We were lucky to catch up with John McCarthy recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

I’ve always had these “ideas” to make money or be my own boss. Like a tee shirt that looked blank but as you exercised and started to sweat it would reveal a message to you like “Not Done Yet”. To find out later on that someone went out and did it. Or when i lived in Texas i had the idea of opening a Margarita Truck. Which was met with criticism from my now ex-wife. There has always been ideas here and there to get me away from the normal 7-5 weekly grind.

So what makes ROK IT different from all of these other “Ideas”? In March of 2021 it became very obvious to me that alcohol was a problem. My weekends revolved around it, and it even started to bleed into the work week. I made major mistakes while drinking and my marriage was failing extremely fast. Which even after quitting, the marriage still ended and i held strong to focusing on myself like I promised myself.

In July, just a few month later i moved out of my Texas home and continued to work here in Colorado and all around the country. One random day at work the little lightbulb in my head started to flicker and brainstorming started.

I am a huge lover and metal and rock music so I started thinking around that, something that i loved. How can i make this music appealing to more people? It doesn’t have to be about just the music, but what kind of positive message can metal music bring to people. So i started with different phrases that you would say to encourage someone or some sort of word of action to motivate. At first it was just ROCK IT but why stop there? Get rid of the “C” and make it different! Make it something that stands out!

We now had a base of where i wanted to start, and i kept going with it and tinkering with it.

“OH I KNOW! Let’s get rid of the O and make it a skull! Yea that’s metal as fuck!”

But what is ROK IT? What does it stand for? I had this kick ass logo i made on a free app i downloaded on my phone but no meaning. How am i suppose to share this with potentially the world but it has no significant meaning?

Asking myself these questions really made me reflect on the past few months of my life and how so much has changed. Weight loss, being consistently sober for 3-4 at this time, being single again, working out constantly, and all around putting myself first for what felt like the first time. Be happy and living life the way that i want to. That’s what ROK IT means to me!

So how do i portray that? How am i suppose to tell the world that but in a much shorter version.

Turn ROK IT into an acronym!

Ruthless! Own It! Kindness! Improve! Transform! That is ROK IT! Five traits that i believe everyone should be constantly incorporating into their daily life’s to build towards not just a better version of yourself, but the absolute best! A being that is so hungry to learn, to grow, to experience, and to live!

Not taking no for an answer and not backing down. Owning your mistakes and actions. Being kind to yourself on the days where everything seems to be going wrong and all you can do it beat yourself down, as well as being kind to others. Improving every single day! And ultimately transforming into that person you are happy to see every morning in the mirror.

I sat on this for roughly another 2-3 months making sure this is what i wanted to do and make sure i was staying true to myself. I didn’t want to bring something to the world and the person behind it was a big f*cking liar. Then out of no where in September i told myself that if i keep thinking about this then it’s time to do something about it. Challenge yourself and put yourself out there! Go after this “idea” and see where it takes you.

ROK IT was announced in December of 2021 with a very cringy 5 minute video of myself explaining what it was. But i was proud of what i started and still am! ROK IT will live in my soul as long as i live and i will reach every person that i can!

John , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I chose clothing because it was something that i knew nothing about and wanted to learn about it. You can tell a lot about a person by the way they dress and what they wear. What music they like, sports teams, political view, and so much more. So why not put a giant ROK IT on a shirt and but my beliefs out there ready to be questioned and put to the test.

I’ve never made a shirt before! I had no idea where to start. Where to get blank shirts, what blends where what, where to get transfers, or even how to get the logo on a shirt. So like every person does when they don’t know what to do i went to the good ole google! It told me a little bit more than what i already didn’t know but i still had a bunch of questions. Luckily there was a gentleman that did the same type of thing close to me. He gave me everything i needed to know and was extremely helpful. I will be eternally grateful to him for sharing his knowledge with me.

Clothing allows me to create. I look at fashion differently and I’m open to learning more about it. I always ask myself when looking for new products if this is something i would wear. If this product is worthy to be allowed to be sold. Being true to myself and holding myself accountable for the products that i make. Over time the ROK IT catalog will grow and expand, but that takes time and experience.

Something that i am proud of for myself is, that i showed up. I showed up for myself every day, even on the bad ones. That is something that i know everyone can do. It is very simple but very hard at the same time. We are scared to challenge ourselves and get uncomfortable. But i need you to! This is the process to growth!

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The first book that comes to mind is my Coach’s book. Sean Whalen “How To Make Shit Happen”. This book showed up on the recommended section on my phones audio books. Very short listen for a good price and I took advantage of it. Within the first ten minutes he opened up about his failed marriage, losing millions of dollars and almost taking his life. I was hooked instantly as i could relate to two of those scenarios, and I’ll let you guess which two. Little did i know that he built and is still growing a multi million dollar apparel brand and doing other things. I was blown away that a guy like this was out there and i followed him immediately. This was someone i needed to learn from.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Early 2022 i was working in North Carolina. ROK IT was 2 months old and i wanted to add hats to the collection. Well the job i was on was close to coming to an end and I didn’t know where i was headed to next in the country. With a box full of hats ready to be embroidered i had no where to take them. Turn around times where 2-4 weeks out and i could be off to another state any day. I was left in a predicament and really needed to think about this situation.

I wanted ROK IT to succeed and grow. I also have a full time job that has been very accommodating over the many years i have worked there.

How can i make both of these work?

Go back to Colorado where i am from and where our main office is at was the solution i came up with. There i knew people that could help me with embroidery for my hats. I was stationary so when i was trying to receive shipments and send out orders everything was right and nothing was getting lost. Plus my day job had room for me to come home and work right along with them.

Best of both worlds! Being able to make ROK IT work and still work to support ROK IT.

Contact Info:

• Website: Www.go-rokit.com
• Facebook: Facebook.com/rokit21
• Other: Instagram @rok_it_official TikTok @rokit21