We recently connected with Isaac Padilla and have shared our conversation below.

Isaac, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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?

Roman and I (co-founders and owners of Que Rico T-Shirt Co.) grew up together in Abilene, Texas. We became close friends in high school and were even Co-Editors-in-Chiefs of our school’s yearbook. From a very young age, we always talked about starting a business together but at the time we didn’t know what we wanted to do. We are both very creative and it wasn’t until 2013 that we decided what we wanted to create: a men’s accessory fashion line that included lapels, pocket squares, and cuff links. Our mission was to empower gentlemen to look their best and feel comfortable accessorizing their everyday looks. We ran that business successfully for 5 years until we had a booth at the Dallas Market Center’s Apparel & Accessories Market. At that time our business was growing steadily and we had been featured in local media as well as an international magazine and a popular pop culture website. It was during that market event that we quickly noticed the lack of representation from other vendors that looked like us (Latinos). That was the catalyst that got our brains spinning – initially because it was disappointing and frustrating that more Latinos were not represented but also exciting because we identified a gap in the marketplace. Of course, there were a few other brands that were doing what we wanted to do, but we felt we could do it better. A few weeks after that event is when Que Rico T-Shirt Co. was created – an apparel company that celebrates our Latino heritage. From tacos, chicle, or even piñatas, our designs mix humor and Latino pop culture with influences from our time growing up in West Texas. At that time, we officially decided to close the men’s accessory business and focus all of our attention on Que Rico T-Shirt Co. We were very blessed in that the funds we made with the old company funded the new company so our level of investment was primarily our time and purchasing equipment. For the next year, we did a lot of trial and error in regards to the products we offered and logistics (production, shipping, marketing, etc). Roman has a merchandising background and I have a marketing background so we both understand and respect our individual expertise.

Isaac, 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?

Roman and I currently have full-time jobs. Roman works in the legal industry while I work in architecture and marketing.

We always knew we wanted to have a company that helped foster our creativity and this business allows us an outlet to do so.

For us, our proudest moments are when people see our products and laugh! And that laugh almost always has a story and our customers love to tell us about how a certain design or phrase relates to them. It’s either, “oh, my grandmother used to always tell us that” or, “my dad tells me that all the time.” We really enjoy seeing how our products and designs resonates with customers on a personal level.

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

When Roman and I first started our men’s accessory line, we were novices in all sense of the word. I remember we had to do a lot of research on how to register a business with the state, how to obtain a resale certificate, and the requirements needed to just open a bank account. We were completely clueless and I feel that was us for the first 1-2 years. Because we were so naive, we didn’t really have a sense of how much money we needed to start the business. I remember that our bank required $100 to open a business account so we both put in $50 each and with that money, we were able to launch our business. In the beginning, there were many times Roman or I might have paid for things out of pocket just to get started, but we’ve been very fortunate that since then the businesses funded themselves. To be fair, however, the startup costs for the men’s accessory line were very low. At that time our biggest expense was the website domain and hosting. As we grew and were able to bring in more income from sales, we were able to increase our product line and ultimately launch our second business.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Our audience on social media has been both a manual and networking effort. We currently do a lot of in=person events since we don’t have a brick-and-mortar store of our own so we take advantage of these events to encourage people to follow us on social media. We also do a lot of promotions on social media and even contests that encourage people to like, share, and follow us. We also collaborate with key partners who help promote our brand on their platforms to help build credibility and relevancy with our target demographic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.quericotees.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/quericotees
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/quericotees
• Other: Tik Tok: www.tiktok.com/@quericotees