A crowd of UF students cheered and laughed at stories and entrepreneurial advice shared by a self-made fashion designer and TV star Monday evening in the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Daymond John, the founder of fashion company For Us By Us — known as FUBU — and co-star of hit TV show “Shark Tank,” shared his rise to prominence and tips for entrepreneurial success with UF students. John, in an event hosted by Accent Speaker’s Bureau and the Black Student Union, spoke to a half-full Phillips Center for about two hours, including a Q&A session.
John, who grew up in a single-parent home with his mother in Hollis, Queens, worked at a local Red Lobster. He said he transformed his life by following his passions for the emerging genre of hip-hop.
The “Shark Tank” star said he befriended local hip-hop artists such as LL Cool J and noticed a rapidly growing and untapped market.
“Hip-hop was amazing, and I had to find a way to be part of hip-hop,” he said.
John said he originally started by selling hip-hop-branded hats outside the Coliseum Mall and realized he was on to something.
“In one hour I sold $800 worth of those hats,” he said.
John, with the help of friends and his mother, started the FUBU brand. For two years he and his friends snuck onto different video sets and had rappers wear his clothing line.
After taking $300,000 in orders for their clothes, John said he and his mom decided to take a second equity mortgage out on their house and turn it into a makeshift factory.
“We slept in sleeping bags next to the sewing machines for the next year,” John said.
Soon, Samsung inked a deal with FUBU as a strategic partner under the condition that the company sell $5 million worth of clothes in three years.
Instead, they sold more than $30 million in three months.
FUBU’s worth spiked to about $350 million, John said.
“If you cannot see or visualize a target, you will never hit it,” John said as one of his five “shark points” to students.
He said the success affected him personally, as his wife left him for being away too often and straying away from what he loves.
John said he eventually grew a passion for helping young entrepreneurs,which led him to join “Shark Tank.”
“They desperately needed a token smart guy on ‘Shark Tank,’” he said jokingly.
Students seemed receptive to his advice and stories.
Megan Touton, a 21-year-old UF finance major, said she was inspired by the talk.
“I wanted to be an entrepreneur,” she said. “ It’s great to hear from successful entrepreneurs about not just their success but their failures.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/10/2015 under the headline “‘Shark Tank’ star shares advice, success story"]
Daymond John, branding expert, speaks about entrepreneurship to a full crowd at the Phillips Center of Performing Arts on Monday. The cast member on ABC's "Shark Tank" was brought to UF by the UF Black Student Union and ACCENT Speaker's Bureau.
