Daniel Kasidi - Founder of Rastaclat

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Today I am joined by Daniel Cassidy, the founder and CEO of Rastaclat. Thanks so much for coming on the show, Daniel.

Yeah, man, thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

Of course. I've been super excited to dive into your story, man. I. Not only have I told you this on the phone yesterday, not only have I been a fan of Rasta Klat for years, but to just see how far you guys have come and how you guys continue to crush it. Truly inspiring. And I'm excited to learn more about your story today. So congrats on everything.

Ah, thank you. It's not, not often I get to sit across from someone that, you know, is a fan of the brand and now doing their own thing and, and inspiring the world. So it's pretty. I'm honored to be here.

Thank you. Awesome, man. For sure. So for people that may not know what. Yeah, so for people that don't know what Rastaclat is, I'd love for you to just give them a high level overview of what the brand is and, you know, why you started it in the first place.

Yeah, I mean, you know, I'll just start with why I started it. You know, I was, when I was 17 years old, I wanted to become a professional skateboarder. I dedicated my life towards that and I got good enough where sponsors started sending me sneakers and clothing, you know, kind of influencers before influencers were what they are today. And I just, you know, started taking extra shoelaces from my skate shoes and making braces out of them just for my own self expression of, you know, what I wanted to express and people just loved it. I go to school. School. I mean, I'm a junior in high school and 10 of my friends asked me for these bracelets. So I went home and I just fashioned them and Went to school the next day, gave it to my friends, you know, and, and what I didn't realize, by the end of the day, everyone come back to me with like a story of like, hey man, like somebody noticed me because the bracelet and I just saw their confidence perk up or people were inspired by just creating and they wanted to now create. So I saw that as like a emotional transaction of positivity and like, good. So that's what made me want to continue to do it. So I have an interesting story where the what which is a bracelet and the why spreading positivity. And that mindset was kind of all birthing in 24 hours. And I was able to sort of tap into that fast forward. Went to school, studied fashion, designed for a lot of brands, Levi's, Reebok, all these different brands. And, and yeah, started the brand 10 years ago, like really started it. You know, it was a little bit more of a hobby when I, when I was 17, but started 10 years ago. And so yeah, Rosscloth's a brand or accessory brand. It's all about the message of inspiring people of a positive mindset every single day, but also making sure people look good in that journey, you know. And so we focused on accessories, bracelets. We're just expanding into more jewelry and apparel as well. So that's what we are in regards to business or complete omnichannel, retail, international distribution, e commerce, third party marketplaces. We're all over the place.

I love that. And for the listeners, I was telling you this yesterday on the phone. You know, I have, I remember, I don't know when exactly this was, but probably like seven, eight years ago when I was 15 or 14, 13 years old. As a young teenager, my mom, I would get roster clad bracelets. I'm not talking like just a few, like 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 over the years.

Ms. Adams, I appreciate you.

Yeah, like every Christmas, every holiday, birthday gift, it's like you get a couple Rasta cloud bracelets and I have two older brothers and we would all have it so times three. Right. So it's like not only have I seen your brand progress and it's had an impact on my life. Right. Like when you put it on, you feel fresh, you feel good, especially as a young teen. But you know, I'd love to dive into it now from this side of it where you know the business, when you talk about retail, I always would find them in zoomies. That was like my go to spot. Yeah, I'd love to, you know, take a step back and ask you when you guys first launched. Obviously it wasn't in retail retailer stores first. Like what was that transition from, was it digital at the beginning, then it went to retail. And how does the, the general business look like when it comes to, you know, the amount of time you spend on retail versus online?

That's a really good question. And I'll start from where it started, you know, so be, I mean the brand was founded in 2010 so, you know, so Instagram was just starting to pop off. It hadn't even really become like an everyday thing for everyone. And so really my first year was going to music festivals and setting up a six foot table and putting my products up there. Wheat pacing parking lots and wheat pasting bathrooms. Those only two places I can, I knew I can get people's attention and that's, it was all about guerrilla marketing, you know, and that's kind of how I built my first year, like survived like that first year of, you know, being kind of a one man show at that point. And then, you know, I was selling to a couple stores and reps, sales reps were going to these stores and they had everything. You know, a sales rep has a, has a, a collection, whether they have hats, T shirts, shoes, watches, but nobody had something like jewelry. So they were like, this is cool. This will add to our package. And then they picked up that they, they wanted to represent the brand. So I, I gave them an opportunity and before you knew it, you know, we were in, you know, Zoomies. You talked about that PacSun foot action. You know, we went from like 15 doors to over 2,000 doors in a matter of like three months.

Wow. It was just like that.

It was just like that. It was because the product was so unique. But we also had like Nikki Diamonds wearing his Rolex with the Rasta Clop bracelet. We had, you know, the game, I had influencers. I was going out.

Was this organic or how did this. Because I remember this now that you're talking about, like what was that product placement strategy or was it just organic?

It was, it was product placement strategy was, you know, get out and do sneaker. I did a lot of sneaker reselling like events, dunk exchange, sneaker con. And then they'd have, they had, they have acts there. Like the game would come out and perform rappers and athletes. And so I would just gift skateboarders, athletes, rappers, musicians. And that's how it was. It was just, it was, it was, you know, on hand combat, if you will. It wasn't any, it wasn't dming people, it was just like going out there and really see, you know, make sure people saw you. And so that's how it started. And so the marketing was behind it and then it got into retail and it started to continue to go and then slowly but surely, you know, international distributors that had stores in Southeast Asia and in Europe and everywhere around the world started calling up and saying, hey, we want this brand. We're seeing people wear it. So now I started building the international distribution and in third party marketplaces like you know, Lazada and Taobao and all these different things. And then really only about five, maybe six years ago, we really started focusing on the e commerce space. You know, we, we're kind of, we're not really a digitally native brand.

Yeah.

You know, and so but yeah, that's been the journey the last five or six years scaling that and understanding how do all these different marketplaces work together and where do you spend your time, you know, and where do you spawn your marketing budget and, and focus. So that's been a journey.

So yeah, yeah, that's super cool to hear. Outside of, I'm curious, like outside of the US like what are some of your biggest markets that you've noticed over the years?

Yeah, I mean Rosscloud is really, you know, focused in U.S. north America and, and Asia specifically. And specifically China. We have so many fans in China.

You guys have really like penetrated the Asian culture. I mean, which is hard to do from a business perspective.

Yeah, it's difficult from a business perspective, but difficult from a brand perspective. You know one what something may mean here, like our motto, seek the positive may mean something different in, in, in China. And so we've been able to, to localize the brand and take our canvas and sort of tell stories within a lens that that community can understand, of course, with great partners. So you know, China's a big part obviously. There's a billion and a half people there, about 500 million Gen Z. So that's a big market. But then all the other countries, Philippine, Thailand, Malaysia, you know, we're in Australia, we're in Europe, we're in Central America. So we have placement everywhere. But when you look at sheer numbers of population, you know, the China market and US market really drive, drive our business.

That's so, that's awesome. I'm curious, how big is the team? You know, over the years you started off as one man band. Like where is the team grown to today?

And we're so we're in Long Beach, California where we founded the company. And yeah, we got a team, about 40 people there and then in Asia in our subsidiary, about 60 people as well, that are so total, about 100 people within the. Within the company working for us.

So very cool. That's awesome, man. I'm curious. You know, you started this brand, you're 17 years old with this, you know, this passion for skateboarding, which fueled fashion and positivity over the years. Like, this is my assumption of it, and that's why I'm asking this question. Like, it seems like you guys have really stayed very disciplined with how you guys show up in the marketplace. You know what the brand means. And I'd love to hear from, you know, you, like, how you think about the brand since inception to today and how has it changed and, you know, how do you think about it moving forward?

Yeah, we've been disciplined on one thing, and it's about our. Our core values, you know, and, and which is passion, righteousness, discovery and, and excellence and integrity. So really focused on that, but also our brand message. Seek the positive. Like, whatever that we do, our mission statement is inspire the world to seek the positive. Positive. So if anyone's doing anything that doesn't align with that in the customer journey, then we're not accomplishing our mission. So that's been consistent from day one in our culture and our brand. That'll never change. I think, you know, we've been showing up kind of the same, you know, like you talked about, very consistently. I think that's been good. But also it's a big opportunity for us. You know, as I told you, we. We really have customers that are, you know, 15 to 22, like you talked about when you wore the. The brand. And they're now evolving. They're like getting their first cars, they're having their own shows, you know, like, you know, really taking on the world and, and doing their own part. And so the evolution of the brand and how we show up is now having products and marketing and partnerships and collaborations that now align with, you know, 25 to 30 year old and a 30 to 40 year old, because same thing, Ms. Casey's still buying young Adam's still buying Casey a bracelet, you know, and so because parents love the idea of like buying their. Their kid is something. Something that looks cool, but also has a teacher, you know, sense. And so. So, yeah, it's really just building out that whole customer journey. I talk about 25 years of inspirations is really what our focus is from 15 to 40. Like, let's build that out in Product storytelling and keep people inspired because, you know, it's. I think that's the responsibility of brands, not just to sell cool things, it's to have a play in people's lives. People spend a lot of time on Instagram, social media, looking at your content. Like, are you just selling? Are you doing that? Plus inspiring them to do something different? So, yeah, I love that. Yeah.

You know, it's so cool to hear, you know, going from couple retail stores to thousands very. In a very quick timeframe. I'd love to hear, you know, some of the, the hardships and the moments where things were just not going your way. You know, some of the lessons that you've learned throughout the pro, throughout the process of being a founder over the decade, you've.

Yeah. In the game, I mean, three things pop up. We don't have too much time for three. But I'd say that the biggest challenges we faced, number one, is just really building team. Right. Really understanding that at a really young age of what your needs are in terms of team. And what I say is, if I were to do it again, and people ask me, this is, you know, probably in the earlier stages, I would have really looked to build, you know, naturally, when you start a company, you know, you, you, you go and you find your buddies and then you build from the ground up. They're working in a warehouse, they're doing all the things. They're not that experienced, but you have this connection, that culture. But I think once you get to a point where you have the cash flow and you have enough, you know, revenue to, to bring in some people that are experienced and have been there and done it, that you can learn from is so important. And so that's what we're doing at this stage of the company, really building that, that, that leadership team, that executive team that has that experience. But that's been. The challenge is just, you know, working through personal relationships and like, all the trials and tribulations of building the team and, and no matter what, the idea could be great, the strategy could be great, but if the culture and the team aren't. Aren't great, you're only going to achieve certain heights. And so that's been one of the challenges that we faced. And I'll tell you another one which is a fun one. You know, as we grew, we came up, we started to really. Our brand has given, you know, people in streetwear, kids that love sneakers, the ability to, to, to resonate with our brand through, like, for instance, Nike will come out with a sneaker and we would make a color that kind of lined up with it for sure. If you think about how we grew in international markets, because that kid can't afford the 300, 400 pair of Jordans, but they can afford the 30, 40 Ross cloth that made them feel like they belong, and they do belong to the culture in that sense. And so within that, you know, we've, We've. We've gotten a couple cease and desist. I mean, I've gotten letters from, whether it be Gucci to off white Yeezy and all these different things.

Things.

And, and not to say that. And they haven't really phased the business in a sense, because we never really copy. We're, we're taking our products and inspiration and inspiration and, and that's what streetwear is based out of it. We're taking inspiration and we're, we're giving access to people that can't afford it at that. That level. So those are just awesome. Those are fun little things to talk about. And, you know, I have them up in my office and it's just things to. To think back on that.

That's super cool. And literally, though, like, as you're saying that, I remember, like, just colorways, I was a big sneaker guy in high school, and it's like the colorways, the matching, the fits to the raster clad, it's such a true statement as a consumer of your product over the years. And, you know, I've never really thought about it like that in terms of, like, someone that maybe can't afford the shoes, having that connection to the culture from a fashionable, you know, bracelet you're wearing. Super cool.

Yeah, yeah. And then eventually they grow up and they can afford the shoes.

Yeah.

And then that's cool. Cool. But they, they have an opportunity to participate, which is, yeah, dope.

Very cool. So I'd love to just kind of take a step back. I know we have limited time today. Like, where are you initially from? Like, family life, growing up, siblings. Like, how does that foundation of your. Your life, you know, lead to Rasta clat?

Yeah. I was born in Kenya, so I lived there till I was 5 years old. My parents migrated here, saved enough money to bring me and my brother, my older brother and older sister here got an education. I grew up in Orange county, so I got into skateboarding. And yeah, just my upbringing was. I remember the day I left Kenya and I told my first grade classmates that I was going to America, and I didn't even realize what that meant. And people kind of Threw me a little miniature parade. And I didn't understand, like, why are people so happy for me? But just understanding the opportunities that we have in this country to be able to create, literally built a company from an extra pair of shoelaces. Right. Like, that's not possible everywhere. And, and, and the ability to do that. And so very grateful for the opportunity this country has given me. But that's where I come from. And that's kind of the chip on my shoulder. Is everyone that, that works so hard for me to give me this opportunity really paying that forward, you know, with giving back to the world, with the brand, you know.

So love that.

Yeah.

Wow. Do you still have family in Kenya?

Yeah, yeah. A lot of uncles and cousins and aunts. You know, so many that I've never even met. So it's, you know, it's going to be a lifelong journey to kind of meet and also just think about how do you give back? We have our foundation to seek, the positive foundation.

Yeah, I'd love to dive into that.

Yeah. Yeah. So the foundation, we launched it in 2020, you know, after 10 years of giving back to a lot of different charities. We're like, you know, at this point, like, we've got to really own our give back, you know, and we thought about what are the issues that we're really passionate about. And it's, it's really education, like in a sense of mind, body and spirit. Like, you can't be a full, like, functioning person if you don't not only have the, the scholastic education, but all the other parts. So really deploying a lot of the revenue that we get to the foundation into those causes and then also equality, just, you know, giving everyone the opportunity to, to succeed. We're not all cut from the same cloth. We're not going to come from the same financial background. We'll all have different access, but people should have the opportunity to, to make the best out of themselves. So that's what the Seek Deposit foundation is all about. One percent of our proceeds from rossclock goes to that. And then we just deploy that and, and work with great partners around that. So that's part of the give back. And we're actually just getting started. It's still in its infancy stages, so I'm looking forward to the next, you know, half decade and what we can do.

That's so awesome to hear. Yeah. When it comes to just life outside of business, what inspires you and, you know, what, what's. Who has been an inspiration, Whether that's from a Fashion design aspect or a business entrepreneur would love to just, you know, hear more about that side of their side of your life.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think one of my biggest inspiration, it's not really within the fashion world or anything like that, has been Sir Richard Branson, who, you know, I've. I've been ingratiated to be in his presence a few different times and, and just seeing how he navigates his life and that, that balance of having fun and being able to build great things, and there's really not a separation. You know, it's like if you do it the right way and you build an ecosystem around you where purpose and, and what you're about is. Is everything that means your relationships, that means your business, that means, you know, how you. Every move that you make every day is about building and manifesting that dream and that vision. He's just an inspiration that's built ecosystem. I think there's a lot of people out there that just want business success, and that's fine. But I want life success, you know, and I want. I want to live balance. I want to wake up and know that, hey, I'm coming out here to talk to Casey. And it's just like, I'm hyped. It doesn't feel like a job. It feels like I'm doing my part in the universe. And so Richard Branson's one of my.

I'm curious because I love the art of just relationships, conversation. Like, can you kind of dive deeper into these moments with him? Was it on his island? Was it at a coffee shop? Was it an event, like, just to kind of get the glimpse of your interactions with him?

Yeah, I've been invited to his island. And so, yeah, you get those moments where you just talk to him, you know, and one thing that I realized with him is he's, He's. He's. He's incredibly willed, right? Like, he'll swim three or four miles to the, to the next island. You can obviously just take a boat, you know, and it's, you know, he, he circumnavigated the earth with, you know, on. On the hot air. Not really technically hot air balloon. It's a much more advanced hot air balloon. But, you know, those type of things where you just start to realize that this person has the same dreams and wants as we do, but he has no. He has no. He has no knowing it. Like, there's no quit in him, you know, And I think a lot of us have that, but to that extent in that level and that belief and Being able to communicate to people and inspire engineers and people to do those type of things, it's. It's pretty amazing. And, you know, nowadays we got Elon, you know, who's really active. And if you really think about it, Richard was like one of the first, you know, and so just seeing that and how, how that's, to me, that's just like, really great. So, yeah, it's just moments of speaking to him on his, at his island, and not only about business, about family, because building a business and building a brand and building a life isn't just about your own pursuit. It's about how do you manage the family, you know, the family dynamics, how do you, you know, have a great relationship and do that, you know, build this, like, truly, like, fulfilling life. And I learned a lot about more of those conversations from him because, like, you can't get that in a book.

Yeah, so for sure. Absolutely. No, that's super cool to hear. Now his island looks gorgeous. Gorgeous.

Yeah. We gotta get you out there, man. For sure.

For sure. A couple more questions before you wrap up. Daniel, you know, when you think about the future of Rasiclat, I know we've talked about different product lines and you know, you guys have been so disciplined about your mission, but like, how do you think about the next 10, 20, 30 years of the brand and you know, what does it mean to you long term? Because I think, you know, having a decade of building and the success that you guys have had, I can't wait to see what the next 10 looks like for you guys.

Yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's a great question. And you know, we always talk about building a forever brand, right? One that out lives us, you know, like, if I'm no longer here, like, I want the, the, the mission of Rosscloth, to live on, inspire 1%, seek the positive, that mindset. And so really it's that, you know, when you think about strategically, the world's so volatile that, you know, trying to plan for 20 years out, it's kind of challenging. You're really looking at like, what are we doing in the next three years? You know, and so for us, it's really about expanding our product categories, really building a strong community, stronger community around our message and our brand and, and, and building Omnichannel. At the end of the day, you know, whether it's web three, you know, physical retail, all those different things, because, you know, you kind of have to have a lot of different levers to pull on because the world's just throwing. Who knows, who knows what tomorrow brings.

Yeah. Last two. Yeah. You can't predict it.

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, just, you know, diversifying where our, how we're reaching our customers, where we're finding where our customers are at and how we reach them is really a big part of that. So. But the big thing is, you know, let's, let's do that. But in every touch point, inspire these kids, these 15 year olds, like, you know, for you to be doing what you're doing today and the people that had, you know, influence on you or the brands that did, like, that's a win, you know, saying so.

And I say that too. We can wrap on this. Like rastaclan was one of those brands if you talk about like just getting branded, like that sticks with you. Like that is one of them in terms of like my early childhood. And I don't just say that to say that. Like I actually mean that. If my mom, I told her I'm interviewing you today, she was stoked because she's the one that was buying these. So it's super cool to hear the story and to know how you think about the brand and, you know, the origin story of it all.

Well, that's the biggest compliment I could ever get. And, and my team too, they, we got an amazing team that believes in what we do and, and, and grinds it out. They're grinding right now while I'm here.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

That's the biggest compliment they can get too. So thank you.

No, absolutely. Well, before we wrap up, Daniel, before we go, where is the best place for everyone listening to learn about you, follow Rasta Clat and just get involved with everything that you're doing in your community.

Yeah, you can find me. I'm on Instagram. Daniel.cassidy k a s I d I and then roster RossClot.com we're on Instagram. We're on TikTok as well. So just at Roster Clot and yeah, just check us out and you know, yeah, we're there, we're active.

Awesome. Well, Daniel, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Yeah.

And for everyone listening or watching, if you aren't already subscribed, make sure you do follow Daniel. I'll make sure to link everything down below. And of course, huge shout out to Blue Wire Studios for having us today. And I will talk to you guys soon.

Legacy of Monsters an Apple original series the world is on fire. I decided to do something about it on November 17th. This place, it's not ours. Believe me. The most massive event of the year arrives. If you come with me, you'll know everything. I promise. Legacy of Monsters streaming November 17th only on Apple TV Plus.