Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Spencer Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Spencer , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

The idea was bubbling under the surface for a while. I’ve always been very into my personal style and representing myself well. Some items trendy, some not. Most important for me when finding something to wear is that it doesn’t do too much but will set my shoes off. As I got older, I wanted my clothing items to be simple but stand out. Unfortunately I never find such items, at least not for the price I wanted to pay. I’ll never forget walking into a retailer three years ago to buy a plain Nike tee with what looked like a one inch logo for $30 plus tax. I was paying for the name, which I knew walking in but something clicked in that moment. From there I decided I would make my own shirt to wear.

The funny thing is the first shirt was originally supposed to be a one off. I wanted something to wear but I also didn’t envision myself going full scale with the brand as it stands today. The shirt was secondary to a basketball tournament I was planning. The original plan was to go all out with my tournaments throughout the city and sell my white shirts at all the tournaments.

I came up with the original logo (minus the heart) in September 2020 and sat on it for 7 months. I’d be lying if I told you what sparked the notion to place the heart where it is but it fits so perfectly and is symbolic of what I want to represent which is a shift in the perception of my city. Over the course of that time, the tournament did not come together as I had hoped, but I launched the shirt anyway. It was a success with the friends and family instantly. However, I had one bar to clear that would make it feel like it was worthwhile and that was having someone purchase from me that had no ties to me whatsoever. In my eyes, if I can sell to one person I can sell to 100. That’s exactly what happened and then some. I dropped the black tee a few weeks later and it has been going ever since.

Spencer , 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 me, I have always been around apparel. I managed various retail stores (mostly shoe stores) for about 10 years. A big part of what I was doing professionally was putting outfits together for people. When you’re in the retail space, especially at the management level, you are considered the expert. At the same time it is a business, so I did what I could with the inventory available. I was astonished at the amount of money people spent on items that were low quality, very loud, over priced or just had bad messaging and branding. Combining that knowledge with my desire to shape specifically what I was wearing, it gave me the confidence needed to step into the marketplace.

All of my apparel in some shape or form has the mantra/logo ‘The Chi Is Elite’ on it. Currently I’m offering tees, hoodies, joggers and jogging suits, hats and socks all in various colors. What I think sets me apart is that every part of the logo is equally as important and serves a very specific purpose. I have a background in English and creative writing so the main takeaway from all of this is that words matter.

‘The Chi’ is representative of Chicago of course but also serves as a replacement for a lot of the negative nicknames people associate with the city (none of which will be written here). ‘Is’ simply lets you know that we are here in the now, The Chi Is Elite now and always. ‘Elite’ was chosen because it sums up the attitude and the culture of Chicago. We set the trends, we set the standards, we set the bar. There is a period at the end of the logo because periods acknowledge declarative statements. In other words, The Chi Is Elite and it is not up for debate. The heart is placed in the left corner, reminiscent of Instagram messages when you double tap. In addition to serving as real life support of the message, hearts represent love which the city so desperately needs in the streets, in the boardrooms and in the media. I say all that to say that the thing I most proud of is being able to share and spread this message with everyone I come into contact with.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The hard times come to us all. I was riding a high after doing well in sales with my first few shirts. My social media following wasn’t the biggest at the time but it was growing. I really felt like I had started to build some momentum. However to this point, I was only doing sales online and through social media. I hadn’t really done a lot of face to face in public. Since I didn’t have a storefront, I did what all of us up and coming entrepreneurs in Chicago do and that’s enter a pop up shop. What I didn’t know at the time was without a network and prior knowledge, it is unbelievably difficult to determine what pop up will have good attendance, people willing to shop, how it’s promoted, etc.

I’ll never forget, I entered a pop-up that lasted four hours and I made a grand total of one sale for $25 and that was from an employee of the site hosting the pop-up. It was the most deflating moment ever. I was honestly ready to crawl into a hole and be done. I made a decision that day that I would put myself in as many rooms as possible so that I’m not looking for pop-ups but that people would be looking for me. At the time my social media was private as well, always had been. I had to pivot and open myself up a lot more to get to where I need to be. It worked out eventually but that was an awful experience at the time.

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

I’m just now starting to see the ripple effects of building my reputation. The biggest thing to me is that you really have to love this. It can’t be a hobby, something you pick up and put down when you feel like it or something just to make a few extra dollars. You’re going to make some people angry, you’re going to miss some functions, you’re going to miss sleep. You’re going to be stressed, anxious, irritable, joyous and excited. If you love what you do, all of the other aspects of your character will shine through. The consistency, the determination, the drive, the transparency, the love of creating will reveal themselves through the work you put in and build that reputation for you. As the old saying goes, you can’t fake the funk.

Contact Info:

• Website: 1leaguechicago.com
• Instagram: @oneleaguechicago @king_spen
• Facebook: @oneleaguechicago

Image Credits
Instagram: @kandid__kam (the image with me and the young lady)