We recently connected with Krystal & D’Andre Richardson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Krystal & D’Andre 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?

There are several impactful times throughout American history, good and bad but we survived one of those times. Police brutality and crimes of all kinds were plastered all over our televisions, radios and social media accounts daily. The year of 2019 is where the straw that broke the camels back lied. The killing of entrepreneur, global icon, father, Grammy-Award Winner, and Hip-Hop Artist Nipsey Hussle happened.

This news that would shake the world forever!

It was then that Krystal & D’Andre had, had enough. Taking a moment to acknowledge their feelings they had their “lightbulb” moment. “What could be created that will impact lives in a positive that can correlate with current situations and any situation that may be faced in the future?” In unison, they uttered “a clothing brand!” From there, it’s history.

July of 2019, LIFEBrand known as LIFE Clothing & Apparel was born. LIFE is an acronym for love, inspire, forgive, and encourage — 4 essentials to living a high-quality life daily. We promote those 4 essential actions because we believe not only does it make your day better but it helps and motivates the next person. Having this daily reminder in trendy, stylish fabrics that can you represent day in and day out is the ultimate mission of the brand. The message behind the 4 letters is what we want to go global. The simple message of having a positive impact on everyone’s life that you come in contact with regardless of the relationship. Increasing positivity and decreasing negativity is what we strive for everyday!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

We sell t-shirts, hats, fisherman beanies, short set, sweatsuits, socks, keychains, shorts, sweatshirts, and sweatpants.

The problem that we solve for our customers is reassuring them that they do matter and have someone in their corner who genuinely wants the best for them. Our customers also understand that it is bigger than themselves because the bigger picture is to have a safer world. Our message of LIFE is for the individual as well as their family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and even enemies. We can uplift and motivate every single person through verbal communication and actions.

We are most proud about the places and customers that we were able to reach this far. Having our product purchased from as close as North Carolina to as far as Hawaii and California has been a joy. Simply knowing that the message is worldwide and it’s bigger than what you wear but more so about what you stand for.

What we want you all to know most about our brand is that we have your back. There are still great, positive people in this world regardless of what social media, tv, or the radio is filling your brain with. Don’t let them taint your mind to believe that this world is all bad — it isn’t! Be the change that you want to see. It starts with us! It starts with the individuals that wake up every single day and want to make a positive impact on the world no matter what it is. We are the one who push this world forward and what better way to continue to do that by purchasing some LIFE merch and standing with a brand that means something.

How’d you meet your business partner?

I meant my co-owner in college. We both were apart of the basketball team and came from a sports background where we understood that we needed our teammates in order to accomplish our goals. The understating of our purpose being being than us as individuals was a no brainer. As time went on and the more that we met in the gym and spoke the closer our connection grew. We went from laughing and joking about crazy college experiences and sports to 4 years later D’Andre down on one knee proposing to the one person in life who understood him, his purpose, and what they could accomplish together in life.

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

Our initial funding came from personal credit cards. We both had credit cards and began to make purposeful transactions with them. Purchadijg shirts in bulk and have mass production done. We began the business with a total of $700 where we purchased shirts and paid a local screen printer to produce t-shirts for us. From there we were able to grow and expand our business out into other products that continue to build us up and move us forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lifebrandapparel.net
• Instagram: Thelifebrandllc
• Facebook: LIFE Clothing & Apparel
• Other: TikTok: lifeclothing