Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tariq Brown. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Tariq, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today 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.

Good question: The idea actually came from my creative side and my surroundings. I had recently moved to the Atlanta area from California. While in Cali I was in the Bay Area and was exposed to a lot of different cultures. Out there, Oakland had the most black culture but certain areas started to become gentrified. Coming to Atlanta I felt the true black culture of entrepreneurship and black ownership. Fast forward I wanted to create something that could possibly be passed down through my family and actually mean something. I write poetry so I like to play with words and create acronyms. Enters DABOC, which means Dope Ass Black Owned Company with the purpose of Developing And Building Our Community. I started this company in 2019 and the energy of being “black owned” was something to take pride in, especially in the Atlanta area.

I was always into quotes and motivational speeches so I wanted to create apparel that had quotes that would inspire and motivate individuals to make the most of this thing called life. With Daboc I wanted to incorporate the 3 Fs: Fitness, Finance, and Fashion. The 3 things I believe are important to our culture and help individuals grow.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I’m an avid reader but there are a few books that really stick out and have had an impact on me. For starters, I will say The Alchemist is my go-to. I try to read this book once a year. It kind of helps me recalibrate when life gets out of whack and I need to remind myself that the world conspires to help you achieve whatever you want as long as you go after it. Another book that played an essential role for me is “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. This book helped me put my financial mindset in a whole other realm. How you think about finances really controls how you live life. Two other books that were really influential are The Richest Man in Babylon and Shoe Dog (The NIKE Story). Both gave me a great perspective on managing money and being an entrepreneur.

I have listened to numerous podcast and youtube videos of great motivational speakers such as Les Brown, Tony Robbins, Eric Thomas, Inky Johnson, TD Jakes, and the list could go on but it’s something about reading a book that really takes things to another level for me.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I had to unlearn was you can do it by yourself! Not sure where all these self-proclaimed self-made people come from but doing it by yourself is for the birds especially if you want to be successful at what you’re doing. For one, you have to have a mentor to even put you on the right track to get to the place you aspire to get to. I was that person that had trust/control issues and would rather try to do everything myself cause I felt if I wanted it done right I had to do it. I had to learn you will burn out real fast doing that. Part of being a good leader is being able to delegate duties and understanding a person’s strengths and weaknesses.

Contact Info:

• Website: dabocshop.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/dabocshop