How Ali von Paris of Route One Apparel Rode Maryland Pride to eCommerce Success - EP 001

Ethan Giffin talks with Ali von Paris of Route 1 Apparel about transforming a viral college project into a thriving Maryland pride brand. Launching with a single t-shirt tribute to a closed bar, Route 1 Apparel has grown into a diverse product line embodying state pride, from university gear to Maryland flag designs and innovative items like the Old Bay Travel Tin.

They touch on the pivotal COVID-19 response, where Ali's quick pivot to producing face masks resulted in a tenfold business growth and significant community support, marking a memorable moment when the governor publicly endorsed their masks. Ali shares insights into the eCommerce tech stack critical to her success, highlighting the synergy between Shopify, Klaviyo, and ShipStation in streamlining operations and enhancing customer engagement.

This conversation sheds light on the challenges of entrepreneurship, the importance of community, and the strategic decisions that drive eCommerce growth. ​

Quotes From The Show

"I started the business when I was 19 by accident... I was paying my way through school and working at the Thirsty Turtle... it was forced to shut down and I was pretty devastated." -Ali von Paris, 00:01:37 "I launched [the design] on my Facebook page and it went viral... initially it was just a t-shirt design, but I very quickly realized I was making a business out of it." -Ali von Paris, 00:02:10 "A few weeks before it was mandated federally to wear face masks, I started seeing an influx and people buying bandanas, surgical caps. Fanny packs... And I was stuck thinking I didn't want to sell water during a fire." -Ali von Paris, 00:07:03 "The governor wore a mask on a national press conference and name-dropped us... It was the first time in history our Shopify website actually crashed." -Ali von Paris, 00:08:13 "My first licensing deal... was with my alma mater University of Maryland... I was making off-brand collegiate clothing... and Joe [the licensing director] reached out to me very kindly and said, 'Hey, I love the designs you're doing, let's get you a license legally.'" -Ali von Paris, 00:17:48

Chapters

00:05 - Introductions 01:35 - Ali's start as an "accidental entrepreneur"  05:35 - Route One's COVID-19 challenges 09:35 - The famed Maryland flag Sequined Jacket 17:14 - Getting her first licensing agreement 24:47 - What's next for Ali?

Resources

eCommerce Masters: https://www.groovecommerce.com/ecommerce-blog/how-ali-von-paris-of-route-one-apparel-rode-maryland-pride-to-ecommerce-success-ep-001/ Groove Commerce: https://www.groovecommerce.com/ Route One Website: https://www.routeoneapparel.com/ Route One On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/routeoneapparel/  Ali on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alivonparis Ali on LinkedIn:
and today we have the pleasure of
welcoming a remarkable guest to our show.
Joining us today is Ali Van Paris,

(01:00:20):
the visionary owner and
founder of Route 1 Apparel.
What makes Ali's story truly remarkable
is that she embarked upon
this entrepreneurial journey right from
her dorm room while pursuing her
undergraduate degree at
the University of Maryland.
As a bona fide Marylander,
Ali's journey embodies the
spirit of our great state.
Ali, welcome to the show.
Thanks for having me.

(01:00:40):
Yes. Yes. I am so
excited to have you here.
So tell us all a little bit about who and
what Route 1 Apparel
is and who your target market is.
Cool. Yeah. So I'm Ali,
as he said, owner and founder of Route 1.
I started the business
when I was 19 by accident.
I was going to University of Maryland,
paying my way through school as a
first-generation college student,

(01:01:01):
and working at this bar
called the Thirsty Turtle,
which was very popular,
unfortunately a little
bit amongst under-agers.
So it was forced to shut down and I was
pretty devastated about that.
I remember one of my last shifts,
I was upset because that was how I was
paying my way through school.
I had this light bulb moment.
People were sharing
their memories of the bar.

(01:01:22):
I always had a knack for design,
so I came up with this design idea.
I launched it on my
Facebook page and it went viral.
So initially it was
just a t-shirt design,
but I very quickly realized I was making
a business out of it.
That's cool. So your first item that you
created was a t-shirt
for the shutter bar.
Yeah.

(01:01:42):
It's really funny because I've actually
been to that bar before.
Back in my time, it used
to be called the seller,
and I think on Mondays they
had 25 cent pitchers of beer.
I think we had that plus inflation.
It was like dollar beer.
Dollar pitchers.
So it was a really good time and I feel
like that's part of the
reason why it has so much bad luck,
but luck for me.
So how did you start selling these?

(01:02:05):
You mentioned you put
it on your Facebook.
Did you do sell these
things in person at parties?
How did you get going
from that standpoint?
So immediately it was all digital in the
sense that I had
posted this design online,
but I didn't know how to make any
commerce business at the time.
I didn't know how to launch a website.
It was back in 2012, so it was new.

(01:02:26):
And sorry, I apologize, 2010.
So even earlier.
So I posted it and people were hitting me
up to buy this item and I was collecting
cash all over campus.
It was November.
It was freezing cold.
And I was like, there
has to be an easier way.
But e-commerce was new.
I didn't know the answers.
And an acquaintance of mine said, you can

(01:02:46):
launch a GoDaddy website.
You can set up a PayPal account.
And I just started Googling and I figured
out how to make a GoDaddy
account and a PayPal connection.
And that's how I
initially launched my website.
That's great.
And so talk a little bit about the depth
of your product catalog.
What kind of things are you selling that

(01:03:08):
people are getting very excited about?
Yeah.
So I would say, in summary, Root One
Apparel is a state pride brand.
We sell all things state pride.
Maryland in particular is very prideful
of their flag, their crabs, all of their
different kinds of
food items like Old Bay.
Old Bay?
Yeah.
Old Bay spices.

(01:03:29):
Yep.
So I mean, we've evolved all beyond with
licensing deals throughout the years.
Initially, it was all like first
initially University
of Maryland themed gear.
That was my alma mater.
And then we evolved into Maryland flag
gear and then acquired
these licensing deals.
But we now make over 70
different product categories.
Oh, wow.
And they're not all screen printed.

(01:03:50):
Some of them are manufactured.
Oh, yeah.
We make everything from custom hats to
tennis shoes to bathing suits to even
totally original prototyped items.
Like we've made this Old Bay Travelton,
which was pretty cool.
Oh, that's cool.
Where you can take it take Old Bay with
you anywhere you want to go.
So it's fun.
It's a lot of fun.
And yeah, it's just kind of surreal to

(01:04:11):
think that I just started it with no
knowledge in e-commerce at all.
Yeah.
I think about like how do you start,
especially as you it's one thing to move
get into screen printed
products that's fairly accessible,
but then starting to manufacture your own
products, which I'm sure you had to go to
other places outside of
Maryland to kind of get made.

(01:04:31):
Yeah.
And I'll be honest, I mean, I was very
foreign to the industry.
My only experience with screen print
prior to launching my business was
working with this company called
Universities because I was an authority
and we would order through them.
So that's why I was able to launch my
first design just ordering through them.
And it pains me even today to know how

(01:04:52):
much profit they made off of those that
first design that I made.
But then, you know, over time, it was
just asking the right questions, getting
lined up with the right people, learning
how to bulk buy things on my own.
And then, of course, going to websites to
find manufacturers directly.
And I just got super curious to explore
all the different kinds of product lines.

(01:05:13):
It's one of, you know, there's I love
like a multitude of the things that you
have for sale as a
proud, proud Marylander.
But one of the interesting
stories was during Covid-19.
Right. I mean, I think that, you know, I
know that you are as all of us, all
business owners were extremely nervous of
what was going to happen.
Next. But you ended up getting a little

(01:05:36):
bit of luck out of that.
Yeah. Yeah. Everyone has
their covid story. Right.
And I think the famous word
everyone uses is pivoting.
And for us, it was pretty surreal because
it was a moment of time where I was
humbled to know that, like, I view my
product as a want, not a need.
You know, who wants Maryland
themed gear during a pandemic.

(01:05:58):
But what I like to define our business as
is it's a community through clothing.
And I realize that the community rallied
around us during that time.
All of the support that we've given the
community all of those past years, they
were really putting pressure on us to
supply them with certain kinds of things.
And it was a fast moving thing.

(01:06:19):
But basically, a few weeks before it was
mandated federally to wear face masks, I
started seeing an influx
in people buying bandanas.
Surgical caps, fanny packs, which weren't
really popular before then.
And I started asking questions.
Why are you buying six hundred bandanas?
Well, we're making
face masks out of them.
And I was stuck thinking I didn't want to

(01:06:41):
sell fire or water
during a fire, basically.
But I was torn. We had the
ability to make face masks.
We had quality fabric suppliers.
And I turned to a few people I looked up
to for advice and they said, just make
sure you do a give back aspect to it.
And it ended up just completely

(01:07:02):
transforming the way that we we grew.
We grew. It was over 10
times during the pandemic.
We went from 15000 orders the year before
to over one hundred fifty
thousand orders in just a year.
And it was because we
announced to buy one, give one.
And we ended up donating over two million

(01:07:22):
dollars worth of face
masks during the pandemic.
There was a variety of factors.
We had the local news picking us up.
The governor wore a mask on a national
press conference and name dropped us.
And I was shell shocked at that.
And it was the first time in history our
Shopify website actually crashed.
Oh, wow. Interesting. It's great to hear.
I mean, it was not great to hear that

(01:07:43):
your website crashed.
But that's just such an
interesting and interesting story.
I mean, it's just the evolution, I think,
all like us as well.
You know, here at Groove, we evolve a lot
during that time frame
as well for our customers.
You know, buy on, you know, buy online
pickup, you know, in store or outside of
store curbside pickup.
It became very popular.

(01:08:04):
So really learning to
figure out how to how to pivot.
It's also been really cool, I think, to
see the big guy, Larry, Larry Hogan, who
was the governor at the
previous governor here in Maryland,
really be supportive of your business.
Always repping your products, especially
the face masks, always mentioning you.

(01:08:24):
I've had interactions with him.
He came to our office.
He was supposed to stay there for 15
minutes and ended up
staying a couple of hours.
And wanted to, you know, to meet
everybody that was that was there.
And so really just a personable guy that
really cares about business.
And quite honestly, our businesses are,

(01:08:45):
you know, a speck on the map in terms of
all the bigger companies
than the state of Maryland.
Yeah. And they want to recruit
international at this point, you know.
So it's humbling that we have a governor
that was so supportive of all the
businesses during that time.
Yeah. You know, very, very cool.
You know, and so that's great.
I mean, I love seeing seeing you on TV.
You are regularly on

(01:09:06):
TV on Sunday mornings.
I love my deep W.B.A.L. and
WJZ fans, but they're cool.
I appreciate I appreciate
the features that they give us.
It's really nice.
So for those of you not in the Maryland
or Baltimore area, those are our two
local affiliates for NBC and CBS.
And they have their own Sunday morning

(01:09:26):
shows that they will have local
businesses on to kind of talk about, you
know, their products and services.
So what do you think is
your favorite creation so far?
Everything has a story to it.
And I've definitely journeyed through
some things where I've learned, you know,
after I started making a product, the
mistakes of making that product.

(01:09:47):
But I think the more recent product of
our Maryland flag sequin jacket is one of
my favorites right now with the added
exposure that we've
had as a larger company.
This was a true testament to the amount
of exposure that we've gotten all over
the I've seen pictures of this all over
the world at this point.
But some of the really exciting things is

(01:10:07):
the national anthem
singer at the Ravens game.
Home game were this.
The fan of the game as well.
A different a different home game was
dancing around doing this funny dance.
And she got she won.
And it just is it goes back to the whole
reason why I started
this business 13 years ago.

(01:10:28):
I love making products
that evoke a positive feeling.
And I feel like it's almost like a little
bit of a superhero costume.
These people get so
excited wearing this stuff.
It also allows people to feel
like they can be approached.
And if you see someone wearing some flag
gear, it immediately drops barriers of
just making a comment to that person

(01:10:49):
because you have something in common.
So that was really fun to
see the growth of that product.
That's great. I mean, I love seeing that
product, too, when like on away games, on
TV, like you'll catch a glimpse of
somebody in the sequel.
And it definitely stands
out and stands when people.
Oh, yeah.
When when when people put put that on,
you know, I just you know,

(01:11:10):
it's a very unique product.
Thank you. Yeah. And the sequins are
really cool initially.
And it just goes to show, too, placing
your product in the right market.
We have been attempting internally to try
to solicit, you know, bulk buy
opportunities for new products because we
have so many different kinds of products
and want to make new ones all the time.

(01:11:31):
And we don't want to always
just fund the launch of it.
So we initially thought that dance
studios would like that item and not a
single dance studio was interested in it.
And you said and then we thought, you
know what, let's just
bank on our social media.
Let's just put it on
social media, on our Instagram.
And it went absolutely viral.
I posted a very basic
photo of me wearing it at BWI.

(01:11:52):
And that's actually the test.
I put it on at BWI Airport and I got
stopped so many times.
Where did you get that?
Where did you get that?
I was like, I guess I'm going to like
launch it for preorder.
So here's my business card.
And we post I posted
it and it went viral.
And that was the
confidence we needed to launch it.
Yeah, that's cool. So do you do you
prelaunch products on your website that,
you know, are there times where you're

(01:12:14):
kind of testing ideas and prelaunching
them to see something that you actually
take all the way through production?
I'll admit my team is not a big fan of
the prelaunch strategy, but it's a huge
part of our growth and feeling out new
product ideas and everything like that.
Our customers are also used to it.
Ever since day one, I did preorders.
The first product I launched it.
And thank God I did a preorder strategy

(01:12:35):
because I thought I was only going to
order 30 and I ended up selling over 600.
And so we still do the
preorder strategy today.
And it's really great to help predict
velocity and how much to order and save
disappointment for people if you keep
constantly getting
stocked out of something.
Well, yeah, I mean, I think it's you

(01:12:55):
know, I think in this day and age when
when you're able to kind of have products
closer to you, like in terms of faster
manufacturing times, generally like
smaller batches available.
I think it's a good way to kind of test
the marketplace and see, you know, is
this going to sell a lot or or a little.
Can we pump this on our social or through
our email and what are we going to get,

(01:13:16):
you know, from from that?
And I think as long as you're transparent
with your customers of, hey, this is a
preorder, this is when we expect it.
And then, you know, I think that, you
know, I think that that's OK to do.
And communication is key in preorders.
Like, as you mentioned, we always are
very clear about when things are
estimated to come in.
But of course, you know,

(01:13:37):
everything is an estimate.
We've gotten better at forecasting out
when things are coming in.
But we also are very proactive about
communication if anything goes awry.
So that's also really important, too.
And most people are
understanding, you know.
And we obviously have the option of
canceling orders if
people don't want it anymore.
So it's just a win-win for everyone.
Yeah. You know,

(01:13:57):
that's that's that's cool.
You know, you don't want somebody really,
hey, this is just an approximate date or
a range of dates with that.
Why do you think people find Maryland
theme items so appealing?
You know, it's I think it's a double
double edged sword there because I
definitely think our brand has helped
promote the whole flag
identity and pride around the state.

(01:14:19):
But we also are a very unique state.
I've learned that I'm from here.
My family has been
here since the mid-1800s.
There are there are families that have
been here for a very long time.
And I've learned there's some places in
the nation where it's
much more transient.
And here people people come here and they
stay here and there's

(01:14:41):
big families that are here.
So I feel like that is something that
adds to the culture.
People are very proud
of where they're from.
And then they also tend to open up and
tell you the history of
their family, their town.
And that is a big part of the culture.
And so I think that that's why my company
has also been able to be successful,
because we obviously tap into that.

(01:15:04):
And it's a very grassroots business.
It's very authentic.
You know, the fact that I'm
here, my team is all from here.
And so we're really, really, truly
selling to our friends and neighbors.
That's cool.
I mean, you know, it's definitely like,
you know, things like Old Bay, you know,

(01:15:26):
interestingly evoke a very strong
response to those to those in Maryland.
You know, I bought some some items for my
uncle's birthday and sent them to him in
Florida, you know, and so he's rocking
his Old Bay watch band.
Yeah, just different, you know, all kinds
of different different products.
But, you know, it is intriguing because,
you know, you used to always see that you
would see Texas items, right?

(01:15:47):
Like they are very like big and bold.
Then you would kind of see
South Carolina with their flag.
And I think you've really helped to put
that flag culture out there in terms of
Maryland themed products, because there
are much more available now with you and
also the people that are copying you.
Yeah, I know.

(01:16:07):
Well, thankfully, I mean,
and the copying was a lot.
It really triggered me, especially in the
early years, because I was the one doing
everything with my business, spending the
time doing all the
designs, working on the marketing.
And especially when I saw some bigger
companies like copy
something of mine, I was like, why?
Why can't we work together?
You know, but thankfully now, especially

(01:16:29):
with all of our licensing deals, I do
have a much stronger
legal support with that.
So talk a little bit about your licensing
deals and, you know, who some of those
companies are and maybe
how they came to fruition.
Well, I'll say first and
foremost, nothing came easy.
It's easy for someone to look at it now,
13 years later and
say, wow, you're lucky.

(01:16:50):
You have all these licensing deals.
And I'm so very grateful for that.
But I, a lot of my story is about proving
people wrong and being OK with putting in
the effort first and
then asking for something.
And so my first my first licensing deal,
as I mentioned, was with my alma mater
University of Maryland.

(01:17:10):
And actually, when I was 19, I didn't
know what copyright or trademark was.
So I was making off brand collegiate
clothing for University of Maryland.
And it was going viral.
And Joe E.
Baugh, who was the licensing director at
the time for University of Maryland, he
reached out to me very kindly and said,
hey, I love the designs you're doing.

(01:17:31):
Let's get your
license and do this legally.
And thank God, because, you know, that's
also a part of the
business model that we are in.
It's like, you know,
we can work together.
And that was my first experience with
doing something where I was not
knowledgeable about what trademark and
copyright was, but obviously respected
the University of Maryland identity.

(01:17:51):
And I also got a taste for what licensing
was while I was in college that way and
their support and everything.
So that was amazing.
And then we had Nadi Bo.
We got Nadi Bo licensing after that.
There was an acquisition with Nadi Bo
being in PAPs, the parent brand, being
bought by someone new.
And they were kind of
basically scouting for a partnership.

(01:18:11):
And they they found me.
And that was really exciting.
Old Bay took a few years.
Yeah.
And so for those who let me stop you
there for a second, for those that don't
know, Nadi Bo is national bohemian beer.
It was brewed in Baltimore
way, way back in the day.
It's got a very iconic Mr. Bo character
that is very popular in Baltimore and

(01:18:34):
Maryland in terms of, you know, people
love to put it have it put on items.
You know, oftentimes, though, without
oftentimes without the approval approval.
Yeah. And, you know, it's I think just by
trial and error, because I didn't have
necessarily a very firm growth strategy

(01:18:55):
or anything like that,
especially in the early years.
But I just realized that Marylanders are
very passionate about
their food and drinks.
And I think that every
state has their thing.
It could be a sports team.
It could be a town.
It could be a music interest.
It could be a food like a food group.
But with Maryland, it's really just these

(01:19:15):
interesting brands that represent this
whole conglomerate of
identity around the Maryland culture.
So that's how we've been
able to expand over the years.
So, you know, I can kind of see the
progression of, you know, from University
of Maryland licensing, then licensing for
National Behemoth from PAPs.
But it would seem to me like Old Bay

(01:19:35):
would be like just a whole much bigger, a
whole much bigger process to get into
McCormick spice as as a licensing.
Yeah, they're a billion dollar company
and they didn't really have a direct
partner with apparel.
And it was very
interesting to get aligned with that.
Conveniently, I live 15
minutes from their headquarters.
So like I said, it took about two years

(01:19:57):
to get licensing with them.
And I basically just showed up to their
their headquarters a lot and just
eventually I won't name names.
But I think basically
said, you're really annoying.
We're going to try it.
Try this out. And sure enough, like a few
years in, I got asked to speak at a
licensing summit on behalf of McCormick.
I was really proud of
that moment in time.

(01:20:17):
And people in the room were Disney,
Hershey, all of these
other respectable brands.
And I was speaking on behalf of my
successes with McCormick
there, which was pretty exciting.
So I think it's really
important for anyone listening.
Don't be intimidated. Just put yourself
out there and you learn as you go.
And I was just a young girl at the time.

(01:20:40):
I'm still, I guess, young relatively, but
young and in a very
established industry that's very,
you know, corporate esque.
And I don't come from that world.
And as long as you're confident in your
capabilities and you're able to and
you're confident to prove
people wrong or prove people,
show people what you can do, you can the

(01:21:00):
world is your oyster.
You know, it's always
about asking. Right.
It's persistence and asking. And for
everything I've accomplished,
I've always asked for things.
And I've asked for things way outside of
my pay grade, even as a teenager.
And I think that, you know, people are,
you know, first off, like bigger
organizations that, you

(01:21:20):
know, persistence is key.
I think driving people nuts sometimes
also helps, you know, we're
all to to build a business.
We're all little nuts at heart, you know,
in some way going against the grain.
So, you know, I think, you know, I
remember seeing seeing when you spoke at
that that event you had
posted on your socials.
And I was like, man, that is really cool

(01:21:43):
to be able to kind of get, you know, to
go from, you know, doing shirts at
University of Maryland up to this
international billion dollar brand.
It's fun. And it's a good balance for me
because it is lonely as an entrepreneur.
And also being an owner, you know, you
have a kind of small circle, especially
when you're working every day with your

(01:22:03):
coworkers, which are great.
But it's hard to find people that you can
bounce ideas around.
And similarly, we're a small business.
And this is a really great way for my
team to work with these really cool
corporations, go into their offices, meet
their teams and not have
that sense of just repetition.
You know, we're constantly working.

(01:22:23):
We're almost essentially an agency with a
lot of these people at this point.
They're calling us and saying, here's our
marketing plan for the year.
How can you supplement
this with apparel options?
And that's what we thrive in.
So it's a good balance.
So like changing direction a little bit,
you mentioned being on Shopify.
Can you break down what your current
e-commerce tech stack is?

(01:22:43):
Sure. Yeah. The main ones
I'll start with marketing.
Clavio is what we use
for email marketing.
They're great. I've
been through a few of them.
And I just like the robust nature of it
and the analytics behind it.
And it makes scheduling emails very easy.
Then we also do PostScript.
I know a lot of people are either on
PostScript or attentive.
I am a big fan of PostScript.

(01:23:04):
The team is very receptive to curating a
unique plan for you.
And it really connects well with Clavio.
And I'm big on the
analytics and the tagging too.
We have ShipStation for fulfillment.
That was one of the first
efficiencies that I solved.
Oh, yeah.
Because I used to
hand write all my labels.

(01:23:25):
And USPS would always be
like, there's an easier way.
What is it?
Tell me. ShipStation.
I actually flew out to Austin when their
team was super small.
And they showed me how to set up my
ShipStation account.
That's great.
So I've been very
loyal to ShipStation too.
We use a lot of other rudimentary apps
for various solutions,
like low stock alerts

(01:23:45):
and things like that.
But there's a lot of different things
that help facilitate a
smooth sailing Shopify store.
Yeah, that's great.
I mean, just all the things you can plug
into that and help you scale.
I always call it Clavio.
And I use my Baltimore accent.
And they're like, I'm like,
let me get that Clavio email.
And they're like, please stop.

(01:24:08):
We have a very solid
partnership with them.
And they're like, please
stop saying it like that.
That's so funny.
So I love to talk in my Baltimore accent.
For those of you that know me or meet me,
especially after a couple of rosés,
I will often--
I got called out on mine
at University of Maryland,
Biola, New Jersey, and New Yorkers.
I'm like, you're the
ones with an accent, not me.
I think it's kind of dissipated.

(01:24:28):
But maybe, I don't know, maybe your
listeners would probably
say that we definitely both.
The people that hear me do it that are
not from Maryland or Baltimore,
think I'm like, what?
Who is this nut?
What are these words you're saying?
You are absolutely crazy.
So you made it
through the COVID-19 thing.
What's keeping you up at night now?

(01:24:49):
What is your biggest concerns for 2024?
I'm going to be honest.
I mean, we've had a
lot of growth every year.
And especially, we're coming out of the
tail end of the pandemic,
where we grew immensely, got a lot of
extra press, publicity.
I reached these levels of
actually, for the first time,
feeling content with my goals.
I had a lot of set goals with where I

(01:25:10):
wanted my business to go.
And I, at least
financially, I reached all of them.
And I'm now trying to reground myself and
figure out what the next steps are.
And for me, in my 20s, I
spent a lot of the time
boots on the ground with my business.
I was creative.
I was operations.
I was all these things.
And I think the biggest challenge for me

(01:25:31):
is learning to let go still, honestly.
And also, I don't want to limit my
business because of myself.
And I've gone to speaking events where
they analyze how an owner performs
versus a CEO performs.
And I am the owner and CEO of my company.
And as an owner, it's important to stay

(01:25:52):
out of the way of your business.
And so I'm trying to assess whether or
not I need a strong operator,
whether I should give up equity for that,
or I should look into
an investment route.
And because I've been
doing this since I was 19,
and we've come a long way
just with that guidance.

(01:26:13):
And it's almost like a different playing
field when you reach a certain level.
And the questions and the solutions just
become a little bit--
there's a lot more gray area.
And so that's my thing
keeping me up at night now,
is trying to make the best decision for
the brand and legacy versus just the day
to day.
That's cool.

(01:26:33):
And you own your warehouse, correct?
Yes.
I'm so proud of that, too.
Because it's hard.
There's so much
warehousing space that's released.
And I think that a real important part
for entrepreneurship
is to own the spaces that you're in.
And even before I owned my warehouse, I
was exploring residential zoned RC

(01:26:54):
properties, residential commercial.
And I owned RC--
I believe RC 6 zoned property, which was
what I needed at that time
to get myself out of my parents' house.
So I think there's definitely ways to
scale even just your footprint
if you have a physical
product that you can fulfill.
And I highly recommend

(01:27:15):
owning your real estate.
It's the easiest way to grow your wealth.
Yeah, that's important.
That's important.
We actually randomly
happened to be in a private event
yesterday with Vern
Harnish talking about scaling up.
And I was curious for him to talk a lot
about start acting like your own PE
firm, your own private equity firm.

(01:27:36):
Easier said than done, right?
It's very easier said than done.
Dangle some million
dollars in front of me.
But it was intriguing to
hear that talk of private equity
will chew you up a little bit and outside
investment will chew you up.
But if you're willing to bet on yourself,
you cannot do acquisitions.
You can create subsidiary organizations.

(01:27:58):
You can go out and really grow your gross
sales accordingly with that.
And so that was an
intriguing part of his talk yesterday.
I'm a very, very dynamic speaker to be in
a small group with him,
quite frankly.
Oh, yeah.
And I think the other takeaway I got from
that was actually the fact

(01:28:19):
that at that level of PE firm is they
have a very strong
team of people around them
that they can bring into something and
solve all of the
problems as a conglomerate.
And I think that's one thing that a lot
of e-commerce
entrepreneurs that start off
fresh and new and by themselves, frankly,

(01:28:40):
like they get to this
point where they are
seeking some sort of expert team to solve
all these problems at a certain level.
So I think that's also something that I
think is lacking in the
industry at a certain age
and or at a certain level.
And I think that would be
super important to have.
Do you operate your business like with

(01:29:00):
any kind of framework
like EOS or any of those
kind of any kind of tools like that?
No, I am big on processes and
efficiencies, though.
So a lot of the times, like when
something is broken, I
always focus first on what is
the process that hasn't been defined or
what is the process
that needs to be enhanced.

(01:29:21):
And a lot of that has we just sit down,
kind of write something out.
Everyone who's involved
with that goes over it.
And then I save it on Dropbox.
And it's very rudimentary, I know.
And it gets interesting when new people
come in and we have to
onboard them to all those things.
But that has been I do at least know that
efficiency and processes
are a key to a successful

(01:29:41):
company, at least
having those things in place.
So it's super helpful for us.
What do you see as the next evolution for
either root one apparel
as yourself or yourself?
Where do you think
you're going to go next?
We're really focusing on
the sports industry right now.
And we've had a lot of evolution in food
and beverage, and that's been great.

(01:30:04):
I think that the next step
is working with sports teams.
And it's an interesting dynamic in the
sports world because
there are some players that
are pretty locked into deals and at the
higher level, like NFL, NHL, all of that.
But the teams really
want to work with us.
And so we're trying to navigate through
all of the logistical issues with that.

(01:30:26):
But the reassuring and exciting thing is
that there's been some
teams, some big teams that
have actually been able to work around
their agreements to work with us.
And that's been a very humbling thing.
We have some things coming up in the new
year, which I'm really
excited about with some
teams.
I'm going to have to get more involved in
the sports world
myself to learn about all
the different words.

(01:30:48):
But it's just really exciting to see that
there is a need for fresh
new design and perspective.
And also the fact that we are making
really cool and original
products that these teams
are very excited to have.
So I think that's the next evolution.
And then secondly, Maryland's been
keeping me busy, very
busy, but I want to expand to
a regional level.

(01:31:09):
And we have a lot of designs
in the works for other states.
And I'm just trying to tactfully announce
it because I don't
want to feel like a band
that's sold out when they get signed to a
major record label or
something like that.
But we have to spread
our wings a little bit.
And yeah, you mentioned the
other states that have pride.

(01:31:29):
And we have the ability
to expand our reach there.
Yeah, that's great.
That's great.
So where can our
listeners find you online?
So we are on a website called
rootwhenapparel.com
spelled out R-O-U-T-E.
You're going to hear my Baltimore accent.
R-O-U-T-E-O-N-E-A-P-P-A-R-E-L.com.

(01:31:52):
We're on Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok, you name it.
Instagram is personally
where I like to hang out.
We just reached 100,000
followers not too long ago.
Wow, congratulations.
Yes, I'm so excited.
Super pumped about that.
And yeah, and we're also-
And actually, my son was featured in some
reels on your, he did a video shoot.
Yes.
Oh yeah, that was so sweet.

(01:32:13):
Yeah, it's fun because I view ourselves
as a community brand.
So we're doing a lot of fun content all
around Maryland
subculture and all of that.
So that's a lot to be found.
If you want to get a boot camp of what
Maryland's all about, just
go to our Instagram page.
Yeah, we're on our website and feel free
to check us out on any
of those other social
mediums.
That's great.
That's great.

(01:32:34):
So we're taking some time out of your
very busy schedule to
come in and tell your story,
talk about your
website and your tech stack.
It's been really cool to hear the details
of how you've grown
this from your dorm room
up to where you are today as a real
leader of Maryland Apparel.
I think you are the top echelon of people
in the state that are
selling those products.

(01:32:55):
So you are the market.
So I really appreciate
you joining us today.
Thank you for joining the
Ecommerce Masters Podcast.
And for more information, you can come to
our website at www.groovecommerce.com.
Thank you.