We were lucky to catch up with Emmanuel Daughtry recently and have shared our conversation below.

Emmanuel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

Last year, I released a shirt that was totally different than any of the previous shirts I had put out. This was was bold, loud and proud. I wanted to put out a shirt that made a statement and made closet racists so uncomfortable. The shirt said in bold letters, “Made By a Black Woman.” It was a hit. I sold out of it twice and I knew I was on to something.

I released this shirt around the middle of May of 2021. Fast forward to June 16th, the now nationally recognized holiday, Juneteenth, it was time to celebrate the emancipation of enslaved Black people. There was a huge event that all of New Jersey knew about and I was there in attendance with my “Made By a Black Woman” shirt on.

To my surprise, there were many others with my shirt on too! Strangers! People I never met before nor even knew they bought the shirt from me. I truly felt like my mission to reach the masses was successful. People were coming up to me and asking where can they buy the shirt and who made it. To everyone’s surprise, I was the creator of that shirt that I was wearing.

I was completely sold out when this event came around. I knew I had to be more prepared for next year. This year I am releasing the second edition of the “Made By a Black Woman” shirt and it’s titled the “Black People Created Everything” shirt. A shirt with the same message that can be worn by anyone regardless of their nationality. You can find the shirt right here! -> https://www.instagram.com/onthescenesocks/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

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.

It all started in college when I was interning in radio and DJing on campus. I was doing both for free and had no source of income. Being known as the radio guy and the campus DJ had it’s perks, but I was missing out on money! Something had to change. I created a brand that encompassed all of my media ventures and then came along the merch. Once I figured out how easy and fun it was to be creative in another way like designing clothes, I was off to the races.

All around the board I enjoy being creative. I’m just a very expressive individual. Once I found my niche in the merch market, it opened up many other ventures for me. This is only the beginning!

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

I believe On The Scene Socks is growing because of it’s authenticity. This isn’t a random start-up to just make money, there’s a story behind every piece we sell. A lot of people buy products just to support me as an individual, then there’s a population of people who buy our stuff cause it actually looks/feels good.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson I had to learn is that it is okay to fail. I have had many failures and moments where the outcome didn’t meet my vision. I could’ve put out mediocre material, but that was never my style. The name of the game within the industries I belong to is consistency. If you’re content is consistently up to par/entertaining, people will return. That can be in clothing, media, or anything. I remember when I made my first pair of socks. They were terrible. I had trouble finding a suitable vendor and I at first I just went with the cheapest option. They arrived at my door and I was embarrassed of how trash they came out. I lost money, time, and most importantly, I lost a bit of ambition. I almost quit. After two additional failed attempts at finding the right fit, style, vendor, etc, I finally landed on the right one.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mannieonthescene/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmmanuelDaughtry1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmanueldaughtry/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheSceneMediaCo