We were lucky to catch up with Rus Donida III recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rus, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

The name of the company I co-own is A GARDEN WORLD. Garden is an acronym for something deeper but also for me growing up I was heavily influenced by my grandmother. She lived in her garden telling me to -smile, be happy, life is beautiful. She also stayed active and busy by taking care of her garden. She told me In order for her garden to thrive she had to give it love, make sure to water it, give time, light and good energy. That’s something that stayed with me. So A GARDEN WORLD is a metaphor for life, whatever it is you love or have a passion for treat that as if it’s your own garden.

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

I was born and raised in Oakland Ca/ Bay Area. growing up always taking public transportation, id constantly see art everywhere. Graffiti/ street art always caught my eye. I just loved seeing all the different styles and I couldn’t help but try to put my own twist on it. Whether it be in my notebook, school desks or on buildings I just wanted to create. I didn’t know this at the time but growing up with ADHD, creating Art really helped me focus and be in the moment. In the Bay Area growing up style and uniqueness was big and one thing you couldn’t get caught lacking on was your shoe game. so naturally as long as I could remember even when I was playing sports I was always looking at shoes and making sure I had on some fly shoes. I still remember when I was 4 or 5 years old for some reason anywhere my family would take me I’d run away or get lost on purpose. One day one of my uncles said if you stick with me and don’t run off at the end of the day I’ll buy you any shoes you want. I said say less I stuck with him the entire time and i ended up picking the white/ black Jordan 9s. Loving art and shoes eventually brought me to designing footwear. Art and shoes is my life and I couldn’t get away from it even if I wanted to. Growing up in the Bay Area it taught me to be very open to different cultures and lifestyles. So designing footwear and creating art came naturally to me. Growing up I was always surrounded by people who weren’t afraid to express themselves style wise even if it was different. That made me feel comfortable to design and create with no boundaries.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

I met my business partner/ cofounder/ brother in middle school. I’m turning 35 later this year so I’ve been knowing him for some time now. When I first met him he was already on his fly shit, Just fitted lookin clean he had on Jordan bred 11s down jacket and 2 hoop earrings in on his left ear he was killin. We shared that love for just being fly and us getting together having the same mindset it was easy for us to get together and start working with each other on a lifestyle brand. We just want to share our love for fashion/ style and story telling. Us having a similar mindset when it comes to fashion/ style it was a no brainer for us to create A GARDEN WORLD

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We were (mostly me) very comfortable in the Bay Area and I felt in order for us to grow and expand get more exposure we needed to get out of our comfort zone. i moved to an area that would help me grow personally and us as a brand and that’s why I am here in Los Angeles now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://agardenworld.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/a.garden.world?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Image Credits
@r.donida @abovethegiem