Tomorrow's Talent- Branded Baron

It's been awhile since we interviewed our

Tomorrow's Talent.

Well, the moment has arrived....

I'm honored to say that I've met Joe, the Founder of Branded Baron and he's a humble individual. We had met at a sneaker event where he was sharing the Branded Baron love. I started talking about his clothing line, fashion, the Arts and etc. I can say this man is HUNGRY and PASSIONATE for his craft and that's something WOA respects.

You have to support those who are passionate about their craft.

So check out the interview

Branded Baron

1. What's the story behind Branded Baron?

In High School I had some shirts printed for clubs and some sports teams that I designed. Then in college, I started to design some shirts for the club's open mic events and was told by many people that I should sell them. I had definitely been thinking about designing my own items to wear. I've always liked cool looking graphic tees and I've always wanted my own art on apparel. When I graduated, my co-worker that I was on a marketing team with inspired me to focus on my creating my line. From there, I began doing my research, adding my friend to handle the financial end, the design, and purchasing designs that fit my line. Also, it helped that I worked at a screenprinter. In '08, I was selling my 1st design out of the trunk of my car. In '09 I released my first two lines.

2. When or how did you know the fashion industry was your path?

Probably at the last semester of college. I went to study graphic design, but realized I could implement what I learned to the fashion industry in the same form.

3. If Branded Baron could speak, how would Branded Baron describe its self?

It'll either say, "Branded Baron, I'm No Less Than Stunningly Fresh. If you Rock my clothes, you'd be Stunningly Fresh too" or "Branded Baron is for the music lovers, art lovers, t-shirt aficionados, jocks, nerds, fighter, skater, those looking to express themselves, but most important it's for YOU, the individual."

4. Did you come across any bumps during your journey in launching Branded Baron? If so, what happened? How did you overcome it?

I think no matter how prepared you are, you're always going to hit bumps in the road. When Branded Baron was launched, it was at the end of August and I felt like summer was the one for us. Also, when we launched we didn't have a couple of shirt due to the printer, even though the company was told ahead of time on the date the shirts would be needed. Needless to say, on that day a couple of shirts were not in stock and it sucked e-mailing people that their order is delayed. But, to make-up for this problem we decided to give away some limited edition shirts as a thank you and apology for the delay of their order. Luckily our next launch in the winter went a lot more smoothly.

5. What motto, slogan, or phrase you live by in motivating you to keep striving?

There's a couple that I really like and I've used some on the Branded Baron designs.

"Carpe Diem"- Latin for "Seize the day",
"To Live is To Fight",
"A Life not lived is lost",
"No Less Than Stunningly Fresh" pretty much means it has to be the cream of the crop and no mediocrity allowed.
One that I've always liked was by Bill Cosby,
" I don't know what the key to success is, but I do know the key to failure is trying to please everyone."

6. Do you consider what you do an ART?

Yes. Andy Warhol created silkscreen graphic art and my graphics are silkscreened. It's funny, during my 1st year of college, I had to do a research paper about "Who was my artistic kindred spirit" and little did I know that I would've used the same process that made Warhol famous with Branded Baron.

7. What would you say to the inspiring fashion designers or those trying to get into the fashion business?

First. DON'T RUSH! That's key for anything, especially if you want to do it right. You also have to take risks. You can't do everything on your own, so have a team that's a 100% behind you to help out. Anthony, our Vice President handles the boring important stuff like the financial info. Danette is my recent addition to the team who helps me with the designs. I have a couple of friends that help me with promoting/marketing. Most importantly HAVE FUN! Seriously, if your not enjoying what you're doing then find something that does make you happy. Yes, there will be stressful moments, but when I see an order that was an online purchase or sell in person it makes me happy to know that someone likes my designs. I have fun meeting new people, networking, and doing things that I probably wouldn't have done or thought about doing. I'm still young in this business.