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

Hi Mason, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

As a young individual in the 21st Century, I often times find myself plagued by the stigma that comes with the label of a “Gen-Z’er”

However, I try to constantly look at the positives in life, rather than focus on the negatives. Marcus Aurelius once said, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

Growing up, I had a lot of hobbies, interests, and ideas. The one thing that I believe set me apart from others was my ability to consistently monetize all of those. Having two parents who were given nothing in life, and who worked hard to achieve their success, it taught me the value of frugality, and how to take risks.

There is no specific day that I decided I would begin the execution stage of any of my businesses. Rather, I would spend weeks researching, learning, and calculating all aspects of any business I considered taking on.

When I first made the decision to attend Arizona State University, I saw it solely as a business decision. I knew coming to a fast-growing city would enable me with the right network to continue to grow my businesses. Known for being a high-energy, “party-school”, I decided I would attempt to leverage relationships with on-campus Greek Life organizations, and local night life venues to begin my career in videography. During my research, I found that there were very few freelance videographers who specialized in this niche. I knew that if I learned the industry, studied the content, and developed the relationships, I could be very successful in the industry.

Ultimately, I ended up joining a fraternity, and met my mentor, Justin James. Justin, a very successful videographer on a much larger scale taught me numerous editing techniques that allowed me to get my foot in the door at different establishments in Tempe. I spent a lot of my time in the fraternity filming and editing recaps and rush videos, which proved beneficial to building an initial portfolio.

Eventually, I landed a content production job at the largest night life venue in Tempe, Arizona- Texas-based sports bar, Varsity Tavern. Since then, I’ve been able to continue my passion for videography while also freelancing. I’ve developed several invaluable industry relationships, and continued my ability to deliver to my clients in the best way possible.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Mason Gates (February 28, 2003 – Present), is an American fitness influencer and entrepreneur. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Mason graduated from Staley High School and attended Arizona State University, majoring in Finance. While at Arizona State University, Mason was initiated into the fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta, and was apart of the United States Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps as a cadet in the Sun Devil Battalion.

Mason began his entrepreneurial career in his early high school years with a landscaping company that he sold to begin work on his clothing brand, Grind Attire. Mason was appointed as the President of the Young Entrepreneurs Society of Kansas City (YES KC) due to his years of experience. YES KC is an organization aimed towards encouraging, empowering, and networking young business owners in Kansas City. Additionally, Mason served as the Director of Development and Public Relations for the 501(c)(3) non-profit, Forty Love Organization, which holds numerous charitable events for homeless individuals in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Since moving to Arizona, Mason Gates now works as a commercial real estate broker for the largest privately-held commercial brokerage in the nation, Matthews Real Estate Investment Services. He currently holds two real estate salesperson licenses in the state of Arizona and Nebraska.

As a commercial real estate broker, Mason focuses primarily on the acquisition and disposition of self-storage facilities across the United States. Prior to his start at Matthews, Mason worked as a contracted talent acquisitions specialist for the social media conglomerate, Wave.TV, which manages and owns over 20 notable sports media pages amassing over 117 million followers and more than 100 billion views. Mason has continued his career in freelance social media marketing, and as the Head of Brand for the Texas-based sports bar, Varsity Tavern.

Mason Gates currently resides in Tempe, Arizona.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I would say the most effective strategy for growing clientele is through developing relationships with people. When I was first growing my clothing brand, I intentionally purchased a membership at one of the largest local gyms in town with the key audience I was marketing to. I spent the first few weeks at the gym meeting people, hearing their stories, and introducing myself. Then, I would slowly work in a soft elevator pitch explaining what I do, why they should support it, and what differentiates me from my competitors. I’m fully convinced that this practice alone is what ultimately allowed me to grow my business as fast as I did. I’m also proud to say that I still stay in frequent contact with those individuals and they continue to support me and my business to this day.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

I utilize my own website to sell my products. The reason for this is because as someone with years of digital marketing experience, I understand the value of branding.

Utilizing a 3rd-party platform dilutes the brand, and I personally believe it turns people off to the idea of buying your products. However, I do think it could also be a good thing. For people who sell products that aren’t as dependent upon the integrity of the brand- such as candles, custom wood-working, canvas art, etc- I think Amazon & Etsy are great places to promote products. At the end of the day, it all comes down to what it is you’re trying to accomplish and the vision that you have for your business.

Contact Info:

• Website: masongates.com, grindattire.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/masonlgates
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-gates-a1a264197/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/masonlgates
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/masongates