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

Hi Jamila, thanks for joining us today. Before we talk about all of your success, let’s start with a story of failure. Can you open up about a time when you’ve failed?

I used to always say that “failure is not an option” for me and would beat myself up if I felt I was failing at anything. But I failed in my last business and I failed pretty badly. I had a small women’s boutique that I owned and operated for a few years before launching ndur. At that time I thought with my past work experience I had it all figured out and I was ready to be a business owner. I wanted to cater to every female shopper who ever needed that last-minute outfit no matter the occasion. So I bought tons of inventory fresh out the gate and I kept buying in the hope that I would have what she needed when she needed. I was all over the place with my selections and bought things that I wouldn’t even wear. In a way, I was just throwing things at the wall and seeing what would stick or be a hit. My heart wasn’t really in it and I ended up closing that business and donated thousands of dollars in inventory to a non-profit for women.

It took me failing at that and truly learning from my mistakes to come up with ndur Athletics. I learned a lot from my failure with the boutique; (1) failure isn’t all that bad as long as you learn from it, (2) you can’t be everything for everybody and (3) invest in what you love. I was able to put a lot of time and research into ndur and I didn’t launch until it was just right and we are growing and we’re not going anywhere any time soon. I’ve found my passion and I know my customer so I am able to focus on that and not hoping and praying that this weeks buy will be a success like the boutique.

Jamila, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Jamila Graham, I was born and raised in the Midwest. From a young age, I had always had an entrepreneurial mindset and I knew I wanted to be a big-time buyer for corporate brands across the world. So I went to school to get a Global Business Management degree and my MBA. I have worked in retail from the second I was of legal age to work. Even though people looked down on me because I worked retail and they assumed I didn’t even have a college degree I kept at it because I love what I do and being able to help others fills my cup. I did try the whole corporate thing twice and quickly realized the desk was not for me. After working my way up the ladder in retail and running small high-end boutiques to large box stores bringing in over $43 million in revenue I still wanted more.

I wanted to be able to help people on my terms and too still be a buyer. So I opened my boutique that failed and I learned how to be a successful business owner from that experience. I went back to the drawing board again and ndur was launched. ndur Athletics most commonly referred to as ndur is a size-inclusive active brand that believes everyone should have access to functional, fashionable, and affordable activewear no matter their size. ndur is more than just an activewear brand it is a reminder to “Never Doubt yoURself”.

ndur is primarily online but can be found at local pop-up events in the community. We love connecting with our customers and sharing all of what ndur has to offer with the community.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding ndur has been all on me till this point. I bootstrapped ndur to get it where it is today. From my full-time job, I have been able to save my bonuses and any additional funds to invest in starting ndur. I used 50% of my budget to start the company and to get to launch. Every penny that I made from ndur I reinvested back into the business. I wanted to initially go all in with my savings to launch with all the sizes and colors that I initially envisioned. I recently competed in a Pitch competition and won second place where I was awarded additional funding for ndur. With the winnings, I am going to put that all into new inventory and marketing to continue growing the brand.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When initially starting ndur I wanted to custom design all of my sets and I went through the entire process and found the perfect fit and colors. When I went to start production and received that final price tag, let’s just say that sticker shock was an understatement. I was so set on starting on that path and I had to pivot quickly if I wanted to launch as a brand. So I had to go back to the drawing and figure out how I was going to stay on track for our launch date and still bring the brand to life. There were times when I wanted to give up and throw in the towel but I had to remember my why and what the brand means. ndur is more than just an activewear brand it’s a reminder to never doubt yourself. Moving forward with launching the brand was crucial and I just had to remind myself that I needed to ndur.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ndurathletics.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/ndur_athletics

Image Credits

Jessica B.
Timeless Vision Media