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

Alright, Ty thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of the most important things small businesses can do, in our view, is to serve underserved communities that are ignored by giant corporations who often are just creating mass-market, one-size-fits-all solutions. Talk to us about how you serve an underserved community.

O.L.L.I.E. Life Youth Program is a curriculum based organization that services young boys ages 12-18 years old. Our youth come from single parent homes and are being raised in the low income areas of Nashville Tennessee. Only Living Life In Excellence is the motto/acronym we use daily to inspire our youth. Our program serve our youth and their families for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even provide backpack/supplies for school. We pride ourselves as an organization for being a resource for all of the families we serve.

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?

Ollie was founded in 2010 and the concept behind the brand came initially from skateboarding. As a kid I enjoyed skateboarding with my white friends when I was able to spend the night over their house. Growing up in my neighborhood that wasn’t accepted so I told myself once I got older I wanted to create.skate team. Well I did but. I found myself having to discipline and hold them accountable for when I received calls from their parents or teachers. Dominant back to the drawing board along with my cofounder Dred Yehudah. We created a curriculum and decided to turn our slate brand into a mentoring program so that we were able to give back. Along with our mentoring program, service learning projects, beautification projects, and community events we have apparel. One of our mentees at the time created a picture of our logo and said we should make shirts to be uniformed when we were on outings. So we sell OllieLife apparel and I’ve authored a series of books called “OLLIEISM”. This is a collective of affirmations I’ve written over the years. I also coauthored a book “Men Inspiring Men” with other community leaders. I am most proud of being able to have something that I can pass down to my son Caleb. As a single father he is my inspiration and motivation behind Ollie.

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

I met my cofounder in college at Fisk University in 2001. We were both apart of the men’s basketball program.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

During the beginning stages of creating the Ollie Life brand my son was born. I was going through a divorce and was going through a custody dispute. My son is the absolute most important person in my life. So mentally, emotionally, physically exhausted I still felt it was necessary for me to be able to do things for my community. Despite all that I was going through I prayed on my situation and I trusted God would work everything out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ollielifeyouthprogram.org
• Instagram: Ollielifestyle
• Facebook: Ollielifestyle
• Twitter: Ollielfestyle
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@ollielifeyouthprogram431?si=pHK6dY8tw6N77m4r

Image Credits
Fisk University