hustlin’ For Us, By Us by WendyDayof theRapCoalition // www.wendyday.com
Dear Smoke D; This column is dedicated to you this month because of the fucked up situation you are in. I know how much you like to read, and I just finished a book called Display Of Power: How FUBU Changed A World Of Fashion, Branding, And Lifestyle. The book was so good, I read it through in one sitting. It was written by Daymond John and Daniel Paisner, and was written as if Daymond was sitting right there with me in my living room talking to me. There were so many outstanding lessons in his book for anyone in any industry looking to build a successful business. In the early and mid-90s, FUBU gear was everywhere. The buzz on this group of guys from Queens, New York was incredible. Everyone was wearing FUBU, all over the country. From LL Cool J rocking a FUBU hat in a Gap television commercial, to the hockey jerseys with a big 05 (to symbolize the 5 partners in FUBU at the time) on the front to counteract the fact that MTV was blocking clothing logos but weren’t savvy enough to block out the fronts of FUBU jerseys (fans would still know that their favorite artists were rocking FUBU jerseys by the 05 on the front), the brand was hotter than hot. And just as I was wondering whatever happened to FUBU, I found out that FUBU now owns Coogi, which is currently hotter than hot, proving it ain’t just luck. Daymond John started FUBU out of his house in Queens by making hats that he saw in a rap video but was unable to find in any store. He wasn’t able to find a certain type of hat that he saw in a De La Soul video, so he began making them himself. This led from making hats for himself and his friends, to making them and selling them outside malls, concerts, stores, and anyplace he could hustle them. Eventually, he began making clothing and asking artists to wear them so others would want to own the same clothes. It worked. His passion for fashion started as a way for him to make enough money to go on the road with artists and hang out, but soon turned into a profitable career. Daymond and his partners learned as they went along. While not the best way to start a business or build an empire, their tenacity and dedication led them down a path to building one of the hottest clothing lines that existed in Hip Hop culture. The many lessons Daymond learned, he shares openly in his book. He discusses his humble beginnings and his life lessons learned: such as the importance of family, and of the hassles and headaches usually associated with making “easy money.” He learned early on that scams and drug deals weren’t as financially impressive as they appeared to be because the risk that came with them was a high price to pay for the return. He learned the importance of dedication and commitment to doing anything right that was worth doing—in fact, he felt that “anything worth doing, was worth overdoing.” Daymond learned the importance of passion and how that drives you even when things are difficult. There are many lessons in this book worth learning and applying to our own everyday situations, but my personal favorite is what Daymond terms “The Geography of Cool.” Timing runs all businesses and trends. What is cool in New York (or most big cities) one day, eventually filters out around the rest of the country slowly. It spreads from area to area as the word of mouth spreads. So, for example, something hits New York City and a couple of months later it’ll filter out across the rest of the country. “It might hit next in DC or Philadelphia, before snaking its way down to Atlanta, or Orlando, or Miami. Or maybe it’ll pop out in L.A. and spread east,” says Daymond. “And by the time it hits the heartland, there’s something new to replace it, already making noise in the big city. It takes word-of-mouth, buzz, and the slow burn marketing tools promoters have been using for centuries.” Daymond points out how if you are there when this stuff shows up on the radar in various places, there’s money to be made if you are the first one there to sell it to them. The book points out how the “buzz” was created at FUBU. “Without really realizing it, we did what we could to help it along. We didn’t think of it as marketing, or branding, or advertising, didn’t even think of it as a strategy, but we kept pushing the line in every way available to us. We wore our clothes ourselves, out at the clubs and at concerts, so we became our own walking billboards. We got out friends to wear our stuff too, and since NY was the center of our universe and the locus of Hip Hop culture, a lot of our 26 // OZONE MAG
friends were starting to make some noise of their own, so it worked out well for us that as all eyes were starting to fix on them they were fixing on our t-shirts at the same time,” recalls Daymond John of the early FUBU days. Another lesson Daymond shares came from his time as a waiter at Red Lobster (pre-FUBU). Rather than raise prices, the company chose to put one less shrimp on each plate when someone ordered the Shrimp Scampi. No one noticed, yet it saved the restaurant chain millions of dollars each year. “The lesson, to a lowly waiter hoping to become something more than a lowly waiter, was that little things mean a lot. They add up. It’s basic, but all important,” shares Daymond on his lessons learned prior to starting FUBU. It was his first lesson in keeping the share holders happy, yet not pissing off the customer with a price increase. The lesson that Daymond shares that impacted him enough to use as the title of his book, was “display of power.” While in Vegas at the all-important MAGIC Convention for men’s fashion, he learned an important aspect of power: utilizing it. He noticed two antique Chevy sports coupes side by side, stopped at a light. “One of the cars was being driven by a little old lady, just as polite as could be. The light turned green and you could see her ease back gently on the gas, but she was blocking traffic. And this other car was being driven by this young guy in his mid-twenties and he was just cutting it up. Fish-tailing, burning out, basically drag racing to each stoplight. My philosophical cab driver turned and said, ‘Look at that. Same two cars, but this one here, he’s gonna get a display of power ticket,’ pointing at the car being driven by the young guy. The cabbie explained that this little old lady didn’t have the slightest idea of the power she was sitting on, but this young kid was all full of adrenaline and ready to go. Same car, same engine, and this one’s just a beast.” Daymond recalls how it hit him then and there that “two different people, all outward appearances they might look the same, but inside they just have no idea what they’re capable of. Inside they have the same ability to turn it on and fire it up, but it’s how we turn it on and fire it up that makes all the difference.” Daymond goes on to explain how the world is full of talented people who are technically proficient but lack the drive or the instincts or the contacts to make a meaningful impact. He discussed FUBU’s competition and how they couldn’t get the right artists to wear their clothes, or get their clothes into the clubs. They were unable to “connect the power of music with the power of persuasion, the power to remind people of times, places, smells, colors, styles, and the fact that music packs such an emotional charge that if you find a way to connect it to the consumer market you’ll be so far ahead of your competitors they couldn’t even find you with a map.” Outstanding branding advice, from the king of Hip Hop gear. The last lesson that Daymond shared in this book that I will mention here, are his staffing philosophies, and his ability to hire and fire as necessary. Regarding staffing, Daymond believes in hiring the best people for each job. He also believes in learning every aspect of the company and each job in the company. “A lot of managers and executives are held hostage by their employees because they don’t know their own business. They’ve never worked the line. At FUBU, we knew the drill from the ground up, because we’d done it all. Me and my boys, we worked the mail room. We cut fabric. We designed new lines. We came up with the marketing plan. Even as the big money started to roll in, we did it all—and we still do it all,” he reminds us. “Display Of Power” is a fascinating and well written insight into the world of FUBU, but is also applicable to all of us who run businesses. While it was interesting to see where Daymond John came from and where he’s going, it was more interesting to have him share how others can succeed in business by showing what worked for him when building his empire and one of the hottest clothing brands of the Nineties. //