You Should Too Podcast
Welcome to the You Should Too Podcast where we get real stories from real people in the hopes to inspire others to be great. We cover many topics from music, to business, to current events and much more.
You Should Too Podcast
S1:E2 - Insanity Star CEO
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In this episode we sit down with Mesha owner and CEO of Insanity Star clothing brand. We talk life, college, getting started in business and much more.
Follow us on IG @tezchanged & @youshouldtoopod
Follow Mesha & Insanity Star on IG @forevermesha & @insanitystar_studios
What up, dog? It's your boy Tez Change, man. We here at a new U 123 East Kibi, man. Y'all make sure y'all check my dog Gotti spot out, man. Nice player setup, man. Y'all come show some love. Alright, today I'm here with my girl, you know what I'm saying, Amisha. She got the Insanity Star brand been going crazy, dropping all fly shit. She got a new drop on the way. So we're gonna discuss some of that. You know, how she got in business, stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Hey y'all, my name is Amisha. I am here because y'all do gotta check out this podcast. Shit is gaz. Like you said, I am the CEO of Insanity Star. And man, I started business probably like maybe a year and a half ago. Like I was telling him this shit for like five.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like, cause we have been, it's been a consistent drop since like November.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We just been on the roll. And I say we because I actually include y'all with my brand, because without y'all, then shit, it ain't no insanity start.
SPEAKER_01So that's a good point.
SPEAKER_02For the most part though, like I'm truly appreciative of y'all. So between that and then just the little things that I've been doing on the side, between giving back, even with this kickball stuff, like, we we definitely on the road.
SPEAKER_00You work, you put some work in it. We're gonna touch on kickball and we're gonna touch more on the brand, but let's start. I don't want to say the beginning, but let's give them a little background though. So, like, you already told them your name, like where you from, how you grew up, you know what I'm saying? Kind of what was your influence into like design and you know what I'm saying, getting into fashion, stuff like that.
SPEAKER_02Of course. So I am from Ohio, wine Ohio. Grew up around the corner on West Street. Um, but for the most part, uh fashion just kind of always been something I've been into. Really art for real. I started off doing art early, like real early. I'd say probably like maybe eight, nine.
SPEAKER_00Well, you're doing the art, like drawing, drawing, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I was drawing, I was painting. It was funny because back in the day, like when we had MySpace, we used to be able to like get on picnic and like edit people's pictures. Like if you get on my Facebook now, yeah. If you get on my Facebook now, I was doing that back then. So it wasn't until like I had got over to I'll say Lima Senior for sure. Went over to Lama Senior. I had met my graphic teacher. Shout out to Miss Bader. That like really helped me a lot. So we started getting into the graphics, and she just kind of helped me with the computer basics.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, so that's where I started really. I was a graphic designer. And then I led over into fashion once I got to college. So I went to college for uh fashion marketing and management.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay, okay. No, that's that's heat right there for sure. Yeah, yeah. It's crazy that you said that drawing though, because I think a lot of like artistic people start off with like I used to draw like growing up, and that led to music, and I'll be creating content and all that. But I look at the world as an artist, though. Like everything to me is art.
SPEAKER_02Everything literally, yeah. Yeah, that's dope though.
SPEAKER_00Nah, that's a good start, man. And then so you say you went to college. How long was you in college? Yep, so you graduated or yep, I did.
SPEAKER_02I had graduated from uh Clark. Yep. So I graduated from Clark, Atlanta during COVID, actually. We didn't even get to walk, y'all. Um, it was real tough.
SPEAKER_00But uh they did like virtual?
SPEAKER_02It was virtual. It was virtual. I actually transferred over to Clark because I initially went to Atlanta for I went to the art institute of Atlanta. Okay. So I did that for like a year and a half, and then I transferred over to Clark, and then that's where I got my bachelor's degree. Okay, that's what's up.
SPEAKER_00And that was in uh graphic design?
SPEAKER_02Yep, it was in advertising design with a minor in marketing and merchandising. Oh, okay. So truthfully, when I left college, I thought I was gonna be a buyer. That's what I wanted to do. I wanted to go be a buyer for like high-end stores. So I just wanted to pick what they would put in their stores. But it was like, I say around that time with COVID and everything going on, it was like, man, we gotta make some money now. No, for sure. Like, so I did, I was like serving down there. I just got like a little part-time job going through the whole COVID situation. And then that's kind of where the whole thing of me having an idea of when to do my brand. Like, I was like, I want my own brand, but you know, I don't know if people gonna buy, I don't know if people are gonna support, I don't know the name. I was so stuck on the name for so long that it was like, I ain't gonna start it. So it really took for me to come back here to even get started for real.
SPEAKER_00And that's crazy. Sometimes that's what it takes for you to get back home and get back rooted into, you know what I'm saying, who you are, your people and all that, and then the rest of it gonna come. So that's good though. That's good. So you finally ended up getting the name, which is Insanity Star. And give us some like background on the name, like what it means, like what made you go with that over. I'm pretty sure you had other options or other ideas that you might have been, you know, leaning towards.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. To be honest with you, the first name I had thought of was called Culture Kids.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was gonna be culture kids because I was feeling like, so I ain't gonna never say like I just had a bad upbringing because it wasn't that. I just feel like we had limited resources. Right. We had limited opportunities, and I don't think I knew that until I left.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02So now that I had left, I'm going to college, I'm down here in Atlanta, you know, we got so many different programs that you can be in or different things that you can do. I'm like, shit, we ain't never heard of none of this. Like that's foreign where I'm from. But it didn't stop the fact that like I still wanted something bigger. You get what I'm saying? I tell people a lot of times, I feel like, because all my friends are athletes, that that's pushed a lot here. Like, you know, if you ain't really doing athlete, like if you're not into any like sports, college ain't really pushed. You get what I'm saying? So for me, it was like, nah, I still want to go, I still want to graduate, but I want to do something that I like to do. You get what I'm saying? Sports ain't for everybody or whatever. So for me, that's kind of how it all had came about. Like, you know, my whole slogan was born in chaos, shining ever since. You get what I'm saying? Like, and it didn't matter where you was from, like what chaotic experience you you had going on. It was just more so finding who you are and shit, shining. That was just what it was.
SPEAKER_00Regardless, regardless of circumstances. I like that. Slow that down for them too, so they catch that. You say it's born in chaos.
SPEAKER_02Yep, born in chaos, and then shining ever since.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. And then, like, I touched on that, what you talked about with the opportunities. When you come from smaller areas, even like me, I've been in Lima, so I'm from here to me, but I'm also from the D, so I got to see like the bigger city stuff too. But it's like, I can vouch for that. Like, you don't really know, even coming from the D. Like, I didn't even know, like, I ended up going to school for music. I didn't even know that was a possibility. Like, you know what I'm saying? Getting out of high school, I'm like, man, I probably would have really, if I'd have known all the opportunity I was out there, I probably would have finished college. Like, I started a few different college courses, but I never did finish. But it's good that you was able to find something that you love and you know what I'm saying? Find uh uh some success in it. So now speaking on the brand, moving forward, so you get the design and you start making the clothes, and then what walk us through like your first drop. Like, how did you like source the people? And you know what I'm saying? Once you got the design and all of that, tell us about like the ups and downs of like getting it from basically idea to full concept. You got it in your hand and you ready to start selling.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, for sure. So that's funny because I was coming up with designs. I remember I was in uh, I was in Atlanta at the time. I was in Atlanta, and I would just get on the computer, I would come up with designs, and I just kept doing some like four, like I just kept putting like 419 or whatever the case may be. Like I wanted to try to do a message for the city. And everything that I was doing, I was just holding on to, like just putting it in the folder. I'm hiring designers, putting it in the folder, never dropping nothing. Just holding it. I ended up leaving Atlanta and I went to Houston. And I'm down there in Houston, and I'm like, bro, I'm gonna do this. You get what I'm saying? I'm gonna do it or whatever. And I end up having to move back. So really, what that transition was for me was like I had told you, my apartment got flooded.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02When my apartment got flooded, I'm like, my biggest thing, I ain't even gonna lie. I'm like, I ain't never moving back to Lima. Like, if I move back to Lima, I feel like I feel. You get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00A lot of people had that mental thought, too, for real.
SPEAKER_02That was me. I ain't even gonna lie. So when I had to come back home, I would just, I remember having a conversation with my sister, everybody like, bro, I feel like I ain't do what I was supposed to do. Like, I'm my worst critic. So, however, when I got back, I was at the time, I was being around other brands that had their stuff going on. You get what I'm saying? So I'm, you know, just moving around and I'm seeing and I'm like getting invested into their ideas and stuff like that. And I'm like, nah, that's fire, this dope, you get what I'm saying? Like, so during the process, I had a friend, you get what I'm saying, me and her, I'm like, let's look at us doing something. You get what I'm saying? I was like, nah, everybody around here, they got something for the guys. Let's try to look at something for the women. So that was my first job. My first job was actually this jacket.
SPEAKER_01That's funny. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was this jacket.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was this jacket. We had did this jacket and we did it in like black and gray. And we just wanted to do something for the girls. I think my design came from a designer in Atlanta. Honestly, yeah. Did that and it was like, we don't know what the hell we doing. We didn't just spent, I think we had to spent like $5,000 on our first job. Like, we don't even know if we're gonna get this back. But we're gonna just test it out and see what it do. It sold out.
SPEAKER_00Taking that leap of faith. That's what a lot of people, like, we gotta stop on that point right there. So a lot of y'all, because we want to give people inspiration and inspire people to do great things. Sometimes it all starts with that leap of faith that I'm gonna believe in myself enough to go from idea to market, basically. You know what I'm saying? So that was great that y'all was able to, you know what I'm saying, get that. And then so y'all do the drop, and then the reaction was what?
SPEAKER_02They loved it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We do a photo shoot, you get what I'm saying. Everything was real like quick, too. I'm hitting girls up on Snap, like, you just got your hair done, you want to come view my photo shoot? Like, we done went to the top of the bridge. We just taking photos to the point we did it with a setup. I did it with my phone. Like, just some quick stuff, you get what I'm saying, just to post it out there, get the content out there, and like I think we sold out in like two weeks.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, that's good.
SPEAKER_02Oh shit, she looking at me, I'm looking at her, I'm like, What we doing, God.
SPEAKER_00What are we doing?
SPEAKER_02What we doing, nah, for real. So, but it had its trials though. It had its trials and tribulations too, and I think that's what, like me, I ain't gonna lie, I'm one of them type people that like I feel like let's go big or go don't do nothing at all. You get what I'm saying? I'm gonna do it, I'm gonna do it all the way. Let's go ahead and do it all the way. And sometimes I can be too big-headed. You get what I'm saying? And that's kind of what happened because we did that, then we ain't dropped for a minute. And I'm like, we're gonna do a huge summer drop. Like, I was like, we doing a huge summer drop. Like, we doing down there $10,000 summer drop. That's how big I wanted it to be. We're going all the way. And I have found this manufacturing. I'm like, his price is too good. Like, you know what I'm saying? It was too damn good to be true. We got like, I ain't gonna say we got scammed, but we got scammed. The quality was terrible, but that but it was crazy because that was the biggest photo shoot we had. Like, I'm pretty sure if people didn't watch my page, we did a photo shoot at Save Lot.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, y'all probably.
SPEAKER_02And we had it, like it was like a real nostalgic photo shoot. It was like, it was big, so it was just basically like y'all didn't know that that was our worst job because we switched it and we just brought it for the culture. So we still sold out on that one, too. That was probably one like our best jobs, but man.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just getting it to there. And that be the part with business that a lot of people overlook or a lot of people don't be expecting when you go into business, especially when you have like early success, and then you like you with your situation, you do the next thing and it didn't go as smooth as the first one, but you were still able to like pivot and adjust. So that just speaks to you as entrepreneur and just a hustler. Like, cause that's one thing I I pride myself in. Like, I feel like I could do anything because I know I'm gonna figure it out. Like, even if some shit goes wrong or if some shit don't go how I expected it, I'm I'm good on my feet to be like, all right, where I need to move, I ain't stuck on the bad, I'm gonna keep on pushing, you know what I'm saying? Exactly. Yeah, that's some shit people can't teach, though. That's that's uh, like I say, a skill that most entrepreneurs have, but we overlooked that because we looking like we doing what we gotta do. But it's like that's what makes you who you are, you know what I'm saying? I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_02Nah, for sure, because that's exactly how we was in the storage. Like, I start we started off just in the, I was, and that was another thing. I was so like head-driven on trying to do it the right way. You get what I'm saying? Like, I had gotta, like I said, we only had one job. I don't want to gotta store shit. You get what I'm saying? Like, we gonna put all our jobs here, we're gonna come here, we're gonna do inventory. Like, if we gonna do it, we're gonna do it right. We're gonna run business, we're gonna, we're gonna do it right. You get what I'm saying? And I remember us just being in there. We ain't had no AC or nothing, sweating, like, what we finna do with all these clothes, because we had hella clothes. We did a big job. But like you just said, it was just more so of like, what you mean what we finna do? Like, we finna make it happen. You get what I'm saying? We gotta do what we gotta do. And uh to sum it up, you know, that's that's exactly what we did. And it was sweat and tears in the back, but in the front, we was like, we got the best shit in the market. So what y'all doing?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Keeping it going. Nah, for sure. That's good. You you you you was able to, like I say, maneuver like that and all of that. And some of that be, uh to to to go back a little bit, some of that be like upbringing. Like I know your mom was like, you know what I'm saying? She does like hair and stuff like that. She still do it. Yeah, so you seen her, and then your dad, the people that know your dad know he was, you know. Nah, for sure. You know, he a hustler too. So so do you would you say that them two kind of like instill certain stuff in you, or or you got to see them do certain stuff so that you like the courage and stuff to, you know?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, absolutely. Especially like, like my mom, like my mom's been an entrepreneur since I don't know when. You get what I'm saying? Like, I don't remember my mom ever working a nine-to-five job. You get what I'm saying? And then my dad, like, he just been a hustler, you get what I'm saying. Like, ups and downs, he just been getting to it. And I tell him all the time, like, you know, even just to speak on my personal life, like, my dad did a big during my college, you get what I'm saying? Like, so to me, that was a hard transition because I was spoiled. So it was like I didn't know, I really didn't know what life was gonna bring. And I feel like, like, I tell him all the time, I was like, you really helped develop me into like being a woman and like really standing on my own. I said, because I was so codependent on you and you coming through and all that type of stuff, that when you went and did that, you know, that bid during the time where like I'm like getting into I'm 20, 21. You missed. Like, yeah, you missing some very important years, it made me realize like that's his money. And then you gotta go get your own money. You get what I'm saying? So I tell them that all the time, like, I'm super appreciative of them because they showed me like even when it gets tough, like you gotta learn how to go make it happen on your own. My sister and my brother too, though. Like, they like my brother for sure. You get my brother a real, real stand-up dude. And then my sister, Jazz, she a hustler by any means necessary too. So all of them played a major part.
SPEAKER_00Nah, that's good. And speaking of your brother, you probably don't know this. He might remember this, but I don't know. Me and him almost used to be done like best friends. Really? Yeah, he used to stay on Wellane. Nope, the apartments over here, what is it? I always get it, Katapa and Calumet always get them mixed up. Y'all granny stayed over there.
SPEAKER_02Oh, okay, yeah. It was definitely Calumet partners.
SPEAKER_00Me and him used to catch the bus together, everything. Yeah, this was so crazy that y'all probably don't even remember. I remember one time he had a birthday party at your mom's house over here on West.
SPEAKER_02Off of West, yeah, but it's the little side street.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, but we uh he divided all us over there. We stayed the night over there and everything. It was a whole bunch of us, though. I don't even know if he remember this. This is so funny. But I remember your sister was there, Jazz was there. You probably was there too, but you was like little as hell, hell yeah. Cause we was little, we was only in, I think, man, I was in like sixth grade, seventh grade. No, sixth grade, because this before I moved back to the D. Yeah, but that used to be my dog, though. Man, I used to hoop every morning before school, everything. This was my dog for real. I'd be telling my wife that, like, man, your cousin, that was my nigga. Like, we was like this. And then I ended up moving to the D for real, yeah. But yeah, that was my dog though, for sure, yeah. So that's good. He doing good though, too.
SPEAKER_02He's doing, he's doing, he's doing a good job. And it's funny because everybody thinks, like, me and my sister, we so locked in. We locked in now, but my brother was my road dog. Like, my brother would iron my school clothes in the morning, make sure I had breakfast, everything. Like, that was my dog.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's how it'd be, yeah. So the world be so small though that you like five, four, like me and you sitting down. Now I be thinking about that type of stuff. Like, man, mother don't even know. Like, you know what I'm saying? Mud really tied in. For real, no, for real.
SPEAKER_02It definitely runs deeper than you think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, y'all. So that's a good full circle moment. And then along with the uh clothes, too, let's touch on the y'all been doing the kickball games. I'm gonna make it the one too. We stopping it right here on the show. I'm gonna make it the one. But how did that come about though?
SPEAKER_02The man is that's another funny story. So, like I said, I'm just always just trying to think of something. That's the problem.
SPEAKER_00No, that's the good thing. That's the problem. That's that's the good thing. No, for sure.
SPEAKER_02So we was, I've been, me and my friend, like every time my my homegirl Kataria, shout out to Katerian, make sure y'all type it to her foundation and her sports and everything and all that type of stuff.
SPEAKER_00But shout out to her.
SPEAKER_02Not for sure. But we had, we was walking, like me, her, my other friend Dijanay, we had walked the park and stuff, and we was walking one day and we was like, man, we gotta figure out something to do on Sundays. We gotta get like a little Sunday fun day going, like maybe volleyball or something. So that was the first thing we did. We did volleyball.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, never again. Like that's the thing. Like everybody walked away injured.
SPEAKER_00Remember that volleyball is something else.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you leave that to them. Like, we, yeah, let's go over here to the kickball. So people was like, man, you gotta do a kickball. I'm like, oh, okay, cool. You get what I'm saying? Not thinking too much of it, you get what I'm saying. We like, let's run kickball. So I'm like, all right, if I'm gonna do kickball, put my name on it. I wanna make everything free. I don't want nobody to feel like they gotta pay for nothing. I just want people to just to come out. I mean, I always said, like, I just want it to be like a family reunion vibe. We just kicking, we just chilling, whatever. We ran kickball. Kickball, it was a good turnout. We ran it again. Now I was like, okay, we got spades, we got tongue, yeah. So, you know, like of course they did, they got at me. Park Rangers hit out, they reached out to me, they was like, Yeah, we see what you're trying to do, make sure you do it right. You feel what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00So, what were they saying, like, as far as were they trying to have like only a certain amount of people or y'all can only be in certain areas, or what they was really young?
SPEAKER_02They were just basically saying, like, you know, they can't have no liquor, it can't be no weed smoking. You know, if they got vendors, if you got vendors, you gotta have a vendor's license. You know, everything that they was supposed to say, you get what I'm saying? So I really wasn't tripping. It was just the fact that, damn, we made it on a big screen.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we made it on factors, yeah.
SPEAKER_02But it was like that, like, oh, snap, because everybody be out there, you get what I'm saying? But like I said last week, like everybody that came out, like really did it, you know, for the community. It was faces out there that I really wasn't even expecting to see. And I think that was the beauty of it, because we kicked it, we hung out, we talked a little trash, music plan, like, and we got up out of there, like, you get what I'm saying? So that was a beauty in itself. We definitely gonna do another one. I'm trying to plan a bigger event, really the end of summer, but that was just my way of giving back to like everybody, like I said, that's been supporting me for real.
SPEAKER_00Nah, for sure. That's a good move too. And you gotta keep it going. I'm I'm gonna be honest, when I saw it, like I was telling Brad, that's just how my mind worked, I'll automatically go to, like, man, you really could make this probably like you probably could do a full kickball league every summer. You know what I'm saying? Really make it like, I know you ain't doing it to make money, but I'm pretty sure like people will get involved, especially if you do like family, not I don't know, beef, but like my family, yo, for everybody family-wise, we get our own colors and you know what I'm saying, get the jerseys and you know what I'm saying, how like a league keep a score and stuff everything, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Cause I had ended up mentioning to a couple brands, like, you know, let's do a battle of brands. You get what I'm saying? Like, that would just be a good way, you know. I was even thinking about trying to collab and do something like with trying to get back to the schools or whatever. So like I said, anyway that we was able to just be out there and still try to do something good for that.
SPEAKER_00No, for sure, yeah. About the community and all of that. Yeah, that now that's a good look. Like I say, definitely let me know because I'm gonna pull up. I gotta pull up with the kids and all. I'll tell I'll be telling my wife, like, man, we're gonna go. So we're gonna make it happen though, but definitely keep that going, man. That's beautiful, man. For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_02Definitely fire. Definitely fire.
SPEAKER_00For sure. Yeah, I like that for sure. Yeah. So that's gonna be something good to keep going.
SPEAKER_02And then with the clothes, you say your next drop coming up, you already got like a date or or so no, so I am right now, I am actually working on a few projects. Like, I'm trying to do something in regards to Lama Sierra with their new school policy and they clothes. So I'm really trying to, Lama Sierra, if y'all watching this, reach out to me. But tap in. You know what I'm saying? We're trying to do something. But nah, I'm definitely trying to get in setting in the schools. You know what I'm saying? I definitely want the kids to wear it because I do feel like it's still motivational. And again, like I said, that was just that's my alma mater where I went to. Right. So I definitely want to do something for them. Also, right now, I am with the Steelers and the Panthers, so I'm doing some stuff for them for Midgley League. Midge-league football, yeah. So right now it's just trying to lock in things with them. I ain't even really had time to focus on my next actual drop in relation to my brand, but I'm done with the summer for now. We really just finna start focusing on the winter. But y'all know how I come. Usually I'm very colorful, very ordinary, so we definitely gonna have some heat for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, just be on the lookout for them next drops when we get the dates. If this out by then, we'll still just add the uh link. We also gonna put the link to where you could buy some right now in the bio on this. So whatever she got in stock, or you know, the preview. Drop she'll be there to have them available for y'all to check out. So make sure y'all check them out for show for show. So basically, right now you just expanding the brand and just going into growing and all that. You got your like like online store, all of that type of stuff set up.
SPEAKER_02So I got my online store set up. Right now, I'm in the process of really just trying to focus on like building my business credit and stuff like that in regards to the brand. I know another a lot of y'all had knew about, I had basically like opened up a small storefront.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So I did that this year. Like I said, we it to me is like I'd be looking like, ain't no way we did this a year ago. You get what I'm saying? Because of how far I have come over these last like seven months. Like this last seven months has been a game changer for me. It's really to put me in a position that this is my full time.
SPEAKER_00Nah, for sure.
SPEAKER_03You get what I'm saying? So that's the goal.
SPEAKER_02Nah, for sure. But it just requires a lot of time in it. You get what I'm saying? So, I mean, if I had to really just give anybody like a message out there, because I know a lot of people, majority of the time, y'all kind of scared to hit somebody up when it comes to the clothes, or if you got questions and stuff like that, like you can always reach out to me if you got any questions on how to get started, what you want to do, or whatever. Like, I can't tell you what it will, what will happen. But what I can say is like consistency always gonna make some shape. You get what I'm saying? So as long as you be consistent, like everything will go ahead and it's gonna happen for you. It's happened for everybody else, and there's definitely enough money to be made around this.
SPEAKER_00Oh, for sure. I just was saying that that's crazy because the previous guest, he was showing me some clothes he wanted to do, but he was talking about like people feeling like I guess he was like bandwagoning. I'm like, bro, it's you never know who you're gonna be. Like, if I drop some clothes today, I'm gonna be able to sell it to people you might not be able to sell. Yo, you get what I'm saying? Like, so like you said, it's more than enough room for everybody, it's more than enough money out here. So all the young entrepreneurs don't worry. If you got an idea and you passionate about it and you love it and you wanna step out on faith and take that chance, do that. Don't let nobody talk you out of it because it's more than enough room, it's more than enough everything, resources and people and all of that out here for all of us. And at the end of the day, God got to say so. Like, I can't tell you, she can't tell you. Like, you know, God got control. So definitely go with that. And just touch on the storefront real quick. You say you dropped the storefront, and what was some of the challenges with that? What made you want to do the storefront? First of all, I know a lot of people just only like online stores and stuff like that. So is that just something you just like? I just want to have my own, you know, physical location, or how did that come about?
SPEAKER_02For sure. Again, I'm super innovative. I'm always trying to think outside of the box. What they don't got was gonna draw the attention of me and what's gonna make them shop. So the storefront was like, like I said, at first we started with like a little store shit. And what changed that up is that the store shed put us on like a time restriction, like you gotta leave here by 10. So I'm like, well, that business started 10, you know, on the weekend. So I'm like, all right, I gotta think of something else. So at first it was just having everybody, I was doing it out of my car. And I'm like, all right, we pushing the bins on wheels now. I mean, that's too much. That's crazy. So um then I start doing it, like I would just have people pull up to my mom. So then I had talked to my mom about it. I had chopped up with my dad, and I'm like, man, what if we did uh, like, what if we got a she shit? And we and we and we like switched the she shit up, we got to renovate and whatever. And they like, nah, you know, they like, nah, I don't think so. But I'm like, nah, I think so. Like, I think this is gonna be it. You get what I'm saying? So me and my dad, it's funny because me and my dad, we like this. Like, if he don't see it, he don't see it. So I'm like, all right, well, I'm gonna do it anyway. You're about to see it later then. So I had ended up just ordering a shed. And my recommendation when doing this, go look at the sheds first, y'all. Don't just be like me. Yeah, I just order one. Like, don't be like me. Don't be like me for real. I'm like, I'm going to get it, I'm going to get it today. You get what I'm saying? I got online, had ordered a shed, got here little as hell. Like, it was way smaller than what I thought. I thought I ordered it from T Move for real. But we got the shed. I'm like, this ain't big enough. I'm like, nah, this ain't big enough. This ain't gonna do it. So I ordered another one. So now we got two sheds. You get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00What you did with the first one, you just kept it, yeah.
SPEAKER_02My mom, I inspired her to open up her own shop. So she got hers renovated. So that was the beauty of it. So now I have my store. So the challenges with that was, man, I didn't know how much money I was gonna put into it. I just thought, like, you know, this is gonna be cool. Like, once it gets here, that's the expensive part. Nah, it was a lot more than I didn't know. You get what I'm saying? So between just the foundation, trying to get it renovated, make sure you got electricity, all that type of stuff, yeah. You know, that that ran a lot of money. But what I can say is like it's mine.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02You get what I'm saying? And I don't think nothing in this world compared to having something that you can genuinely say, that shit's yours. So that felt good for sure.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So when it was all said and done, you feel like it was worth it, like it was a good move.
SPEAKER_02Sure. I feel like that was probably my best investment this year, you get what I'm saying? Because now not only do I have somewhere that people can pull up to, but it's also kind of putting me in a position of how to run it if I want to. You get what I'm saying? And then it's for me, if I ever decide that I want to get up and leave or something like that, I still got a place where people can still come, they can still shop.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Online, cool. I ain't gonna never take online away. You get what I'm saying? But I know how my people operate. I get people that call me at 11, 10 o'clock at night. Like I'm trying to go out. I need to feel right now. You get what I'm saying? For sure, yeah. So just being able to have that access, everybody know where it's already at and pull up, it's definitely a great feeling.
SPEAKER_00No, that's good. And like you said, that's innovative because I've never seen nobody do that until I see you do it. I'm like, yeah, she's on to something. You know, that's the type of stuff that I pay attention to. I might not always maybe reach out or say something, but I'll be always paying attention to say, like, that's a good business. And it's like you said, different. Like nobody, you know, even sometimes to be the first person to be to do something, you already kind of like put yourself farther ahead of the game. Cause it's like, oh, you actually doing it. Like, oh, you ain't just saying you selling clothes, you got the whole front, the storefront, you online, you making a presence, you investing into what you believe in, and that goes a long way. So that definitely was a good look, for sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_02For sure. Even speaking on that, that it's crazy that you say that because I'm super procrastinator. You get what I'm saying? And that changed for me when I was in Houston. I had met a friend. And I I tell, like, I tell people all the time, especially like my age, they don't got like too many responsibilities, like no kids and stuff like that, bro. Travel, meet people. For sure, yeah. Like so many people are different. And the friend I had met, he was like, he was like five years younger than me. We both was in insurance. So we killing insurance, he was like killing insurance or whatever. And we both was talking about we wanted to get new cars or whatever. And I'm like, yeah, we talking about it, but we ain't finna do it, bruh. Like you got your Tesla. Yeah. Dude order his Tesla offline. Yeah. Like just ordered it. Like they pulled up to the job with his car or whatever. I'm like, you ain't test driving or nothing, bruh. Just ordered it. So it was just like, it was little stuff like that that was like, yeah, we gotta stop playing. Like, just do it. You get what I'm saying? Like, take them steps. Take that chance, like just make it happen. So just those little things for me was just like life lessons of you can make it happen.
SPEAKER_00For sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, do it.
SPEAKER_00And that's all you need to know for sure. That's a that's another big key. Like, you gotta believe in it. If you believe in it, you could do anything.
SPEAKER_02Like, nah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00That's a big one for sure, for sure. Yeah, and that person, I I struggle with that too, so I'm gonna take that advice for sure, man. Sometimes you just gotta go with your move, man. Don't overthink it. Cause it's it's crazy that your mind. I just was telling it to my daughter, your mind will come up with all this brilliant stuff. Like God bless you with all these ideas, all of that. And if you wait too long, your mind, that same mind, uh talk you out of it. Yeah. Tell you you can't do it, go to all over all the shit that could go wrong and all that. Then next thing you know, you sitting up looking like. Then this would always happen to me, and this is where I started moving. You would see somebody else do the shit. Like, I thought of that shit.
SPEAKER_02I thought of that. Nah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And not even motherfuckers, oh my God, it makes me feel like shit. Like, damn, all I had to do is pop it off, you know what I'm saying? Especially when you see somebody have success, or you see them like do it, but you like, damn, y'all ain't even do it how I would've done really would've felt that you're not. Yeah, nah, for sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Because even like, you know, between like the podcast and streaming, like I was just telling my nephew, you get what I'm saying, we had these conversations all the time, and I tell him all the time, like, bro, it's y'all have so many different revenues to make money now. You know what I'm saying? Like, y'all got so many different opportunities that you really just gotta do it. I said, But due to our city, like our small mind, like our small mind thinking and stuff like that, you know, you have somebody that say they want to do a podcast or they want to do streaming or whatever the case may be, like, they're not gonna believe in in the beginning because it's a slow grind. Like, you may not pop off in the beginning, but then it's like once you, you know, once you get there, once you start getting there, now it's like everybody wanna be a part of your story.
SPEAKER_01Exactly, yeah.
SPEAKER_02I tell people this all the time, like, remember the ones that was with you when you started. You get what I'm saying? And I ain't saying lead nobody out, but what I'm telling you is that everybody is not gonna be in full support of what you have going on. Exactly. So you have to know, like, that's cool. You get what I'm saying? Like, the five people that ain't in support, it's ten other people that is, you get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00So and people you might not ever expect. I could speak on that. Like, I be doing different stuff, content, different little stuff. Even I got the shoe cleaning business.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's people that knew me my whole life that never got a pair of shoes clean.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I ain't mad at them. I don't I like I tell people, some people you might not pay for that. Some I don't look at it as, oh, you're not supporting me. That might not be something that you spend your money on. Exactly. But on the flip side of that, I got people that I would have never imagined that come and spend money, no hesitation, no hassle, no tip you, all of that. You get what I'm saying? So I'm pretty sure you go through the same thing. Like when you drop your clothes, it probably was people that you expected to buy an outfit that probably still never bought it.
SPEAKER_02Never bought an outfit.
SPEAKER_00But it's sure on the flip side, it's people that you didn't even probably think of that and you know, repeat customers. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, so that's another thing too. So, like support, I tell everybody, like, number one, love it. Whatever you're doing, have some type of love, some type of passion about it, because that's gonna keep you through the bad times. But also, don't worry about who ain't, like you just said, man. Focus on who is supporting you and stick to them. Make sure you service the people that is supporting you. Because you don't need everybody. I wallow said that, and I I love it. That quote, he said it's eight billion people. You don't need them all.
SPEAKER_02Nah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00You only need a handful for real to be successful.
SPEAKER_02So and I tell people all the time, even with the kickball, you get what I'm saying, that was just another way for me to get my brand out there. Because you gotta think about, you know, people that didn't know me, you get what I'm saying, and now they see this kickball stuff and everybody sharing it, and now it's like, well, who is this and what she do? You get what I'm saying? So that like I tell people all the time, like one thing you gotta do when you selling something or when you're doing a service or whatever, like you kind of gotta get out there in your community. Yeah, um, and and get to know people and support other brands, and you know, go sit on other people's podcasts or whatever the case may be because you never know when you might need them to scratch your back. So just be willing to work with everybody. You get what I'm saying? Go, go, I didn't, we did a tour this year. I didn't even speak about that. Like, I went to Detroit, I went to Chicago, had a couple shows here in Ohio, I went to Columbus. So again, like always trying to think of something. And like I said, we've been in a business for a year and a half. I know brands that have probably been business five that ain't, you know, did what I done did in like a year and a half. And all I'm saying is that like ain't no stone unturned. Like, if you're gonna, like you said, have a love for it, because you're gonna have some losses. For sure. But the wins are gonna be like, I'm grateful. Like, for sure.
SPEAKER_00Way more worth it, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then when you we all did the tour, what was it? Just like pop-up shops or like different conventions or something like that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so we had did where we go first. I I did some here for LeAndre. Then I went to what was that? The SneakerCon.
SPEAKER_00Oh, SneakerCon. Yeah, but I went to Sneaker.
SPEAKER_02Man, that was huge. That was huge. Like, I don't even think I was ready for that. It was platform, yeah. You get what I'm saying? SneakerCon, yeah. But SneakerCon was in Detroit. It was like at the Civic Center, but it was huge. Like, we did that. And I'm gonna keep it transparent. Like, SneakerCon was not a good thing for me at all. You get what I'm saying? Majority of people that was in there was focused on sneakers. But what I did was I was just passing out business cards. You get what I'm saying? Like passing out business cards, like just follow me, you get what I'm saying, or whatever. Going to other networking, going to other tables, figuring out, you know, how they start their business. And I'm gonna be honest, I thought, to be honest, our people was the ones that was invested in the shoes. They're not. Nah, yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_00That's a whole nother level, I'll be telling you.
SPEAKER_02I mean, they are invested, and I'm like, damn, they making money. And I thought it was us, I really did, but nah, y'all, they got us beat.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Chicago, Chicago was lit. Like, Chicago, we did really well. And even really just seeing their brand, and my brand stuck out so much in Chicago, and it was able to, they came up to me. Everybody that came up to me, they're like, we can tell you ain't from here. I'm like, wow, they like, you got all these bright colors. Like, we real like mellow tone here, you get what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00So you stand out, that's it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it was, I stood out, had gruesome connections down there. I got a dude that, you know, he liked my work, so I sent him like marketing stuff or whatever. He'll post it, he'd do crazy on the content. So it was just another element, you get what I'm saying, that if I wanna win, I probably wouldn't have, you know, been able to do that. I got a dude in Columbus that I was able to connect with too that put me on with the Chicago tour. So it was it was dope. Like this summer was a dope experience for sure.
SPEAKER_00That's good, definitely. And you hit that on the head, that networking. Don't be scared to go different places. Like, even if you ain't gonna get a sale, sometimes getting a look gonna lead to something bigger, another sale, another, you know, avenue, another revenue stream, you just never know. So that networking and moving around and just building the brand, that's the most important thing. But you know that though, because you said you did the marketing, but yeah, man, when you doing any, I don't care what the business, the brand is, if you ain't gonna get outside and market it, if you ain't gonna stand on the corners and on the rooftops and scream it from the top of your lungs, come out with just gonna go back home. Cause how somebody else gonna know? Like you gotta be the one pushing. You know what I'm saying? And the people that I feel like these days, and this with anything, the people that's consistent and the people that got the drive and the fearlessness enough to do it, them the ones gonna get the win. Like, it's probably plenty, a million people that want to start us clothing brand, want to get on front of the camera, want to do anything, but people limit themselves or they talk themselves out of it, or they be so scared. And it's like, bro, if you put the work in, it's just me and the God I believe in. If you put that work in, man, God gonna show you something for your work. Like, it ain't sure. I never put the work in, or I never put my mind to something that didn't have a certain level of success.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah, it's always gonna have, like you said, it's always gonna have some form of success. And it, like you said, that conversation between you and God is what's gonna get you through them doors for sure. No sale, a couple sales, a couple views, no views, like it's really you, but ultimately it's you. You do gotta put that work in. Like I don't anybody that's out here that's selling clothes, I mean, whatever y'all doing, like I don't really think nobody have stepping. If they have stepping, you're gonna be able to see it. But the ones that are like really dialed in today stuff, like, it's gonna make it happen. And you're gonna be able to see it, like between the content and the pictures updated, you get what I'm saying? You get burnt out. I done got burnt out, you get what I'm saying? But I think you just go back. Me, for me, I always have to find my like creative drive. My creative drive may just me going to an art museum. My creative drive may be a song, you get what I'm saying? You just gotta figure out what that is for you. It may be the gym, you get what I'm saying? Go back and get in that bag, get focused, do you a little 90-day grind, 30-day grind, whatever, and then come back. Like come back better than ever.
SPEAKER_00That's it. Stay tapped in, man. Nah, for sure. We gave them some good ones, man. And when you do that next drop, obviously, you know you're more than welcome to come back anytime. We're gonna give them that or the socials, give them your socials real quick. Your personal and your business.
SPEAKER_02For sure. My Facebook, probably where you'll see most of my content, is gonna be Amisha John A. Reed. My Snapchat, I do do a lot of posts in regards to the brand. That's gonna be Doll Baby underscore Xtre. My business Instagram is gonna be Insanity Star Studios.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Yep. And I'm gonna make sure I link all of them. I'm gonna probably put them on the screen so y'all can just tap in with them, put them in the bio and all that. Again, it's your boy Tez Change, man. We here with the owner and the CEO and the innovator and the grinder and the hustler and my dog. You know what I'm saying? Keep it all going.
SPEAKER_01Okay, Ted, I like that. You know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00It's an easy store, man. The brand. Be on the lookout, man. She's gonna continue to build, continue to grow, man. And like she said, if y'all want to know anything, how to get started, she she she's more than welcome to help y'all. Come check out the kickball and come check out all the drops, man. Support, man. Love.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Bye y'all.
SPEAKER_00That was a good one.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_00See what I'm saying? Get comfortable popping your shit, getting in your bag, you know.