We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Nudelman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.

Alright, David thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?

Every time a customer orders from our website, we send them a handwritten thank-you card, our newsletter, and a custom, one-of-a-kind bookmark. As busy as the company gets, it’s always been my goal to keep the brand as human and as real as possible.

When I started out, I used to just make bookmarks and the people, the interactions, the friendships, and the collaborations that came out of that were timeless and priceless to me. I never want to forget that essence.

Growing up, I loved the little things. I’d save the tags off new shirts, or hold onto that little keychain attachment with the hologram sticker that came with a fresh pair of Timbs or sneakers. Those small details meant something to me.

As a business owner, I believe that by doing a lot of little things consistently, you can really leave a mark on a customer. That’s what I’m about, giving someone motivation, inspiration, and information, and sprinkling a little hope on top.

David, 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?

I grew up in Staten Island, New York, in a neighborhood called Westerleigh. I always loved clothes, shirts, merch, and music. I started my brand fresh out of college, and it was born out of a love for merch and a love for hip-hop. I used to give out shirts, sell them out of my trunk, and my brother would sell them to his friends in high school. After a year or two, it really clicked that this was something I always wanted to do. I always wanted a cool shirt as a kid. That has never changed. It’s only evolved.

My love for creating things and helping people express themselves led me to collaborate with over a hundred creatives on merch, go into over a dozen schools, and work with over fifteen hundred kids — showing them that they could start clothing brands too. I do that through my program called School Spirit Enterprise, where I walk students through everything from design and business to sales and ecommerce.

My industry is clothing, design, and education.

The problem we solve for our clients is simple: we love our craft so much that we don’t stop until you love what you created. I want every collaborator we work with to love their finished product. I want them to want to wear it like Superman wears the S on his chest. That’s the goal.

What I’m most proud of is following my dreams for twenty years. I’m so honored and grateful that I get to go into schools and show the next generation that they can create something, that they can turn their dreams into reality, bring their visions to life, make things, and be creative and have a career with it. I always tell my students: even if you never start a clothing brand, I hope the one thing you take away is that if this guy could turn his dreams into reality, so can you.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I built my audience on social media by actually going out and connecting with people in real life first. I would be at events, festivals, shows, and concerts, set up at my table, giving people a custom bookmark. That little gesture would open up a conversation about dreams, brands, and creativity. They would follow me on social media from there.

What I also love about social media is that I’ve been able to meet people there first too. I take the same approach online as I do in person. I always want to share a story, give a little something that someone may not have known yet. That comes from the hip-hop in me. I have this curiosity for how things came to be creatively, and I love sharing those stories.

I lead with information and education over promotion. I’m probably about ten percent promotion, and even that is done through storytelling and sharing process.

One thing that has really helped me is having consistent formats I can use in different ways, instead of always trying to reinvent myself.

My go-to is simple: share a story, give a piece of advice, then ask a reflective question — something I learned from education.

My advice: find your format. Build a system you can plug and play with. It might feel predictable to you, but your audience will never know what’s coming because the content always changes. Find your format, have fun with it, and keep going.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’m very fortunate to have two parents who are people of their word. My dad was always early. My mom always went above and beyond for everybody. They never had to sit me down and tell me how to be — it was just a raw example of how human beings should treat each other. Seeing that firsthand, experiencing their kindness, thoughtfulness, and love, helped me so much in business. Their core values were just embedded in me, and I kept them with me.

I’m big on communication. I’m big on organization. I’m big on letting people know what’s going on, being clear about what I can do, and being honest about what I can’t. I learned that from my dad — if you can’t show up, say so. Be honest. And from my mom I learned that when you do show up, go the extra mile. She never rushes out of anything. She’s always there, patient and thoughtful, making sure the person figures it out.

I don’t think I’ll ever work as hard as my father. He’s just cut from a different cloth. But if I work seventy-five percent as hard as him and can be one tenth as kind as my mom, I know I have a good chance at building something successful. The two people who never had a business taught me the most about business — just by being good human beings.

That said, being a good person in business also means having boundaries, having rules, having structure. You don’t want your kindness to be taken for weakness. Having values from both of my parents has helped me find that balance.

We are very grateful that our business is driven by word of mouth. That has built our reputation, and I live by it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stereotypeco.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davenoodlez
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davenoodlez/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davenoodlez/
• Twitter: https://www.x.com/davenoodlez
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@davenoodlez
• Other: https://www.schoolspiritenterprise.com

Image Credits

Photography by Jahtiek Long