May 17, 2017
Episode 37: In Long Beach, California, Andrew Morgan has transformed his living space into his workshop, out of which he runs a low volume, high quality clothing manufacturing operation. He works mainly with repeat customers that he has built relationships with and has grown with these brands along their journey. It all started back in Florence, Massachusetts, where in eighth grade he started riding scooters and fell in love with the sport because it was a mix between skateboarding and BMX, and he got good at it rather quickly. At 16, while he was in vocational high school for metal manufacturing, he launched his first business “System Scooters”. He started producing scooter parts in school at no cost because of his access to the material and therefore was making 100% profit selling scooter bars. Dropping out of high school at the beginning of his senior year, he left for California to work at the office of Fuzion Scooters, his new sponsor. He took advantage of the opportunity to get away and try something new. After just three months of being surrounded by people who didn’t actually care for the sport, and growing slightly homesick, he left back to the east. He launched his first clothing line “Exito Clothing”’ which was influenced by streetwear brands like Diamond Supply and Benny Gold. Exito sponsored local skaters to rock the gear which helped the brand gain traction and ultimately receive orders from local skate shops to sell his products in store. After another trip west for about a year, he found himself back in the house he grew up in. He transformed the basement into a working space where he began creating high quality products with a sewing machine, and continued to improve his craft over the next two years. With the money Andrew and his then girlfriend (now fiancee) were able to make from refurbishing a van into a living space and selling it, they packed their car and headed West to their new spot, where they now live. His main focus is keeping his customers happy with their products. Any spare time he has these days, he spends on the new collection for his self-titled brand ‘Andrew Morgan’. In this episode we discuss how Andrew was able to build confidence in himself because of scootering, being patient and not rushing the final product, how he started off with just a trunk full of gear and transformed it into a full manufacturing operation with high-end machinery, how being uptight about detail has made him want to make sure every piece of his product is thought through, his tattooing hustle helping him make money without having to work for someone else, why he would sit down with Will Smith if he could and not wasting your time doing something you don’t love. — Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for new interviews (and more) weekly: http://bit.ly/2zprpon Follow us on Soundcloud: http://bit.ly/2hcSBws Subscribe to iTunes: http://apple.co/2yE0u9l Follow us on social media: Instagram: http://bit.ly/2j82AHF Follow Bobbbaaaay on social media: Instagram: http://bit.ly/2Ap24ce Twitter: http://bit.ly/2hj6Ljm