We were lucky to catch up with Kendall Lawson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendall, thanks for joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

We went to High Point University and majored in Entrepreneurship. Starting college back in 2008, we always knew we wanted to have our own business but wasn’t sure what type of business we would decide in the future. Three Scooops Fashion House was started our senior year as a our senior class project. We were assigned to create our own business plan, marketing, financials etc and present it to our class. After a year of work, research, and presenting (we got a B on the overall project), we realized this was the most fun we had in school outside of being a Division 1 soccer player and partying. From there… Three Scooops was born, without a fashion background, just hunger and an eagerness to create a sustainable business so we can provide opportunities to our family and community.

At this time the wave of Billionaire Boys Club, BAPE, and Big Polo Ralph (I couldn’t stand the big pony era haha) was just starting to tail off. Most of the clothing I wore at the time was Ralph with no logos, J. Crew, Patagonia, and lots of soccer merch. The problem I was aiming to solve was the transition from college clothing into real world attire. The idea was to make fun, stylish, timeless, comfortable clothing that was interchangeable. Meaning, you can wear it to work, a night out, and almost any other event you can think of.

At that time having a business, let alone a clothing brand was not a popping idea. But we knew we had something to the market an just had to figure out how to get there. I’ve always been a fashion forward individual well ahead of trends (although I do not do trend clothing) and I knew the style will be timeless. So you may purchase an item for today but 10 – 20 years from now you can still throw that item on with full confidence.

Kendall, 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?

So a little about myself, is that I’m from College Park, GA but my parents were in the Navy so we moved every 2-3 years of my life. Before 18, I lived in 10 different states but lived in Virginia Beach longer than anywhere else. I played soccer at a very competitive level all of my life which lead to many opportunities locally, nationally, and internationally. With that, I was exposed to many different cultures and styles. Coming from Atlanta back to VA played a huge part in my teenage years. I went from Reebok, tall t, head/wrist bands to match every fit (with the wash cloth in the back pocket) to VA. Where there was Air Force 1’s, way more colorful clothing, and more of a skate aesthetic. As time went on through high school, my friends and I all won best dressed together and outside of soccer that’s what we were known for. A group of fresh mf. I was highly influenced by Young Dro, Pharrell, and Kanye of course. So personally my style has always been more prep with a perfect crossover of streetwear.
Other than being a consumer, I really just hopped into the fashion industry. I knew my friends and I style were well above the average but I had to figure out how to make what we wanted. That took years and years to figure out. I started out trying to do t shirts designs (but I’m not a graphic designer and rarely wear just regular tees), I tried purchasing bulk and putting my logo on different items (but that ish is boring and so not me), so finally after 6 years I took the leap of faith and found a manufacturer overseas. Every negative thought and emotion you can image ran through my head but it was the only way I could potentially create what I wanted. And all that I knew, is that I wanted to provide timeless, quality, comfortable clothing that can be worn for years.

This opened a brand new opportunity not just for me but for other designers and business owners as well. As I started to do more custom clothing and learning the game (all trial and error) I started to post about my experiences. I call them Three Scooops Product Review Videos. The more I posted, the more people would reach out to me to help them get their ideas created. That started our manufacturing and wholesale business. I work with individuals, brands, businesses, etc to bring their ideas to life or at least help educate based on my experience.

Before I got into manufacturing, I learned how to sew out of necessity. When I was buying blanks, I couldn’t stand not having my own tags in the neck. So I purchased custom labels and would take them to a seamstress to get done. The issue with that is it would take the seamstress 2-3 weeks to complete my order. If I needed the piece turnaround quickly it was even more expensive. The only way I could make this go faster was to do it myself. I went to the library and read a bunch of books, studied on youtube, purchased the supplies I needed and got to work. Luckily, within a week of starting I made an awesome sewing instructor that helped me from there. During the start of covid when there were no mask available, I was able to provide them to the community. I was probably sewing 20+ a day for 2-3 months. This lead to me starting a non-profit called Sew N Grow. The mission is to help high school and college students create hand-sewn items in a nurturing learning environment. This may include learning about sewing, business and financial education, the fashion industry, and other extracurricular learning activities.

What’s made me most proud in this journey is creating items that I could have only dreamed of when I first started, going to tradeshows/events that I never thought I’d have a budget for, providing others in the fashion industry a chance to get their custom items made and learning the process, and lastly working with students through business lectures I do, helping them with their class fashion shows, providing internship opportunities, and doing Sew N Grow to teach new skills

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Growing our reputation in the area definitely came from supporting others, consistently showing up, and being punctual. Even the times where I’d show up early and no other vendors were there, it gave off a great vibe that we are reliable and can be trusted to follow through on what we said.

Something else that definitely helped is the set up for our pop ups and our branding. No matter how big or small, we always put in 100% to each event. This has helped leave a lasting impression on others about our quality and dedication

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

The biggest lesson we had to unlearn was thinking things we wanted were not possible. Growing up there was always limits on what could be done. Example: that is too expensive, who is going to pay for that, that’d be nice, money doesn’t grow on trees, that’s unrealistic… etc.

I’m sure we’ve all heard different forms of those types of sayings but were things started to change was when I took a hard look in the mirror and asked myself, “why can I not”? It didn’t make sense to me why I couldn’t have the things that I’m willing to work hard for.

So I made a lot of cut backs, I spent less time with my friends that weren’t creatives or business owners (this doesn’t have to be negative, rude, or condescending. I just filled my calendar with clothing activities and my number one line to friends/family was and still is “I told you I’m going to be a clothing designer, if every time you talk to me I don’t have anything going on would you believe me?” I did a ton of reading, I’d go to the library and check out books to help expand my thoughts or learn strategies (not sexy but gets the job done). I’d do dyi projects from YouTube and try new things.

All of those together encouraged my belief system and helped me believe I could accomplish more. Rather than just being passive aggressive about my wants and wishing they would happen

Contact Info:

• Website: www.threescooops.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/threescooops?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ThreeScooopsClothing/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThreeScooops
• Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCI21hg7EjdX41O_lN08KxhQ