We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Carlos Rosado a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Carlos, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

As the sole owner of a clothing brand, there are so many elements to learn. From production, photography, graphic design, marketing, and videography, the list goes on. I was lucky enough to learn most of these skills in college. I attended Full Sail University and earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Arts & Design. Where we’re kind of taught a little bit of everything. We had courses in typography, videography, graphic design, photography, and literally anything you can think of that relates to Digital Arts.

I gravitated more towards the graphic design part where I fell in love with branding. Which is what most of the freelance work I was doing was based on. Eventually, I got tired of fulfilling other people’s goals and wanted to really do something for myself.

So during the pandemic, just like many other people, I took a step back and really focused on what was important to me. That thing was fashion, therefore Extra Goodies was born. I started watching endless YouTube videos to teach myself how to screen print. I started ordering samples, finding the best materials, creating the brand identity, and about a year later we launched Extra Goodies on April 22, 2o22.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

First things first my name is Carlos Rosado, but all my friends and family call me Los. I am the owner and creative director for Extra Goodies. A club-inspired streetwear brand serving electronic music fans alike. With deeper roots in House music but not limited to one genre… we love them all.

Born in Guam, and raised in a military family I quickly got to travel the world at a young age. This led me to one city in particular where I really felt like I came into myself and really learned what my interests would be and still are to this day. This city was El Paso, Texas. From learning to skateboard, do graffiti, and most important of all, discovering Electronic Music.

There was this all-age club called Club 101 where they hosted parties of all different genres. My first-ever show was MSTRKRFT, and I was immediately hooked. I saw Steve Aoki, Afrojack, Morgan Paige, Tommy Sunshine, the list goes on and on. And all before I was even 14 years old.

As a young creative I always saw myself doing something in the clothing industry. Growing up, my mom worked in retail, so she would always bring me to her stores and would put me to work! At the end of my “shift,” she would let me grab whatever I wanted from the store as payment. She worked at one of the biggest skate/surf stores so naturally I quickly gravitated to skateboarding culture and the clothing that came with it, otherwise widely known as “streetwear.”

I am now a self-taught screen printer and professionally trained Digital Designer, which is what led me into this field that I have such a deep appreciation for.

This would only be the beginning of my journey.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I first started Extra Goodies I knew that I needed to gain a local following first. This realization came from looking up to major artists how much their homes meant to them and how their fans would be proud that, that particular artist is also from their hometown.

I never really had a “home” coming from a military family so I decided that where I am located as of now was going to be it. Orlando, FL.

We started doing pop-ups at local venues that would book house DJs and from our very first one, I knew it was going to be a hit. Shortly after, we got a huge reception and promoters all over the city wanted us to be a part of their events, so we quickly started doing anywhere from 1-3 pop-ups a week!

The most ESSENTIAL thing was starting from the ground floor. Being able to connect with our audience face to face, getting instant feedback, and really just being a part of the community. Our social media started getting traction so we consistently put out content. I would bring my camera to every event, film a recap, and post it as a reel on Instagram immediately. Our view count started to grow beyond our following so we kept up that formula. Which we still do to this day!

After our name started to get traction we decided that doing collaborations with local DJs and throwing our own events was the next move. Our first collab was with DJ Flashdrive and Rinas, which we premiered at The Boiler Room Orlando Edition, and from there the floodgates opened and Extra Goodies Radio was born.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the process. Really building something from nothing. Whether it’s a logo, a video, or creating someone’s brand from top to bottom.

Now it’s seeing people wearing my brand. I don’t think you can go go downtown Orlando, without seeing someone in Extra Goodies, and I don’t think that will ever get old. But the goal is to step outside anywhere in the world and at least see one person wearing the brand.

There is truly nothing like sitting back after everything is said and done knowing that you built something from a simple idea. Sometimes it seems that these ideas come from an energy so divine it’s not even comprehendable. Like it was truly meant to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://extragoodies.com/
• Instagram: @sippinbangers @extra.goodies
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xxxtragoodies?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@extra.goodies

Image Credits
Monche Kendall Telep Charlesmyboy