We recently connected with Austin Fink and have shared our conversation below.

Austin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

In my last years of middle school (Catholic School K-8th grade) was the beginning of my obsession with Air Jordans. As I entered my freshman year at a public high school, the idea of Create Your Own Wave was jotted down in a notebook with a bunch of other ideas…but not for a clothing brand. These ideas were all names of the shoe/clothing store that I had a dream of starting. Over the next couple years, my dream turned to starting a clothing brand. What took CYOW from an idea to an actual launch is family. I have a father who instilled in me that anything worth having is worth working for and a mother who taught me selflessness. Most importantly they both taught me that nothing is more important than family. I am beyond blessed and grateful for both of them. *Mom and Dad, if you are reading this, Love ya*. But without a doubt, MY dream became a reality because of my brother. The aspect of family, what it represents, and the significance of family is what is at the core of Create Your Own Wave, so of course we are family owned. I was going into this with just the will to go after this no matter what. It was basically starting at zero. I didn’t know someone I could go to in the Clothing (streetwear) Industry. I did a lot of research for 6months to a year on starting a business as well as a focus on a clothing brand (such as amount to get started, vendors, etc) ; and 1-2 years of research on streetwear, designing, manufacturing. My brother helped with the finances for getting it started and I also work with a graphic designer. Please check out his work as well in his bio on IG @trenton.adair.

I graduated from University of Akron with a major in Supply Chain Management and minor in Marketing which helped with base knowledge. This lead to getting a job, where I have moved up to Purchasing Manager (internship turned into being hired in/first day was the day after graduation), being able to save to invest in the first release that was a pre-order for friends and family and the beginning year of business which was about $3.5k (split between the brothers). This included LLC, website expenses, contract with graphic designer, first 150 shirts, and other expenses.

Through college (2019 and most of 2020), this was still mostly an idea that had a brand/business name, Create Your Own Wave. During my junior and senior year at the University of Akron, I lost family members every 6 months but in the mix, I lost more than 5 friends and in ways that were hard to deal with. I truly believe these tough times are the reason I went through with starting the brand. I talked about this for years and those who passed only knew of CYOW as a dream. It made me realize that you never know when your time is up, and I would be upset with myself for not trying to make my dream a reality. Tough times taught me one of the biggest lessons: Embrace the struggles because if you couldn’t handle whatever you are battling, God wouldn’t have put you through those hard times.

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.

My name is Austin Fink, 26, and was born in Akron, Ohio. To me, Northeast Ohio is a place of contentment. I feel Northeast Ohio sort of is a trap, like a bucket of crabs that will pull you down as you are trying to get out. A place that you yourself must make the most of and go out to make things happen. I don’t think I need to say the name of who everyone thinks of once they hear Akron, Cleveland, or Northeast Ohio, but here nothing is given it is all earned and those are words from the best player to every play the game of basketball. Growing up I always played basketball and/or baseball as I did travel ball for both sports. Basketball was always my favorite as you could express yourself the most but also the louder your expression the more people looked if your skills backed it up. The accessories, socks and of course the shoes you wore on the court were as important as your game. I was fascinated with keeping up with all the star NBA players’ shoes, so I had the flyest shoes for the upcoming season and for my collection that started to build up. These shoes that I sought after in middle school when hooping, brought on my itch for Air Jordans. Once you got into a love for retros and the limited kicks, that was the end of the beginning of what led to the idea of Create Your Own Wave. A shoe/clothing store is what I first wanted to do and as I got older, the shoe game completely changed, and I started thinking how I was going to start my business. Mainly, I have always been a passionate person in everything I do and the true passion of shoes was no longer at the front of the industry. Power and greed took over, which is what led me and my passion to evolve into what I can only see for my future, which is taking the message of CYOW, spreading it around the globe and leaving an inspiring impact in communities around the world and not just in Northeast Ohio. I had a big dream since I was very young, that I wasn’t shy about talking about as I was growing up. Where I am from and the way I grew up, my style and way I dress to best express who I am is in a way looked down on, heavily judged and misunderstood. I always valued who I was and what I shared with people. I didn’t always feel like I fit in with most people which made me more introverted. Once my passion for clothing grew, my outfits are how I expressed my true self. I kind of like to think of it as my fit talked for me. The love for my passion, to go after my dream has inspired people around me, that is a start. To me I haven’t accomplished even 1% of inspiration that I vision for Create Your Own Wave to impact. Clothes, cars, houses, all the materials didn’t come with you and do not leave with you. Your name is the only thing you leave behind. Will it be forgotten or leave a legacy, one that is remembered?

CYOW offers all types of apparel. We focus on spreading our powerful message, making an impact that is expressed through our unique streetwear designs on higher quality apparel compared to how streetwear apparel began without a thought on quality as it was not important. Embroidery is our most common technique but also some DTG (digital-to-garment).

The message to follow your passion and dreams while inspiring your loved ones, community, and people around you is at the forefront of CYOW. It is your wave to create, work towards, to inspire others and to elevate the ones around you. What is different about CYOW is, as important as your path and overcoming your struggles is, CYOW is more about what you see for yourself in the future. My struggles are what got me to officially figure out the way to get CYOW started. It isn’t about comparing your struggles and who you feel had it tougher, or who had a tougher childhood. CYOW is about taking your past and creating a better future, chasing your dreams…be inspiring.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I do not manufacture my products; I did research on a press so i could produce my own apparel but based off my research I felt going the route of MTO (made to order) was my best route in regard to keeping my initial investment low. To put the amount into a press, plus the stencils, paint, plus whatever apparel you are printing did not seem the best route. Also since I have to handle every aspect of the business I can’t spend all this time printing my designs on apparel. I know it would take practice to be able to get your design to print the way you want, and I don’t have the time to do that so i would rather leave it with the experts until i can relieve some of the day-to-day tasks. I was lucky enough to be introduced to a graphic designer who started his own brand, so he mentioned Printful which based off my research seemed to be the best fit as they are my Supplier/Manufacturer/Distributor all in one.

Since i do not manufacture my products (yet), I will tell you what I have learned from the direction I took:
1. You are limited to where you can put your designs because the vendor mass produces apparel for many brands; also limits your creativity altogether
2. If there is an actual manufacturer issue, you can do a return/exchange with vendor but if they just order the wrong size, you can’t send it back to the vendor to get the customer the right size as that is your designs so they can’t resell it. This means the more you grow, means you are spending more money out of your own pocket to satisfy your customer
3. The best lesson in life is: FAILURE

– But getting back up and doing it again.

– But learning from your past mistakes.

4. Don’t ever give up!! The difference between you and someone else achieving their dream is they never quit. I live by this quote from the late Nipsey Hussle, Rest In Paradise King.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Funding my dream took more than just myself. My brother was a big part of the initial investment as we both live on our own so just your normal bills plus trying to fund a business was a lot for me…still is a lot for me. The initial investment of $3.5k was to get a website, cover LLC expenses, the first release for family and friends which was 150 shirts, and other miscellaneous expenses. Thank you to my brother for helping make my dream a reality!

It took both of us working 40+ hours a week. But the one thing you really start to understand when you are handling every aspect of the business…time is money. I work my office job, and most weeks put 20-40 more hours into working on my brand.

Last, I want to thank Canvas Rebel for giving me the chance to talk more about Create Your Own Wave, the story from idea to launch, initial capital/investment, manufacturing, and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cyowapparel.myshopify.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/createyourownwave2021/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/createyourownwave2021
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AustinFink21
• Other: Email us at [email protected] Text Austin @ 330801225 if necessary

Image Credits
Personal Picture (the single picture _- Austin Extra Pictures – 8 total (Left to Right) : 1 ) Austin 2 ) Eirini 3 ) Austin and his mother 4 ) Austin 5 ) Austin 6 ) Eirini 7 ) Cody 8 ) Troy