We were lucky to catch up with Jaden Bouldin-miller recently and have shared our conversation below.
Jaden, appreciate you joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think it takes being uncomfortable to be successful. Successful people are never comfortable; they always want more. They aren’t okay with doing just enough; they have to go above and beyond. I learned this from my grandmother, as she was a very successful person, but she was never comfortable. Even though she made it so far in life, she was never satified and that was instilled in me growing up. I hated it when I was younger; kids around me were excited to get B’s and C’s and I’d have all A’s and maybe one B; that was never enough. I didn’t get applauded or rewarded for that; it was seen as me not trying hard enough. Some people will say that’s harsh but I’ve never been a B/C student so it wasn’t expected of me to have any. I was comfortable because I thought I was doing better than everyone else around me and that I was good. My grandmother held me to that high bar and when I would reach it, she’d set it even higher. I would not be the successful person I am today with my business if I was to let off and become comfortable. So I think it takes being uncomfortable to be successful.
Jaden, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My name is Jaden Michael-Adir Bouldin-Miller. I am a 20-year-old entrepreneur with two businesses while attending college. I have plans on becoming a successful serial entrepreneur. I own a clothing brand named J. MILLER TOTE & CO. (ADIR.) and a Custom Apparel Company where I make custom paraphenalia for organizations, small businesses, and corporate companies. In the future, I would like to open a multi-unit event space, a coffee shop/social space, and start a non-profit for minorities in Nashville where they can express themselves and their creativity.
I got into making clothes and starting a clothing brand after working a graveyard shift at UPS and saying to myself I shouldn’t have to work like this to have some extra money. I didn’t understand how clothing brands really worked but I knew I loved clothes and was very creative. I also wanted to start a brand since my freshman year in high school. So I took all the money I made from UPS and poured it into my education of how clothing brands work and invested in myself. My first item I sold was a tote bag. I started this brand while in college and one problem I saw while being on campus was people wearing backpacks for 3 items because they had nothing else to carry them in. So in my head I already knew the majority of my demographic at college were females; I directed my attention to them and thought to come up with a simple sturdy tote bag for their day-to-day lifestyles. I wanted to make something simple, affordable, and luxurious! So I came up with the canvas ADIR. tote bag. A lot of my inspiration came from Telfar Clemons and Marc Jacobs; they were killing the bag game and I figured out how. With my simple but luxury feel and affordable design, I took the campus by storm and sooner than later, everybody had an ADIR. Tote Bag. It was very versatile and could be worn with a casual everyday outfit or dressed up with something for a luxury feel. They were washable and got great reviews for how sturdy they were for everyday back and forth to class trips. I was making a killing and then I moved to clothes and the rest is history. I am a well-known brand on my campus and I am slowly expanding. It all started with a simple canvas tote bag and a drive to go get it!
If you want a killer product, you just have to solve a problem. The problem I solved was that every girl wanted a telfar bag or Marc Jacobs bag. They just didn’t have Telfar or Marc Jacobs money; I offered the same item/style for a much more affordable price and everyone loved it.
I am very proud of how family-oriented my brand is and I hope to keep it that way as I grow. My key pain point I focus on is affordability. I want affordable luxury for everyone; that has always been the plan from the jump. I learned that gaining people’s trust and being welcoming can take you so much farther. My brand would be as far as it is if I treated my supporters like just customers. You’re way more inclined to pay someone for something that you trust. That’s exactly what I did: built a great reputation and product, and treated my customers like family vs. just people who buy my products. I love my supporters so much and I wouldn’t be where I am without them so why would I not give them what they want and continue to pour into them like they do to me? Life is about exchanges and this is a great exchange, in my opinion.
On top of this, another thing I am proud about is my Custom Apparel Company. In about 6 month I was able to do 52K in revenue from just word-of-mouth orders. I am in a fraternity myself and I understand what it’s like to go online and pay crazy money for something that you half don’t even want. It costs so much to customize things and make them personal or your organization doesn’t even have that many options for pari at all. This was another problem I came to solve. I have a great amount of experience in making clothes from my clothing brand and thought, Why not solve this problem by making custom pari for organizations on my campus? So that’s exactly what I did; I create everything from polo’s and cardigans to varsity jackets and puffer coats. I was able to do so much in revenue because of my presence on campus but also because of the trust people had in me and my work. It spoke for itself; when my org came out in our varsity jackets for homecoming, it turned heads, and the orders started pouring in. I can’t thank the people around me enough for trusting me with making the pari I do for their organizations. It brings joy to my heart that I can get them in the pari they want for affordable prices that college student’s can afford. The goal was to have the flyest campus organizations out of all the HBCU’s and we are working very quickly on that!
Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?
Let’s talk about it. So when I started out making tote bags, I used Alibaba like everyone else and found a Chinese manufacturer with a low MOQ (minimum order quantity) and low price for a great profit margin. this worked amazingly and I had a great relationship with her. The only problem I had was how high shipping could be and the time it took for my products to get here. I found myself ordering a lot at one time so I didn’t have to order frequently and wait. I soon got tired of this and put a halt to tote bag productions as a whole. I moved to clothes.
This didn’t work as perfectly as me finding my first manufacturer did. I did what essentially everybody else does starting out. I looked for a manufacturer on Instagram, lol. Most of them were located in Pakistan, but it would be very hard to tell and find trust worthy ones who wouldn’t scam you. I had some reach out to me and others I would find. The ones who normally reach out, I’d be hesitant about and brush them off. I thought I found a manufacturer and we communicated and worked on getting me a sample for a T-shirt. Guys, I had sent the money and never heard back from the guy. But the whole time I was also communicating with a Pakistani manufacturer who reached out to me and asked to work with me. I thought they were scamming but after getting scammed, I posted it to warn others and the company page swiped up and messaged me. They asked for the details and things to help me find who it was that scammed me and tried to do what they could do on their end. After they asked again to work with me and guaranteed the same thing wouldn’t happen if I worked with them. They also offered me an affordable price because I was low on money due to getting scammed. The product they delivered was amazing and I went through with a bulk order with them. They now make everything for me.
We have built an amazing relationship and I consider my manufacturer my brother. He takes care of me and I do the same for him. Our partnership in business runs deep and we’ve made each other a lot of money. I say this to say, Build a tight relationship with your manufacturers because they will take care of you. Life is all about exchanges; I can’t stress it enough.
We’d love to hear your thoughts about selling platforms like Amazon/Etsy vs selling on your own site.
I use Shopify and I love it. It is cheap first starting out, and you can run so much from it. Its able to be integrated with a lot of other apps. You can build your website on there and import other websites from people who create templates also. You can run SMS and email marketing and view all your analytics. It does a great job keeping track of things when tax time comes around.
My only con isn’t really a con because of them but I will say that if you are not a clothing brand that keeps a lot of inventory or you are just starting out and your drops aren’t often, you still have to pay that monthly subscription fee. It doesn’t matter if youre not selling anything; you still have to pay. Something to be mindful of if you dont get a lot of traffic online yet and do better in person, like at pop-up shops.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://jmiller.com.co
- Instagram: adir.clo
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaden-bouldin-miller-0887a2296/
