[FUBU] How to Transform From an Ordinary Employee to a TV Star Who Owns a Brand

Source: CNBC
Daymond John, the founder of FUBU. FUBU is an international brand that has over 60 outlets worldwide.

Daymond John, the founder of American Hip Hop apparel brand FUBU (For Us By Us) shared in a podcast on how his ideas transformed him from a waiter to a founder of a brand.

1) Always be willing to try even if you are not an expert

He was a waiter in a restaurant in his early life. While he was working, he did not limit himself to customer servicing, he also tried to pick up financial knowledge and learn about the restaurant’s Profit and Loss statement.

2) Daymond is a very determined person. He also knows how to reflect on himself

Even though he was flooded with work, he was still determined to improve himself by reading a lot and listening to opinions from his mentors. He would also make time to reflect on himself frequently, to check if he was doing the right thing every now and then.

3) Daymond is a very hardworking person

During the early stages of FUBU, he was always finding ways to improve their sales and also to increase the exposure rate of his brand. Besides that, he was always improving his product quality according to his customers’ liking as well.
There were 3 times where his business was forced to be suspended due to insufficient funds. He was motivated to grow his business when a customer told him that he would want to buy more caps from him.
There was a time when Daymond and his partner could not get a booth for an exhibition in 1994. Daymond and his partner then decided to stand outside of the exhibition area and started approaching people from there. They received 300,000 orders from doing that and that was the largest batch of orders ever received.

4) Daymond has gone through many obstacles with his perseverance

As he did not have any business experience, 27 banks had refused to lend to him. His mother then decided to mortgage their house in order to help Daymond because of his determination and perseverance.
He was inexperienced in the finance and manufacturing field at that time. His shops were forced to cancel their orders due to shipment delay. Daymond did not take long till he used up the bank loans, as he could not pay the banks.
In the end, his mother used up all their savings and posted an advertisement in the newspaper. To their surprise, that advertisement got attention from Samsung. Samsung then decided to invest in the company as they were impressed by Daymond’s hard work and
perseverance.

5) Daymond is willing to take up any incoming opportunities

In 2008, Mark Burnett invited Daymond to be one of the hosts of Shark Tank, a reality business show. Initially, Daymond thought that the show would not attract a huge audience.
However, the show has been ongoing for more than 10 years now.

Source: FUBU.com
What began as a bunch of hats made in Daymond John’s Hollis Queens’ home by he and his close friends have turned the partners of FUBU into leaders in one of the most successful sportswear companies of all time and the creators of a whole category of marketing innovations that are now considered to be staples of industry.

In conclusion:
Daymond John said: “I can’t spend my life being worried about what other people think.”
Daymond John’s perseverance, determination, hard work and his ‘never give up’ attitude have made him into the successful person he is right now.