0:05

Welcome to the show.

0:06

I Rashwan McDonald, the host of Money

0:08

Making Conversations Masterclass, where

0:10

we encourage people to stop reading other people's

0:12

success stories and start planning

0:15

their own. Listen up as

0:17

I interview entrepreneurs from around the country,

0:19

talk to celebrities and ask them

0:21

how they are running their companies, and speak

0:23

with dog profits who are making a.

0:25

Difference in their local communities. Now,

0:28

sit back and listen as we unlock the secrets

0:30

to their success.

0:31

On Money Making Conversations Masterclass,

0:34

I ra Sean McDonald. I host this weekly money

0:37

Making Conversation Master Class show.

0:39

The interviews and information that this show provides

0:41

really is for everyone.

0:42

It's time to stop reading other people's success

0:44

stories and start living your own. My

0:47

guest today is the President and CEO of

0:49

the Teyon Collection. The

0:52

Tian Collection is one one hundred percent

0:54

solely owned by Monty Holler. Please

0:56

welcome to Money Making Conversations Masterclass.

0:58

It's about the fashion week for us. Oh this show

1:01

Monty Holland, how are you doing? Mister Holland, I'm

1:03

wherever Sean, how are you well? First

1:06

of all, you know this is

1:08

gonna drop on my podcast. It's gonna drop

1:10

on.

1:10

Video television stations around the country.

1:12

But for the people who just only listen

1:15

to this, the brother looks clean.

1:19

So in your best descriptive,

1:22

Monty, tell everybody what you wear.

1:24

Somebody a gr card

1:27

black and silver jacket. Many

1:29

would call this high

1:32

fashion or black tie type of apparel.

1:35

But my apparel, it's designed

1:37

in such a way you can go from work to play

1:40

to black tie and all the way back around

1:42

again. So it's interchangeable, inaccessible,

1:45

and appropriate for all the moments that matter.

1:48

You know, I've known you several years.

1:49

We're not going to get into detail about that because

1:51

we're gonna really it's about you.

1:53

It's about uh, you know, how

1:56

did you get into business?

1:57

Man?

1:59

You know, it's I had always

2:03

had these visions of you

2:05

know, uh being in the

2:07

fashion industry in some way, shape or form, but

2:09

you know, but being raised in inner city Detroit with

2:11

a single mom and three other siblings,

2:14

had no idea how to get into it. So I just kind

2:16

of put those thoughts in the back of

2:19

my mind until I got to high school

2:21

and I would see my coaches that didn't work

2:23

in the building come to the building in

2:25

their you know, professional clothing, right,

2:28

say Wow. I don't know what they do, but

2:30

I want to do something that has to do

2:32

with them. You know, when overcoats,

2:35

you know in Detroit, so it's cold, over coach

2:37

Fritz cuff neckties. And I would always

2:39

notice, even with all the sprints they had us

2:41

running, how good they looked in

2:43

their clothing. And I wanted to do something in

2:45

that world. And that sparked my

2:48

my thoughts of

2:51

what I could kind of do with it. And that's where fashions

2:53

is all came from.

2:54

I'm really missed. I need to tell everybody

2:57

where you from. Where are you from?

2:58

Martin born and raised Troit, Michigan.

3:00

There you go, see see right there.

3:03

We gotta say where you're from so we can

3:05

understand why you're talking about fashion. Why,

3:07

as a young African American male, you

3:10

will hypnotize by looks

3:12

because fashion has always

3:14

been a strong foothold in Detroit.

3:16

Why, you know, even

3:19

before the days

3:21

of Motown, when those guys really you

3:24

know, put their foot on the fashion on

3:26

the fashionst neck, they always

3:30

look good. They wanted to look good because if you look

3:32

good, they felt good. No, these are the stories that

3:34

I heard from, you know, the elders saying, listen,

3:37

we would wake up, put a suit on, go to

3:39

work, come back from work, take that suit

3:41

off, put another suit on for our

3:43

extracurrictal activities. And that's I've

3:45

always heard that. I've always seen that, and

3:48

the Troitch's been, you know, a sexy, fashionable

3:50

city, says I've always

3:52

known.

3:53

Now, one thing about Detroit has always

3:55

had a reputation.

3:56

Of bright colors.

3:58

Now is that true?

3:59

Is that true?

4:00

That's true prediction more so than

4:02

just bright, because I think that the people

4:04

who who are really into fashion

4:06

Detroit would like their fashion to be an extension

4:09

of their personalities. This has called it that. And

4:11

some people have brighter personalities, so they

4:13

want to express the singles with

4:15

with their color and their God.

4:18

Well, you know, I'm gonna take you to task

4:21

on that, Monty. I've been to Troit

4:23

many times.

4:23

I've seen the match and add the matches

4:26

Sued Dvance and shoot. I mean it's.

4:28

Red from top to bottom, is yelling from top

4:30

to bott I've seen green from top to bottom.

4:33

Nowhere in this country have I seen that other

4:35

than Detroit. Well, guess what think

4:37

about that? And what you just said it's actually

4:39

true. But think about the monochromatic looks that people

4:42

are doing nowadays.

4:43

Ahead of the time. You know,

4:47

for a long time, the mono looks pretty odd

4:49

now, right it is. But

4:51

I just know that I got

4:53

to let everybody know the love I have.

4:55

For Detroit and the fact that Manti's

4:58

on my show talking about fashion, because I've

5:00

been fortunate them in life. I've been in the position

5:02

to get tailor made suits, tailor made

5:05

shirts, and but I've never met

5:07

a person.

5:07

Who had a collection.

5:09

A person who has closed on the racks.

5:12

You know, before you got to that, you had

5:14

to stand in the military, before you

5:16

got into fashion.

5:17

Talk about that.

5:18

That's actually how Tayan started. So I

5:21

you know, I'm a young man in the nine Marine Corps.

5:23

I'm overseas and on weekends. What a lot

5:25

of people don't know is that they give you time to

5:28

go out and just kind of hang out. So I'm in Korea

5:30

and all these places around the world, and

5:32

on weekends we just will walk up and down the roads.

5:35

Well on either side of the road, you had

5:37

these little shops where you can go in and look

5:39

at fabric and make a shirt in an hour or

5:41

two. You can make a shoe, you can make a pan, you can

5:43

make a suit. And I

5:45

would go in remember having these

5:47

thoughts in the back of my head about fashion, and just

5:49

say, look, I want that shirt, put this collar

5:51

on it, put this cuff on it, I want that jacket.

5:54

Make to the pail like this. Not knowingly with Seana

5:56

that I was designing, but I would you

5:58

know, before you know what, I had a nice collecttion

6:00

of clothing and people will give me these compliments.

6:03

Well, I just said, you know, I got a cool, you know

6:05

wardrobe. I would wear it out, get all these compliments.

6:07

I get out of the Marine Corps, and those compliments

6:10

kept coming. So I started to use those

6:12

contacts that I had right things

6:14

for people right now.

6:16

When you when you when you're looking at clothes

6:18

and you're looking at design, what is

6:20

the basis of your

6:22

design factor, your vision? When

6:25

you're talking about men, you arember

6:27

back up? Are you designing for? I've

6:30

heard terms called fast white guys. I've

6:33

heard terms called the urban community,

6:35

and I heard terms called German general market.

6:38

What do you look when you start fashioning the

6:40

design of your fashions?

6:41

So, so, first I want to go back to something you said a

6:43

minute ago. You said that you know you

6:46

coming from position of means you've

6:49

always had custom types of suits.

6:51

So tag liizes this whether

6:54

renaissance man meets the new millennium man, and

6:56

whether custom suit meets the ready

6:58

to wear suit. So every bail and

7:00

whistle or characteristic that you'll

7:02

find in your custom suit in front and

7:04

the tay I ready to wear suit. So I start

7:07

there, because remember all those things that I

7:10

started from my foundation was actually

7:12

customed. I built it. I made it from

7:14

a shop to my specifications,

7:16

the entire interrupt of the things that I want to incide. It

7:18

took those put it into my ready to wear

7:21

But what who am I? Who am I targeting?

7:23

I'm targeting the same customer

7:27

that likes to be fashionable,

7:29

that wants his fashion to be an

7:31

extension of his personality, that likes

7:33

the type of garment that you're used to, that height,

7:36

nice garment, but maybe at a price.

7:39

So I'm thinking about what what

7:41

what the time for Ralph florin purple label

7:43

guys thinking about but at a price point?

7:45

And uh, you know, I like to say humbly, I

7:48

think that we we've accomplished that. And this

7:50

guy who's wearing to I can stand next to any of those

7:52

guys that are so confident that he's you know,

7:54

right there and that connect with them.

7:56

Now your visionary because

7:58

everybody, like I said, I've met him many

8:00

a man out there who can design

8:03

suits, who may want

8:05

to be on a rack in a Macy's type

8:07

store. To this start

8:09

for you, Monty, it's

8:11

interesting and.

8:12

I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna go into something real

8:14

quick because you know, like

8:16

I said, those coaches inspired me, uh

8:19

from from high school. But I'll tell

8:21

you and and uh and

8:23

this is this, This is touching to me because you know you're

8:25

such an humble god versh. I but I want, I want to say

8:27

this quickly. Two thousand and

8:29

four, I want to say I was at the Magic Show with a little

8:31

ten by ten booth right down the hall. For me

8:34

was you and your team. You did not know

8:36

me at all, but you guys took the time to introduce

8:39

yourselves and say how much you liked

8:41

what I was showing. Now I had the little thing booth.

8:44

You had a big time in booth with the upstairs and I

8:46

remember it, and you you

8:48

took the time to say something to me that meant

8:50

the world won. Two I

8:52

watched how your team moved, and I was

8:54

inspired, you know,

8:56

by the team and most of you, because I knew

8:59

you were the brains behind it. How it approached

9:01

me, how you were professional. I saw

9:03

how you guys were moving, I saw how you guys looked, and

9:05

that always stuck with me. So kudos to

9:07

you, man. I'm very, very appreciative to you.

9:09

I appreciate that.

9:12

What I you know, how we

9:15

approach this thing, it's very very

9:17

different. I am my customer. I

9:20

make things that I not only like, but I would

9:23

be proud to wear. And I keep that in

9:25

mind when I'm putting a collection

9:27

together every time that we go out. So

9:30

how I got into the big box stores. We started

9:32

selling these small specialty stores.

9:34

Right for

9:36

what a specialty store is, specially store

9:38

is a mom and pop store.

9:40

Sometimes it's one store. Sometimes they have, you

9:42

know, four or five stores. Sometimes they have, like

9:44

Portabelly in New York, twenty thirty stores.

9:47

So we started to sell these guys. They started

9:49

to make money, and more and more

9:51

came. At one point, we were selling about a thousand

9:53

specialty stores across the country. Now,

9:55

it sounds like a lot, and it is a lot. But

9:57

when you start to compare that to big Box. When

10:00

you start talking about Macy's needing, that's

10:02

nor Stums. It's nothing. It's dropping the

10:04

bucket. Until one day I'm

10:07

at one of those very shows that I just spoke about,

10:09

and one of the guys who was a custom

10:11

of mind from Houston, Gary Dante

10:14

from Soup Mart, yes on the hallway

10:17

towards me. He had been making money off tayon

10:19

for a few years. He's walking with another gentleman.

10:22

These are elderly gentleman, both Jewish gentlemen,

10:24

and he says, hey,

10:27

Manty, what's going on? So we talk. The gentleman nation

10:29

room said that's a beautiful suit. You're wein. I said, thank

10:31

you, that's a beautiful suit.

10:32

You win.

10:32

He said do you know who I am? I said I do not, but

10:35

you look familiar. And then Gary chimed

10:37

in and said, man, he's taon. He's the hottest

10:39

line in America. Ronnie, you and him should do something.

10:42

The guy was Ronnie Wursberger and he

10:44

was the person that built Peerless

10:47

Clothing. Peerless Clothing is Rolph Floryan, Calvin

10:49

Klein, Tommy hill Ficker, Michael Kre's, you

10:51

name it, and they are

10:53

not.

10:54

They manufactured these brands, manufactured

10:56

these brands, and he built it because he ran it for

10:58

thirty five years.

11:00

He's more than just a vendor to these big box

11:02

stores. He's more like a partner, right.

11:04

And he saw me. He said, man,

11:06

you're a very interesting young man. I want to talk to you about

11:08

maybe doing something because the industry is about

11:11

to change and we need to diversify our

11:13

portfolios. I said, okay,

11:15

well, let's set something up. Sue me to New York. We

11:17

had a conversation. He took a liking to

11:19

me and said, very frankly, and I'm

11:22

going to tell you very frankly what he said.

11:24

He said, listen, I'm the person that

11:26

made America feel like the only thing appropriate

11:28

was the two button black blue, brown Nzza

11:31

Peale suit. The industry

11:33

is changing. We need to diversify,

11:35

meaning the licensees,

11:38

those types of guys, and the big box stores.

11:40

He said. But I can take this label of any

11:42

of the brand that I make and put it in another suit,

11:45

same suit. Nobody know the difference.

11:47

And I was like wow, because I had already known that,

11:50

right, And so we want to bring you in and have

11:52

you diversify the industry and I'm

11:54

going to help you do it.

11:55

Wow.

11:56

And he held true to his word and brought me over

11:58

to a peerless He then retired and

12:00

I've been there for the last four

12:02

and a half years.

12:03

Now. Cool, let's talk about this location

12:06

in Vegas, this show.

12:08

Can you explain to my viewers and I listener

12:10

to exactly what you're talking about when

12:12

I first met you, where Gary met

12:14

you? At all these individuals who changed your lives.

12:17

And it isn't an annual event.

12:19

So the Magic Show is had

12:22

nothing to.

12:22

Do with magic, by the way, Yeah.

12:24

Sure, that's let's me do magic. It's

12:26

apparel trade show that's held two times

12:28

a year in August and in February, and

12:31

you know, vendors are there, you

12:34

know, showing their product. Buyers

12:36

are there buying product. Celebrity brands

12:38

are there with licensing deals

12:41

every category from men's to women to boys,

12:43

to casual to out of weear to sports. Where it's

12:45

a huge show. It used to be a four day

12:48

show, is now a three day show, and it is

12:50

just where the whole fashion

12:52

industry converges in one week

12:55

to you know, to represent

12:57

their particular their fields. And that's

12:59

where I just I was going to go.

13:01

I had no industry knowledge.

13:04

I didn't know what was going to happen. But I worked for Fighters Pharmaceutical,

13:06

had a little money in my pocket. I was not I

13:09

grew up in America at that time. I

13:12

took four of my buddies, took fifteen suits,

13:14

got that little ten by ten and

13:16

luckily, and I mean this because

13:19

it was so last minute, there was only one ten x

13:21

ten space left, which is the smallest booth, and

13:24

it was down the hall from where you work.

13:26

Awesome, you know, it's

13:28

the fun part about the Fashion

13:31

Is collection and Monty talking the

13:33

Magic Show is wow.

13:35

Yes, I can't tell you.

13:37

You know, you go to the hip

13:39

hop area, it's loud, you know,

13:41

it's almost walking from

13:44

and I'm not being negative. I'd say that you have verified

13:46

is it's a little quiet section is

13:48

like very white, yep.

13:50

And as you get closer.

13:51

To the hip hop and it started getting louder, the women

13:53

start wearing less or less clothes and

13:56

it's like, okay, where am I at now? And

13:58

then the booths are like stores.

14:01

They're like stores. It's like an incredible

14:03

experience. Of course, it's not a place where they let

14:06

just every day people walk in. You got to have passes

14:08

as well secured. But to get in

14:10

there is almost

14:12

a validation that you're legit correct

14:16

for sure.

14:16

And it's certainly not cheap. You know that

14:18

little tim by Both that I had

14:21

in two thousand and four, Boy,

14:23

he probably spent thirty thousand dollars just to

14:25

get the booth, just to move the things

14:27

in, to ship the things in. I mean that was a lot of money

14:29

for a brother trying to come up.

14:32

Okay, so now you're in there, got you brought the fifties

14:35

suits, your bars.

14:35

And looking good. I met them all.

14:37

I remember this moment because you

14:39

know, young brother looking good man. The one thing

14:41

I've always said about myself is that I'm

14:43

going to stend a hand and I want to know how I

14:45

can expand. And over the years we've

14:48

stayed in contact, he's invited me out

14:50

to the shows. At the magic of

14:52

my thoughts. I bought his clothes, but I'm not

14:54

having them on the show to talk about the clothes I bought

14:56

from him. It's his journey, his secrets

14:58

to success and

15:01

the money. You know you're getting these clothes,

15:03

you yeah, you selling your number more sales

15:05

with that Pfizer. But now you're getting into the

15:07

fashion business and necessarily

15:10

everybody clothes you send out don't mean people gonna

15:12

buy them.

15:13

How does all that manufacturer itself?

15:15

My brother? So I learned,

15:18

I like to say, I learned my business

15:21

acumen, certainly in their pair of industry through the school

15:23

of hard knocks. Tell you,

15:25

you know, they tore my up behind up,

15:29

And here's what I mean by that. And I'm gonna

15:31

be candid here. I don't know many six

15:33

foot three, two hundred and forty pound Marine Corps

15:35

train detroitors that can say they

15:38

stole millions from me, and I

15:40

know where they are and I didn't catch a case, so

15:44

you know, because I got to tell you. And I say that lightheartedly.

15:46

But there were times when it was it was tough

15:49

because as we started to grow and as we started

15:51

to make money and we were selling this product, I

15:54

started to ask questions, Okay, so where's the money?

15:56

You know, what?

15:56

Right's with this?

15:57

I didn't quite understand the business side

16:00

of it, the most important side. You can

16:02

have the hottest garments in the world. If you don't understand

16:04

the business of it, you will lose and

16:06

you will fail, right so as we're making

16:09

this hot product, stores of buying it,

16:11

and you know, I'm not understanding

16:14

how to track it. I'm not understanding

16:16

the true cost of the garment, meaning

16:18

the cost of cybric meaning the cost

16:21

of production, meaning, the landed costs

16:23

meaning, the warehouse costs meaning the

16:25

wholesale costs, and as it relates to what you should

16:27

be paying me. I had to learn those things

16:29

the hard way, and unfortunately

16:31

a lot of these smaller lights and companies didn't

16:34

play above board and we had to leave

16:37

a couple of them because they quite literally

16:39

stole. Right now, we're bigger than all

16:41

of them.

16:42

Please don't go anywhere. We'll

16:44

be right back with more money Making Conversations

16:46

master Class. Welcome

16:54

back to the Money Making Conversations master

16:57

Class, hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money

16:59

Making Conversations Masterclass

17:01

continues online at Moneymakingconversations

17:04

dot com and follow money Making Conversations

17:07

Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and

17:09

Instagram.

17:10

Congratulations, No, here's the

17:12

thing Monte and talked to Monte Hallan you know Teyon

17:16

collection.

17:16

He's based out of draft from a Warning Corps

17:19

individual or.

17:20

Farmer Top Sales and the Advisor now

17:22

one of the top fashion leads in the country.

17:25

When I talk about your clothing, your

17:27

line. You know, Steve Harvey

17:30

made an impression in the fashion industry,

17:33

especially how did that impact

17:35

you and also how you were able to

17:37

stay ahead of what the next fashion

17:39

trend would be talk to us.

17:42

And that's that's funny you mentioned Steve. Steve was

17:44

in that group that I talked about with you all and

17:47

the you know, he's always been a fashion

17:49

icon in my opinion, and he always could.

17:52

So I always wanted to kind of walk in that same spirit

17:55

of fashion excellences that you and your team

17:57

and specifically Steve walked

17:59

in. So I would take those types

18:01

of styles because they were very similar to what I wanted

18:04

to do and create

18:07

my line. But then you have to be able to see

18:09

beyond yes, what's hot

18:11

now and continue

18:13

to source, you know, fabrics,

18:15

continuous benchmark meaningly around.

18:18

You have to be overseas. You have to be in

18:20

different states and cities and see what's trendyed,

18:23

what's hot looking the round corners, And that's

18:25

what I always do. I always say, Okay, that's

18:28

hot, I like that, But what's

18:30

hot in DC? What's going to be hot in Houston?

18:33

With this work here, work there. Let's

18:35

try something different. We've been doing this lapale

18:38

with for a year and a half. Now let's

18:40

try something a little bit different. And I've always

18:42

done that, and thank goodness, the things

18:44

that we've done that Where many would think

18:46

we're cutting edge, we're right on point.

18:49

And we've never had a season where we did not sell

18:52

very very well. So it's

18:54

about being taking risk, and it's about following

18:56

that little voice in your head, because that little voice in your head

18:59

is your gift and you have to listen to

19:01

it.

19:02

No.

19:02

The interesting thing about it, you know, because this is

19:04

like money making conversation master class, I try

19:07

to educate my audience own terminology.

19:09

That's very popular in your the word

19:11

licensing. What does that mean?

19:13

And how does that impact how

19:15

you are going to do relations with various vendors.

19:19

So that's a that's a great question. And here's

19:21

how I like to sum it up and in

19:24

short so that people have an understanding

19:26

of it. Licensing in short

19:28

means this, would you rather have

19:31

all of a million dollars or

19:33

ten percent of one hundred million dollars ladder?

19:37

But how do you do that? Yes, sir, I tell

19:39

guys all the time. They say, hey, man, I want to get into

19:41

the industry, and I'm ready to do it. You did it, I can do

19:43

it. I say, yeah, you're right. But what happens if you

19:45

do show Macye something and they say

19:47

we like it, not give us forty thousand units?

19:50

Forty thousand units is about four million dollars?

19:52

Do you have one? Do you have four million dollars to

19:54

make it too? Do you have the

19:56

wherewithal to wait to be paid several

19:59

months for it? Three? Do you have

20:01

another four million dollars to have another

20:03

boat coming here with another four million on

20:05

it?

20:06

Yes?

20:06

If the answer is no, then you probably should

20:08

be considering a licensing deal because

20:10

they're gonna do the heavy lifting. They're gonna pay

20:12

for the fabric. They're gonna pay for the

20:15

production of fabric. They're gonna pay fabric, pay

20:17

for the product, pay to make the product, bring it here,

20:19

warehouse it, sell it the

20:21

other customers, paying a royalty

20:24

based off of those sales.

20:26

You then just need to negotiate a royalty

20:29

deal that makes sense for you. Understanding

20:32

what the overall profit

20:34

margin is, right, you

20:37

know, so if there's if there's thirty

20:39

percent margin in it. Anything

20:42

double digit for you is

20:44

solid because they're doing all the heavy lifting. You

20:47

know.

20:47

The interesting thing about it is that this year

20:50

Macy's came out with this Divide nine Yes

20:53

fashion line and I'm gonna I'm not gonna

20:55

lie tell you, Marty.

20:57

As soon as I saw that went this

20:59

take yeah.

21:02

I And then I did my research

21:05

and it was you tell us how that relationship

21:07

happened and why did you do it?

21:09

So the two part question. First

21:11

of all, probably can see behind me a lot of pink.

21:13

My wife said, AKA,

21:18

but I had heard about this,

21:21

this initiative. They had tried a couple of years ago.

21:24

Write it with the sororities.

21:27

The young lady who was addressed by Macy's,

21:30

she's a zeta. She had been asking

21:32

to do this because she was trying

21:34

to express to them the gravity of

21:37

the sororities and fraternities.

21:39

You know, are educated people with me. These

21:41

are people in the world. These are people that

21:44

know what they want that and can galvanize,

21:47

you know, groups of people that can support an initiative

21:50

right, that are huge in philanthropic

21:52

areas, huge in the community. You know, the whole deal. Did

21:55

it? They do these rap dresses panel

21:57

rap dresses ten million dollars out

21:59

to do and I think they sold ten million thousand in a week or so.

22:02

Wow weeks they did great. She

22:04

caught a little bit of flat because what she did

22:07

was she went to a

22:10

manufacturer who is, let's

22:12

just say that they're not minority, own right

22:15

to them, and they made these dresses. And somebody

22:17

who's in the industry, I think it's Roland

22:19

Martin, and I'm not sure he's.

22:20

An alpha or a Q, but

22:22

he said he's an AFA. I'm a quree

22:25

ah.

22:26

He said, we appreciate the sister for doing

22:28

this. However, she couldn't

22:30

find any African American

22:32

vendors, so Macy's.

22:34

Then it was a lot of flat. It was a lot of pressure

22:36

on her back. And

22:38

the version of the echoing the inclusion was on

22:40

file right now, right.

22:42

They said that, okay, we noted there's something

22:44

here, but let's do this thing the right way. So what

22:46

they did was they went to all of the presidents

22:49

and they talked about how they were partner

22:51

They were partnered via workshops, they were partner

22:53

via internships, they were partnering

22:55

with the regional initiatives,

23:00

all the different things you do in the community. And then they said,

23:02

we're going to donate to all

23:04

of the organizations. I think today they've donated

23:07

north of three million dollars to both the

23:09

sororities and fraternities. The only holdout

23:11

is the aka's they're you know, they're holding

23:13

out right now. And once I

23:15

heard that they were doing all those things,

23:18

they came to me and said, Okay, look, you're

23:20

a minority owned vendor. You're do well

23:23

in Macy's. Would you be willing to do

23:25

this? And when I realized that their their

23:27

commitment to it was honest

23:30

and they were going to do what they said they were going to do and

23:32

they were actually doing it, I said I'm in.

23:34

So they came to me and said, can you do the Taylor

23:37

clothing? The jacket, is the vest, the pants to tie

23:39

the shirts out the way and I said sure.

23:42

So, in order to make sure that everything is being

23:45

followed up with and done properly, I go

23:47

to these workshops, I go to these regional

23:49

conferences. I'm going to be at your national

23:53

effar and right I'll

23:55

be there.

23:55

Okay, cool.

23:56

So they're doing what they said they're going to

23:59

do. We created a really nice product

24:01

and it's going to evolve to be something

24:03

that's very special.

24:05

Well, you know, Stephen Smith, who

24:07

was my frat brother, as soon as he saw the line, he

24:09

went up, I gotta get a suit.

24:11

I gotta get that look.

24:12

Because you know, purple and gold, that's a

24:14

hard look to get right, you know,

24:16

because I've seen many of my frat brothers

24:18

looking why are you doing that to yourself?

24:20

Why are you doing that to yourself?

24:21

And so.

24:22

But these are colors, you know.

24:23

And the reason I bring it up because these aren't like

24:25

everyday colors. But they went to a

24:27

Detroit man. See, Detroit

24:30

men know about them colors. They know how

24:32

to make those colors work for the everyday

24:34

person.

24:34

To talk to us about the color.

24:36

Schemes and also your vision of

24:39

making it comfortable for the

24:41

everyday brother who want to wear it to work,

24:43

who want to wear it the church, who want.

24:46

To wear it out to a festive occasion

24:48

that's high fashion.

24:50

So that's exactly what we did. What we did was just

24:52

so you know. The collection is done

24:55

in the signature colors of all of the fraternities.

24:58

Yes, was in any of your signs,

25:00

any of your letters, any of your specific

25:03

logos, Jeff, the colors, I

25:05

said. I said, okay, well, I can take these colors

25:08

and I can make them interchangeable so

25:10

that if you know, you

25:12

know, but if you don't know, hey, that's a cool

25:15

purple jacket. I can put

25:17

this white shirt that had a little bit of purple

25:19

in it with that jacket his white

25:21

pant in it. And we're doing the spring and in

25:23

the summer and be sharp as heck. So

25:26

I did that throughout

25:29

the whole collection, and I made it such that you

25:31

can dress it up, you can dress it down,

25:33

you can dress it casual with the jacket without a

25:35

jacket, And it seems to

25:37

be working because we did some really cool shirts

25:39

that you can see some of the

25:42

bells and whistles without the jacket. But when

25:44

you put the jacket on, now it like a regular

25:46

shirt. If you put a tie on with it, you can't see the

25:48

paneling that we did down the front. You can't

25:51

see the treatment that we

25:53

did a bund to the cuff. So if you

25:55

did it without a jacket, you want to wear a you know, on

25:57

aunt that will flip the sleeve up and see

25:59

the the purple and white treatment up under

26:02

the cup. We're hoping a little

26:04

bit. It's I can see

26:06

the purple on it. So we did some things to make it

26:08

for the everydig guy. We did something to make it

26:10

for the guy who wants to wear it to black tie and the

26:12

guy who wants to wear it to work and stand out a little

26:14

bit.

26:15

You know.

26:15

The beautiful thing about an interviewer

26:17

and Manta's dad. He makes you smile

26:20

because you love what you do.

26:21

I do, I do, and

26:24

I tell people all the time that if you

26:27

oftentimes shall we We have these these

26:30

gifts, and because we do it, it

26:32

comes easy to us. We don't look at it

26:34

at something that we can monetize or

26:36

something that we can make a living at. So I spend

26:38

a lot of time trying to one inspire

26:40

people like you inspired me, like Michaus

26:43

inspired me, well, two to try to explain

26:45

to them if you're that guy or

26:47

that woman that wakes up and you you put your make

26:50

up really well, you do your hair when you well, you

26:52

dress nicely, and people are always complimenting

26:54

you on it, it's maybe something that you

26:56

could do and monetize. So think about

26:58

that. Those are our gifts. I don't draw

27:01

or sew. I tell people that all the time, and they say what

27:03

I said, But my gift is I look at

27:05

a thousand fabrics and I can remember

27:08

watch nine hundred and seventy

27:10

six tied ends, just watch eight and they can

27:12

go to and I can do something with it, right. And

27:14

anytime I go to a fabric meal, no matter where

27:16

in the world, Turkey, China, wherever, they're

27:19

always amazed at that. But that's my gift. And

27:21

I like to, you know, see around the

27:23

corners and do things that I think are coming.

27:25

And it happens to work every

27:28

single season. So you

27:30

have to love what you do. You hear that little voice

27:33

and you want to step out become an entrepreneur.

27:35

You need to maybe try. You will not fail.

27:38

You will know.

27:39

That's the beauty of my relationship

27:41

with you, you know. And like I said, you're inviting me

27:43

out to one of your magic shows, your

27:46

collections showing. And one of

27:48

the primary conversations I had with him,

27:51

what about the collection by what you.

27:52

Do for the community's philanthropic

27:55

side. Why is that so important?

27:57

It's important because I was that that that

27:59

little boy who, like I said, I would

28:01

look at my coach and see how they were addressed. You know, I

28:03

didn't have a father in the house, and

28:06

I would that inspired me in such a way

28:08

that I wanted to make sure I

28:10

number one inspired. But number two, I

28:13

was also an athlete. I wasn't a highly

28:15

heralded athlete. I came out of high

28:18

school in Detroit when literally

28:21

every team in Detroit had either

28:24

two or three Division ones or one

28:26

or two NBA guys. I

28:28

was in high school Garden Derreck Coleman.

28:30

Right right right, city

28:32

down the street, Terry Mills right there,

28:35

you know, t will T Wheelers team

28:38

had sixteen scholarships, full

28:40

right shot.

28:42

It's fifteen players on the team there.

28:44

Water Boy got a full rad scholarship. So

28:48

you know, I came out there. So I was pretty good. But

28:50

I didn't have a lot of schools being down my door. So I

28:52

decided that I wanted to because I had a lot of relationships.

28:55

I ultimately got a scholarship for basketball

28:57

to college. So I built relationships

28:59

with these schools in the region that I went to school,

29:01

and I started to send guys. I started

29:03

to work guys out, I started to mentor guys,

29:05

and I started to send guys to school. Before I

29:07

knew it, I had fifty sixty scholarships,

29:10

and I just loved it. I fell in love with securing

29:12

scholarships for young African American

29:14

boys. And then I would stay with them as they matriculated

29:17

through school, mentored them and talk

29:19

to them about their gifts, talk to them about how to

29:22

you know, get a job, keep a job in

29:24

or step out on faith and become

29:26

an entrepreneur. And like I said, today

29:28

we have sixty three four rad scholarships.

29:31

And I'm just as passionate about that as I am

29:33

about tailing Well.

29:35

And I love it. I love that. I love

29:37

the fact that you are engaged in the community

29:39

that I love the fact that you love Detroit.

29:42

I love the fact when this is the same smile

29:45

I saw in two thousand and four, I'm seeing in twenty

29:47

twenty four.

29:48

What's the future?

29:49

So the future is this. The line

29:52

is doing very well in several big box stores. The line

29:54

is doing well in specialty stores.

29:55

Yes, sir, I have.

29:56

Licensing deals with four

29:59

companies right now, all based in

30:01

New York. UH doors

30:03

are asking us for other categories. They're asking for casual,

30:05

They're asking for women's. They want to expand the

30:07

categories. So in the future, We're going to be expanding

30:09

the categories to have a full collection,

30:12

men's, women's, young people,

30:15

and then Rashan, we want to take this thing abroad.

30:18

We want to take it to other countries. I

30:20

want to quite literally grow

30:23

this like a heritage

30:25

brand. Why not. These guys are doing billions

30:27

of dollars and it's not so much about the money

30:29

as it is what, you know, what God showed me we're

30:31

supposed to be doing. So I want to walk

30:34

in that. I want to take this as far

30:36

as we can take it, and I believe there is

30:38

no mountaintop, but it's a

30:40

legacy brand that could be here for years and years to come,

30:42

and that's what I want to you know, build.

30:44

Well, this is Teyon collection. Monty

30:46

Holland a star, He's he

30:49

looks good. He looks a slaves

30:52

young because he's younger than me.

30:54

For manior futures, Brian, and thank you for bringing

30:57

some fastest to my fraternity colors

30:59

that I can not wear because brother,

31:02

I have not warn purple and Goal ever

31:04

in the history of mil Megasi five

31:06

Lifestyle and I've been a member since nineteen

31:09

eighty one. But thank you for taking the time to come

31:11

on Money Making Conversations, mante and

31:13

again Teyon Collection. He already told

31:15

you he's out there, but more importantly, if

31:17

you're near Masis, go in and check out the collection,

31:20

check out his brand.

31:21

Is it a website you can tell us about Tayon Yes,

31:23

sois available.

31:25

So all of my ig and

31:27

social is at Teyon Collection. That's

31:29

t A y io In Collection and

31:32

h LinkedIn is Teyon Collection. And

31:34

Monty Holland Manty with two inis Holland

31:36

like the country. And if you want to do something that special

31:39

special thing you want to taon dot

31:41

com and that's just t A y io In dot

31:43

com because we still do things that are you

31:46

know, a little bit higher level. That's my my Rolph

31:48

l Loring Purple label. Uh yeah,

31:51

yeah, we we have that too, dude.

31:54

Thank you for coming on my show, Money Making Conversations,

31:56

Myty Holland Teyon Collection.

31:58

He's a star, y'all. He's a visionary and he's

32:00

based in Detroit.

32:02

So much. This is my pleasure. I humbled

32:05

by this.

32:07

This has been another edition of Money Making Conversation

32:10

Masterclass hosted by me Rashaun

32:12

McDonald. Thank you to our guests on the show

32:14

today and thank you o listening

32:16

to audience now. If you want to listen to any

32:18

episode I want to be a guest on the show,

32:20

visit Moneymakingconversations dot

32:22

com. Our social media handle is money

32:25

Making Conversation. Join us next week

32:27

and remember to always leave with your gifts.

32:30

Keep winning.