We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Danny Colon a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Danny thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s talk about social media – do you manage your own or do you have someone or a company that handles it for you? Why did you make the choice you did?
I run my own social media accounts for my brand, Electrix Vintage. We are active on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Depop, and Poshmark, and they are all run by me. I started the brand by posting clothing from my closet I wanted to get rid of on our Instagram account when I was 15, and that was how I got my first sales. I think because of me being active on my own social media and being a teenager helps me keep my finger on the pulse and able to adapt to new trends and advertising strategies. Considering our business started and is predominately still online, keeping up with posting actively and engaging with our audience is key. I changed our strategy with Instagram from posting just individual product listings to campaign photoshoots this past September with the launch of our New York Fashion Week campaign. This has changed things for us immensely. Now for every “drop” on our website we have a shoot that goes along with it, and even something as seemingly simple as secondhand clothing can be very elevated by a photoshoot, even if all of the clothes are under $65. If you are individually running your social media, I highly recommend looking into investing in professional photography of your product. Public perception is everything on social media now, and it changes how people purchase and in turn post your product on their own social media. On the other hand, I have met many business owners that just don’t “get it” with social media, and sometimes you have to focus your energy on what you are good at especially when juggling as many hats as you have to when running a business. My recommendation is to find that eager high schooler that is willing to run your social media and pay them to help you make posts and tell you what trends are going on. This will save you time you can then allocate to your strengths in your business.
Danny, 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?
I am Danny Colon, I am 19, and I own and curate a vintage clothing company, Electrix Vintage. We started in 2020 when I was 15 selling clothing online and it has spiraled into two past retail locations and pop-ups throughout New Jersey and New York City. We are bringing the nostalgia back to second hand clothing while still making prices accessible for all, with the great majority of our products all under $65. We also bring high fashion to affordable vintage with our photoshoots and runway shows. We are very proud of our upcoming NYC runway show called Becoming coming May 3rd. I am styling, scoring, creative directing and sourcing the entire show and am very excited about it. We have put together a team I am very proud and excited by and cannot wait to showcase what we have been working on for the past few months.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
This is a question I get constantly- “If you were 15 when you started, where did you get the money? Did your parents pay for it? Did you get funding for it?” I am very proud to say I own 100% of my business and have never received funding or investment. We have gotten to where we are now by, to simplify it, strategically saving. Because of the low overhead beginning of just selling directly on Instagram from my own closet, I was able to build the business to be able to do big pop-up shops, shows, and our past retail locations by not going above our means. From doing simple flea markets, shared spaces, racks at small spaces, etc. we were able to slowly build instead of blowing up overnight or taking out a large loan to build out a 5,000sqft retail space. Now, as we look at new retail locations in NYC and NJ, we are able to save in the meantime by hosting small pop-up events and running fully online before adding in more overhead costs.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A very pivotal moment was definitely when I decided to go to FIT after graduating high school. At the time of my decision, I had a fully running retail store in Manasquan, NJ, around 1.5 hours from NYC where I’d be going to school and living. I had to make a choice: whether to pursue higher education or continue doing what I love. In the end, of course, I didn’t want to compromise, so I ran the storefront from school, returning every two weeks to source the vintage for the store and running the social media and online campaigns from New York. Although challenging, it was definitely a blessing in disguise. I was able to break into the NYC vintage scene and we now have a small growing presence here that we are expanding slowly and surely.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://electrixvintage.com
- Instagram: electrixvintage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/ZGZUNFAcwvBP5C9t/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/dannytcolon
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@electrixvintage?si=cB88Cno0TDz69-he
- Other: Depop- @electrixvintage