We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jared Rok a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jared thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

So the story is actually a pretty cool one. My grandpa came here from Cuba in 1967. Looking for work, he opened up a few retail stores in Downtown Miami and eventually did well enough to buy a few buildings, working his way up in the Real Estate industry. He started his own business and decided to hold an art competition here Downtown where the winning design would be the logo for his new company. He ended up choosing this logo because of his love for the ocean, sailboats, and ultimately the vibrant colors of the sails – which he thought represented the vibrancy of Miami itself. He made hats with the logo for family members and over time, anywhere we went, people would ask, “What’s that logo? It’s so cool! How do I get one?!” My grandfather, unfortunately, passed away when I was 13, but I decided to keep making the hats for the family and eventually started making some for my friends. Everyone would tell me how much attention the hats were getting, encouraging me to make more and start a clothing brand. Although I loved the idea of turning my hobby into a business, I brushed it off for a while, until four years ago when I decided to really pursue it and created ROK M.I.A.
Since then, things have taken off like I would never have imagined. My clothing and hats are now sold in my favorite stores around Miami, including Shoe Gallery, BASE, Sneak Peek Luxury, and SoHo House, to name a few. The amount of support I have received over these last four years has been incredible, and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes me.
I knew this would be a worthwhile endeavor that would work for a couple of reasons, one of which being that people are simply drawn to the logo itself. As I mentioned before, when I would wear my grandfather’s hats people would ask me about what it was and where they could get one. I knew that if I could pair the logo with high quality hats and clothing, it would be a hit. Over time, I had seen many streetwear fashion brands based out of NYC and LA on the come up, but none from Miami. I felt there was opportunity to be had in this market and decided to bring something new and unique to this city I call home. ROK M.I.A. allows me to exercise my interest in fashion and my creativity by coming up with cool and unique designs for each collection.

Jared, 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?

The truth is I feel like this company was never even really supposed to happen. In my wildest dreams did I think I would start my own company let alone design my own clothing brand. I started it because people asked me to, and it was 100% organic growth from the very start. Even a couple of years into it, I thought of it more as a fun hobby that probably wont mount to anything… As cliché as this sounds, it goes to show that if you truly have a passion for something, you can make anything happen. We are now a global brand that started off as a hobby because people liked the logo. I mean… How cool is that? One thing that tends to surprise people is when I tell them that I wear all the hats (no pun intended) in my business; from the designing and production of each item, the retail/ecommerce, to social media and Instagram- its all me. It’s not always easy but its always rewarding, to be able to share with others something I love.
Since the brand has more of an urban-nautical vibe, many athletes and celebrities enjoy wearing it. We opened up our first flagship store here in Downtown in late January 2021. What sets us apart from others is the quality of the gear, which I put a lot of work into perfecting. Like my grandfather with his first business, ROK M.I.A. is based out of Downtown, Miami, and I like to think our gear is a way of celebrating this city and its history while paying homage to my grandfather who remains one of my greatest inspirations.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

Although this hobby has basically turned into a full time job, I still do commercial real estate with my family as well. I have done it since I graduated college and will continue to pursue it forever. I too have a big passion for real estate and working with my family members everyday makes it all the better. Family over everything is our motto and that will never change. This logo holds a lot of meaning to my family, and so its extra cool to see so many people enjoy rocking it – and a big reason why I still continue with the brand itself.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Our most effective strategy is probably getting into the hands of athletes and celebrities. When people see their favorite artists and athletes wearing a brand – especially one that isn’t a high-end well known designer brand – they are drawn to it. Especially if its affordable! I think people like to know that they can rock the same hat that Diplo, or OBJ wear, and even dress them up or down. Also, since I have always been the sole person in charge of all clothing designs, marketing and social media, our brand identity is a strong one. There is a consistency throughout providing a relationship with our clientele and Instagram followers that I am honored to put a lot of my time into.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rokmia.co/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rok/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rokmiami
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-rok-50842883/