We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Zaida Cobb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zaida below.

Hi Zaida, thanks for joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

Creating my brand It’s Regular was an extremely new expedition for me, I had never launched a clothing line or even thought about starting my own brand before. And for that reason, the process was actually really fun. I looked at it more like a new adventure. I pretty much just jumped in and learned each step as I went. I had to first find a graphic designer and go through months of trail and error to get the perfect logo created. That in itself was a process, because I wanted the feel of the logo to match the meaning of my brand. Then, I had to design the merch. That wasn’t as difficult because I already was working with a designer I liked. But, the next few steps were the most tedious and challenging. Searching for a Vendor, getting samples, making sure the quality and colors matched my mock ups, and investing my hard earned money into a brand new business was the hardest part of all.

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?

For those who don’t know me, I am a songwriter first and foremost. I have worked with artist like Rico Nasty, Rubi Rose, Saucy Santana, Sevyn Streeter, Coco Jones etc. Despite me still being new to the music industry, I have began creating a lane for myself and over time a slogan that a lot of my supporters and peers associate with me, “It’s Regular.” It symbolizes the day in and day our hustle and grind to create the life you want for yourself, but at the same time it’s a flex because when those wins start coming in, it’s regular. I been grinding for this so it’s expected.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I self funded my business, which was definitely nerve wracking but I did what I had to do to get the ball rolling. I had a good amount of money saved up, so I spent about $8,500 out of my own pocket in total from front to back investing in the launch for my It’s Regular merch line.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

After a bit of research, I felt like selling my merch line through Shopify was the best bet. I like Shopify because they have literally everything you need integrated into one great platform. From creating the website itself, to the shipping, email marketing and much more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.itsregular.co
• Instagram: @itsregularco
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/itsregularco