We recently connected with Althea Robotham and have shared our conversation below.

Althea, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our wolf logo represents power, courage, and confidence believed to exist in every being. We trigger a self-reliant frame of mind using fashion and art. The main function is to help others exude the confidence deep within by tapping into their inner wolf.

Your attire reflects your mood which also affects your feelings. We figured why not boost that feeling with designs full of intention. Some people tend to hold back, worry about what others think, underestimate their potential, and second-guess their sixth sense.

If you know you can accomplish what you desire, then you will never succumb to intimidation. You will never allow others to block your dreams. Your inner wolf will always protect and guide you to levels beyond your aspirations. You simply need to listen and Rekanize your truth.

I’m a Brooklynite 100% and so I grew up with thick skin and an enormous amount of strength and courage. I believe wholeheartedly if you feel your desire from within, it will become the force that moves you.

You decide. You persevere. You conquer.

Althea, 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?

Fashion has always been a huge staple in NY. You never step out without being coordinated head to toe whether it is a dressy, casual, or bum look. I grew up in Brooklyn and we would always show off new fashion amongst friends. We felt like we were Kings and Queens of the city, stepping and profiling every day. Our level of confidence was always through the roof.

In an effort to start my own business, due to the refusal of continuing with the rat race of a 9-5, the decision was made to produce sneakers. It is the most important part of an outfit. You look at people from head to toe. Therefore lasting impressions are burdened on the feet.

Through years of research, trial, and error, the Rekanize sneaker collection was born. It was imperative to incorporate confidence and positive intention into every thread. It needed to have a hint of luxury and maintain the streets we grew up on. It needed to exude strength and a Brooklynite, no-fear attitude. When you wear them you need to feel revived.

We have had a number of our customers tell us they absolutely love how they feel when wearing our products. It is never simply a love for the garment or footwear. They actually feel an increase of positivity and bold attitude and that is what we want to accomplish. Highlighting built-in confidence is key and so far it seems to be working.

The addition of T-shirts, caps, and other apparel came afterward to hone in on the purpose of building courage, strength, and confidence in every customer.

We have had our share of issues from inexperienced programmers, manufacturing issues etcetera. The only way to overcome those obstacles is to forge another path that will lead you to the same destination. There is always a way. Only stop when you have reached your goal. Then it’s time to create a new one.

I’m most proud of the commercial for the Rekanize Brooklyn Bam sneakers. I researched and studied lighting, video editing, product photography, and After Effects for months. I found the best and most affordable equipment and produced the commercial myself. It was then boosted on Instagram. When people asked me what production did I use and how it must have cost a pretty penny to create, that is when I knew I did a great job because they had no idea I did everything myself.

It would be ideal for people to know the Rekanize brand is not just material. The collections were not made to simply wear. They harbor strength. They tell a story. They exude confidence and aim to extract the same from each individual. Everyone has a strength, but Rekanizing what it is and using it to its full advantage is crucial. Hence our motto, Rekanize your truth.

How did you build your audience on social media?

There were many avenues I took to build our social media presence in the past. What seems to be working now is using influencers and reaching out to specific people. Teaming up with influencers with an enormous following (between 300,000 and 1mill+) increased our following tremendously. Influencers host giveaways and promote our brand in the process.

Secondly, I scour profiles and perform detailed searches for people who would represent Rekanize perfectly. I check their website and other social media pages to gain more knowledge about them. If the similarities are overwhelming, I envision a project that would benefit both parties. Lastly, I send them a message stating what I like about them and their service/product, and the most honest description of who I am, the brand, and what I want to achieve. Then I simply ask if they would be interested in joining forces and collaborating on a cross-promotion project.

After the project is done, I promote it heavily across all social media platforms making sure to always give them credit and tagging on everything. Finally, I stay in contact. I like their posts and stories, check-in and ask how they are, how is business, etc. Building the relationship is imperative. Through doing this, we have had people reach out to us with the same tactics. They saw something we did in the past and would like to do the same.

As far as posts are concerned, the algorithms are always changing and there is no way to keep up. A few things we always do is add relative hashtags. This means if our post is Bam sneakers with a city background, our hashtags would be #blackandsilversneakers #sneakersinthecity #blackleathersneakers #luxurystreetsneakers #madebyhand #steppingout. Using general hashtags like #footwear and #sneakers will get you nowhere because everyone uses them and you will be lost in the sea people. We always include our brand hashtags which are #rekanize #rekanizebrand.

Other things like adding topics to each post on Instagram, providing a detailed description of our products, and creating more videos/animated posts rather than static images have helped a great deal.

Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?

In 2021, while perusing Instagram, I reached out to a number of fashion events in NY and either got no response or a decline because we were not “big enough.” I found one called Drip City Market and they were in their initial growth phase. They were hosting an event maybe 2 weeks after I contacted them on Instagram. I asked if I could sponsor it by giving away our latest black and white marble laces to the first 100 visitors. It was last minute but they agreed to do business and even came up with a great idea to create a lacing competition using our product.

Three people competed to be the first person to lace up a pair of heavily sought-after sneakers using the Rekanize laces. The winner received the same pair of sneakers used in the event plus the laces. We have been sponsoring their events ever since and will be doing the same with the next 3 events this year.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rekanize.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/rekanizebrand
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/rekanizebrand
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/rekanizebrand
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/rekanizebrand
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/rekanizebrand/

Image Credits
Photographer: Anita Kurzyna