We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Taofik Olatunji. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Taofik below.
Taofik, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.
Im Taofik O, owner of Designer Christian Apparel. I came up with the idea to make customer T-shirts for profit back in 2004. My original idea was to sell T-shirts that had quotes from popular hip-hop songs, but I eventually changed and decided that was not an option. In 2012 I made my first batch of T-shirts for the Obama election but they did not say very well. At that point I stopped making shirts, and didn’t start back until 2009 when I started my company. I know a guy who went to my High School, and he and his wife run several businesses, and the seem to be doing well. One day in 2019, after viewing one of his Facebook Posts, I was motivated to start my company. The next day and applied for a Tax Number, later built my website and had a large order of shirts printed so that I could start selling. I’ve been selling ever since. I moved into the Grow Desoto Marketplace in 2020 and I’m still there currently.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
The goal of Designer Christian Apparel by Tofi is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, while making a living of course. We try to use creative designs that “look good and spread the gospel at the same time.” Our motto is “Spread the gospel without saying a word.” We have some very nice Christian Themed shirts made with high quality materials, and I also added Gemstone Jewelry to my website and store as a way to generate income.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I started my store while gainfully employed, because I had a passion for what I do, and also as a Plan B, in case I ever needed to move on from my job. In 2001 , that time came and have been pretty much depending on the business as a main source of income. It’s been slow but with the hell of family, and God we have managed to weather the storm thus far
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
Fortunately for me, I do pretty well with my gemstones jewelry, but to be honest business has been somewhat slow. I started off with just enough to get things started. I was able to produce my first batch of items for less than $2000 and I was able to move in to my current location for only $1500. So it didn’t take much. The money was available, so I took a chance and stepped out on faith.
Contact Info:
- Website: designerchristianapparel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designerchristianapparel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byTofi/
- Yelp: https://m.yelp.com/biz/designer-christian-apparel-desoto