We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amaurys Grullon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Amaurys , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
The year was 2015 me and my sister Roselyn Grullon were looking online for Bronx based merchandise. Clothing that represented The Bronx accordingly, showcased our rich history and culture, merch that was visually appealing and cool. As much as we looked we couldn’t find any. We asked ourself’s how can this be? The Bronx the mecca of Hip-Hop and Salsa. A borough so diverse with so much creativity, ambitiousness, authenticity and more. How do we not have a brand / platform that represents, that amplifies, that elevates. Thats when we took it upon ourselves. Me as a Graphic designer and my sis as a fashion deign student said let’s create a brand that showcases The Bronx, our people, our home. We weren’t only going to create bronx centric merchandise that created pride but were going to create a community based brand, a brand that tackles issues we go through an a day to day, a brand that creates social impact, an inclusive platform for expression, equity and community. We say we are more than a brand Bronx Native is a movement. For us The Bronx is the most beautiful place on Earth, its about our people! Black and brown, immigrants, disenfranchise communities that where not given a voice to be heard. The first year we started was our learning year, creating our mission, visual language, our ethos. From the first year of operating we noticed that what we were doing and the fresh approach of it was essential. People gravitated to us from The Bronx and beyond. We had an engaging brand with a mission a purpose and we knew it was going to be big. Our second year 2017 was our breakout year, we started hosting events, experiences creating more merch, doing pop-ups and getting involved as much as possible. We where featured on The New York Times and opened our first flagship store. In October 2nd 2017 we opened up in The South bronx / Mott haven 127 Lincoln Ave. A Bronx centric store to showcase and highlight all the beauty that The Bronx has to offer. A cultural hub by the people-for the people that encourages self-expression, inspiration and Bronx pride. A true immersive authentic Boogie Down experience for everyone. Everything we do is to represent us, tell our story and give our people a voice. Since we’ve opened we have used the shop and our platforms as a pillar for the community. Daily we tackle issues that our people go through like health & wellness, financial literacy, mental health, youth outreach and more. We do this by hosting weekly open mics for up and coming BX talent, financial literacy workshops, class trips, food distributions, live cultural events, community talks, our social media platforms and much much more. We’ve had people like Tarana Burke, founder of the #metoo movement, speak in the shop, AOC hosted her first campaign event at the shop and many more notable people have showed love like Fat Joe, Desus Nice, and our former Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr along side other elected officials. We have collaborated with major companies like The Yankees, Shake Shack, Netflix, Citi Bike, Master card etc. As well as many local businesses and organizations in The Bronx. The shop has been featured in The New York Times, ABC, Forbes, NBC and a number of other platforms. We have created a movement to change the narrative, empower our people, and show the world what The Bronx truly is.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Amaurys Grullon is a creative social entrepreneur based in The South Bronx. Co-Founder & CEO of Bronx Native & Tag Up Studios. A Multipotentuality artist that works towards creating social impact through his work. A fellow TEDx speaker and community leader here to elevate and move the culture forward. Other businesses and organizations are Bronx Native Print, a local print shop, Change The Narrative, the non profit portion of the ecosystem and GET Studios, a creative agency. Has done notable collaborations with are The Yankees, Nike, Paypal, NYCXDESIGN, Master Card, Netflix , Shake Shack and more. His work has been featured in platforms like NYT, ABC, Business insider, Fords, NYPost, etc.
I was always a creative from a young age. I always had the talent to draw, I was most artistic in High School and was involved in all the creative indevors and clubs at Cardinal Hayes HS. From The art club, creating merchandise for my school to being the bass player of The Jazz ensemble. I didn’t believe in the concept of the starving artist. i wanted to do what I love and make money doing it. I wanted to be a creative but also an entrepreneur. I started selling comics in school, creating youtube videos, providing creative services and more.
When I started at Bronx Community college I started my freelance career. I was providing multimedia services for all. From logo design, photoshoots, video and much more. When I graduated in 2014 I went after 2 dreams that I had. Start my own business and go to the art school of my dreams, The School of Visual Arts top art school in the city. My first venture was GET Studios a creative agency providing branding and professional creative services for companies, brands, orgs and individuals. We’ve had clients from the City of New York, restaurants, non profits and more.
After a couple years I knew I needed to build my own thing, something that was impactful, something that made a difference and gave back to my community. Thats where Bronx Native came from. The Bronx Native story is written in the previous questions. After Bronx Native we have opened up other ventures like Tag Up Studios a music platform with a recording studios and production studio, Change The Narrative Today our non profit, Bronx Native Print our print shop and much more. All with a social component.
Ive also produced a couple of incredible projects like “The BX Writers anthology” a book we out out. A short documentary called “Change The Narrative” and much more. The grates part of the journey is that as an artist i’m expressing myself, as an entrepreneur i’m creating sustainable businesses, and we are creating positive change in our community and beyond. A beautiful thing to do what you love and create impact.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Yes the pandemic on 2020 was something that really pushed us to the edge. We had 2 stores at the time had to close both. We were being attacked financially, physically, spiritually and beyond. From deaths in my family to not having money to pay for rent it was a super hard time. The banks didn’t want to give us money, our shops were closed and the uncertainty was real. Even tho we were going through so much we never stopped. I was awake day and night trying to figure it out, asking questions, pivoting, adapting, trying new things. We created a Bronx Native fulfillment center, we were going live everyday to talk to our audience, creating merchandise that empowered our community through such a touch time. We became activist for The Bronx, for small businesses, for our African American brothers and sisters. It was a super difficult time, we even had to create a Gofundme to make sure we saved The Bronx Native Shop. The community, The Bronx, our audience really showed out. People donated, supported and showed so much love. We were able to save one of our shop our Flagship because of our people. Super grateful and full circle moment. Thank you
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
I have a partner for my studio “TAG UP Studios” One of the hardest things in the journey is finding the right team, people, partners. My partner is DJ WAWA a local DJ in the neighborhood. We started connecting for some events and it was the perfect time and place. During 2021 we decided to partner and open up a music platform for people to leave there mark and make it happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: bronxnative.com amaurysgrullon.com
- Instagram: @amaurysgrullon @thebronxnative
- Facebook: @amaurysgrullon @thebronxnative
- Linkedin: Amaurys Grullon
- Twitter: @thebxnative
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3RTnDSAPcPJiFqzymoh5wQ
- Yelp: Bronx Native