We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Grant Sullivan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Grant below.
Grant , thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
I like this question. I believe my optimism comes from my deep rooted faith. The bible talks about how the tongue has the power speak life or speak death into something or someone. So with that said, it took me many years to learn to how to encourage people and just speak life into them. And no I’m not saying that my life is full of sunshine and roses, I’m human just like everyone else and I understand that life happens to all of us. What I think matters is the perspective that I choose to take in most of my situations. I choose to look at the big picture of things, long term goals, and constantly look back from where I once was and how much better my life is today vs what it once was before. I also believe that as you get older, wisdom tends to overflow in your life. This comes from making through tough times and just seeing that you have made it through 100% of all your bad days.
With this perspective, I try to keep grounded and continue to lift up the people around me and be an encouraging friend. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE to talk trash. I can give those closest to me a very hard time, but its usually with smiles on my face and laughing in my voice.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Well for most of the people who have been following my business for sometime have seen/read/heard about the journey of Brand New Apparel. But here is something they wouldn’t know:
I think what is the most exciting thing to me about this whole process is the influence it has had on the ones around me. Let me explain. One of my sons has a clothing brand he started (SADBOY CLOTHING) that is geared towards the mental health of both young and old and men and women alike. He has some designs that are structured to help people to be more aware of depression and the toll it takes on so many. In one of his videos, he was showing the process of what it takes to design and print a shirt. He walked through all the steps and even shared small details that other screen printers would know about. I was in shock watching the video of how fluent he was and the fact that he didn’t miss any steps or leave the listener wondering how their products was made.
The moment I seen him I told him how amazing his video was and how he did such a wonderful job explaining the process. After that I asked him where did he learn all this stuff from? Laughing he said, where do you think I learned it from? I’ve been watching you over the last couple of years, asking questions, watching and learning. I’ve learned what different mesh counts are used for, the method of pushing or pulling the squeegee, what inks to use, how to cure the print, so on and so on.
I guess at that moment, I was not only impressed, but it made me proud. This young man literally decided to make his own clothing brand and then jump into screen printing on his own. He makes all his own designs and his own clothing himself.
Out of all that we have done, and all that we have improved, that story is what sticks with me the most. It’s the most rewarding.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The three qualities I think are most impactful:
1. Perspective. If you can look at things with a positive attitude and understand that anything worth doing is worth doing right. With that said you also have to meet this perspective with patience. Things that have the biggest impact also take time to develop.
2. Dedication. Its hard to stay motivated all the time, I get that, but there has to be a level of dedication to see it through. Especially if you have a passion for it.
3. The third is easy for most to say but sometimes not the most easy to maintain, having faith in yourself that you can do it. My father used to tell me, “people do it everyday, why couldn’t’ you learn to do it too?” That resinated with me over my life and now I believe that its easier now than it was when I was a child. There’s YouTube and so many opportunities at your reach to research and develop new skillsets, ideas, and talents. Literally, if I have a question on how to embroider something or print a different technique I just pull up YouTube and dive into what I’m looking for.
That mindset of believing that if other people can do it, then I’m also smart enough to learn how to do it as well has really opened a lot of opportunities over my life. There’s a quote I read one time that said, when the opportunity is there take it, you can learn how to do it later.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
I think the best thing that has worked for me when feeling overwhelmed is just taking a step back and realizing that the growth of the business didn’t happen overnight and that I’m so much further than I was a year ago. This mindset keeps me grounded in realizing that it was integrity in the business that is continuing to build this company so making one mistake or taking a little longer on a order to make sure its right isn’t going to be our downfall.
So my advice would be, change perspectives when getting overwhelmed. Understand that having integrity is far more beneficial than having a product. Looking at the big picture and see that you are further today than you were a year ago, and that a year from now you will be further than you are now.
Contact Info:
- Website: brandnewapparel.shop
- Instagram: brand_new_apparel
- Facebook: BrandNewApparel
