We were lucky to catch up with Brandon Brewster recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brandon, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
I started my first business May of 2021 with a couple of my friends called Normal Convos Pod. In November of 2022 I partnered with a childhood friend and became a producer at Matose Visuals. A production company with a myriad of ideas. April of ’23 I launched BrewsTees my pride and joy. Before starting any of these businesses I was just going through everyday life. My everyday quote was “I’m just trying to get rich” If there’s anything I could change about that time in my life is I would have started MUCH earlier.
Brandon, 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?
For NCP, me and my friends mutually loved podcasts and just like most people that have started podcasts, believed we had something important to say. We believe that we bring a different outlook into podcasts bringing 3 people who are in their 30’s and 40’s and don’t have the industry connections for a massive audience… Yet! We currently have 111 episodes out. We stream live every other Saturday on FB, Twitch, and YouTube.
With Matose Visuals, my childhood friend Mufato Matose started a production company and brought me in as executive producer on his first major project “Cuff’d or Curv’d” a blind dating show with a twist. As the production company we don’t have a script but we do add questions and challenges to try to help along the conversation if it gets stagnant. People get nervous under cameras and lights. Our pilot season is up on YouTube right now and the pilot season is currently in post production. We hope to someday be able to shop to the major streaming networks.
With my baby, “BrewsTees” it started as a T-shirt company named after my surname with a alteration to the lettering. It quickly became something that I didn’t know I would love. Then, it grew from a customizable apparel company into a customizable apparel and accessories company ranging from shirts, hoodies, pants, shorts, socks, underwear to phone cases, tumblers, zippo style lighters, bottle openers, table cloths, banners, car flags, jewelry and pretty much everything in between. I do every item personally. Also, I run EVERYTHING customizable. That’s right, every single item I make is designed by my customers and they will get personalized communication with me via text, email, or even a phone call if necessary.
For all of my ventures I just want people to know that I’m dedicated to each one as if it was the only thing I had going on and I hope that people can enjoy or design my hard work.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn that no one is coming to save me. Whenever things look bleek or unmanageable there were only ever 1 or 2 people I could count on, including my wife of 10 years Justine and my mother, Debra of course. I’ve learned over the past three years that they aren’t the only tribe that I have and now, when I have a fall from the excellence I aspire to portray, there are many people that I can lean on to bring me back to the top.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
During the 111 episodes of NCP, we have made at least 10 pivots to try to reach the audience we want. We’re still not quite there yet but we’re resilient. Early on we had audio troubles; We used a different program. We were stagnant on the audio only portion; we made the jump to live recording. It’s an ongoing battle that Bobby, Everett, and I continue to work on. We’re not done and we’re not stopping anytime soon
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.brewstees.com/
- Instagram: @normalconvos_pod @joy_mufaro @brews.tees
- Facebook: Brews Tees
- Twitter: @normalconvospod
- Youtube: @normalconvospod @MatoseVisuals