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

JaDarius, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

Yes, I would love to start my business a lot earlier if I knew the information and knowledge I know now. I started my business 2 months after I moved to a new state. I’m from Mississippi where I lived all my life and in 2019 I got a job offer from a job in Texas and immediately accepted it. During that process of being in a new state, environment, and new people it gave me the confidence I was looking for to start a business. I love the process and journey of starting a business and figuring it out but for me if I started earlier than I did my brand, fan base, or followers would be a lot bigger, which brings in more income.

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

It all started at a young age growing up in Jackson, Mississippi. As a kid all I did growing up was play sports from basketball, football, baseball and etc. At an early age I fell in love with sports, watching and playing. When I got older I just knew I would be somewhere playing sports at a professional level so my passion for sports was there. As I got older and began to become an adult I seen my chances of living my dream take a turn. I knew I wouldn’t make it professionally but my love for sports didn’t die there, I knew it was something I could do to still feel involved and be connected in some type of way and that’s when I got the idea of Aye That Jersey. With my brand I make customize sports apparel which can be jerseys, shorts, t-shirts, hats and etc. Anybody that loves sports has a favorite player, team, and etc. that they like. People also love to look good while cheering or being at the game or just out and about doing their everyday activity repping their favorite team. So, I thought why not help people get the apparel they want and also keeping my self-connected to sports all in one. One thing that sets me apart from other brands is my creativity with my merchandise and post on social media. I also offer the jerseys, the quality, and the customization. For example, if somebody that played basketball in high school wants to wear their jersey again, I could remake that jersey the exact same way with their choice of number, name, and color and that along sets me apart from others. The thing I’m most proud about is the support and seeing how far my business has grown prior to starting off with nothing. Seeing people wear my jerseys and posting and tagging means a lot and I appreciate it.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I built my audience off being consistent with everything I do. On social media I post on all platforms daily or at least every other day. I’m wearing my brand every week so my followers and audience can see my work. I’m passing out business cards and leaving them in facilities so people can see them when they walk into an establishment. Last but not least always be creative with what you do.

We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.

With my business I have my own site but I also use websites like Etsy, eBay, Amazon, and etc. With the other platforms I have a chance of my work getting seen by a different audience I never interacted with. In the beginning most of my orders came from those platforms until I was able to get a bigger fan base to support my website. The pros for me are being able to showcase my merchandise to many people using their platform. The only con is having fees to pay for using their platform.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ayethatjersey.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aye.that.jersey/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AyeThatJersey/