We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Andy Kadima a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Andy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My dream has always been to create an umbrella business that creates several companies related to activities that I enjoy doing. I grew up in a country (D R Congo) where fashion and dressing nice is similar to a religion. Thus, that has been part of my DNA. I knew I wanted to create a clothing brand that embodied elegance and sophistication while representing a positive message to the world, not only in the fashion industry but also the universal moral standards. My dream was to design a brand that can be embraced by people from all cultural backgrounds. The first step was to find the name of the brand, which seemed quite challenging than I thought. I wanted to find a name that everyone can wear, have on their chest and feel proud of. I pictured myself wearing those clothes and asked myself what would I like to represent and attract. Growing up I was always taught that what you say about yourself is what you attract. Using the same mindset I came up with the slogan for the brand “What you wear is what you attract.” I knew that my brand was not going to be named after anyone’s first or last name because that would defeat the purpose of my intention. This brand was intended to represent high moral standards while displaying elegance and Modesty. The name “Top Modesty” was inspired by the same idea and mindset of representing high moral standards in elegant style while reclaiming your identity. The next step was to create design. As a self-taught artist, one of my favorite arts is drawing. Therefore, designing clothes became second nature because it’s something that I enjoy doing as a leisure. My style of designing is inspired mostly by the style of clothes or designs that I’ve always looked for but was unable to find in the current fashion market. Using my imagination for the style of clothes that I would like see myself, my wife or my kids wearing, I translate it into Top Modesty Collections for everyone to reclaim their identity while elevating their fashion status.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Born and raised in DR Congo and moved to the USA at age 20. From a young age I was always fascinated with creativity and self-motivated thinking. Arts, music, dance and innovation were my outlets. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Recreational Therapy, which is a systematic process that utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions to address the assessed needs of individuals with illnesses and/or disabling conditions, as a means to psychological and physical health, recovery and well-being. For several years I worked as a Recreational/Behavioral Therapist where I used mostly arts and crafts, arts practice, and music therapy as a tool to transform lives of people dealing with mental, physical, emotional and psychological problems. During my career in therapy, I also implemented a sewing program to help children in a juvenile rehabilitation facility found their inner creativity and put it into practice. This program was so effective as children were able to not only build confidence but also learn and improve multiple life skills and behaviors. Participants of this program were able to demonstrate ability to sew sweaters, blankets, pillow cases, beanies, T-shirts and many more clothing items. Also, at this Juvenile rehabilitation facility of more 150 children, “Art with Andy” was a program that the entire campus was looking forward to daily as it was a time when children were whined down and put their creativity into action and socialized. The music program “Beatz Lab” was the icing on the cake for the program because it allowed children to express their feelings and tell a story through the sound of their voices and melodies. All these programs that I’ve created and implemented were effective and successful. Little that I knew, these therapy programs were also a self-therapy for myself and later they were going to be the catalyst for my inspiration in creating a clothing brand using my inner drive and creativity. I design collections that are both unique and elegant in style and presentation intended to elevate self-confidence I use some artistic patterns and images to represent positive messages. Each collection is named after an inspired mindset to instill positivity, courage and self-motivation. B.Y.O. D (Build Your Own Dream) Collection, Win or Learn Collection, and EFO PERSO-Self Made Collection. Each outfit is named and inspired by a lifestyle, my family and significant life events. I am very proud of how far I have come to finally bring my dream into existence as I am focusing on building my dream. It is an overflow blessing to be in this position where I have the time to explore my mind to its full potential. I strongly believe that my mind is infinite and potential is limitless. The goal is make Top Modesty a global brand that will transcend all cultures. The plan is to expand the brand in other areas using the same mindset.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Currently I use E-commerce meaning my store is online. The most effective strategy for growing clientele is using social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook to grow your follower base. Nowadays, the more followers you have the more sale you make. I follow various people and other clothing brands. I engage with their content with thoughtful remarks. I like and share. I’ll tag people who would gain value from my content. I stay active by posting a content at least daily. Next great customer service should be at the forefront of your client base building strategy. Not only does a reputation for providing excellent customer experiences attract clients to your business, those satisfied clients will have more incentive to stay with your company and buy more services. I send messages/ emails introducing the brand, with links to online store. Works well!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Currently I use Shopify. The goal is to use other platforms such as Amazon, Etsy, and hopefully have actual physical stores globally in malls and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://topmodesty.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/topmodestycollection/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@topmodestycollection