Flunking out of high school isn’t typically where marketing ideas are born. But for one University freshman, with troubles came triumphs.
Graphic design freshman Joshua Henderson’s clothing brand, Forever Dumb, was the result of failing out of his sophomore year of high school.
Henderson and two of his classmates at the time, Joshua Quinn and Chris Olivo, were in the same boat at Patrick F. Taylor Science and Technology Academy in New Orleans, but a chance meeting on the school bus changed their paths.
Olivo said he approached Henderson on the bus one day and they began talking about a variety of things. They soon found they had common hobbies, mainly skateboarding. Olivo and Henderson started a friendship along with Quinn. Olivo mentioned it would be cool for them to have a skateboarder clothing brand with graphic T-shirts and hoodies. Henderson and Quinn agreed and they got to work.
“We just grew together as friends and as brothers,” Olivo said. “We just jumped into it together and decided to go for it.”
It wasn’t all smooth sailing, though. Their name is something they’ve debated changing until recently.
“I was like ‘We should call it Forever Dumb,’” Olivo said. “[Henderson and Quinn] were both skeptical at first, but eventually I was able to talk them into it, and they started understanding the rebellious spirit of it.”
Henderson said he realized the name captured the project’s youthful energy and summed up their feelings when they were struggling at their high school, which they eventually left.
“Basically, Forever Dumb is how we were feeling when looking at our peers at that moment in time because all three of us ended up failing out of that school,” Henderson said.
He said the name is also relatable because everyone does dumb things and will do dumb things forever.
The next speed bump for the crew was money. When they went to screenprinting and graphic design service The InkWell Press with their idea, they soon found out making their own clothes wasn’t cheap — they would have to produce nearly $1,000 to get their first shirt designs printed.
This was money 16-year-old Henderson didn’t have and neither did Quinn or Olivo. To make FD work, they would all have to pitch in to raise money.
“As long as you have three solid-head people who aren’t going to spend the money as soon as it’s made, the business can grow,” Olivo said.
Olivo cut grass and washed cars, but the rest of the money was acquired through nontraditional ways, namely stickers and music videos. The crew printed off hundreds of FD branded stickers and sold them at their high school for $1 each. Once all of the stickers were sold, they weren’t far from getting the shirts printed.
Henderson said their next opportunity was the most fulfilling.
One day, while skateboarding in New Orleans, the group was approached by a man asking if they wanted to be in a music video. They agreed and soon, they were on set for English musician Jake Bugg’s “There’s A Beast And We All Feed It” music video.
Henderson said they received quite a bit of money from the music video and put it toward FD.
The co-creators have been able to utilize word of mouth and social media to sell their clothing. Henderson said their skater friends buy and wear the clothes around skate parks, which piques the interest of other skaters who want to know where they can get them. Word spreads, people look them up and they sell more merchandise through Facebook and Instagram. They even deliver the clothes themselves.
“I was in digital arts class and my teacher said she liked the hoodie I was wearing,” Henderson said. “I told her I made it, and she could buy it. Then she told the entire class, and afterwards, people seemed really interested in buying them.”
Henderson said he is prepared to throw himself into the brand and do all he can to keep the business going. He said he wants nothing more than to expand the business and make it more official, something he said he intends to do this summer.
“I’m putting my all into it because that’s the only way to be successful,” Henderson said. “This is much more than a hobby. It’s my life.”
You can reach Kayla Randall on Twitter @Kay_ran21.

Gallery • 10 Photos

Ronni Bourgeois

Graphic design freshman Joshua Henderson sketches a new design on March 6, 2015, for his New Orleans-based clothing company FD.