Fubu: 9 cool lessons that turned a restaurant waiter to a multi-millionaire fashion clothing mogul

Scan time: 3-4 min / Read time: 5-7 min

Hey rebel solopreneurs 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️

Feeling overwhelmed by how crowded your market is and wondering how you'll ever stand out?

Here's the thing - that "overcrowded" market is actually full of gaps waiting for someone like you to fill them.

Meet Daymond John, a Red Lobster waiter who entered the massively crowded fashion industry and built FUBU into a $350 million business by creating his own category instead of competing in existing ones.

But how do you compete when established fashion companies don't even want your community wearing their clothes?

🍹 The humble beginnings...

Daymond John wasn't born into fashion or entrepreneurship.

He grew up in the Hollis neighborhood of Queens during the 1970s after his parents separated.

His mom raised him alone, working as a flight attendant for American Airlines and often holding multiple jobs to support the family.

From age six, Daymond was already hustling - selling pencils at school, shoveling snow in winter, raking leaves in fall.

He even worked as an apprentice electrician at one point.

His mother loved to sew in her spare time, and little Daymond would help her cut patterns and sew clothes together.

Those early lessons with scissors and thread would matter more than he knew.

When he grew up, he took a job as a waiter at Red Lobster - just trying to make ends meet like millions of other young people.

But around this time, something revolutionary was happening in his neighborhood.

Hip-hop music was emerging from the Bronx and spreading into Queens.

It wasn't just music - it came with its own way of walking, talking, and dressing.

Daymond wanted to be part of this cultural movement but didn't know how.

Then one day, he discovered something that made him absolutely furious...

🎯 Turned rejection into motivation

Hip-hop artists wanted to wear certain designer brands, but those companies didn't want them as customers.

One famous shoe company even said "we don't sell our boots to drug dealers."

But here's the crazy part - Daymond wasn't a drug dealer.

He was just a hard-working waiter who couldn't afford college.

Instead of accepting this rejection, he saw a massive opportunity.

He realized there was an entire community of people who loved hip-hop culture but had nowhere to buy clothes that actually represented them.

The established fashion brands were ignoring - or actively rejecting - a whole segment of passionate customers.

Sound familiar?

Then he spotted a $20 hat he couldn't afford...

✂️ Started with his own problem

Get this - Daymond saw a tie-top hat in a rap music video that cost $20.

Way out of his budget, right?

He researched and found it wasn't widely available.

He thought maybe lots of people are like him - wanting the hat but unable to afford it.

So he asked his mother to teach him how to use a sewing machine.

He bought $40 worth of materials and made a few dozen hats.

Then he took them to Queens and sold them on street corners in 40-degree heat.

In one day, he made $800 in cash.

Can you imagine?

But could he really validate this idea with zero experience?

💰 Tested his idea with real money first

Get this - instead of writing a business plan or doing market research, Daymond did something way smarter.

He bought $40 worth of materials and made a few dozen hats.

Then he took them to Queens and sold them on street corners in 40-degree heat.

In one day, he made $800 in cash.

That's when he knew for sure his idea had legs.

No surveys, no focus groups, no fancy projections.

Just real customers handing over real money for his product.

Can you imagine the confidence boost?

But could he really build a business while waiting tables?

⏰ Mastered the side hustle schedule

Here's what's wild - Daymond kept his Red Lobster job while building FUBU for two years straight.

His daily routine was insane: Wake up at 7am, sew hats, tag them, and ship orders until noon.

Hit Red Lobster at 4pm, work until midnight.

Come home, make more hats, and handle orders until 2am.

Repeat every single day.

During his off hours, he'd hit music video sets trying to get rappers to wear FUBU.

He heard "no" constantly but kept seeing each trip as a new chance.

You know what I mean?

Then a childhood friend changed everything...

🤝 Got his first big break through relationships

But wait, here's where it gets good.

LL Cool J had grown up on the same street as Daymond in Queens.

When Daymond approached him about wearing FUBU, LL Cool J surprised him by saying yes.

LL Cool J told him: "I wouldn't be where I was if people around my neighborhood hadn't helped me."

Bingo!

Daymond used that photograph with LL Cool J to market FUBU at a major fashion trade show.

They didn't even have a booth - they stayed in a hotel five miles away.

But that photo helped them get $400,000 in orders.

Wild, right?

But then they hit a massive problem...

💰 Found creative funding when banks said no

Here's the catch - they had $400,000 in orders but no money to manufacture them.

Daymond applied to 27 banks for business loans.

All 27 turned him down.

But wait, there's more.

His mother came to the rescue and mortgaged her home for $100,000.

They turned their house into a makeshift factory.

Since they couldn't afford advertising, Daymond spray-painted "FUBU" on metal grates protecting business entrances in cities from New Jersey to Philadelphia.

Talk about getting creative!

This clever move led to bigger opportunities, but he needed help...

🤝 Built a team without breaking the bank

Here's where Daymond got really smart about growth.

He brought in his three childhood friends - Alexander Martin, Carl Brown, and Keith Perrin.

But here's the kicker - they all kept their day jobs too.

Nobody quit their income to chase the dream.

Instead, they created a team of part-time entrepreneurs who could handle way more work together.

With the extra hands, Daymond could focus on the big picture while they handled production.

It was like multiplying his capacity without multiplying his overhead.

Smart move, right?

But even with a team, they still looked tiny compared to big fashion companies...

👕 Created the illusion of size with smart recycling

Get this - they made 10 really nice, high-quality shirts with the FUBU logo.

For two years, they took those same shirts to as many music videos as possible.

They'd loan a shirt for the shoot, then take it right back.

Here's the kicker - during those two years, their shirts appeared in about 30 videos.

Suddenly everyone thought FUBU was this huge clothing company.

No one realized it was the same 10 shirts used over and over.

Genius, right?

So when should you finally make the leap?

🚀 Knew when to go full-time

But here's what's crazy - even after placing products in the hottest music videos, Daymond kept waiting tables.

To the public, FUBU looked like a huge company.

But he was still serving shrimp and biscuits at Red Lobster.

He only quit his waiter job when the business was making enough money to support him.

His rule: Give up your day job when either the new business meets your basic needs or you gotta dedicate full time to give it your best shot.

Smart move, don't you think?

💰 The epic win

What started as a $40 investment in hat materials became something extraordinary.

FUBU grew into a $350 million revenue business that became a global brand.

Daymond's estimated net worth reached $300 million.

President Obama called him "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time" when they met.

🥂 Your turn to shine bright!

That's it, my fellow rebels!

Daymond went from facing a crowded fashion market to creating his own $350 million category, proving that the best way to stand out isn't to compete - it's to create your own space.

That "overcrowded" market you're worried about is actually full of underserved communities waiting for someone who truly understands them.

I have a feeling you're about to surprise yourself with your own potential.

Keep rocking 🚀 🍩

Yours 'making success painless and fun' vijay peduru 🦸‍♂️