We recently connected with Jame McElroy and have shared our conversation below.
Jame, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
I’ve always wanted to help people, and Dirty Bourbon has allowed me to do this in a way I never even imagined. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s in 2010, my freshman year of college. I started losing weight, my stomach hurt all the time, and I wound up in the hospital. When I finally got everything under control, my life was completely changed. The ‘normal’ college experience seemed so far out of reach, but I found friends who understood and helped me get through it.
Originally when I started Dirty Bourbon, it was a way to help small bands like mine, to print affordable merch for their shows, but when the pandemic hit, it transformed into an apparel brand where I made cool alternative designs and screen printed them onto tees. Dirty Bourbon wasn’t created to be a chronic/mental illness advocacy brand, but when I stepped back and looked at my portfolio I realized I was creating designs that spoke to my symptoms, but in a no nonsense, sarcastic sort of way.
Dirty Bourbon makes tattoo inspired clothing highlighting symptoms of chronic and mental illness without pulling any punches. Living with a chronic illness, some days are hard, but I still tell people “I’m okay.” The number of times friends, family and DOCTORS have told me “You don’t look sick…” is way too high. Both of the designs inspired by those phrases have become best sellers on the site, resonating with so many of our customers.
In the future I want to continue to create designs for Dirty Bourbon and gain recognition alongside some of the biggest alternative brands. The more I can normalize chronic/mental illness and its symptoms, the easier it will be for people to get the help they need.
In the past Dirty Bourbon has donated to causes that mean something to myself and my customers, including Jubilee Arts Center which pays for Baltimore youth to get access to arts education, the Trevor project to help protect LGBTQIA+ youth, and to Women’s rights funds because bodily autonomy is a basic human right. There’s so much more I want to do, and so many more stories that I want to tell. It’s been an honor advocating through my designs, and I’m looking forward to a bright future for Dirty Bourbon.
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
I design tattoo inspired alternative clothing around the symptoms of chronic and mental illness, telling stories most people don’t talk about right on my shirts. I got started printing in my basement, making low-cost, small batch tour merch for local and regional bands who were just as tired and jaded as myself. Now, I print mostly T-shirts, but also have collections of lounge wear (joggers and sweatshirts), crewnecks, hats, coffee mugs and stickers. What’s more important is the designs themselves, and the stories they share. When I was starting Dirty Bourbon and finding where I fit within the clothing world, I realized there’s lots of cutesy “Protect your mental health” tees, but there was nothing edgy and dirty that really spoke to mental and chronic illness in a raw, authentic, sarcastic sort of way. So I decided to fill that void, and found my own style designing for people who don’t need another shirt full of toxic positivity. At the same time, the brand turned towards advocacy, where I have the privilege of telling my customer’s stories on a larger platform, and for more people to hear. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.
I’m most proud of how quickly we’ve grown, and how we’ve handled getting here. There were rough patches, and the team often says we’re “building the boat as we sail it”, but that’s also one of our strengths. We can pivot quickly since we’re not limited by red tape or investors. We’re just doing what has to be done to serve our customers every day, and making cool shit in the process.
Dirty Bourbon is for everyone, whether you are punk, goth, alternative, a nerd, tattoo lover, musician or whatever. Your story has value, and you are not alone in whatever you’re going through.
How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?
I started a discord for people who have found themselves in a similar space to me, simply struggling every day but still pushing through. There’s so many of us out there, diagnosed or still fighting for a diagnosis. One of my favorite things is hearing stories from our community. I’ve grown so much listening to people describe their experiences and am touched every time a customer leaves an awesome review or tells me how my clothes have helped make a bad day just a little bit better. We offer a lot of hoodie and jogger sets that people tell me they wear on blood infusion days, on days after treatment, and to the hospital. Discord is a way for all of us to stay connected and find people who understand what we’re going through. They also get early access to sales, and input on what we design next. It’s like a little focus group of people who only want what’s best for Dirty Bourbon. They’re our best customers and also just a really chill group of people.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
I started marketing on TikTok because it was what I had access to, and I saw other brands doing it. At the beginning, I went viral a few times, and brought in over $10K each time. For an anti-valentine’s day shirt I designed in 2021, I made almost $10K in one day, from one video. Now, I’m focused on more consistent and sustained growth instead of one off videos. This year I started a new series that people liked to binge watch, and started a modeling program asking cool people doing cool shit wearing our shirts to submit sample pics to our website. If they were chosen, we sent them free shirts to model in exchange for pictures. Those TikToks tend to perform well, and get us new lifestyle pics for the store. It’s been a really great way to grab new customer’s attention, and some of them buy after submitting an application because they just like our vibe.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dirtybourbonclothing.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dirtybourbonclothing/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DirtyBourbonClothing
- Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dirtybourbonclothing?lang=en
Image Credits
Jame McElroy (original pics)