We recently connected with Virginia Castro and have shared our conversation below.

Virginia, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

I was outside on a beautiful summer day, gardening and watering my plants, While I was out there, I was thinking about what I could call my company, lost in thought. Suddenly, my dog Rocky (named for Rocky Balboa), came tearing out the back door being chased by my cat, named Fashion. I turned and shouted “Fashion! Go get’m! Get’m, Fashion!” because they would play and chase each other all the time. When I turned back to my watering, it hit me. That was it! That was the name I was going to call my company – Get’m Get’m.

Virginia, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Virginia Castro, but mostly I go by V. I am the owner and founder of Get’m Get’m, Inc and RightOn! Accessories. I have been a designer, business owner, and philanthropist since 1996. From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a designer and do something creative. My parents are both originally from Mexico, and raised my sisters and I to work hard, to take care of each other, and to go after what we want and believe in.

So, even with only one year under my belt at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandise, I stayed focused on creating my own brand and the dream of being my own boss and designing products I could be proud of. I even got work experience in a manufacturer downtown to learn the industry and how the products I wanted to make got made. In exchange for the work I did, the owner let me make my first line of pet collars there. That line became RightOn! Accessories.

I opened Catts and Doggs pet boutique with my then partner at age 31, in Silverlake. I learned a lot just on the go and on the job. In running that shop I learned a lot about the pet industry, about the products, and about animal rescue organizations. I did end up selling that shop after 15 years in business, and still am friends with the current owner. What I learned there still influences me today, and is why I will always give a percentage of all sales to animal rescues.

Now, while I loved the pet industry and the work I did for animals, one of my first loves was always music and the music industry. I was home from the shop one day watching a block of VH1 music videos, and I noticed that every rock star had a kick-ass guitar, but all of their straps were the same plain strap with no style. It came to me: Why not apply the design and knowledge I had from my pet line to making straps for guitarists that would stand out and match the rest of their style and vibe? I was always in love with the guitar, and I felt the love and passion that can come through from an amazing guitarist deserved a strap that matched in quality and beauty.

Despite being new to the music industry, I went after the big boys immediately – pursuing Guitar Centers to sell my straps. They laughed at me when I brought my straps in to show them, but I refused to be deterred. I turned to the room of cubicles and said to the whole room, “Anyone here with some taste and style?!” The buyer was not happy, lol, but I was persistent and kept hitting him up six times! We are friends to this day, if you can believe it.

Three months later a new buyer took over and brought me in. I offered 6 styles, my first check from them was $10k, and in the first 3 hours of hitting their stores my straps started selling.

Two months into being in this industry, my buyer from GC emailed me saying I was in the center fold of Guitar World magazine worn by Twiggy Ramirez. Then, Marilyn Manson had his team contact me to design for him. It was the mid 90s, he was massive, and it was my first rock star that I took care of. He encouraged me to keep making my straps different from everyone else, and gave me the idea to make them extra long so guitarists could wear them low – even if they were tall. Since then, I’ve had my straps worn by some of the most renowned and legendary musical talent in the industry: Prince, Jimmy Page, BB King, Metallica, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Avril Lavigne, Andrew Watt, Johnny Depp, and more. I have also had the opportunity to do custom designs and OEM work for legends like Fender and Joe Bonamassa.

It has been 27 years since I started RightOn! Accessories and Get’m Get’m, and even through a re-brand, the pandemic, and many other ups and downs, I am still making new styles, selling internationally, and have zero plans to stop.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Honestly? Word of mouth and the products themselves. Pretty much out the gate, when I got my straps on a few musicians, once people started seeing them the response was and continues to be “Damn! That’s a gorgeous strap! Where did you get?” Also, once musicians try my straps they all say it’s a game changer and the best they’ve used. So, they tell their fellow guitarists/bassists. That sort of personal touch, and word of mouth growth also goes with how I like a personal touch to the way my brand interacts with people, to the style of the straps, etc. and that shows and people respond to it. It’s the quality of the brand and the product, and the care I put into it and it being American made. The artists I work with all respond to that and want to share it.

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

There are inevitably many obstacles in any path you choose, and ultimately I’ve learned you just don’t give up. From not getting to finish school, to the sexism in the music industry especially back in the day, to the pandemic – all of it – I responded the same way: I believed in what I was doing, and in myself, and I just kept going. One step then the next! If you can’t take the road bumps and roll with them, you’ll never get anywhere, and just trusting your gut and keeping it going is the best way I know to succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://getmgetm.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getmgetmstraps/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GetmGetmOfficial/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginia-castro-62011036/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@getmgetminc

Image Credits
Jefe Photos