it would exclude others. 

He calls your individual style your “drip.” 

Kenneth really took his first collection as an opportunity to learn everything he could about the process behind making clothes. His story is similar to Noah’s with Madhappy (Episode 15) - when Noah made his first brand (Us by Mason and Noah) it was that first collection that really taught him the most about making clothing. 

Making the clothes, though, is only half the story. 

Kenneth says that his photoshoots are the bread and butter of the brand. The photoshoot is where you define who you want to wear your clothes and how you want it to look. Kenneth’s goal was to display real, relatable people wearing his clothes. He wanted to make it as easy as possible for the consumer to imagine themselves wear his clothes. He did a fantastic job!

Kenneth has got a new collection on the way for Shisty. He wants to start doing events and interacting more with the fan base. For the collection coming out, he wants to hold capsule shows - things where people can come to have a good time and experience the brand in person. 

Kenneth’s first piece of advice was to invest yourself into your brand and to do it for the right reasons. If you’re not pouring yourself into the brand fully, your brand won’t reach it’s full potential. Not to say going “all in” will bring success overnight, it takes time as you’ve heard on this show so many times before. It’s that patience that tests your “why.” If you’re doing it for the wrong reasons, even if you are “all in,” when you don’t see a return on you efforts, you’re more likely to quit (and probably should until you adjust your "why"). 

A part of that investment is the learning process. This podcast might be apart of that, but it’s definitely not the whole of it. Really learn about your product, know it inside and out, “make it your child.” 

Then you market yourself. You could have the dopest clothes on the block, but if nobody knows about them, everyone looses. 

It’s patience. It’s perseverance. It’s belief. 

One big tip Kenneth gives in marketing and community engagement is posting content of people wearing your clothes as much as possible. If you see someone at a party with your shirt, record it. If your see someone at the coffee shop with your hoodie, record it. Ask your community for pictures of them wearing your product and post post post away! 

Why? Because people know the difference between contrived and authentic growth. Between attention grabbing and genuine community engagement. 

@shistyclothing

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Amin, creator of Stay Cool NYC, a retro inspired chillwear brand. Amin was always interested in clothing and standing out - being unique. He spent a lot of time looking everywhere for clothes he liked. Sure, he found some, but why look for something you like when you could make it yourself? So about four years ago, with that thought process in mind, Amin went to a website called customink.com and made his first shirt - it said, “stay cool, people.” He ordered one for himself, and then texted his twelve friends and asked them if they wanted to buy one too. They said, “why not?” As his friends lived their lives wearing his shirt, more and more people began to notice. 

So, he found a local screen printer on Google, brought his “stay cool” design in and had them recreate it. After some success with that design, Amin took a second to his screen printer. This time it was a drawing. Without knowing exactly what went into the screen printing process, Amin just showed them the drawing and told them where he wanted the colors. With that they created his second shirt. More and more people found out about the brand, Amin did a photoshoot, and ever since then he’s been building his brand and the lifestyle behind “Stay Cool.” 

I want to make an important note here. I value the process of doing research, obviously, that’s what this show’s all about. If you’re listening to the show, if you’re reading this, then you probably value that knowledge too! Here’s the key: don’t let that desire to know what you’re doing stop you from doing it, because you’ll never be fully prepared. Sometimes you just need to take a drawing into your local screen printer and ask them to make a shirt out of it - that’s where you really learn, when you start to do! 

He did it himself organically. The result? A authentic brand with a real identity for his customers to latch onto. He didn’t launch it overnight, there’s no one-hit-wonder here; instead, Amin’s slowly built his brand over the course of four years and beyond.

A lot goes into building a brand like Stay Cool. Amin’s made a playlist of songs that vibe with Stay Cool, he’s created an account @staycoolmagazine where he posts inspiration, and he engages his followers everyday with dynamic new content.

He plans to open a Stay Cool Diner, a Stay Cool Lounge, and a Stay Cool Motel. His plans for the future are lofty, but he’s in no rush. He knows that if he stays true to the brand, and works hard, these things will come in due time. 

Next I asked Amin, “what’s next?” Like, the Diner, Lounge, and Motel are a ways away, but what’s next this summer? His answer was telling of his mindset. What’s next? “To continue to grow.” 

Finally, I asked Amin for some advice. 

He did say, however, to think differently. And this happens when you begin to create your own story instead of trying to emulate someone else’s. 

When you begin to think differently as you write your own story, you’ll be able to make something unique, which is of the utmost importance.

It’s that story, that different way of thinking, and that unique product that will form your brand  and how your followers relate to you. An important note on that: it takes time!

Last, but not least, I asked Amin how one might bring hospitality into their clothing brand (he studied hospitality at Boston University). He spoke in terms of Instagram, because it’s such a hot place to interact with followers and that’s exactly what he said you should do.

@staycoolnyc

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Noah, cofounder of Madhappy. In high school, Noah wasn’t the best  student, but he was creative due in part to his parents background: his father was an architect and his mother an interior designer. He always dressed a little sharper and cared about what he was wearing. One of his brother’s friends, Mason, took notice, and reached out to Noah asking to meet. That’s when he pitched the idea of starting a clothing line. They knew nothing about the clothing industry at the time - all they knew was that they had a passion for clothing. So, for two years, Noah and Mason went to downtown LA every day with a mission to create a t-shirt, a long sleeve, and a sweater. In the months it took to create those three pieces, they learned everything about fabric, textiles, factories, minimums, and more. By the time he was nineteen years old, Noah had put out his first clothing line with Mason: Us by Mason and Noah. 

At the same time, Noah was interning for Ugo Mozie. He had taken an interest in Ugo’s work when he began following him on social media. He didn’t know exactly what he did at the time, but all of his posts featured creative shoots and way cool clients. So he reached out asking for an internship and he got it. So for two years, Noah worked with Mason and Ugo to develop his knowledge and skill in the world of fashion. Now his clientele boasts of characters from the NBA and 5 Seconds Of Summer. 

I asked Noah how his work with Ugo and as a stylist has affected his work in design. His answer was simple, but practical:

Eventually, Us by Mason and Noah came to an end. They made an amazing product line, but the price points were so high. They realized that, in order to scale, they had to do something different. One day, Mason came up with the name Madhappy and they both loved it. They like to leave the name up to individual interpretation, but it essentially stands for an optimistic outlook on life. If you accept the ups and downs and go with the flow, you’ll be Madhappy! 

So, they started over, only this time with two plus years of experience under their belts and a couple more people on their team: Noah’s brother and another one of their best friends. Needless to say, things are taking off. They’re only fourteen months in and already have five pop ups to their resume. Now they’re just trying to keep up with the pace. Noah and the team are doing their best to keep their e-commerce up while building local love too. 

Right now, Madhappy has a popup store in Williamsburg, New York and one on Melrose Place in Los Angeles. Clothing wise, Noah and the team are working on a small capsule for July and a bigger drop in August. Beyond that, they’ve got two popups planned in December - locations TBA. Stay tuned ;)

One of Noah’s first piece of advice was patience:

He followed it up with something equally as important: stick to the mission.

Next, Noah got practical. 

Then I asked Noah about collaborating - how to go about it. Before closing in 2017, Colette was the one retail space where Madhappy existed and they had a great relationship, so when they store announced its closing, Noah and the crew knew they needed to do something special. It was organic, and that’s exactly how Noah likes to do things at Madhappy, especially when it comes to collaboration. Pairing your brand up with another shouldn’t be taken lightly, the synergies have to match between the two if you want to stay true to your mission. 

@madhappy.us

@noahraf

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Daniel “El Papi,” creator of Alright Co. - “bringing you alright designs since 2017.” Daniel, who’s twenty five now, finished high school eight years ago in 2010. Post grad life was spent working in a fruit market until his long time drawing hobby took him to college to study art with the goal of becoming a tattoo artist. It took a bit of time for him to find the right apprenticeship after that, but he did and has been for tattooing six years since. His style favors a strong outline, loads of colors, and is reminiscent of an old cartoon/comic style. 

Born and raised in Australia, Daniel just recently moved to Berlin with his girlfriend as a sort of work holiday. He’s tattooing locally, and together they’re exploring all that Europe has to offer. As an artist, it’s been a super positive and influential experience for Daniel. 

It was when the two of them were out to dinner one night (back in Australia) that they came up with the idea of a perfectly “alright” brand. Nothing to brag about, nothing posh… just alright. Similar to NOTABRAND (EP 5), Alright Co. is a sort of anti-brand brand. His girlfriend, who studies marketing, is the brains behind the operation, while his art is the foundation. 

We actually heard this same line of thought last week during our chat with Adam from The Hounds! It really comes down to the “why” behind what you’re doing. If you don’t love what you make, why are you making it? Yet, at the same time you have to be your own harshest critic. Love your product, and hate your product - it’s a beautiful paradox. 

Going forward, Daniel is taking things slowly with Alright Co. and he likes it like that. New designs are on their way - he really wants to try and keep it simple, and nice to look at. 

Future plans are to include other artists in his designs - collabs! 

For Daniel, the process of going from an idea to a product starts with the design. Your first design is really the first building block on top of your brand. Alright Co. is the brand, but what does that really mean? The first design is the answer to that question.

Or in other words as Daniel coined (you heard it here first folks):

Final words from Daniel “El Papi”...

Moral of the story - love what you do, and don’t stop. Thanks Daniel :)

@alrightco_

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Adam Muncy, creator of The Hounds Ltd, a clothing company with a heart for fashion and philanthropy. Adam grew up as a military kid in the small town of Cedarville, Ohio. A talented town, as he described it, where football is big. It's a socially conservative place that isn’t very tolerant of “outliers.” Of his graduating class, he was the only one to go to college outside of Ohio. After some time going to school in Kentucky, he returned to his hometown to continue his college education until he realized that the whole college thing just wasn’t for him - so he left. He was selling sunglasses at the time, sold a pair to the right guy, and was offered a job in banking. Up until a few years ago that’s what he was up to. Originally the plan was for him and his brother to start the company together, but when his brother chose another path Adam was forced to start it himself. It had been an idea of their’s for a long time, and one day Adam finally made the decision to do something about it.

While working his job in banking, Adam was also writing for a locally run blog, The Village Style. While he enjoyed writing content for the blog, and the free clothes that sometimes came along with it, what he really valued most was the people he got to sit down in a room with. Every interview with a retailer, brand owner, or designer was another lesson learned, and another contact to add to his growing rolodex of people that could help him on his own journey. 

Adam’s brother originally wanted The Hounds to be more of a preppy brand - both of them had gone to a private, liberal arts school in Ohio where everyone wore an Oxford to class. Adam had grown up a skater when he was really young. And then he was a scene kid. His brother had always been more all American in style - boat shoes, collared shirts. All of Adam’s siblings have full sized dogs. That’s where he they got the name: The Hounds. Their primary product: a reimagined Oxford. 

Adam began with market research. He did thirty days of Oxfords: a photo journal. That was to build his taste because he didn’t really know what his taste was. Then he tore apart his favorite shirts and brought them to a pattern maker. 

He knew he wanted to do something socially, and was super inspired by Toms. He had interned with organization called Inner City Impact in Chicago, Illinois, and he knew he wanted to do something to help those kids. He gave them a call and they came up with a plan: every Oxford sold would provide a kid with their school uniform. Once he knew the mission, he had his friends over at BadSpark Design create the visual brand, he flew to Honduras to work with his manufacturers, and he built hype all along the way. 

His vision quickly caught a lot of attention, but the Oxford was still on it’s way. He didn’t want to keep people waiting, so he made a T-shirt to test the brand and its mission. In the first week and a half, Adam sold fifty shirts! The money from those shirts went directly towards providing for twenty kids from Chicago to go camping!

In six months alone, Adam took the brand from printables to cut and sew.

Adam just brought all of The Hound’s marketing in-house. Before last month, they had all of their photography done by contracted photographers. Now Adam is taking their pictures. 

He’ll also be spending a lot of time looking for influencers who’s values match up with those of the brand - people who are working towards the betterment of their own communities. 

On top of those two things, Adam says, they’re just going to keep designing. He has a long sleeve shirt coming out soon that’ll fund camp for kids this year. As he designs and works towards new causes, his main thought process through it all is this: “this doesn’t exist, and I want it to exist, so I’m going to make it exist.” 

Adam’s first piece of advice is to figure out what your goals are. Whether your goals are philanthropic like Adam’s, or business oriented (or both) - have something to work towards, have a mission however that looks for your company. A mission will help keep your actions in line. As your brand begins to build momentum, more opportunities will arise for you and your company. At first, all of these new opportunities may seem exciting, but it’s the mission that’ll keep you grounded. Does “x” opportunity line up with your mission? If so, you can jump into it wholeheartedly. If not, you can decline knowing in your heart that you did it for the right reason.

Adam’s second piece of advice is something I haven’t heard on the show before:

It’s important when working with foreign manufacturers to do so respectfully, and knowing how to speak their language is huge! It’s not an absolute necessity, but you might be surprised how far simply trying will get you with the wonderful people who make your product. 

In other words: start small. This hits home for me personally. My original (uninformed) plan included a big launch with a bunch of products and full blown out marketing, but that just wasn’t and isn’t feasible for me right now as a one man operator. So, instead, I’m building the brand one shirt at a time, keeping it simple all along the way. Starting small allows you to learn the art behind the business with relatively no risk, so that when you are ready to take a leap into something bigger, you’ll be ready to take the risk as it grows with your business. 

It’s the same principle that we were just talking about, but with marketing. Before you shoot for the stars, make sure you know how to build a spaceship (does that even make sense?). 

Next I asked Adam about working with nonprofit organizations as a business. I’m not quite sure how yet, but I want the SANS END brand to benefit the homeless of Madison, WI. Adam’s advice was straight forward and to the point. “If you’re wanting your brand to help the homeless of Madison, you should already be helping the homeless of Madison.”

And that’s just it, whatever your mission is for your brand, start living it now and your mission will scale with the business as it grows. Practically speaking, if you’re living your mission out today, you’ll be in the right spot to expand it with your business tomorrow. 

@thehoundsltd

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20

Meet Amit Kanfi, creator of LAMA?, a skate and surf inspired streetwear brand based in Tel Aviv, Israel, that isn’t afraid to ask the question “why?” or, in Hebrew, “LAMA?” During his time serving in Israel’s army, Amit took to drawing to cope with his PTSD.

Whenever he had a chance, he would draw. At first, his illustrations weren’t meant for clothing, they were simply a way to say what he felt without speaking, and what he felt was the question “why?” “Why did this have to happen to me?” 

Every time Amit drew, he developed his message - the message that would become his company’s brand. Soon, his friends caught onto the message and encouraged him to turn his illustrations into clothing. So, three years ago, Amit made his first t-shirt. He sold his first fifty in no time. His friends were asking for more, so he put another design on one hundred more t-shirts and sold those just as quickly. People who weren’t his friends started talking about his shirts and that’s when he finally thought to himself, “maybe I have something in my hands hear, that I’m not aware of.”  

That’s when he had his first popup shop at “some weird bar.” Of the thirty people there, half purchased Amit’s clothes (that’s really good). So, he took it up a notch and started putting on more sales events, while really working on his Instagram account. Soon he began to produce his own t-shirts, instead of printing on blanks, increasing the quality and level of customization. 

In addition to popup shops and Instagram, Amit uses a surprising form of guerrilla marking: street art. Over the years, he has transformed the meaning of “lama” from “why me?” to “why hate?” One of his designs in particular uses the three prominent languages in that region: Hebrew, Arabic, and English to ask “why hate?” It’s a message that resonates with people on both sides of the battle line. Those who have been hurt by the conflict. Amit uses his art to ask this very question all over the streets of Tel Aviv.

People who see his design on the streets, then find it in their favorite boutique along with his other clothes. Since its start, Amit has been able to place his clothes in a number of local streetwear retailers and is excited to continue to grow as his message grows with him. 

Best part of all this is: Amit is just getting started. He recently found an investor who’s going to help with budgeting, finding a shop, offices, and warehouses. This means a lot more space and a lot more resources to create new products - things that he couldn’t have even thought about beforehand. 

Most importantly, Amit added, more money for public relations. That means better events and a stronger online presence. 

We all know this to be true, but often times this principle can be what makes or breaks a new business. Don’t let fear get in the way of a much needed investment to jumpstart your business. Alright, we’ve basically entered the realm of advice, so let’s do that.

Here’s something I’ve never thought of before:

It’s something I was aware of - I want as many people wearing my clothes as possible so that people DO see my brand on the streets, but Amit reframed the concept for me. An ad is only as good as its presentation. The same goes for your clothing. Before people see your clothing, before they give your message a chance, they’re going to make a judgment on the person wearing your clothing. If they reject that person, they’ve already rejected your message. Obviously you can’t control who ends up buying your clothes, but you can control who you target beforehand. This is one of the may reasons why marketing is so important, and not only marketing, but putting in the thought necessary beforehand to figure out WHO you want wearing your clothes. 

Before you even delve into the process of creating your clothing, though, Amit emphasizes the importance of brainstorming. 

Brainstorm, not only designs, but concepts and ideas. Some clothing companies, like LAMA?, start with an message, but not all of them. If you’re starting a clothing company without a central idea, or message, or lifestyle in mind, this is when brainstorming is the most important because without a vision there is no direction. 

This next piece of advice will sound familiar if you listened to our last episode with Christina and David from Lost Cruces Clothing Co.

You need another person with you when there’s a lot going on all at once. Two people means, not only double the budget, but double the brainpower when it comes to brainstorming. It means someone’s there to lend a critical eye to your designs and visa versa. It’s important to note that this second person needs to be someone you can fully trust - someone who will tell you the truth even when it hurts because they know it’s what’s best. 

Amit then talked about how important trade shows are for emerging, somewhat more established brands. Beyond social media, trade shows is what gets your clothing into other countries. Ideally, he explains, you’ll have look books with samples two seasons in advanced to show at trade shows. If a buyer likes your product, they’ll pay up front for their order and all you need to do is deliver. This is Amit's ultimate goal for LAMA? He's already overcome so much and is spreading his message of peace and love all over his city and the world. I'm excited to see him continue to do so as he pursues his goals.

@thesadlama

Podcast SANS END theme music: Church by BenJamin Banger. Find him @ http://smarturl.it/hjfi20