How do you become a self-made entrepreneur when nobody teaches you?
In this episode of the We Legit 16 Podcast, we break down what it really takes to become self-made. This isn’t about motivation it’s about discipline, structure, and execution when nobody is watching.
We dive into entrepreneurship, mindset, and the real-life process of building a business from the ground up. If you’re serious about success, business growth, and personal development, this conversation will challenge how you think and move.
This episode covers:
• Entrepreneur mindset
• Discipline vs motivation
• How to become self-made
• Building a business from scratch
• Staying consistent when nobody is watching
Tap in, apply it, and stay consistent.
Guest: Brandon Allen
Follow: https://linktr.ee/hdcrazellc
🌐 https://www.welegitclothing.com
#entrepreneurship #entrepreneurmindset #selfmade #discipline #businessgrowth #mindset #smallbusiness
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Yo what's good, you are locked in to the Wee Legit 16 Story and
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Hustle podcast where real story meets real grind.
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This platform is for hustlers, creators, entrepreneurs, and
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people turning pain into purpose.
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If you are chasing a vision or building from the ground up or
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grinding, grinding when nobody's watching, this is a podcast for
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you. Now let's get into it.
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I have a guest in the four season 2 of the podcast, and his
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name is Brandon Allen and he's originally from Ohio.
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So, Mr. Allen, can you introduce yourself to the people?
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Sure. Hi everybody.
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My name is Brandon. I am the owner of Half Double
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Craze LLC. Right now it's just me, my
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dreams, my imagination and my growth.
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So a little bit about me before we get to the questions.
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I love Mario Kart, I'm starting my 7th year of being vegan.
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My MBTI is INFJI, can speak a little Spanish, Portuguese and
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Japanese. I can converse in a little over
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13 languages. Just basic conversation.
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I'm a Baker figure skater, I teach Japanese alphabet.
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I taught myself how to read in 5 1/2 months and I'm mainly known
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for my hats. So my lovable one-of-a-kind
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hats. So all kind of hats and lately
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known for this so so that hat. Yeah, I've seen that on your
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Instagram. What got you into Mario Kart?
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I'll check it right back. So I have love Mario Kart as far
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back as Super Nintendo, like way back in the day.
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So it's kind of like a family, a family game.
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I feel like everybody's played it game.
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GameCube was nice. The Double dash version where
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you had two riders in one. I really liked how they did that
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too. OK, yeah, I was a I'm a gamer
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myself, but not so much as I grew older.
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But I need to get back into it though.
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Yeah. And you mentioned you taught
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yourself different languages. How did you go about doing that?
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Yeah. So I know everybody has like
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their own way of learning, but I personally like to do memory
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repetition and seeing the word or a character like my kanji
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back here that's a little more complicated.
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Seeing it enough times allows my my memory.
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So the way it works is kind of like a schedule.
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If you remember it easily, you can push it further back and
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review it later. But if it's something that you
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have trouble remembering, review it more often for a couple of
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weeks until it becomes natural. Almost so.
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That's pretty cool. Yeah, it worked out pretty good,
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5 1/2 months, so. Dang, that's a long time.
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Well, it's long, but but it's kind of fast too as you touch
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yourself. Something like that.
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Usually people take classes or and go to YouTube University,
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but it's kind of cool to hear somebody do it on their own, in
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their own way. Yeah, I designed my own plan and
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a few people have learned from me the past couple years now,
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so. Yeah, and to be a teacher is
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really cool because it's like it's a talent.
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It's been a song, it's home grown.
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That's not like that cool. So let's get into it.
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OK. So I know this is your first
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interview and and I would like to know where are you from and
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how was your family dynamic, you know, growing up?
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Certainly, yes. So I am from Columbus to
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Richmond. Columbus, OH A really great
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family dynamic My I have my mom and dad.
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They've been married for 53 years.
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It'll be 54 years in June. I am the youngest, currently 35
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and I feel pretty good. I'm a single guy but I feel
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pretty good most of the time. Pretty happy single, but I think
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the more as I age I realized that my upbringing was really
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rare with my parents, so just thankful for what I have and
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that we're all like a close knit family.
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So yeah. Yeah, because you don't really
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hear too many people, parents being married for that long,
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especially in our own generation.
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So it's kind of cool to hear that.
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Yeah, it's really cool. That explains a lot how you're
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like well mannered, grounded and you have a lot of different
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talents. Thank you.
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It really does go back to that, I think.
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And it's kind of that that it's kind of say a lot that your
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family really supports you in a lot of different ways, it seemed
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like. Definitely.
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I think I feel like I get the urge to thank them more.
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I, I remember when I first moved out, I felt like I was calling
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mom more and dad to say thank you.
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Just, you know, thank you for teaching me to accurate.
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Yeah, I mean, I always tell people there's no script to
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life. You know, you live and learn,
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but a lot of people learn early and a lot of people learn late.
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So you can't judge a person on the thought process because a
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lot of people really just don't know.
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That's very true statement, yes. So with that being said, how's
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your upbringing, the pros and the cons and what you learn from
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it? Yeah.
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So obviously the pros, I would say it would be the protection
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and it's a parent home like you said.
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I think who I am today kind of speaks for itself.
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I know how to exist without causing harm.
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I have. I'm responsible.
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I'm a good citizen, such similar things as we kind of just talked
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about a really, really huge things.
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So I'm pretty sure I could enumerate a long list.
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But for the main, the most part, I am who I am because of them.
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One of the cons I would say would probably be emotional.
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I wish emotional regulation was discussed a little more.
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I was a really emotionally intelligent child and I've grown
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into that kind of adult. So that being said, when you're
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a child, you aren't aware of the dangers around you.
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So sometimes the a parent raising their voice or their
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delivery, you may not receive it best, but they're kind of like
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you need, I need you to have my attention now because you don't
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know what's happening here and I'm trying to protect you.
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So, so it wasn't, I get it, you know, as far as emotional
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regulation goes, but it kind of turned me into a little bit of a
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beast now. So I can emotionally
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intelligent, I can regulate my emotions.
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I have boundaries to deal with, you know, the moments for those
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who don't have any emotional regulation or those who may be
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emotionally destructive and I can encounter and deal with them
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in a way and come off unscathed really.
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So just a byproduct of have foundational upbringing, yeah.
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So when you mean like emotional intelligence, you mean like
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handling it depending on the situation or attention wise?
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So yeah, kind of like that. And also I was really astute to
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be emotional energy. I realized now that I'm older
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that that's probably why I was more of an emotional child
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because I felt I could pick up on like the vibe, if you will,
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wherever I was. So kind of kind of hard to
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explain. It's really like a feeling.
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But many times I've been accurate about a lot of things
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that I didn't know really so. No, no, it makes sense because
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I'm the oldest and, you know, the youngest 1, I don't have a
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connection with her because of the age gap.
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But then there's the second to the youngest.
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She has that same thing that you're talking about, but she
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kinda receives messages a little different.
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But she's very vain, you know, selfish.
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But it's like, I understand where she's coming from, but
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when you explain things to her, she don't really look at in a
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big aspect because how she comes off is like very selfish
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naturally. So it's like you could be saying
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something as direct and factual, but if it's not fitting to what
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she wants, it's not going to make sense to her.
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So it kind of similar to what you're saying, but and it's
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totally different. All perspective.
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Yeah, I don't know if that made sense.
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Oh, it does. Yeah, I know.
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I thought of a few instances. Yeah, 'cause she's the youngest
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and I'm the oldest, so the younger siblings always look at
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the well. Well, if they doing that, I'm
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not going to do that. Or if they did this, well, I'm
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going to find a way to do it and not get caught like you did.
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So they learn, you know, from their elders.
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Yeah, that's and and by you being from Columbus, OH, I got
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to ask, are you a Ohio State fan?
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Definitely. Oh.
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OK OK, had to ask. So how was the school system
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growing up in Columbus, OH? Yeah, so I guess I'm going to
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try to answer this like from imagining if I was still a kid.
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So I, I kind of thought school was rough.
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I, I loved school. Or maybe I should say I love to
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learn. Yeah, I love to learn.
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I took pride and I love to learn.
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It obviously gets better with age, right?
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Still a little rough. And as an adult now, it kind of
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feels like the same thing, just adults and Childs and adult
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bodies and with grown adult bullies and everyone's mad that
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they have to adult. So that's kind of how.
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Our kids will be very cruel. Sometimes, yeah.
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So it's kind of like similar like everywhere when I be
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talking to people about the school system, you got your cool
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people, you got your mediocre people, you got your least
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popular people. But one thing is for certain
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that's that still is out is there's always a bully somewhere
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in the picture. Unfortunately, yeah.
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When? It comes to schooling and some
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parents don't know how to handle it.
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So it's like they'll look for the school to do something, but
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the school can only do so much official wise.
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And then when things don't get addressed, you know, some people
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will use that, I'll say frustration of not being
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listened to and heard and take matters to their own hands.
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And then sometimes it might go good.
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Sometimes I go really bad. Sometimes it can go.
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So a lot of people really don't be paying attention on what the
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youth be going through with our school.
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And I imagine it's a whole lot crazy because my senior year
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Myspace came out, so social media don't advance drastically.
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So I couldn't imagine, not even personal bullying, but along
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with the cyber bullying also. Yeah, I remember hearing a few
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cases of cyber bullying I had. I got my first cell phone.
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I think I was a freshman in high school.
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So kind of got like the last or the like the very beginning of
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that. But I'm sure like you said, as
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time has gone by, it's evolved a little bit.
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So yeah. And how was your high school
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years before becoming an adult? Yeah, so I like I kind of said
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it got easier. I felt more, I felt more secure
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in myself as I aged. You mentioned something about
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there being like different groups of kids.
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I was one of those. I'm not going to act like I was
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a popular kid. I stayed to myself.
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I was kind of quiet. I like going to the library, and
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I've always loved to write some. My internal world is very
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bright, and as I've grown older, I have even learned to say that
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my interior, the way I think, the way I feel, is very
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beautiful. So I've just always been a
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feeler. So another thing I had to master
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as I aged was balancing logic with emotion.
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So now I can use both of them equally with anything that I get
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into. But yeah, it wasn't too bad.
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I did. I was a part of a program, now
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that I think about it, just remembered I was a part of the
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very first set of seniors to sophomores.
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So my freshman or my senior year in high school I spent on the
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canvas at Columbus State. I think they were just rolling
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out the program. So it was really neat.
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So I was kind of like the start of that post secondary education
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thing. I was on like a flyer on like a
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Brooke Shore. I forgot about it until just
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now, but I thought that was neat to be able to get credit for
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that to be in college and still get credit for school.
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That's really cool. So in high school, you already
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what I like what you said was you, you already knew who you.
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Were. And you advance on what it is
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that you knew. And then as time went on, you
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got to be part of a program to experience college without going
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on in it. Like, I don't know, I want to
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say hands free, but like, without no knowledge.
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So you got a little experience while you're in high school, so
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you know what to expect. It's pretty cool, yeah.
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It was nice. It was a good experience.
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Eye opening, yeah. Yeah, you already is.
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So basically you can say in your high school years you was
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preparing to what's happening in your life right now.
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In a way. In a roundabout way.
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Correct. Yeah, I agree with that.
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So how was it after high school? After you graduated.
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Yeah, so after graduating, it's, you know, something everyone
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looks forward to, right? There was.
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But we honestly, none of us understood the gravity of
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graduating. I think even those who were
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prepared and knew what they wanted to do.
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I personally, Speaking of college, I was going for a
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degree that I did not want to do kind of because it's what
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everyone else was telling me what to do.
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So I did end up stopping and I just started working.
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I'm kind of glad that I didn't finish that degree, especially
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now that I know more about it. But finding my identity and
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learning to love who I am, I think that's really more
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important than any paper. And I kind of wish that I today
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me could tell 18 year old me that because I really needed to
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hear that. But you know you live and learn,
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so. Yeah, that's part of life.
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You know, everybody journey is different and and I I'm kind of
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glad you mentioned because most people get out of high school
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and they just sit around, you know, not do nothing.
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But for you to work. It's pretty cool because this
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older guy back home, he said whatever you do after,
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immediately after you graduate high school, he said a ten year
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gap. If after that 10 years, you're
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pretty much going to be doing that for the rest of your years
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on this earth. I never paid attention to it.
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That's a really powerful statement.
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Yeah, I agree with that. If you, yeah, from 18 to 28,
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whatever you're doing in that time span, and after 28, it's
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kind of like you're pretty much going to be doing that for the
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rest of your life, whatever it is that an individual's into.
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Interesting. They told me that I was like 21,
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so that was like 2009. He had said something like that
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to me. I never forgot it neither.
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When I tell people that, they'd be kind of surprised and
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shocked. They think I'm talking about
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them. But I'm really just having a
00:18:04
general conversation, Right. So so after high school, what
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type of jobs was you working? Getting to the work hours, just
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starting out, stuff like I think my very first job, well,
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technically I was working before I got out of school.
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I used to do a paper route with my brother-in-law.
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So that kind of, yeah. So that was like way before, I
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think I was in middle school when I started doing that.
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So it's just like one or two days a week.
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So kind of early. Yeah, back in the day.
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Well, I guess everything has changed so much now.
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But yeah, newspapers literally delivering newspapers.
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Do they even do that anymore? I'm going to tell you this dog,
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I'm from California, and it's certain things that I had always
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seen on TV that never thought was real like that, like you
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delivering the papers. It's a Nintendo game called
00:19:04
Paper Boy, and I used to play it as a kid, but I never knew that
00:19:08
it was actually a real thing. Totally real thing, yeah.
00:19:13
Used to do a stack a little bit of cash when I was younger doing
00:19:17
that. But like closer to like post
00:19:22
high school, my first job was like a cashier role and then I
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did like some kind of workforce development program.
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Yeah. So kind of just seeing what's
00:19:34
out there and I think I'm glad that I did that because I got
00:19:40
used, I got real world experience and I got to see kind
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of how the work world is. And also as I've aged, Speaking
00:19:53
of, you know, it is Black History Month.
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Well, Black history period for me, but experiencing the work
00:20:02
world as a black man. So a lot of those things that.
00:20:06
You know, your parents do their best to prepare you for whatever
00:20:09
is out there, but some things you just don't really understand
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or don't get until you're there and it's happening and you have
00:20:16
a situation and you're like that felt kind of weird.
00:20:21
So you ask your parents about it and they're like, let's have a
00:20:24
real talk about how the world work world can be sometimes,
00:20:27
etcetera. So, you know, so real, I think
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real world experience has been great.
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And if I decided to go back to finish a degree, at this point I
00:20:46
have more of a focus about exactly what I want to do, if I
00:20:51
even need to. So we'll see.
00:20:56
Yeah, that makes sense because you know, if I was going to get
00:20:59
into that, but I want to hear your grind and journey before
00:21:04
you got into the business world. Then one thing I always be
00:21:08
looking for is like if a person owns a business, I always want
00:21:12
to know if it was handed to them or they went through real life
00:21:15
experience. But you know what, I don't want
00:21:18
to do this no more. I want to do my own thing.
00:21:20
So it's kind of working and working for someone else always
00:21:27
helps you become a Better Business owner because you know
00:21:30
what to look for, you know how to interact with the people.
00:21:33
So you can always say you've been there and done that,
00:21:37
correct? So that's all that's that's
00:21:38
really good. So like, what made you pick up
00:21:42
crocheting and when did you realize it can turn into an
00:21:46
income? Yeah, love this question.
00:21:50
So I had a coworker teach me back in 2018.
00:21:55
I literally almost gave up when I always go back to that story
00:22:01
because if I had given up, then everything I did all of these
00:22:09
years, but especially last year never would have happened.
00:22:14
And sometimes when I think about that, it's humbling.
00:22:18
So some some of some have probably heard the story before.
00:22:23
She started the scarf for me and then I just literally just
00:22:26
pulled everything out and said never mind I can't do this.
00:22:32
But again, now that time has passed, it would have been a
00:22:36
grave disrespect to me and the future that I am living if I had
00:22:42
given up on that. So, and to be honest, I wasn't
00:22:45
actually sure if I could turn this into income at first.
00:22:49
All I knew is that there was a real there was a real hope and
00:22:53
what I was doing because I had left for it.
00:22:58
See that right there separates because when people talk about
00:23:03
they want to start a business, they always want to do something
00:23:07
that's like like a fad, you know what I'm saying?
00:23:09
It's never really like a real passion or journey into it.
00:23:14
And I like to hear that every. I think everybody that got into
00:23:19
the business world had that doubt.
00:23:20
Like, you know what, I don't know if I can do this or
00:23:24
anything, but it's something I really like.
00:23:27
But I don't know if this is going to work.
00:23:29
And when you put it together, it's like, OK, it was worth it
00:23:33
in the end. Yeah.
00:23:35
So how long have you been crocheting?
00:23:38
Yeah, so I started crocheting that October, so I guess it's
00:23:44
been almost eight years now. So I started out making scarves.
00:23:52
So this is, I made this scarf in 2022.
00:23:57
I like long, thick scarves, but initially.
00:24:02
So the first one that's fun. You can kind of tell I was a
00:24:05
beginner because it kind of goes in and out, but over time I
00:24:09
mastered the stitch work and the edges, so now it's more even now
00:24:15
that I'm older. So yeah, I love scarves,
00:24:22
especially with all that snow we got out there so.
00:24:26
Yeah, the weather in the Midwest is wild, and it's up and down,
00:24:30
same like down here. Yeah.
00:24:33
So when you got into crocheting, did you immediately start your
00:24:39
business or did you wait a while before you created your LLC?
00:24:44
Yes, I actually waited a little while.
00:24:46
So again about my story. What I love is I I took the time
00:24:53
to grow with it. I, I have made every mistake
00:24:59
possible with crochet. I have not.
00:25:04
I know we're, we'll probably go into this with another question,
00:25:07
so I'm not going to go too much into it.
00:25:09
But it was in those mistakes that I really started growing.
00:25:16
And honestly, that's really where my imagination started, I
00:25:20
think, even though I couldn't see it quite that clearly then.
00:25:23
So it's really humbling. OK, so you waited to protect
00:25:34
perfect your craft before turning into an actual business?
00:25:39
In a way, yeah, I guess I did. So how long did it take you to
00:25:46
perfect your craft until you started the LOC process?
00:25:52
So I guess you could say that's partially true because when I
00:25:57
started in 2021, I was still learning and still making
00:26:04
mistakes, but I had made quite a few things that I thought were
00:26:10
cell worthy And that kind of that hope that I told you about
00:26:18
that I know that this is something that I can do and I
00:26:21
know that I'm going to get better.
00:26:24
I'm going to stay the course and just kind of growing from that.
00:26:33
So when did you establish your company?
00:26:37
Yeah. So I started in January of 2021.
00:26:43
OK. Right after the pandemic.
00:26:44
So you've been in existence of over five years, almost about
00:26:48
five years. And COVID was still kind of
00:26:51
happening during that time, so that did kind of hinder some of
00:26:54
what I wanted to do. But for the most part, I spent,
00:27:02
I spent like the first little bit just networking, really
00:27:06
figuring out what I wanted to do, etcetera, coming up with new
00:27:08
ideas. And networking?
00:27:12
What you mean like showing people you what you have done to
00:27:17
see if it was marketable? Yeah.
00:27:20
So like it was a blend of sorry, I think this kind of goes into
00:27:26
your next question about the first six months to a year.
00:27:30
Can I go into that one? Yeah, we got you.
00:27:32
Well, we rolling. OK.
00:27:34
So first six months to a year was really me learning what I've
00:27:38
wanted to do on networking. So with COVID still going on, I
00:27:42
had like the time to think about how I wanted to do like my
00:27:46
tables, etcetera. Or if I was here, I would do
00:27:50
this. If I was here, I would do this.
00:27:53
So I didn't actually really do my first table until 2023, but I
00:27:58
did have an online presence which was, which has really
00:28:02
grown honestly from when I very first started.
00:28:07
And I always talk about this at my very first table in 2023 in
00:28:13
January, I was the only person that didn't have a tablecloth.
00:28:17
So one of those live and learn moments.
00:28:22
Definitely that one the next day, yeah, I felt kind of bad
00:28:28
because the table wasn't that clean either.
00:28:30
So just, you know, one of those things.
00:28:32
Memories. Yeah.
00:28:34
But I always did have like a day job too during that time.
00:28:39
So usually it was at work when I thought about the things that I
00:28:42
wanted to create. So my growth really started
00:28:46
happening about two years later after I started.
00:28:49
There was a lot that led up to that, but the growth really, I
00:28:52
hit the ground running really in 2023 when I really started
00:28:57
feeling like what I was doing is actually possible.
00:29:03
That's interesting because quite naturally I always say the first
00:29:07
six months of starting to accompany as the hardest which
00:29:11
you is experiencing that beforehand.
00:29:13
So you was kind of semi prepared when you started it and then to
00:29:18
hear that two years later you, your company had Blossom and I
00:29:27
went the same route too. I had established it in 2021 but
00:29:32
I wasn't ready to launch. So I waited till 2023 when I had
00:29:37
everything together and I had a strong online presence, but not
00:29:44
so much like an interpersonal presence.
00:29:47
So when I moved to Tennessee, the interpersonal presence kind
00:29:50
of grew. So and it does.
00:29:53
They did say that it takes 2 years to get noticed, but your
00:29:57
fourth year is where it really like take off.
00:30:00
So you're kind of in the same time frame of what they said.
00:30:06
Well, how long it takes to start a company and make it blossom?
00:30:10
Yeah, it's really neat. I've been saying lately, you
00:30:14
know that question that they usually ask in interviews, like
00:30:16
where do you see yourself in five years?
00:30:18
And it's like, I never would have predicted any of this.
00:30:21
So it's really neat. I was before I was going to do
00:30:26
this interview with you, I was driving home and I was sitting
00:30:29
there saying to myself, like, you know, I always said like
00:30:34
this will give me something to do 'cause I didn't get promoted
00:30:37
at a job, but I wasn't tripping though.
00:30:40
So I wanted to start a company because the job was so easy.
00:30:43
So Nipsey passed and he said that he got in doing shirts.
00:30:47
I was like, oh, OK, then what? The stores and I ain't like what
00:30:49
I was looking at. So I was like, I can do this
00:30:52
myself. And I came up with a design and
00:30:54
mind you only thought a little people, couple people's going to
00:30:57
wear it. They gave me something to do.
00:31:00
Then it just grew people being, you know how they had people
00:31:06
just be talking to you and they talking to you bigger than what
00:31:09
you think you really are and you don't understand like, why
00:31:11
they're talking to you like this.
00:31:14
Yes, I've had a lot of conversations like that over the
00:31:16
years. Yes, I know exactly what you're
00:31:18
talking about. Yeah, and it's like I'm, I'm you
00:31:20
looking at yourself as regular, but they looking at you like
00:31:23
something. And it's like, I'm, I, I can't
00:31:25
know how to. It's not weird.
00:31:29
It's just like, I don't know how to handle it afterwards, after
00:31:32
you think about it. Like why was that person acting
00:31:33
like that? Yeah, I totally I.
00:31:38
Guess it's an online presence. Go ahead.
00:31:41
And sorry, I was going to say, it's almost like, you know, it's
00:31:46
almost like you weren't giving yourself enough credit kinda in
00:31:50
a way. At least I realized that about
00:31:52
me. My journal showed me that so.
00:31:57
I learned as I went and the more it grew and the more people is
00:32:02
knowing about it and, and people just asked me like, hey, what
00:32:05
kind of I do it for you do the shirts and stuff.
00:32:08
I make a video and do customs and add twists and turns to it
00:32:13
and, and it's all over the Internet and the world see it
00:32:16
and stuff. It was like it just took off.
00:32:20
And then it led me to podcasting.
00:32:23
People said I need to talk more because they like hearing me
00:32:25
talk. I totally don't know what they
00:32:28
like hearing me say, but I I tried it out and it worked.
00:32:32
Very cool build on build on top of what you've already created.
00:32:36
Yeah, sounds great. Yeah, so the same wavelength.
00:32:41
So why hats? What made you crochet head wear
00:32:46
your lane instead of everything else?
00:32:49
OK, I love this question. So I initially started out
00:32:54
making scarves and oh, and bow ties.
00:32:57
So initially, so like I recreated that.
00:33:03
I made one like this years ago, but I recreated it initially.
00:33:10
Yeah, that's I love it. I think the fact that I I just
00:33:16
love hats in general. So I used to like go to like any
00:33:22
like store, like roses or anywhere that had a bunch of
00:33:26
different color hats. I would buy like one of every
00:33:28
color. I guess you just say I've always
00:33:30
loved hats. So somewhere around the time
00:33:33
that I found crochet, I started realizing, I'm not sure if it
00:33:36
was the fabric or the chemicals and the hats, but I started
00:33:43
realizing that those broke out my forehead and my scalp.
00:33:47
I have been calling this acne for a long time, but when I
00:33:53
started making my own hats, I didn't have that issue anymore.
00:33:58
So hats kind of became my main focus because of the difficulty.
00:34:03
Anything that you see that I've made that circular, there's a
00:34:07
lot of math to it. It's all math, and this is math
00:34:11
that I designed on my own. I created my own pattern off of
00:34:16
what felt right and what was comfortable for me.
00:34:19
Snug enough to be warm, but loose enough so it's not too
00:34:22
tight on your head. I think it's the math really.
00:34:27
I like, I've always like, I like brain games and stuff.
00:34:30
So I think the math part, it keeps my brain sharp.
00:34:35
So even though I do like making other things, I think hats is
00:34:39
really where it's at for me. Kind of grew into it, really.
00:34:43
OK, so we have similar, that's similarities.
00:34:47
You tried other people's stuff and you didn't like it.
00:34:52
And I went to the store. Same thing.
00:34:54
Yeah. OK, similarities.
00:34:57
I don't, I don't really like talking to people.
00:35:00
They have a purpose and a journey.
00:35:02
Cause some people just don't know what they have until
00:35:06
someone else bring it to them. And then it's like some people
00:35:10
like, oh, you know, I can't do that.
00:35:12
You know, I, I can't do it, man. You can do anything you put your
00:35:16
mind to. And it's like how, say, if you
00:35:19
didn't take that teaching from that Lady, you, you, we probably
00:35:24
wouldn't be having this conversation right now.
00:35:27
Right. I just had this conversation
00:35:29
earlier. Yep, there's a lot of things I
00:35:32
would have missed out on. I can't believe it.
00:35:36
Yeah, And you never know unless you actually try, right.
00:35:41
And it's, it's really cool. That's really cool.
00:35:45
I, I like this because it's like sometimes I'll be thinking I'm
00:35:49
tripping and I don't really have too many people.
00:35:53
It's like when it comes to like black entrepreneurs and small
00:35:57
business owners and stuff like that, I know this is always like
00:36:00
a territorial thing. Don't try to take my customers,
00:36:03
but I don't look at life like that.
00:36:06
It's like we all are building something and trying to do
00:36:10
something. And me with this platform, I
00:36:14
noticed like it's being recognized overseas, which I've
00:36:18
never even thought about. It just happened.
00:36:21
So it's like, that's great. I run into people.
00:36:24
Yeah, I run into people all the time.
00:36:26
And it's like, if you have a talent or anything like that, I
00:36:30
would like to bring them on and have them tell their story
00:36:33
because there's no telling where that's going to go.
00:36:38
There's really no tone. Yeah, definitely.
00:36:43
And with designs like Nintendo and Noblety Hats, how how
00:36:51
important is originality and you selling your art?
00:36:57
That's so. I really love this question, by
00:36:59
the way. I appreciate you referring to
00:37:01
what I do as art. It's like my own little version
00:37:05
of art. Originality is like, it's like
00:37:09
the epitome of my soul. So like, while I can't like
00:37:13
literally put like a Nintendo label on anything, the creative
00:37:17
colors that I was telling you about, like my dream, my ideas,
00:37:20
my growth, that kind of sets me apart.
00:37:23
So I've made so many versions of mushroom hats that the Nintendo
00:37:28
playbook probably would never touch because they don't need
00:37:30
to. They already have their own
00:37:32
versions of colors, etcetera. So my imagination, I'm sorry, my
00:37:38
imagination of wanting to recreate the feeling of the
00:37:41
earliest Super Nintendo feeling. It's the nostalgia about it,
00:37:48
really. I think that's what everyone
00:37:50
loves. And then to be able to wear the
00:37:52
hat while you're playing it just, it's just an exponential
00:37:57
feeling that you get from it. It really makes for a neat
00:37:59
experience. And then the fact that I can do
00:38:03
it in whatever color you want to.
00:38:05
So yeah. OK, so the mushroom hat brings
00:38:12
childhood memories to you. Yes I literally had this exact
00:38:17
conversation. It's almost like I met my inner
00:38:21
child and said you can be yourself now.
00:38:28
That's kind of how it's like a they always say in business, you
00:38:33
know, people don't really purchase the product, they
00:38:37
purchase what they connect with. And by you mentioning that
00:38:42
everybody on this earth doesn't play Nintendo.
00:38:46
So that's kind of like a cool, you know, connection.
00:38:51
And of course it's original because I my grandmother, you
00:38:55
crochet and she made blankets and she did like little scars
00:38:59
and stuff like that. But yours like a it's a little
00:39:01
different. But yeah, when I think of
00:39:05
crocheting, I always thought of like a female doing it.
00:39:08
But or got to do it is really cool because they'll take time
00:39:14
into perfect the craft pretty much like you said earlier in
00:39:17
the segment. And it's like then you turn into
00:39:20
actual business and then for you to blossom, that means you're
00:39:24
being recognized and seen and all kind of stuff.
00:39:26
So it's like you're you're not rare, but it's it's original,
00:39:34
original. It shows like guys they know
00:39:36
they had that conception of guys don't know how to do da da da
00:39:39
da, da da. But when you run into guys that
00:39:42
have a talent OR do things and stuff like that, they stick out.
00:39:45
It's like, well, how he know how to do this, but this other guy
00:39:49
don't, you know, they do the compare and contracts.
00:39:54
It's a very and seeing yeah. And seeing how your background
00:39:57
is, it's like, OK, this, this makes sense right here.
00:40:02
Yeah, originality can never be copied.
00:40:05
So that's that's the best thing. So.
00:40:10
My own lane, yeah. Oh, sorry, I was just going to
00:40:16
say that's my own lane. My own lane.
00:40:17
Really just staying in my own lane, kinda creating my own lane
00:40:21
if you will. Yeah, because like, I'll be on
00:40:26
social media every day and it's like I see people doing all
00:40:30
these fads and stuff like that, but when it comes to
00:40:34
originality, people are literally, well, stop and look,
00:40:38
I ain't never seen this before. So you can't beat originality.
00:40:43
Because like when I do shirts and designs for people and
00:40:46
stuff, it's an original piece and they like it because it's
00:40:50
what they wanted as good material.
00:40:53
And it's not like a fabricated style of, you know, what did
00:40:58
they wanted? It's exactly what they wanted.
00:41:01
And you can't beat that. So when your company was online
00:41:08
based, how how would people purchase from you?
00:41:12
Yes. How did that process go?
00:41:15
So usually sorry if if someone saw something.
00:41:21
So there's kind of a mix of things.
00:41:22
So there are people who knew me in person and could see what I
00:41:27
made in person. And then there are people who
00:41:30
had never met me but only saw the pictures online.
00:41:33
So I did a mix of if someone wanted to see something, they
00:41:37
would contact me directly. I would literally show them a
00:41:40
video of it. And this is kind of when I
00:41:42
started doing those videos of making the hat from start to
00:41:46
finish. So everyone gets to see the
00:41:48
entire process. So they would just either tell
00:41:54
me that if they like what they see or if they wanted me to
00:42:00
blend a color or try these two colors together, etcetera.
00:42:04
So it's really neat, my online presence.
00:42:09
I actually use Square for my online sales now, so it's much
00:42:14
better. I know more of what I'm doing
00:42:16
now. So it's kind of like, you know,
00:42:18
you can go in and see if there's anything there.
00:42:21
If it's sold out, you can request made the order.
00:42:24
Yeah. So a little more orderly now
00:42:27
than it was. So now this I would like to
00:42:33
know. So when you got into the
00:42:36
handmade work, was it how? How would you price an order for
00:42:43
a customer and was it time intensive if that makes sense?
00:42:48
Yes, this is a great question. So I'm going to jump into a
00:42:51
couple of things here, probably something you're not aware of.
00:42:54
So price point is always a great conversation.
00:42:58
The cost really starts with how much was the material for me.
00:43:02
So now in the past was a little different.
00:43:07
My hats were a little bit cheaper before.
00:43:11
However, in case you weren't aware, my only concern entering
00:43:15
2026 is that there's a property tax removal here in Ohio.
00:43:21
Have you heard about that? Do you?
00:43:22
Do you know what that's about? Yeah.
00:43:27
So Governor de Wine seems to believe that even though
00:43:32
property tax will be done away with, which I'm sure has its
00:43:36
prose, it has the potential to raise our sales tax rate to like
00:43:41
20% like everyday purchases. Yes.
00:43:46
So I, I'm hoping it's a bit of an exaggeration.
00:43:50
I don't really know if he was really saying that for sure.
00:43:56
But the unfortunate thing is if I, if that does happen, I will
00:44:01
might have to raise my prices again and pivot in some kind of
00:44:04
way. But at the very foundation and
00:44:07
the root of it all, the process is what can I turn this amount
00:44:13
of yarn into? Like this is $10.99 sixteen oz
00:44:18
for ply yarn, I roughly charge like 40 to $50 per hour of work.
00:44:23
And that's where like the base of the price is.
00:44:27
And if I use more than one set of yarn at once, I add $10 to
00:44:30
that by the hour and then repeat.
00:44:34
So my prices are fair. I don't charge extra for color
00:44:40
requests. Depending on how this sales tax
00:44:45
increase goes. If that actually does happen, I
00:44:48
might have to start doing that. I'm not sure.
00:44:51
But I really would like to keep my prices the same honestly so
00:44:56
but to see what happens. Wow, that's a lot in in Ohio.
00:45:01
Well, Columbus then it's a true. So that means you raise the
00:45:08
everyday price which take away the property tax.
00:45:15
There's a problem within this account at the same time.
00:45:18
Yes. I was like, I'm not sure how to
00:45:20
really feel about that yet. So I guess we'll just have to
00:45:23
see. That's gonna affect some
00:45:25
people's own paychecks. Yeah.
00:45:28
So it will. How is the grind when no orders
00:45:35
is coming in and it's a slow period?
00:45:40
Yeah. So this is a great question too.
00:45:42
So up until somewhat recently, I've always had a daytime job.
00:45:46
So there's that. But there was a table I was
00:45:50
consistently at last year through like October.
00:45:53
So the little Grand Market, I'm not sure if you're familiar with
00:45:56
it. Great place, great area.
00:46:00
While I was there, I made a little while I was there, but
00:46:03
most of my sales came from not being there.
00:46:05
So I didn't stop showing up because I felt like it felt like
00:46:11
nothing was happening. That doesn't mean nothing is
00:46:13
happening. So especially when my entire
00:46:18
story prior to that was just showing up does everything
00:46:22
right. So I've just learned the power
00:46:25
of being present and persistent. So often times I would have like
00:46:30
online sales while I was there, even if I wasn't making anything
00:46:34
directly. So just kind of training myself
00:46:38
to be proactive, showing up when no one else does.
00:46:41
And then when I do that, I can look back and it just becomes a
00:46:45
part of my warrior story and I can smile about what I grew into
00:46:51
later. So I am on the process of
00:46:54
searching for a part time role again in between teaching
00:46:58
crochet. I'm sorry I didn't mention that
00:47:00
I also do teach crochet to STEM children with the Columbus Urban
00:47:06
League. And I'm hoping to teach adults
00:47:10
with disabilities soon and who, you know, pretty much whoever
00:47:13
wants to learn as well. So I have a couple of success
00:47:16
student stories and even though I do kind of, I kind of miss
00:47:22
like the pay of working in corporate, I'm not sure if I
00:47:25
want to go back to it yet or not.
00:47:26
So I'm kind of using this time to just kind of figure out where
00:47:31
I want to go next. I also do sell my homemade
00:47:37
breads here as cottage food on the side.
00:47:39
So kind of doing a little bit here, a little bit here, a
00:47:41
little bit there. I make my own breads and my own
00:47:46
homemade bagels. I've been told by fellow New
00:47:50
Yorkers that these are New York style bagels.
00:47:52
It's just the recipe I came up with back in 2017, working on
00:47:58
some new flavors, and I have a few clients held that order
00:48:01
somewhat regularly. So that's my grind.
00:48:07
That's really cool. So not only you're a business
00:48:13
owner, but you help out in the community, teaching people what
00:48:18
it is that you do. Yeah.
00:48:21
And then you're a vegan. You got a passion that's all
00:48:28
originality and you're part of the community.
00:48:30
It's like, that's really cool. So it's not like you're a
00:48:34
selfish or anything like that. It's just all about me, me, me.
00:48:37
You really like giving back in a roundabout weights to the youth
00:48:41
and where you. Try to.
00:48:43
Yeah, I try to. It's really, it's really
00:48:49
fulfilling. I think actually, I'll take this
00:48:53
moment to talk about it. So I one of the reasons why I'm
00:48:58
obsessed with making hats, honestly, is I learned that
00:49:03
crochet has the ability to reverse Alzheimer's.
00:49:08
So my uncle, my Uncle Joe, he passed away from Alzheimer's
00:49:12
back in 2019. This was like after I found out
00:49:18
how powerful crochet could be to help with memory.
00:49:23
So there's like the love I have for crochet, but then there's
00:49:30
also this science behind it that I'm obsessed with the comp the
00:49:36
connection between the movement of your hands in your in both
00:49:40
sides of the brain is so amazing.
00:49:43
And to show its power of what I'm talking about, as of
00:49:47
December, I am now ambidextrous. So I think that is very, I think
00:49:54
it's possible to not only slow the effects of Alzheimer,
00:50:01
Alzheimer's, but to also reverse it with using, while using
00:50:05
crochet as an assistant and then most likely an aggressive diet
00:50:09
change, if you will. So, OK, yeah.
00:50:17
That's really cool about a lot. There's a lot of learning.
00:50:20
Yeah, I'm learning a lot as we doing this because I didn't know
00:50:23
crocheting was that deep, so. Yes.
00:50:26
Do you look at it as well? Of course it's art.
00:50:29
But do teaching crochet change the way you view your own
00:50:34
artistry in business? Yes.
00:50:38
So it, it makes me, I think I had this conversation not that
00:50:44
long ago. I think teaching makes you
00:50:48
better. Part of the reason, what makes
00:50:51
me what, what makes what people refer to me as a good teacher is
00:50:57
that I understand that I am a great student first.
00:51:00
So in many different ways, it is in moments where I was showing
00:51:07
someone how to make this stitch or how to do a stitch that I was
00:51:11
like, oh, you know, I probably could be faster if I turn my
00:51:15
hand more that way. So it's it just makes me a
00:51:23
better, it makes me a better person.
00:51:27
I think it makes me, it makes it easier for me to.
00:51:30
It refines my teaching, let's put it that way.
00:51:35
Yeah. Nice, because they always say
00:51:39
the best people that teach is always a good student first.
00:51:43
Yes, yeah. So man, you all you're you're
00:51:47
pretty cool, man. Thank you.
00:51:49
It's like, let's, let's, this is really cool.
00:51:53
It's like you're doing everything and.
00:52:00
Yeah. And I really like the fact
00:52:04
because you know, I always try to reach the youth in this
00:52:07
podcast and it's cool to hear that I'm talking to someone.
00:52:12
Yes, I had a business, had a vision, didn't really have a
00:52:14
vision, just did something that he likes doing and then decided
00:52:19
to turn it into an income. And you've probably seen all the
00:52:23
horror stories about starting a business and all the ups and
00:52:27
downs and some people look at that.
00:52:30
I'm a do it anyway. What can hurt, you know, and
00:52:34
then to hear your transition from, you know, with the table
00:52:39
thing, I I take that was like a vendor event, like you did
00:52:43
vendor event. So you network.
00:52:46
You did. Yeah, that is really good.
00:52:48
So it's like you did everything that you're supposed to do now
00:52:54
it's just like, you know, it's routine.
00:52:57
Everything you're doing is routine.
00:52:58
It's like you got like a a schedule.
00:53:01
So yes, routine. So what was the hardest part
00:53:07
about turning this creativity of yours you have into a
00:53:11
sustainable business? Yeah.
00:53:14
So the hardest part, I think the hardest part was believing in
00:53:25
myself. I think I was kind of at that
00:53:31
point where it's like I knew I had something, but I needed to
00:53:36
trust in what I was doing a little bit more.
00:53:39
So the hardest part really was just putting myself out there to
00:53:44
be rejected. Really.
00:53:46
Honestly, I've gotten so used to it now and then sometimes I even
00:53:52
see rejection as a great thing because it just means that that
00:53:57
either that person, that customer, that business
00:53:59
potential business partner didn't understand my value.
00:54:03
So it's just kind of helped me to see my own worth and kind of
00:54:09
where I'm going. So Speaking of math, I know I
00:54:12
told you I love math. So here is what I did.
00:54:16
I came up with this recently on my journal about what I'm doing.
00:54:22
So there are about 8 billion people in the world, right?
00:54:25
So I wager about 10% of those people wear hats.
00:54:30
OK, so it's kind of like I know I'm doing something that's a lot
00:54:34
of people are already doing or may already have people they go
00:54:37
to. So instead of 10%, I'll make it
00:54:41
8% on purpose. So that's 27 people who
00:54:45
wear hats. OK, so the way I guess the way I
00:54:49
look at it is what am I hoping to earn?
00:54:55
So if if my goal would be like let's just say 100, if that
00:55:01
would be my goal, that's 2500 customers buying my cheapest
00:55:06
item. But the cool part is last year
00:55:09
everyone bought every style of my hat last year, including the
00:55:15
most expensive 1. So I think part of that
00:55:20
rejection process helped me to refine and improve what I do and
00:55:29
then the people who love what I do and then come back.
00:55:34
It was really neat to see. I had a few repeat customers in
00:55:38
from November to December last year.
00:55:40
I was like, Oh yeah, you want a specific color?
00:55:42
I got you. I finished it last night.
00:55:45
I just need your address. I'll send it to you and
00:55:48
hopefully I'll have it to you before before Christmas.
00:55:54
So yeah, it was. I think it's just a matter of
00:55:59
time and exposure. I'm willing to be patient.
00:56:03
I love what I do and I know that what ioffer is great.
00:56:08
And that's kind of where I am right now with that, Yeah.
00:56:13
So you are a brand? I've created a brand, yes.
00:56:22
That was cool. I never really looked at it like
00:56:26
that until a friend of mine, he said, you know, he said you
00:56:30
started a company and then you had customers, then you had
00:56:35
repeat customers, then your thing got spread through word of
00:56:40
mouth. That's what my whole thing was
00:56:42
instead of the Internet was just a presence to show people.
00:56:46
But I really wanted to grow word, word, word of mouth.
00:56:49
And and like I said, it just grew to where now people look at
00:56:55
me as a brand and I never really thought about it till some of
00:57:03
them things that I was saying on them.
00:57:05
Previous episodes of the podcast, you know, people were
00:57:08
quoting it. I would see posts of people
00:57:11
saying something similar to what I had said.
00:57:13
I was like, wow. Movies like I won't say woke
00:57:16
some people up, but a lot of people is really like connecting
00:57:18
with it. And it was like, wow, it's
00:57:20
really a trip because like you said, you didn't think of all
00:57:25
this stuff that's happening as you started this company.
00:57:30
It's like a vision. It just grew.
00:57:34
And for you to do stuff in the community, that's a legacy.
00:57:39
And, you know, you kind of like in the history books, if it's
00:57:43
not in the city of Columbus, history books, you like that
00:57:46
full-fledged stamp and the family, you know, history books.
00:57:52
That's pretty cool. Yeah, I hadn't thought about it
00:57:54
that way. Yeah, I did, because, you know,
00:57:57
you know, people and people that you probably don't even know see
00:58:00
you and what you're doing, but probably didn't know all the
00:58:02
stuff that you do because mine is, you know, not, you know, a
00:58:06
lot of people watch stuff. So for them to hear what you're
00:58:10
doing and stuff like that, there's no telling know what's
00:58:13
going to happen to your future in the future.
00:58:16
But when it comes to business though, when you first started,
00:58:22
did you take a loss or did you progress making more and more
00:58:26
year after year? Yes.
00:58:29
So actually I just finished doing my taxes a couple of weeks
00:58:33
ago. It's like looking at my growth,
00:58:38
my little spreadsheet I have, it's just funny.
00:58:42
It's just it go, it's gone. So yeah, initially, yeah, I did
00:58:46
take a little loss at first, but it's kind of grown every year a
00:58:52
little more, a little more, a little more, a little more so.
00:58:55
And last year was the absolute best I've ever done.
00:59:02
So I think it was just it was a mix of it was a mix of I love
00:59:07
what I'm doing, but so do more people and then having repeat
00:59:11
customers. And I think the best part is
00:59:14
having people come back to you because they know that you can
00:59:17
deliver exactly what is they're looking for because I don't
00:59:21
think they can get anywhere else.
00:59:23
So that was homeboy. I see.
00:59:26
I see the growth. It's consistent.
00:59:32
That's what's up. Yeah.
00:59:35
So you answered the last few questions, but I have a question
00:59:41
for you. Yeah, what's up?
00:59:43
How? I know we met on social media
00:59:46
but how did the connection come about?
00:59:51
Was it through self love? Yes, that's I like the way you
01:00:03
ask that question. OK, I'm going to say yes to that
01:00:07
because I think everyone has. Periods of their life as they
01:00:15
age. Kind of like how I said I told
01:00:18
my inner child, it's OK for you to come out now as you adopt.
01:00:26
As you become an adult. You almost have to kill parts of
01:00:31
yourself to survive. Yeah.
01:00:35
Yeah, you do. And I think I've, I've done the
01:00:42
work on myself. I know who I am.
01:00:45
I was really in a very bad place, not because of COVID, but
01:00:52
because I had ran into just a lot of situations, a lot of like
01:00:59
painful situations. I ended up getting a therapist
01:01:06
for the first time. I had never thought of it
01:01:08
before, but I kind of felt like I might need that.
01:01:12
And that was like so powerful. I was able to address traumas,
01:01:19
some that I had completely forgotten about that were that
01:01:22
were still impacting my daily decisions.
01:01:26
So when you say self love, I've learned to love all of me.
01:01:36
I can talk about my moments and life that are not my proudest
01:01:42
and not shrink. I also know that the strongest
01:01:49
parts about me or how I reacted to life literally knocking me in
01:01:55
the face as hard as it could and getting up, being resilient and
01:01:59
coming back from it. So that self love that you
01:02:03
mentioned, I feel like that's kind of in a way I kind of teach
01:02:06
that to a little bit. Like do you really love yourself
01:02:13
like you say or what are you tolerating?
01:02:18
I don't like the phrase that you that people do what you allow
01:02:21
because sometimes I think that people do things that are within
01:02:24
their capacity to do when it's not really involved with you.
01:02:29
But sometimes I think those words or actions from things
01:02:34
that you experience can kind of rub off when you are kind of get
01:02:37
stuck on you and you can almost start to despise yourself.
01:02:42
So I love the way you ask that question.
01:02:46
So yeah. Yeah, 'cause that you popped up
01:02:53
on my social media and I believe it was through Kindle self love
01:02:59
awareness. Kindle, Yeah.
01:03:03
You know, it's super cool. That was my first guess.
01:03:10
That's awesome. And he mentioned that when he
01:03:13
did this on podcast interview, he gained a lot more notoriety
01:03:18
outside of where he was from. That's amazing.
01:03:24
And, and one thing I wanted to ask was what made you get into
01:03:30
figure skating? Oh yeah OK I love the story too.
01:03:35
So you might have seen some of my progression videos of like
01:03:40
where I was and where I am now. This was So I found crochet and
01:03:49
figure skating about the same exact time honestly. 2018 my
01:03:55
friend at the time he was about to get married and his wife was
01:04:01
a winter sports gal. So we went to the ice rink and
01:04:06
for some reason this time me skating and rental skates was
01:04:11
easy. Probably because I hadn't
01:04:14
skipped leg day like not once for like 8 years.
01:04:17
So this time around it was so much easier.
01:04:21
I had people asking me if I skate regularly in the rental
01:04:25
skates when 14 years before I was like, this is horrible I'd
01:04:31
ever want to do it again. So because I did so well in the
01:04:38
rental skates, I went out and bought my own pair and the rest
01:04:41
is history. I just stuck with it.
01:04:44
I'd put in the work. I did the off ice workouts.
01:04:49
I changed. I started changing the way I ate
01:04:54
and in between that time I went vegan.
01:04:57
And I kind of see that my progress with skating increased
01:05:00
since then. I was a runner before skating,
01:05:03
so I already had the cardio part down.
01:05:06
And as, Oh my goodness, anybody who's had like a negative
01:05:11
experience with ice skating, you need to get your own pair of
01:05:15
skates and I think you'll fall in love with it like I did.
01:05:17
I just haven't stopped. I love it so much.
01:05:22
Nice. It's great.
01:05:23
The best workout ever. Like I got rock hard abs and my
01:05:27
legs have just gotten so toned. I've outgrown so many things, so
01:05:32
I got to go to the store again. So basically crocheting is your
01:05:38
your own foundation that the learning other languages and
01:05:43
teaching the other language is all you can say is a hobby, but
01:05:47
it's something that you love doing, which involves teaching
01:05:51
and then your free time. It sounds like it's a stress
01:05:54
reliever. It's ice skating.
01:05:57
Yeah, definitely. There's something about it.
01:05:59
It's just so free. You know, I kind of like how you
01:06:11
didn't know what was going to come about, but as time was
01:06:14
going on, you didn't let the bad outweigh the good and you kept
01:06:21
pushing and pushing and pushing. And now not only and everybody
01:06:28
had bad days, but you're, but you can go teach a language or
01:06:34
learn a different language 'cause you got multiple ways of
01:06:37
communicating with your customers.
01:06:39
And then, yes, you teach the youth, you're in the community,
01:06:46
you're doing a whole lot of things.
01:06:47
And, you know, it's it's really recognizable.
01:06:52
It's like, thank you. Most.
01:06:55
Yeah. You know, most people in
01:06:56
business, they'd be like, oh, they have luncheons and doing
01:06:58
all these things and go to make all these different places.
01:07:01
But I always try to get people that youth to see that all that
01:07:06
is cool. But really, you can be regular
01:07:10
and just have a business. You can really be regular and
01:07:12
just, you know, just do you. They ain't got to fit in the
01:07:16
crowd. And you created your own line,
01:07:19
your own economy, and it's really cool.
01:07:23
So I need to ask you, when people see your hats, what do
01:07:32
you want them to feel or remember?
01:07:36
OK. I want everyone to see.
01:07:43
I want everyone to see color. I want color.
01:07:46
Joy, peace. It's kind of like the
01:07:52
originality that you said. There's another word that I
01:07:55
resonate with, authenticity. We kind of touched on it.
01:08:02
Authentic people don't always fit in, but the best part is we
01:08:05
never really wanted to. So I know that my personality by
01:08:09
itself has a driven sales to me several occurrences from my very
01:08:17
first vendor table to last year. My customers know they can come
01:08:20
back and get exactly the same service and they know I'm
01:08:25
direct, I'm clear, I'm honest. I create my own little world for
01:08:30
you to visit, like a little pocket in the world.
01:08:32
It's kind of how I describe it now and kind of like like the
01:08:37
week touching this again, just to kind of bring it full circle,
01:08:40
like the experiences I've had the some of the traumas I've had
01:08:45
those. I don't want you to experience
01:08:48
those things with me. Like 1 of the reasons why I am
01:08:51
direct and clear and open and honest is I've had my fair share
01:08:56
of run insurance with dishonesty and how painful that can be.
01:09:03
It's kind of difficult to talk about.
01:09:04
But like last year, like I had a part time job briefly.
01:09:09
They didn't, they weren't upfront with basically what they
01:09:15
said in the interview. None of that ever happened.
01:09:17
They changed my pay. They played around with my
01:09:20
schedule. And then my friend who was
01:09:22
fighting cancer, she died while I was in the office one day.
01:09:25
So if I had known that that was going to happen, I never would
01:09:30
have taken the job and just had the time, you know, just try to
01:09:33
spend more time with her. So I wrote now, I wrote this
01:09:38
down. I think this might be powerful
01:09:40
for someone. I want to read this.
01:09:41
So it's moments I encounter in my personal life like this that
01:09:48
forced me to be clear about my intentions with everyone, every
01:09:52
single person involved with me. I think sometimes we
01:09:56
underestimate the pain we can cause others by omitting
01:09:59
information and then refusing to sit with the accountability
01:10:02
because it's ugly, and then shifting the blame to the person
01:10:06
who put faith in you. Like, Ouch, right?
01:10:10
So I want people to know that they can come to me.
01:10:15
They will find their color, joy, peace, my authenticity.
01:10:19
And while I'm not perfect, I will make sure I do deliver the
01:10:22
best quality of service to you. You can bet on that and I will
01:10:26
always bet on me. Nicely said.
01:10:32
Thank you. You're really deep, man.
01:10:39
So I got another question for you.
01:10:41
Yeah. So what made you connect with
01:10:46
the platform? Yeah, so, oh, I'm sorry.
01:10:53
Connect with as far as like my teaching or.
01:10:59
No, no, no, no, no. The connection between me and
01:11:01
you, what made you want to cop you OK?
01:11:03
Oh, what made you want to hop on the the podcast and connect with
01:11:07
the the brand I have produced for a certain amount of years?
01:11:13
Honestly, it's I when I've been watching your stories, it's
01:11:18
like, yes, I have this conversation like yesterday and
01:11:24
this matches exactly what I wrote in my journal.
01:11:26
Like this is like on point. So that's when I started
01:11:31
interacting with your stories. I was like, yeah, I agree with
01:11:36
this. You know, and I think I'm put it
01:11:41
this way, the world has a lot of noise.
01:11:45
I call it noise pollution. There are a lot of things being
01:11:50
said, but there aren't a lot of things of value being said.
01:11:56
And after a while I started being like, I don't want to
01:12:00
listen to that. I don't listen to that, but I
01:12:02
actually I kind of resonate with that.
01:12:04
So I start getting like almost like selected with what I really
01:12:09
want to listen to. Because while hearing is
01:12:12
involuntary, the things that I want to rest on my heart are
01:12:16
things that have to touch me very deeply.
01:12:20
Because then the things that are sitting on my heart then
01:12:24
transfer to every aspect of my life.
01:12:27
And that's really why I'm very serious about it.
01:12:30
What I read, why I listen to etcetera.
01:12:32
So, yeah, it was your stories, man, Your stories and your posts
01:12:35
and just the, the realness of your posts that really made me
01:12:39
want to connect with you. Yeah.
01:12:40
I. Remember the messages, you know,
01:12:44
just saying I was like, wow, I didn't know.
01:12:48
I didn't think of, mind you, I'm just talking, you know,
01:12:53
something I came up with, but I didn't, I didn't know the
01:12:57
interaction with the people. That part didn't come across
01:13:00
when I was creating this. It just happened.
01:13:05
And the last question, I need a message for the youth and where
01:13:14
people can find you. OK so I'll start with where you
01:13:21
can find me and I wrote out something for the kids so half
01:13:25
Double Craze LLC you can find me on LinkedIn.
01:13:29
My Instagram is HD Craze LLCHDCRAZELLC and I have like a
01:13:39
link tree. You can find it in my bio.
01:13:43
So I love being able to teach children how to crochet.
01:13:48
So my message for youth is you can do anything you put your
01:13:51
mind to. Literally, the picture of what
01:13:56
you want in life may not match what others want to see you or
01:14:01
want you to follow. I want you to know that that's
01:14:05
OK. Use your creativity and create a
01:14:09
space, almost like a hidden dimension for a service you can
01:14:14
provide. And it will change your life.
01:14:16
It will makes. It will make you see what's
01:14:19
possible and that thinking outside the box isn't enough.
01:14:24
The reality of something I found in my journal.
01:14:27
There is no box. There are no limitations, no
01:14:31
ceilings. The people who want you to think
01:14:35
that your personage can be confined to a box is someone who
01:14:40
wants to raise what I call yes against no.
01:14:44
Find out who you are and what you want, and then do that.
01:14:49
You have no reason to live a life you don't like.
01:14:52
Some of this won't make sense now, but later you will thank
01:14:56
me. The world is yours whichever
01:14:58
path you take. And finally, any person who says
01:15:02
any version of you can't always remember they were talking about
01:15:08
themselves. You silence that voice,
01:15:12
disregard the naysayer voices, and speak life into every single
01:15:16
thing you do, so much that even your haters praise and support.
01:15:21
You forge your own path in such a way that others will follow
01:15:28
you. Then they will break from your
01:15:31
path and create their own and then leave a trail like you did.
01:15:38
I like that. Thank you.
01:15:40
It's a powerful message. Wow, that's a good interview,
01:15:47
man. I don't have to bring you back
01:15:48
on as time goes on, but I hope everything works out for you and
01:15:55
I most definitely will put the your own contact information in
01:15:58
the description where people can find you, and that's awesome.
01:16:03
We have to do this again. I agree and I'm a thanks for
01:16:08
having me. No problem man and I'm about to
01:16:11
close this out. Until next time y'all stay
01:16:15
legit, protect your peace and keep going and still building
01:16:20
the right way. Y'all enjoy your day.
01:16:25
Bye.