Tell me about yourself: My name is Tj and I own and operate Detroit Boxing Company, which is an apparel and gear company, which was started in May of 2019. I am engaged and have two children, they’re the reason for everything I do. I’m a huge fight fan, from boxing to MMA I love it all.
What made you want to start a clothing line: What made me want to start a clothing company is when I started going to a local boxing gym in Detroit, I started looking up boxing clothing and I found out quickly that there really weren’t many that I found aesthetically pleasing. Either they had a big ass boxing glove or terrible font you’d see on a t shirt generator website (you know the ones that let you pick a font and upload cheap art onto a shirt). I figured I could get some shirts printed and see if anyone is interested. A lot of my friends bought them, probably just to support what I was doing, not the fact that they actually wanted a boxing shirt. I appreciate those friends more than anything because they gave me the push to make me think that is was possible for me to turn this into something bigger.
What keeps you driven: What keeps me driven is first and foremost, my family. I know my kids are watching my every move and I am responsible for setting a good example, and second would be the fact that I want to be the best at what I do.
Who or what do you look to for inspiration: I look for inspiration everywhere. My fiancé is deep into art and a lot of her ideas come out in our product from packaging to designs, at first I was like “ this is my shit, I don’t want anyone else’s ideas”(in my head anyway), but since I trust her I took a step back and now I run things by her even if I think it’s perfect. I look at street art, I look at album covers, or anything that catches my eye really. I listen to podcasts about building brands which gives me a ton of new ideas business wise. Other clothing companies inspire me as well. I’m always looking and thinking “how did they do that?” or “how do I go about doing that” this goes with branding, getting into stores, etc. This is truly one of the few things in life that really interests me, so I am all in with every piece we release. I put a lot of time into to it and I want people to love it as much as I do. I want our shirt to be your favorite shirt in your wardrobe.
What is the future for Detroit Boxing Company: When I started this, my main goal was to get a Detroit Boxing Company shirt on every boxer in Detroit (metro area). I want them to feel like we have our own thing here in Detroit, I wanted it to be the brand of the Detroit boxer/fighter. Fast forward to today and I still want the same thing, but my dreams have grown as the company has. I want this brand in as many gyms as I can possibly get it into across the world. This will take a ton of hard work and time, but If It’s a vision of mine it will come true.
Where can we find your brand and products:
Website: www.detroitboxingcompany.com
Facebook: Detroit Boxing Company
Instagram: @detroitboxingcompany