August 11, 2020 • 23 mins
FYI!!! Carla Marie is no longer the host of a morning show in Seattle but she is still supporting small businesses in every way possible. She’s even started her own small business with her radio cohost and best friend, Anthony. All of the links below will help you stay up to date!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host, Carla Marie.
Each week I talked to someone different who is following
a passion outside of their day job. And if this
is your very first episode, welcome, I appreciate you being here.
If this is your hundred and whatever episode, thank you
for being here from the beginning and for checking out
all of these episodes. And if you've been here from
(00:22):
day one, you know that every single person on this
podcast has their own unique story and I'm currently in
the middle of writing my own. I mean, we all are.
But a few weeks ago, I was let go of
my day job, which was hosting a morning show in Seattle.
It is currently August, so I don't know when you're
listening to this, but that's my current situation as I
record this episode. But I've got so many more things
(00:45):
coming up, and I put the links below on how
you can find me and support me and and follow
all the cool things that I'm doing. My co host
Anthony and I from my morning show are doing a
road trip across the country and we're gonna podcast the
whole thing, and we've been streaming live on Twitch. And
I would appreciate at it if you could check that out,
So those links are below. Thank you very much for that.
But this week's guest is kind of like a long
(01:07):
lost sibling but not really. He is my godfather's other
godchild and it's pretty cool how we realized that. And
Derek's story is incredible. He's a workaholic and he's nineteen
years old. Yeah, I know you don't hear that very often.
This is Derek's story for a lot of people. You know,
why are you? When? Do you know what you want
to do? And this is something you want to do?
(01:29):
You talk about do it. I'm a hustle side side
Hustle do it. I'm a hustlesd SID hustle do it.
I'm a hustle sd S hustlove. Come on ask about
me yo yo. It's the Side Hustless podcast. We call
a the Roof. So are I think we're kind of
related or we like brother and sister and we don't
(01:49):
know about it? Is that what this is? I mean,
I guess you can say that, but not technically like okay,
So I want to right, I want to explain what
the hell I mean by that before we get into
what urban lifestyle is So Derek emailed me last week
and was like, Hey, we have the same godfather, and
I was like, oh my god. I felt like I
just got an email finding out that my dad has
(02:10):
another kid I don't know about, but I have known
about you. I will say that Michael was my godfather first,
which means I'm way older, but just saying when new email,
and I was like, oh my god, this is so cool.
And you were telling me just about your company and
what you're launching, and I was the one that was like, wait,
this is a side hustle. I got to talk to you,
and then I started learning so much more of your
(02:31):
story and the depth that this goes in and why
you wanted to do this. And I think it's going
to be really exciting for everyone to hear about you
and how hard you work and how this is kind
of just the beginning for you. So let's hear about
what urban lifestyle is for everyone checking you out for
the first time. Urban lifestyle is a brand of trends,
not fat So it's everything that's in style now that
(02:52):
shouldn't go out of style for a while, and stuff
that's like hip and urban that you can find like
anywhere but mostly like the city vibe you know I'm
getting of course, so and obviously we've got the link
below for people who want to check out your website
and all our products that they can click that. But
what made you want to go into fashion in the beginning?
Because you're at Montclair State University right now? Right? Yeah?
(03:13):
What ye're are you at school? I'm going to be
a sophomore. So you're how old are you? Okay, you're
officially the youngest person i've hand in this podcast. Your nineteen.
This is your side hustle. I know you're you know,
your full time student, you have other jobs as well.
But what made you go into fashion? So they all
started back in middle school in eighth grade, Um, I
lost two of the most important people in my life,
(03:35):
both my grandmother's, within like six months of each other,
and I had to take a sewing class like as
an elective, Like there was like no choice. So Caucus okay, Well,
the middle school and high school connected, so it's like
all the same building. It's my one grandmother told me
how to sew when I was really young, so it
was something that made me like give me a little
bit of closure. Knowing how to do something and like
being close to her and whatnot, and I like excelled
(03:57):
at it amazingly, Like people were like, how do you
do this? How do you do that? And it was
just like something that came kind of naturally. That's great,
And you were you sorry you were in high school
and that happened or middle school? No, eighth grade. Okay,
So I was like fourteen fifteen at the time, like
an expert sewer. In eighth grade, I can't even put
a button back on a shirt that I have. So
obviously your grandma taught you this a little bit, but
(04:19):
you found that you just had this natural ability to sell. Yeah,
Like I wouldn't like on my free time like so
something and I'd be like doing something else. But like
it was just so weird that I just got it
so quick. That's incredible. So in that moment, did you say, Okay,
I want to do fashion? Like what was the next
step for you as an eighth grader? Um, So, I
(04:39):
really didn't know what I wanted to do. When I
got into high school, I was like, all right, let's
continue with the sewing type of deal. It took fashion
as a freshman, and then I kind of like let
it go because I really liked history and I like
music and I didn't. I was just like kind of lost,
and I was like, all right, well, let's try teaching.
And I got an internship last year with elementary students
and it was great. But it's too organized, I guess
(05:00):
to like, okay, every day take your math books out,
and I cannot do that, Like I need change, I
need something like I'm running around in circles like I
just couldn't do it. I love the kids, I love
like that everything. It was a great experience, but just
it was not for me. And I love shopping, like
I had a real issue during the pandemic. It was
just my ups driver is like really good, thank god. Okay,
So take me back to middle school in high school though,
(05:21):
when you were a student sewing what as a guy,
I'm assuming that wasn't the easiest thing for other students
to comprehend, you know, like people would say crap, and
it's just like it would bother me, and then at
the end of the day, I'd be like, well, you
know what, I'm good at it, you suck. So who's
like getting the A right now? And not that that's
like a big deal. But like, listen, you might be
(05:41):
good at football, I'm not exactly, so like that was
just my thing. What gave you that, like that attitude
to be able to do that to people to like,
so I'm good at this. I'm a really big fan
of like Lady Gaga ever since I've been like little,
and my mom actually put me on her and she's
just like super chill and she's like, just do your thing,
and she actually loves fashion, as you can tell. Yeah,
well you've met her, right, Yeah, Gaga was pretty awesome.
(06:03):
It's funny Gaga grew up listening to Elvis Duran in
the Morning Show, which is the show One Hunter in
New York where I got my start in radio. And yeah,
I mean, we're all a bunch of kids in Jersey,
really who you know grew up on the same thing.
And at the end of the day, Gaga is no
different than you loving fashion. I'm sure you also love
music too, And look where she is. That doesn't mean
(06:23):
that you can't get there. I mean you're your nineteen,
You have a lot ahead of you, a lot, trust me,
lean on me for advice. It gets crazy, but enjoy
it now, enjoy diving into your passion and learning as
much as you can, which it obviously seems like you're doing.
So when you gave up on sewing and you were
in or not keep up but kind of just adjusted
(06:46):
your your likes and what you were focusing on when
you were in high school is that when you were
like maybe i'll be a teacher, um kind of like again,
like it was the whole thing of like the stereotypes
and when now that was kind of like leaning me
down and then I was like I was getting you. Yeah,
And I go to school at Montclair. Now I'm a
fashion major and there's like two or three other guys
(07:06):
with me, and everybody else is a girl, which is
like not a big deal. It's like whatever, and I
talked to anybody, I'll talk to the wall, Like it's
not a bigger deal. But it's easier way a menty girl.
So it's fine. But it's just it's annoying that I know,
you know this now and growing out of that part
of your life, but that kids were doing that to
you and like making you feel like what you believed in,
what you had a passion, and like there's so many
people who wasn't right right there's so many people who
(07:27):
aren't like you, who do drop their passion because of
people like that and don't pick it back up. So
it's awesome that you were able to pick it back up.
And now you're actually turning it into a career and
it's still happening today. It's like, not sure, but don't
listen to those assholes. You're fine. So you're you're doing
fashion at Montclair, You're assuming you're only how many semesters
into this major too, and you decide I'm gonna start
(07:50):
my own clothing line already, So what the hell made
you do that? All right? Well, you know there's a
pandemic going on. It's still going on. It's kind of crazy.
And I actually sarted working for um Lush at the
American Dream in New Jersey. That's Lush. Yes, you started
working if they weren't open, So I started working in
the other mare Garden State Plaza, and um super cool.
(08:13):
They are awesome. It's an awesome company. And I can't
say that about a lot of jobs. There are an
Arsong company. Um, so right before Valentine and say, I'm
like training, I'm doing great, and then all of a
sudden it's like the pandemic and they're like, okay, we
have to let you go, and I'm like all right, yeah.
So it was kind of like a hit in the phase,
like our store wasn't bringing in enough like anybody because
we didn't open yet, so they're like, we can't keep you,
(08:34):
but when we do open, we want you back. So
I had like nothing going for me. Now I'm only
in school and you know, and no one knows what.
Don't say you have nothing going for you at the time.
Only in school, that's a big thing. Well at the time,
you can only watch Tiger Kings so many times in
the office and like it's great, but I'm not that
kind of person that's just gonna like sit watch TV
(08:55):
all day. Like I was like scratching out my windows,
like trying to get out. And of course, like my
both my partenters are kind of like compromise mutant systems too,
So I did was like I'm not going out or
if I will go out. I went to Starbucks at
like three o'clock in the morning. We did online like
it was intense. Later in the pandemic, around like May June,
I decided to quarantine with like to my friends so
we went down to my friend's shore house, the Jersey shore.
(09:15):
Of course. Yeah, anyone listening that from Jersey right now,
you know where their heads went. They immediately thought, yeah, which,
you know what, I will say, the show pretty much
had an accurate depiction of what the hell goes on
now there. Yeah, you're right, although we don't all look
like that. It does get crazy like that, but we
don't get that slop either. Yeah, that's true. So you're
(09:36):
you're staying at your friends shore house, a few of
you and you and you just start a clothing line,
like how does this happen? So again, nobody was doing anything.
So we all decided to take some online courses first summer.
So it was kind of funny. We're like back into routine,
like things are getting back to normal, and one night
we're just sitting on the deck and we're like, okay,
like what do you want to do in life? Like
all right, yeah, you want to be an engineer, you
(09:56):
want to work for the FBI, but like really, like
what do you want to do? So I like, you know,
like I want to make a name for myself. I
just don't want to be like working at Forever twenty
one until I'm forty two. I want to like be
known for something. So we were talking and like it
felt like minutes and it was just ours and I
was like, you know what, let's start figuring out how
we can do this. And they've been helping me. They're awesome.
(10:18):
I can't even tell you. And here we are in
that moment when you guys were having that conversation. What
was your end goal? Like, what was your I want? Yeah,
I don't want to say the fame because that's so
like of course, but but I just like wanted to
be I'm so creative well known if you don't have
to say, well, I just feel like that's so like,
oh my god, I want to be like, no, I'm
(10:40):
not like that, but I just want to like share
my gifts with other people. You want to be success
if I can. Yeah, No, I wanted to be successful
and I wanted to share what I can do with
other people. You don't have to use the word famous.
That's amazing and there's nothing wrong with that. And I
think most people want that, or most people should want that,
should want to share what they have with other people.
That's what I do, That's what I want to do,
(11:00):
and I do it, and I'm proud of what I
do and you should be too, and I know that
you are. But that's totally okay to say this is
what I want. So in that moment, did you just say, Okay,
I'm going to create a clothing line. Did you know
the name? Did you know what was going to be?
Urban Lifestyle by Derek Jnson? Like what happened? All right,
So let's back it up a little bit. So April,
right before I got like fired from Lash, I had
(11:21):
my discount still, so you know what, we're going to
stock up. So I ordered like five hundred dollars with
the stuff, and I was like, you know what, I'm
like super bored. Like I said, let's like start a
YouTube channel. Now that I think about it, like I
watched one the other day, I kind of want to
take them down because I'm like, oh my god, what
were you thinking? I had no idea what the hell
I was doing. So I had the name Urban Lifestyle. Again,
I think it was just like I picked it out
(11:41):
of the hat again, don't know anything, but I had
to put my name in it for some recognition. So
it started from there and then it just like carried
on and carried on, and then we were down the shore.
I was like doing like a little vlog and I
was like, I'm not enjoying this anymore, Like I don't
want to make videos. I'm not Liza Coachy or David Dobrick, Like,
come on, now, take me into your brain as a
fashion designer, because I've had over a hundred creatives on
(12:03):
this podcast, and everyone is different and how they create.
As someone who is actually designing or coming up with
ideas for fashion, like, how do you do that? Do
you have a certain mindset you need to be in
how does that happen? So the whole thing is that
you can't make something that you want to wear and
hope that other people want to wear it. Okay, but
you can put your own twist on it. I like
that you have to know what's end before it's end,
(12:25):
and that's like the whole channel hard. Yeah, but that's
also art, like you just got to figure it out.
Do you use a certain program to design? Do you
draw it? How do you design? Ever? So I like
to draw first and then I'll transfer it to um
like my ipan. I have an apple pencil. I love
apple apples, like create for creative thinkers, and then I
use a program called can Vanna or convana something. Yes,
(12:47):
oh my god, yes, I use Canada for all of
our social media, for Anthony and I for our show,
for anything that I do for this podcast, for literally everything,
I use Canva and it's amazing. So it's pretty cool
to know that you've been able to do all of
this just working from home and using programs that are
available to everyone. You're able to launch your own clothing line. Yeah,
(13:10):
but as you can sell. I don't think I'm like
out there like I just like I learned something. I'm like, okay,
like I don't need to know the name. I just
need to know how to know. But so, I mean, listen,
you're you're doing it. It doesn't matter what was the
first thing you created for Urban Lifestyle. I think I
just made the basic urban lifestyle shirt, and then I
think the next one is be a good human. I
love it. That's my thing. I say it at the
end of every podcast. But yeah, like, just what the
(13:31):
world's a crazy place right now? Now, Listen any chance
you can spread positivity and tell people and use your
creativity and your artwork to do it. That's amazing. If
someone's listening right now and they're like, I want to
start my own clothing line. Where do you get a printer?
How do you do that? Are you the one Derek
shipping things out? Like how does that work? So it's
all from me right now. I'm also getting some like
wholesale stuff from like other people and like fulfilling that. No,
(13:53):
it's all me. I have my own like vinyl printer
going thing. I don't know what it's called, like trying
to look anyways, so like put the vinyl in it
like cuts it out. So you're doing all of it. Yeah,
and I'm balancing two jobs with it right now. Okay,
So you have always worked a lot. I know you
were telling me that your first job when you were
at fifteen, you had five jobs or something around that age.
(14:13):
So I got my first job at fifteen, um like
a local ice cream place, and then after that I
got like kind of like a daycare type of thing
during the summer, like a summer camp. So I did that,
and then the next summer I was like, Okay, well
if I could do that, I can do three more,
and then just started like adding up and like by
the end of the summer, I was like, oh, like,
look at all this money and like I didn't even need,
like it was just like you. I was like, I
(14:35):
want those shoes. That let me buy those shoes for myself,
Like I don't have to be like mom dad. So
I liked having my own money. Yeah, once you kind
of get bit by that bug. Knowing like you don't
have to ask other people for things, like when you're
at age and you and your parents, you know you
don't have to ask them from money to do you
think it is very exciting and it does make you
want to work more and earn extra money. And I'm
going to sound so old when I say this, but
(14:57):
it's refreshing seeing someone you're age want to put in
the work, not expecting that they're going to be an
overnight success or expecting that they don't have to do
these smaller jobs to get ahead and learn things. And
I know you did a lot of those jobs because
you also liked learning different things. And don't lose that.
Do not ever lose that. Listen. I'm definitely a hustler, yeah,
(15:20):
see exactly. But also at the same time, I would
say maybe not now you can keep hustling and work
in your house off right now, but don't let it
get to a point where you don't actually enjoyed life
around you, because that's something that I've done. You put
all your work into a business or something. And everyone
who's listening right now knows that I lost my job
two weeks ago and then exactly it could all be gone.
So make sure you're enjoying, even though you love what
(15:42):
you do, enjoying life around you. That is my my
older Gods sister advice for you. But no, I totally
get that though. Like I was telling you, I was
working for prom girl and I got an email. I
was literally in my dorm and was hanging out with
my friends and we were talking and she's like, oh,
I need dressed for something. I was like, oh, go
to prom girl. I was like, let me see if
there's an email, because, like you know, you just automatically
(16:04):
signed for emails when you work somewhere. So I'm like
looking and I get this email and it was like
literally five minutes before. It was like such a coincidence,
and it's like, sorry, we'll miss you, but check out
our other locations. So I'm like, what does that mean?
The location you were working out closed down. Yeah, and
that's how Yes, they didn't tell anybody, So it was like,
(16:25):
so I texted was it was like ten o'clock at night.
I kind of feel bad about it, but I was like, hey,
am I coming in to work on Tuesday and she's
like yeah, And I was like, are you sure because
I just got this email and she was I told
her what was this January? Okay, So people who don't
know Prom Girl explain like growing up in Jersey, like
I would get the catalog and I know it's not
(16:46):
just a Jersey thing, but the prom dresses were very Jersey.
People don't really dress the way that those progresses and
other parts of the country. Tom is also different all
around the world at all around the country. It is,
so what did you do for Prom Girl? Flora Hell
hanging out? I would do like a little bit of everything,
and it's kind of like my boss is like personal
assistant at some points, you know. I mean I really
(17:08):
liked it. Like they were like, oh, we need a mirror,
go to the store and be like okay, I'll be
back in like a half hour. Like it was like whatever,
But I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot.
I met some pretty cool people. I actually worked with
some of the designers. Uh shrry Hill, Yeah, shry Hill
is a big one. But again, like I got this
job through a friend, Like I didn't even know what
prom girl was and she's like, do it like you'll
(17:28):
like it, and I was like, uh, and I did
it and I loved it. But going back sherry Hill, Fabriana,
and someone who was really cool is uh Colonnie Helen
Keller from dance poemes. Oh, that's awesome. So you got
to work with like pretty decent name brands, But what
made you want to do your own thing? Like you
clearly can easily continue working for other brands and crush it. Why, specifically, Derek,
(17:51):
did you want to do your own thing and create
urban lifestyle? So when I'm working for somebody and I'm
gonna cashier, I'm like always on top of my numbers,
and like if you start outing and you're like you
round up like maybe five dollars, if it was like
it's there, you go and you get like twenty of those,
that's a lot of money and a matter of what
thirty minutes because like cashots fast, Like we don't we
(18:12):
don't joke around in New Jersey and I'm like making
money hand over fist there. You know, I'm like, oh
my god, and I'm getting paid like ten dollars an hour,
and where's all this money going in my bless his pocket?
Which like good for them, Like, you know, that's how
companies work. And anyone at Amazon working in a warehouse
would tell you how does Jeff Bezos have billions of dollars?
But I'm making a minimum wage. But that's how companies work.
(18:33):
Not that I was getting tired of it, but I'm
still learning. And I was like, you know what, like
I can be doing this, not that I don't need
to be standing there for like that ten dollars, but
like why am I not doing it? When we have
the time. Now, you know, you've been involving. We've all
been given some in some way or another gift of
time at the moment, you know, to have as many
people will say, oh my god, but I can't do this,
(18:54):
I can't go out and do these things you're given
this time. We always complain about how much we've got
going on. I know it's not easy being a full
time student, even working from home, doing home doing this,
but we've all been given this gift of time right now,
and it's like, what are you going to do with it?
If you do nothing with it, that's fine, but you
have the time now. I know I have extra time now,
(19:15):
not only I don't have to work, but what am
I doing with it? And I fully understand the you
want to see the work you're putting into something actually
have an effect on you and not someone else. And
I get that. I fully understand it. And I'm at
that point now too. It's like, Okay, well I've been
doing all this work, but where has it been going.
Let's see what happens when I actually invest the work
in the time and myself. So the fact that you're
(19:37):
nineteen years old and you can realize that is amazing.
So how have you been marketing urban lifestyle mostly through
like Instagram ads and like email promotions stuff like that.
Have you been buying Instagram ads? You have been. It's
just incredible as some like as someone who just launched in,
someone who I don't want to say you're green to this,
like this is your thing, you know what you're doing,
(19:58):
But I think it's amazing that you're in best thing
in yourself already. Well that's the whole thing. If I
can invest two hundred dollars and then make a thousand,
I mean, not that that's happening right now, can say
that happen? Maybe it is. Well, go make it happen everyone.
The link is below and they can help you out,
which is really cool. Have you been seeing a return
from the Instagram turnaround? My one friend Marian Press, she
(20:21):
was actually an Orange is the New Black, so she's
kind of like a familiar face. She does like a
whole bunch of other works. She's awesome. So I was like, listen,
I needs you to like doing me a favor. I
was like, just stand wherever you want, let me take
a photo of you, like wearing my stuff, and like
let's make your happen. And she's like, oh my god.
Of course. So she's like what else you got? Like,
what else you got? And she just kept pulling more
and more stuff out of my car and I was
like listen, like I just need to take one photo.
(20:41):
So it was like three or four hours and she
was just awesome. What date did you officially launch? We
started July six, so you're like a month old. Oh
my god, we're doing like pretty good. So you're the
youngest human who has been on this podcast, and you
are probably the youngest business that has been on this spot.
Really all right, well, I'm breaking two records ready, since
(21:01):
it's insane. In the one month then that you have
been in business, has there been anything that has gone
epically wrong? Yeah? I printed out the wrong shipping labels
and I guess I don't know how again, I'm just
like super tired. At the end of the day, I'm
like I need to get these out. And I had
about like twenty five orders let's say waters, and some
of them are boxes. Some of them are like those
(21:23):
on Polly mailers. Yeah, I put like a box for
Polly Miller, and it was just I got to the
post office. The mom was like, you didn't pay for this,
and I'm like, no I did. She's like, no, you
paid for a box. So I was like, oh my god,
you're kidding me. So I had to like literally like
trying to take it off wasn't working. I had to
like call usps. It was just a whole big, like
kind of nightmare. Yeah. So I'm like last night I
(21:45):
was packing up some waters and I was like Okay,
this is a polly meal, let's put it on this side.
But it was like, really the only big thing so far,
I mean a gain. If that's the worst that's going
to happen, Yeah, that's amazing. Well listen, I know more
will come, but you'll get through them and you will
learn them. And that's how this works. And it's exciting
to be a part of your journey. So early on,
you're gonna have to check in with me and the
(22:06):
rest of the side Hustlers community and let us know
how this goes. Because it's cool seeing your drive and
your passion and what you want to do in this
industry and just being someone so young in the fashion
industry and what it's going to be like for you.
Your journey is going to be incredible for everyone to watch.
And I'm excited for that because I know you have
you have big brands that you look up to. You
(22:26):
told me for Sacci is one of them, and that's
that's a big name. So it's going to be incredible
to see what you can do. This is exciting. Thank
you and thank you for being here, Derek, appreciate it,
and thank you. Thank you so much for listening to
side Hustlers and checking out Derek's company, Urban Lifestyle again.
That link is below. You can follow him on Instagram.
(22:47):
You don't always have to monetarily support people. I know.
For me right now, I appreciate you following all of
the Instagram accounts below and just following us on Twitch.
That kind of stuff is super super important. You don't
have to spend money to support companies, and I think
any small business owner will tell you that, especially right now.
But hey, if you have the money to spend, go
ahead and support that way do It's obviously always great.
(23:10):
Thank you again for being here. This podcast has been
produced by Houston Chilly and until next week, be a
good human and keep hustling.
Welcome to the Side Hustlers podcast. I'm your host, Carla Marie.
Each week I talked to someone different who is following
a passion outside of their day job. And if this
is your very first episode, welcome, I appreciate you being here.
If this is your hundred and whatever episode, thank you
for being here from the beginning and for checking out
all of these episodes. And if you've been here from
(00:22):
day one, you know that every single person on this
podcast has their own unique story and I'm currently in
the middle of writing my own. I mean, we all are.
But a few weeks ago, I was let go of
my day job, which was hosting a morning show in Seattle.
It is currently August, so I don't know when you're
listening to this, but that's my current situation as I
record this episode. But I've got so many more things
(00:45):
coming up, and I put the links below on how
you can find me and support me and and follow
all the cool things that I'm doing. My co host
Anthony and I from my morning show are doing a
road trip across the country and we're gonna podcast the
whole thing, and we've been streaming live on Twitch. And
I would appreciate at it if you could check that out,
So those links are below. Thank you very much for that.
But this week's guest is kind of like a long
(01:07):
lost sibling but not really. He is my godfather's other
godchild and it's pretty cool how we realized that. And
Derek's story is incredible. He's a workaholic and he's nineteen
years old. Yeah, I know you don't hear that very often.
This is Derek's story for a lot of people. You know,
why are you? When? Do you know what you want
to do? And this is something you want to do?
(01:29):
You talk about do it. I'm a hustle side side
Hustle do it. I'm a hustlesd SID hustle do it.
I'm a hustle sd S hustlove. Come on ask about
me yo yo. It's the Side Hustless podcast. We call
a the Roof. So are I think we're kind of
related or we like brother and sister and we don't
(01:49):
know about it? Is that what this is? I mean,
I guess you can say that, but not technically like okay,
So I want to right, I want to explain what
the hell I mean by that before we get into
what urban lifestyle is So Derek emailed me last week
and was like, Hey, we have the same godfather, and
I was like, oh my god. I felt like I
just got an email finding out that my dad has
(02:10):
another kid I don't know about, but I have known
about you. I will say that Michael was my godfather first,
which means I'm way older, but just saying when new email,
and I was like, oh my god, this is so cool.
And you were telling me just about your company and
what you're launching, and I was the one that was like, wait,
this is a side hustle. I got to talk to you,
and then I started learning so much more of your
(02:31):
story and the depth that this goes in and why
you wanted to do this. And I think it's going
to be really exciting for everyone to hear about you
and how hard you work and how this is kind
of just the beginning for you. So let's hear about
what urban lifestyle is for everyone checking you out for
the first time. Urban lifestyle is a brand of trends,
not fat So it's everything that's in style now that
(02:52):
shouldn't go out of style for a while, and stuff
that's like hip and urban that you can find like
anywhere but mostly like the city vibe you know I'm
getting of course, so and obviously we've got the link
below for people who want to check out your website
and all our products that they can click that. But
what made you want to go into fashion in the beginning?
Because you're at Montclair State University right now? Right? Yeah?
(03:13):
What ye're are you at school? I'm going to be
a sophomore. So you're how old are you? Okay, you're
officially the youngest person i've hand in this podcast. Your nineteen.
This is your side hustle. I know you're you know,
your full time student, you have other jobs as well.
But what made you go into fashion? So they all
started back in middle school in eighth grade, Um, I
lost two of the most important people in my life,
(03:35):
both my grandmother's, within like six months of each other,
and I had to take a sewing class like as
an elective, Like there was like no choice. So Caucus okay, Well,
the middle school and high school connected, so it's like
all the same building. It's my one grandmother told me
how to sew when I was really young, so it
was something that made me like give me a little
bit of closure. Knowing how to do something and like
being close to her and whatnot, and I like excelled
(03:57):
at it amazingly, Like people were like, how do you
do this? How do you do that? And it was
just like something that came kind of naturally. That's great,
And you were you sorry you were in high school
and that happened or middle school? No, eighth grade. Okay,
So I was like fourteen fifteen at the time, like
an expert sewer. In eighth grade, I can't even put
a button back on a shirt that I have. So
obviously your grandma taught you this a little bit, but
(04:19):
you found that you just had this natural ability to sell. Yeah,
Like I wouldn't like on my free time like so
something and I'd be like doing something else. But like
it was just so weird that I just got it
so quick. That's incredible. So in that moment, did you say, Okay,
I want to do fashion? Like what was the next
step for you as an eighth grader? Um, So, I
(04:39):
really didn't know what I wanted to do. When I
got into high school, I was like, all right, let's
continue with the sewing type of deal. It took fashion
as a freshman, and then I kind of like let
it go because I really liked history and I like
music and I didn't. I was just like kind of lost,
and I was like, all right, well, let's try teaching.
And I got an internship last year with elementary students
and it was great. But it's too organized, I guess
(05:00):
to like, okay, every day take your math books out,
and I cannot do that, Like I need change, I
need something like I'm running around in circles like I
just couldn't do it. I love the kids, I love
like that everything. It was a great experience, but just
it was not for me. And I love shopping, like
I had a real issue during the pandemic. It was
just my ups driver is like really good, thank god. Okay,
So take me back to middle school in high school though,
(05:21):
when you were a student sewing what as a guy,
I'm assuming that wasn't the easiest thing for other students
to comprehend, you know, like people would say crap, and
it's just like it would bother me, and then at
the end of the day, I'd be like, well, you
know what, I'm good at it, you suck. So who's
like getting the A right now? And not that that's
like a big deal. But like, listen, you might be
(05:41):
good at football, I'm not exactly, so like that was
just my thing. What gave you that, like that attitude
to be able to do that to people to like,
so I'm good at this. I'm a really big fan
of like Lady Gaga ever since I've been like little,
and my mom actually put me on her and she's
just like super chill and she's like, just do your thing,
and she actually loves fashion, as you can tell. Yeah,
well you've met her, right, Yeah, Gaga was pretty awesome.
(06:03):
It's funny Gaga grew up listening to Elvis Duran in
the Morning Show, which is the show One Hunter in
New York where I got my start in radio. And yeah,
I mean, we're all a bunch of kids in Jersey,
really who you know grew up on the same thing.
And at the end of the day, Gaga is no
different than you loving fashion. I'm sure you also love
music too, And look where she is. That doesn't mean
(06:23):
that you can't get there. I mean you're your nineteen,
You have a lot ahead of you, a lot, trust me,
lean on me for advice. It gets crazy, but enjoy
it now, enjoy diving into your passion and learning as
much as you can, which it obviously seems like you're doing.
So when you gave up on sewing and you were
in or not keep up but kind of just adjusted
(06:46):
your your likes and what you were focusing on when
you were in high school is that when you were
like maybe i'll be a teacher, um kind of like again,
like it was the whole thing of like the stereotypes
and when now that was kind of like leaning me
down and then I was like I was getting you. Yeah,
And I go to school at Montclair. Now I'm a
fashion major and there's like two or three other guys
(07:06):
with me, and everybody else is a girl, which is
like not a big deal. It's like whatever, and I
talked to anybody, I'll talk to the wall, Like it's
not a bigger deal. But it's easier way a menty girl.
So it's fine. But it's just it's annoying that I know,
you know this now and growing out of that part
of your life, but that kids were doing that to
you and like making you feel like what you believed in,
what you had a passion, and like there's so many
people who wasn't right right there's so many people who
(07:27):
aren't like you, who do drop their passion because of
people like that and don't pick it back up. So
it's awesome that you were able to pick it back up.
And now you're actually turning it into a career and
it's still happening today. It's like, not sure, but don't
listen to those assholes. You're fine. So you're you're doing
fashion at Montclair, You're assuming you're only how many semesters
into this major too, and you decide I'm gonna start
(07:50):
my own clothing line already, So what the hell made
you do that? All right? Well, you know there's a
pandemic going on. It's still going on. It's kind of crazy.
And I actually sarted working for um Lush at the
American Dream in New Jersey. That's Lush. Yes, you started
working if they weren't open, So I started working in
the other mare Garden State Plaza, and um super cool.
(08:13):
They are awesome. It's an awesome company. And I can't
say that about a lot of jobs. There are an
Arsong company. Um, so right before Valentine and say, I'm
like training, I'm doing great, and then all of a
sudden it's like the pandemic and they're like, okay, we
have to let you go, and I'm like all right, yeah.
So it was kind of like a hit in the phase,
like our store wasn't bringing in enough like anybody because
we didn't open yet, so they're like, we can't keep you,
(08:34):
but when we do open, we want you back. So
I had like nothing going for me. Now I'm only
in school and you know, and no one knows what.
Don't say you have nothing going for you at the time.
Only in school, that's a big thing. Well at the time,
you can only watch Tiger Kings so many times in
the office and like it's great, but I'm not that
kind of person that's just gonna like sit watch TV
(08:55):
all day. Like I was like scratching out my windows,
like trying to get out. And of course, like my
both my partenters are kind of like compromise mutant systems too,
So I did was like I'm not going out or
if I will go out. I went to Starbucks at
like three o'clock in the morning. We did online like
it was intense. Later in the pandemic, around like May June,
I decided to quarantine with like to my friends so
we went down to my friend's shore house, the Jersey shore.
(09:15):
Of course. Yeah, anyone listening that from Jersey right now,
you know where their heads went. They immediately thought, yeah, which,
you know what, I will say, the show pretty much
had an accurate depiction of what the hell goes on
now there. Yeah, you're right, although we don't all look
like that. It does get crazy like that, but we
don't get that slop either. Yeah, that's true. So you're
(09:36):
you're staying at your friends shore house, a few of
you and you and you just start a clothing line,
like how does this happen? So again, nobody was doing anything.
So we all decided to take some online courses first summer.
So it was kind of funny. We're like back into routine,
like things are getting back to normal, and one night
we're just sitting on the deck and we're like, okay,
like what do you want to do in life? Like
all right, yeah, you want to be an engineer, you
(09:56):
want to work for the FBI, but like really, like
what do you want to do? So I like, you know,
like I want to make a name for myself. I
just don't want to be like working at Forever twenty
one until I'm forty two. I want to like be
known for something. So we were talking and like it
felt like minutes and it was just ours and I
was like, you know what, let's start figuring out how
we can do this. And they've been helping me. They're awesome.
(10:18):
I can't even tell you. And here we are in
that moment when you guys were having that conversation. What
was your end goal? Like, what was your I want? Yeah,
I don't want to say the fame because that's so
like of course, but but I just like wanted to
be I'm so creative well known if you don't have
to say, well, I just feel like that's so like,
oh my god, I want to be like, no, I'm
(10:40):
not like that, but I just want to like share
my gifts with other people. You want to be success
if I can. Yeah, No, I wanted to be successful
and I wanted to share what I can do with
other people. You don't have to use the word famous.
That's amazing and there's nothing wrong with that. And I
think most people want that, or most people should want that,
should want to share what they have with other people.
That's what I do, That's what I want to do,
(11:00):
and I do it, and I'm proud of what I
do and you should be too, and I know that
you are. But that's totally okay to say this is
what I want. So in that moment, did you just say, Okay,
I'm going to create a clothing line. Did you know
the name? Did you know what was going to be?
Urban Lifestyle by Derek Jnson? Like what happened? All right,
So let's back it up a little bit. So April,
right before I got like fired from Lash, I had
(11:21):
my discount still, so you know what, we're going to
stock up. So I ordered like five hundred dollars with
the stuff, and I was like, you know what, I'm
like super bored. Like I said, let's like start a
YouTube channel. Now that I think about it, like I
watched one the other day, I kind of want to
take them down because I'm like, oh my god, what
were you thinking? I had no idea what the hell
I was doing. So I had the name Urban Lifestyle. Again,
I think it was just like I picked it out
(11:41):
of the hat again, don't know anything, but I had
to put my name in it for some recognition. So
it started from there and then it just like carried
on and carried on, and then we were down the shore.
I was like doing like a little vlog and I
was like, I'm not enjoying this anymore, Like I don't
want to make videos. I'm not Liza Coachy or David Dobrick, Like,
come on, now, take me into your brain as a
fashion designer, because I've had over a hundred creatives on
(12:03):
this podcast, and everyone is different and how they create.
As someone who is actually designing or coming up with
ideas for fashion, like, how do you do that? Do
you have a certain mindset you need to be in
how does that happen? So the whole thing is that
you can't make something that you want to wear and
hope that other people want to wear it. Okay, but
you can put your own twist on it. I like
that you have to know what's end before it's end,
(12:25):
and that's like the whole channel hard. Yeah, but that's
also art, like you just got to figure it out.
Do you use a certain program to design? Do you
draw it? How do you design? Ever? So I like
to draw first and then I'll transfer it to um
like my ipan. I have an apple pencil. I love
apple apples, like create for creative thinkers, and then I
use a program called can Vanna or convana something. Yes,
(12:47):
oh my god, yes, I use Canada for all of
our social media, for Anthony and I for our show,
for anything that I do for this podcast, for literally everything,
I use Canva and it's amazing. So it's pretty cool
to know that you've been able to do all of
this just working from home and using programs that are
available to everyone. You're able to launch your own clothing line. Yeah,
(13:10):
but as you can sell. I don't think I'm like
out there like I just like I learned something. I'm like, okay,
like I don't need to know the name. I just
need to know how to know. But so, I mean, listen,
you're you're doing it. It doesn't matter what was the
first thing you created for Urban Lifestyle. I think I
just made the basic urban lifestyle shirt, and then I
think the next one is be a good human. I
love it. That's my thing. I say it at the
end of every podcast. But yeah, like, just what the
(13:31):
world's a crazy place right now? Now, Listen any chance
you can spread positivity and tell people and use your
creativity and your artwork to do it. That's amazing. If
someone's listening right now and they're like, I want to
start my own clothing line. Where do you get a printer?
How do you do that? Are you the one Derek
shipping things out? Like how does that work? So it's
all from me right now. I'm also getting some like
wholesale stuff from like other people and like fulfilling that. No,
(13:53):
it's all me. I have my own like vinyl printer
going thing. I don't know what it's called, like trying
to look anyways, so like put the vinyl in it
like cuts it out. So you're doing all of it. Yeah,
and I'm balancing two jobs with it right now. Okay,
So you have always worked a lot. I know you
were telling me that your first job when you were
at fifteen, you had five jobs or something around that age.
(14:13):
So I got my first job at fifteen, um like
a local ice cream place, and then after that I
got like kind of like a daycare type of thing
during the summer, like a summer camp. So I did that,
and then the next summer I was like, Okay, well
if I could do that, I can do three more,
and then just started like adding up and like by
the end of the summer, I was like, oh, like,
look at all this money and like I didn't even need,
like it was just like you. I was like, I
(14:35):
want those shoes. That let me buy those shoes for myself,
Like I don't have to be like mom dad. So
I liked having my own money. Yeah, once you kind
of get bit by that bug. Knowing like you don't
have to ask other people for things, like when you're
at age and you and your parents, you know you
don't have to ask them from money to do you
think it is very exciting and it does make you
want to work more and earn extra money. And I'm
going to sound so old when I say this, but
(14:57):
it's refreshing seeing someone you're age want to put in
the work, not expecting that they're going to be an
overnight success or expecting that they don't have to do
these smaller jobs to get ahead and learn things. And
I know you did a lot of those jobs because
you also liked learning different things. And don't lose that.
Do not ever lose that. Listen. I'm definitely a hustler, yeah,
(15:20):
see exactly. But also at the same time, I would
say maybe not now you can keep hustling and work
in your house off right now, but don't let it
get to a point where you don't actually enjoyed life
around you, because that's something that I've done. You put
all your work into a business or something. And everyone
who's listening right now knows that I lost my job
two weeks ago and then exactly it could all be gone.
So make sure you're enjoying, even though you love what
(15:42):
you do, enjoying life around you. That is my my
older Gods sister advice for you. But no, I totally
get that though. Like I was telling you, I was
working for prom girl and I got an email. I
was literally in my dorm and was hanging out with
my friends and we were talking and she's like, oh,
I need dressed for something. I was like, oh, go
to prom girl. I was like, let me see if
there's an email, because, like you know, you just automatically
(16:04):
signed for emails when you work somewhere. So I'm like
looking and I get this email and it was like
literally five minutes before. It was like such a coincidence,
and it's like, sorry, we'll miss you, but check out
our other locations. So I'm like, what does that mean?
The location you were working out closed down. Yeah, and
that's how Yes, they didn't tell anybody, So it was like,
(16:25):
so I texted was it was like ten o'clock at night.
I kind of feel bad about it, but I was like, hey,
am I coming in to work on Tuesday and she's
like yeah, And I was like, are you sure because
I just got this email and she was I told
her what was this January? Okay, So people who don't
know Prom Girl explain like growing up in Jersey, like
I would get the catalog and I know it's not
(16:46):
just a Jersey thing, but the prom dresses were very Jersey.
People don't really dress the way that those progresses and
other parts of the country. Tom is also different all
around the world at all around the country. It is,
so what did you do for Prom Girl? Flora Hell
hanging out? I would do like a little bit of everything,
and it's kind of like my boss is like personal
assistant at some points, you know. I mean I really
(17:08):
liked it. Like they were like, oh, we need a mirror,
go to the store and be like okay, I'll be
back in like a half hour. Like it was like whatever,
But I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot.
I met some pretty cool people. I actually worked with
some of the designers. Uh shrry Hill, Yeah, shry Hill
is a big one. But again, like I got this
job through a friend, Like I didn't even know what
prom girl was and she's like, do it like you'll
(17:28):
like it, and I was like, uh, and I did
it and I loved it. But going back sherry Hill, Fabriana,
and someone who was really cool is uh Colonnie Helen
Keller from dance poemes. Oh, that's awesome. So you got
to work with like pretty decent name brands, But what
made you want to do your own thing? Like you
clearly can easily continue working for other brands and crush it. Why, specifically, Derek,
(17:51):
did you want to do your own thing and create
urban lifestyle? So when I'm working for somebody and I'm
gonna cashier, I'm like always on top of my numbers,
and like if you start outing and you're like you
round up like maybe five dollars, if it was like
it's there, you go and you get like twenty of those,
that's a lot of money and a matter of what
thirty minutes because like cashots fast, Like we don't we
(18:12):
don't joke around in New Jersey and I'm like making
money hand over fist there. You know, I'm like, oh
my god, and I'm getting paid like ten dollars an hour,
and where's all this money going in my bless his pocket?
Which like good for them, Like, you know, that's how
companies work. And anyone at Amazon working in a warehouse
would tell you how does Jeff Bezos have billions of dollars?
But I'm making a minimum wage. But that's how companies work.
(18:33):
Not that I was getting tired of it, but I'm
still learning. And I was like, you know what, like
I can be doing this, not that I don't need
to be standing there for like that ten dollars, but
like why am I not doing it? When we have
the time. Now, you know, you've been involving. We've all
been given some in some way or another gift of
time at the moment, you know, to have as many
people will say, oh my god, but I can't do this,
(18:54):
I can't go out and do these things you're given
this time. We always complain about how much we've got
going on. I know it's not easy being a full
time student, even working from home, doing home doing this,
but we've all been given this gift of time right now,
and it's like, what are you going to do with it?
If you do nothing with it, that's fine, but you
have the time now. I know I have extra time now,
(19:15):
not only I don't have to work, but what am
I doing with it? And I fully understand the you
want to see the work you're putting into something actually
have an effect on you and not someone else. And
I get that. I fully understand it. And I'm at
that point now too. It's like, Okay, well I've been
doing all this work, but where has it been going.
Let's see what happens when I actually invest the work
in the time and myself. So the fact that you're
(19:37):
nineteen years old and you can realize that is amazing.
So how have you been marketing urban lifestyle mostly through
like Instagram ads and like email promotions stuff like that.
Have you been buying Instagram ads? You have been. It's
just incredible as some like as someone who just launched in,
someone who I don't want to say you're green to this,
like this is your thing, you know what you're doing,
(19:58):
But I think it's amazing that you're in best thing
in yourself already. Well that's the whole thing. If I
can invest two hundred dollars and then make a thousand,
I mean, not that that's happening right now, can say
that happen? Maybe it is. Well, go make it happen everyone.
The link is below and they can help you out,
which is really cool. Have you been seeing a return
from the Instagram turnaround? My one friend Marian Press, she
(20:21):
was actually an Orange is the New Black, so she's
kind of like a familiar face. She does like a
whole bunch of other works. She's awesome. So I was like, listen,
I needs you to like doing me a favor. I
was like, just stand wherever you want, let me take
a photo of you, like wearing my stuff, and like
let's make your happen. And she's like, oh my god.
Of course. So she's like what else you got? Like,
what else you got? And she just kept pulling more
and more stuff out of my car and I was
like listen, like I just need to take one photo.
(20:41):
So it was like three or four hours and she
was just awesome. What date did you officially launch? We
started July six, so you're like a month old. Oh
my god, we're doing like pretty good. So you're the
youngest human who has been on this podcast, and you
are probably the youngest business that has been on this spot.
Really all right, well, I'm breaking two records ready, since
(21:01):
it's insane. In the one month then that you have
been in business, has there been anything that has gone
epically wrong? Yeah? I printed out the wrong shipping labels
and I guess I don't know how again, I'm just
like super tired. At the end of the day, I'm
like I need to get these out. And I had
about like twenty five orders let's say waters, and some
of them are boxes. Some of them are like those
(21:23):
on Polly mailers. Yeah, I put like a box for
Polly Miller, and it was just I got to the
post office. The mom was like, you didn't pay for this,
and I'm like, no I did. She's like, no, you
paid for a box. So I was like, oh my god,
you're kidding me. So I had to like literally like
trying to take it off wasn't working. I had to
like call usps. It was just a whole big, like
kind of nightmare. Yeah. So I'm like last night I
(21:45):
was packing up some waters and I was like Okay,
this is a polly meal, let's put it on this side.
But it was like, really the only big thing so far,
I mean a gain. If that's the worst that's going
to happen, Yeah, that's amazing. Well listen, I know more
will come, but you'll get through them and you will
learn them. And that's how this works. And it's exciting
to be a part of your journey. So early on,
you're gonna have to check in with me and the
(22:06):
rest of the side Hustlers community and let us know
how this goes. Because it's cool seeing your drive and
your passion and what you want to do in this
industry and just being someone so young in the fashion
industry and what it's going to be like for you.
Your journey is going to be incredible for everyone to watch.
And I'm excited for that because I know you have
you have big brands that you look up to. You
(22:26):
told me for Sacci is one of them, and that's
that's a big name. So it's going to be incredible
to see what you can do. This is exciting. Thank
you and thank you for being here, Derek, appreciate it,
and thank you. Thank you so much for listening to
side Hustlers and checking out Derek's company, Urban Lifestyle again.
That link is below. You can follow him on Instagram.
(22:47):
You don't always have to monetarily support people. I know.
For me right now, I appreciate you following all of
the Instagram accounts below and just following us on Twitch.
That kind of stuff is super super important. You don't
have to spend money to support companies, and I think
any small business owner will tell you that, especially right now.
But hey, if you have the money to spend, go
ahead and support that way do It's obviously always great.
(23:10):
Thank you again for being here. This podcast has been
produced by Houston Chilly and until next week, be a
good human and keep hustling.
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