We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chris Martin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
The idea was very simple for me… I’ve always felt that I’ve had an eye for fashion. I was told that I was talented by my peers at dressing people and myself since the age of 14. I’ve been into modeling and fashion since the age of 18. I created a business plan on it years years ago, however I never took it seriously until one day someone doubted my fashion abilities. While working in the fashion industry my old boss Darren from the UK told me that 99% of my ideas were incorrect about the fashion industry. It pissed me off so much because while doing that he didn’t know that I already had 2 mall locations in Los Angeles and I owned a nail salon. So I stayed quite during the conversation while being extremely upset. After that during the next couple of weeks I decided to fire my boss to start my own clothing business, When I left the business entire staff left. We had incompetent leadership and positions given through nepotism in which they weren’t actually qualified for. I made myself a promise to be bigger and have better locations than my former employer. I now already have better locations and I’m almost as big as they are in less than 4 months. I had to figure out how to connect with brands, where to invest money, who to speak to that actually made decisions and taking huge risks that are now paying off. I was able to secure 2 mall locations early that I am extremely grateful for. Now I’m opening my 3rd storefront at the North County Mall where my biggest customer base is.
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?
I got into modeling at the age of 18, I saw it as an opportunity to explore my passion for fashion by modeling for different brands. I’ve always wanted to work for myself, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. After a few career changes and after working for Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas. I managed 35 businesses all at once which helped me get all the right experience on how to run a business myself. I then found my way back into fashion at this retail start up. While working there my boss told me that 99% of my ideas were incorrect about fashion. I then decided to start a business in fashion that would serve the people. We have a unique sales strategy while working with some of the biggest brands in the world to bring our customers the best collection. Our strategy is unique because we have different ways in which we sell each brand we sell. Our primary option is through our store locations we also are now starting to offer warehouse sales and pop ups throughout Southern California. We solve the problems that were having with fashion right now. Too much fast fashion and not enough quality items at reasonable prices. We also bring smaller brands to life brands that are mostly unknown but should have more recognition. We want people to explore our brands that we not to just make money but to offer the best pieces possible from each brand. We have partnerships with brands such as Frankie’s Bikini’s, Rusty, Fox Racing, EMU Australia, Illest, RAINS and plenty more brands. We offer pieces that are rare to find in Southern California. When you come to our store we have mostly California inspired brands but we want you to have the most exclusive pieces like you’re going shopping in SOHO in New York. We care about the fashion, not pushing merchandise just to sell it. House of Nehesi wants every customer to walk out with such an exclusive collection and rest assured that you won’t see too many people with the piece that you purchased. We offer exceptional customer service and we aim to expand and we have huge plans that we hope you follow us to see. Follow us @houseofnehesi or checkout our website www.nehesiretail.com to find out our locations.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
2023 was a tough year for me, I went through every negative emotion throughout that year and some of the hardest situations of my entire life. I left my old career in a really high status profession to move to California to start my fashion business. I took roles that I was overqualified for and undercompensated for the ability to learn about fashion. During that time I got fired from 1 job, laid off from another and quit the other in less than a year. I knew that working for others would never be enough for me to bring my true gifts to the world. My last boss told me that 99% of my ideas were wrong in business, so I had to fire my boss. Then I started my own fashion business in which the old company tried to do everything in their power to disrupt. Now I have better locations, created a better work culture in my company and better quality products. I never let anyone tell me who I am and what I’m capable of doing. Now as of the time of this publishing of this article I should have opened my 3rd storefront location in less than a year at North County Mall in San Diego. I guess 99% of my fashion ideas weren’t incorrect.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
Yes, we host Warehouse sales at our location at Del Amo Fashion Center Mall and at Westfield Fashion Square biweekly so far. We also host pop ups in San Diego, Las Vegas, New York and other major cities with our brands that we collaborate with.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.nehesiretail.com
- Instagram: @houseofnehesi
