The Hilltop Glove Podcast

Rich Sadler | Glory | Episode #48

October 26, 2022 The Hilltop Glove Podcast Episode 48
The Hilltop Glove Podcast
Rich Sadler | Glory | Episode #48
Show Notes Transcript

THG interviews guest Richard Sadler, a Columbia, South Carolina based entreprenuer, husband, and father.  Rich and his wife (Talisa) own Raizing Zane, a streetwear label aimed at cultivating and celebrating the image of modern fatherhood.

Make sure to subscribe to us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Also follow us on Instagram and Facebook @hilltopglove. Sponsored by: Red Rooster Sports Bar & Grill, Lynx Recording Studios, Mid Carolina Service Co., and TruBrilliance Ent.

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The Hilltop Glove Podcast | Richard Sadler
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[00:00:00] Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Richard Saddler. Richard and his wife to Lisa are the owners of Raising Zane. It's a street wear label aimed at cultivating and celebrating the image of modern fatherhood. As parents, we know that every child.

Not only needs their mom, but their dad as well, or someone to step in and fill that void. They want to help fathers become better fathers and provide resources to children around the world that find themselves in fatherless homes or homes where the father takes a backseat role in raising the child at no fault of their own.

Thank you for joining us here today, Richard. How are you doing? How you feeling? I'm doing well. I'm, I'm doing pretty good. Little tired, you know, while these kids, man, they, they run you ragged

morning. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly, exactly. We got, we were just talking about this earlier too. What, what time your kids wake up in the morning? Man, look man. My, my son, the two year old, this guy [00:01:00] gets us up before six every morning. Yes sir. That's my son too. Good lord. He don't wanna see the dark. They hate the dark.

Yeah. Well shoot man. I know. I'm not a father, I don't have no cheering yet, but I watch all the people with the cheering and I do see how much of a job and, investment of energy and love that the, that it actually is to be in that role. And the easiest way to start this, as we always do, is just asking you if you could explain, Yourself to our audience so they can get to know about who you are, your upbringing, how your childhood was and what influenced you to get to where you are now.

Right. Word. Yeah. I'd be more than happy to do that. I mean like, like I tell anybody, first off, what I like to say is I'm a man of God. First. I'm a husband, second father. By day I work in tech. So, you know, I'm a, [00:02:00] I'm that guy that I guess you could say was in co when I was in college. I was a little bit of a nerd on the inside , so that, that, yeah.

Yeah. So that's, that's what I do to, to pay the bills. But I just love spending time with my family, my wife to Lisa, She, look, man, y'all, I know this is about fatherhood, but my wife, that's. That's my rib, you know? There you go. Do you gotta have balance, brother? You gotta have balance. I gotta have it, you know, without any of it.

I wouldn't be able to do any of this without her. So yeah, but like growing up, I'm originally from Walterboro, South Carolina, so little town. Pretty close to Charleston. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, So I grew up there spent the majority of my life there man. And you know, graduated high school from there, went on college at Carolina.

So I'm a, I'm a Gamecock fan, even though that lost yesterday. Still has me hurt. You kicked this down on the ground and spit on us, man. Yes, [00:03:00] yes they did. They did, but went to Carolina and, you know did undergrad there. That's where I met my beautiful wife. I took her through the ringer over and over and over and over again.

That's another story for another, another date . But you know, we, we eventually got married and now we have beautiful, our two beautiful children. Excellent, excellent, excellent. In question growing up in Walterboro, how was, how was it as a, as a young black man in Walter? I need to be fully transparent.

It was, it was. Was, it was different, you know because a lot, my high school was, I mean, not a lot of black people in Walterboro, but like, you know, that's still, it's, they don't call it the, the front porch of the low country for no reason. Yeah. I kept hearing that. I kept saying it when I was driving down there.

Yeah. Yeah, so it was a little different and you know, I grew up playing baseball, so that made it [00:04:00] even more dope, you know, difficult because here I am, you know, a, a young black kid playing the sport that, you know, a lot of them didn't want to see us playing, quite frankly. So it, it was, it was difficult at times, but I will say like there are some wonderful you.

Caucasian people there, like people that would look out for me growing up before my own man, it was, Wow. It was crazy. Like one of, like one of the most influential guys that I can think of, he's no longer in Walter bro at this point in time, he's out in Texas, was a coach that I had playing baseball and he pretty much took me under his wing.

Like I everywhere his family went, I was there, you know, so it was, It's a beautiful experience, but I will say like living there, it it helped shape me into who I am today. Yeah, I love home. It could always, we could always afford to be better and grow, but you know, I still love that place. Home is where the [00:05:00] art is, so, man, you're a certain man.

You got such a peace, a peaceful count, man. I'm telling you man. I like . I already like your energy. Right. And I can tell that the, the effect of where you were raised, it has a. It has a bearing on that. And man, that is a positive way to see that, that, that situation. Go ahead, Tamaya. So you know, I've recently read your blog post about I wasn't thrilled to become a dad, so I found it very interesting.

But can you tell us more about your journey to becoming a father and also the challenging moments that you faced? Absolutely. Absolutely. And I hope my wife doesn't kill me. Well, I'll put it out there in a blog post, so she'll be alright . But yeah, so like my wife and I, we we got married in December of 2015.

So we were planning like this big wedding that we were gonna have in September of 20. But you know, where we came from, we didn't, we didn't [00:06:00] come from a whole lot of money and things of that nature. And quite frankly, I got tired of seeing my wife struggle. And I got to the point where it's like, Man, I can make sure that she's straight.

If we're married, I can make sure she's good. So we plus it was like, if something happened, could I see myself live my life without her or like having not been married to her, Right? So it's like, you know what? Let's just get married, but, so we went ahead, We, we got married in December. And this is another story for another day.

But I got married. Didn't even tell my family y'all, so. Oh, did they alone? Yes. Didnt even tell. That's the best way. didn't even tell my family. Still all, you know, my wife, we told my wife's family of course. Which that only made it worse when it all came out. Yeah. But know, we got married and then we were married like three months and you know, we moved in together.

We were married three months, and then my wife comes to me and she's like, I'm [00:07:00] pregnant. And I'm like, What ? She's like, You, no, this was not in the plan. Like we, No, this can't happen. Because I had already had for a long time this map of what I wanted my life and our life to look like together. And I was like, Look, we gotta get five years in the game before this happens.

There are some things I need to do. So when she told me like I. . You know how a lot of people, they're excited when they're expecting their first shot. I was livid. You know we're sitting in our two bedroom apartment at that point in time and the puppy's running around, you know, Oh, doesn't know what's going on.

But like, I'm just sitting there like in utter shock and I was, I was angry and, you know, it, it did come off as me like, Upset with her when, I mean, obviously it's not her fault, so, mm-hmm. . But I, we didn't talk, well, I didn't talk to her for like two weeks straight after I found that out. Like, I, I real, I got [00:08:00] deep into my feelings and my emotions and it was just like, Man, I'm not ready to be a dad.

Like, I grew up without my dad, like, I kind of think I know what it might looks, what it might look like to be someone's father, but I'm not ready for this. Like there's the financial aspect to this too that I'm still nailing down and it's just like I wanted my five years with my wife and it's like, nah, I can't get that now.

I gotta get ready for, you know, this child before I want it to. So I was look mean is an understatement of how I treated my. It was so bad. I made sure like the roof and the groceries and everything else is taken care of. But as far as communication in the home, there was none of it. I was, I was evil

Be honest. Go to bat for you here for a second now. Cause this is, this is something I've I've to come terms with too, is that, that like growing up, I feel like the predominant. Thing that we are at least exposed to or taught, [00:09:00] or however you wanna put it. The cultural thing is that anger is one of the only few powerful emotions that you are allowed to have and still maintain, like this masculine form.

You know what I'm saying? That's very true. So we end up, we end up being boxed into that hole on a lot of stuff and finding out that you were gonna be a father and not being prepared for it. And you know, like there's a lot of fucking chemical shit going on there in. And the only way that we have been taught to let it out is to be a dick

That's true. That is true. Yeah. You right on that. You are right on. Or maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for myself, but , No, no, no, but I mean this A, this is a reality to that. Like you're right. Like that's something that is taught, like how I'll put it like this. I've never, and this is sad to say this, I haven't seen anybody else dealing with it any other way.

When they weren't happy to, when they weren't ready or prepared. And it's one of those things you really. Prepare for baby. I'm, [00:10:00] I'm, I'm really scared. I'm terrified about my future. I'm terrified about my abilities to not be able to stand up and do what I need to do. We can't do that. That's show in weakness.

Exactly, exactly. How did you handle it? Cap. Oh man. So now with us, you know, it's a little different situation with us. Yep. Cause of the fact that, well, Lisa and I, we were trying for a while to have a kid. Yep. And so we, and so we had to actually go and actually get assistance. And so for us it was one of those things where, Oh, finally, we finally got a baby.

Right. But I can attest to a lot of what both of you guys are saying is, especially as. We do. It's like we don't really have a lot of range of emotions and like in society we're taught that. And if we express those different types of emotions, like you said, we could even, we're questioned and we could even be questioned by our partners too.

Mm-hmm. . And so, and then I, I know that's something that a lot of people don't like talk [00:11:00] about, you know, especially when it comes to things like relationships and woman, you know, woman will be like, Well, you know, I love a guy that's sensitive, or I love a guy that's in touch with your feelings. You're lying until you see us being sensitive.

I'm a cancer man, . Yeah, exactly. Listen, I was gonna ask Richard, what's your. I'm a Virgo. Yep. See, I'm a Virgo. I already knew it. When you said you was mean. I said Yep. He a Virgo . I know, I'm mean. But I already knew you said that when you said you went two weeks. I said that's something not . Yeah. And what makes it bad is my wife, both my wife and I are Virgos.

I started off Is it

Y'all be going head to head. Like I can already see it. Oh. That's crazy. So like having a newborn, what was the most challenging thing about that? You know there's nothing that could prepare you for having a newborn. You know, we read nothing. The books, you know, we listen to parents, all of that. But like, [00:12:00] I mean, the lack of sleep one, my wife would argue, she, she would probably say, You got sleep.

We got many fights about this, but it's like, look man, like my wife breast fed. So it's like, well, when she wakes up at one o'clock, two o'clock in the morning, what, what you want me to do? What can I do? You know, Like she don't want me, I gotta get up at seven o'clock and I gotta go to work. So, How can I really help you here?

But that was probably the toughest thing is like just being able, like understanding that sleep. That's, you just not gonna get that. And like, too, like being a support and help to my wife cuz it's, you know, when they're that young, what do they really need us for at that point in time. Mm-hmm. , at least outwardly out willing, it, it didn't seem like there was much I could offer her.

I mean, even when she cried, [00:13:00] like she wants her. I, I can't feed you. I can try, but you don't want it from the bottle, so, Yeah, yeah, yeah. Could you you know, everybody, I, I don't, I don't know people that don't have kids even know about this, but there's this thing called mommy brain that happens in the third trimester, right before pregnancy, and then right afterwards, but basically all the brain chemicals are flipping around and, and you start having memory issues and all that.

And then I experie. Kind of the same thing that I called Daddy Brain and I started talking to some other dudes and they were like, Yeah, that first two weeks my shit was just not fucking working. Like, I mean, it literally felt like I was tripping for like three days and then I was just outta my brain for like the next two weeks, like shit just, and, and eventually realized it was like the pathways in my brain were rewriting themselves to be like in another, Yeah, it, Do you have anything like that going on?

Man? You weren't alone. You were not alone. You go. I experienced that with the, the my daughter and I [00:14:00] experienced it again with my son. It was a little easier with my son cuz I had been there before. Right. But I definitely experienced it. I was off at home, I was off at work, I was off with friends everywhere.

Even my mom, she was like, What's going on with you man? Like, you gotta get it together. I'm forgetting stuff. I'm not a very forgetful person. But I, like, I was losing my keys. I never lose my keys, ever. Wow. Y'all scare me, man. I'm, I don't know if I was all, were retraumatized. No. Why y'all do this? I mean, we letting you know, we letting you know.

It's how it goes. So, so, so tell me about this did you notice any difference between how you felt about having a son versus how you felt about having. Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That, that definitely was a difference. I mean, like, I'll be honest, once I got over myself in finding out that, you know, we were pregnant with my daughter look, y'all, and [00:15:00] not everybody knows, I might have put it in a blog post, but like, when my daughter was born, I cried.

My wife was like, What is going on? But I lost my mind, like I couldn't stop crying. And it was like, you know, at, at that moment it was like, I'm someone's daddy. I'm someone's father like this. This is my princess, and she's gonna be a queen one day, and I have to raise her as such. So it was like I, when my daughter was born, it was like, now it, it helped me learn how to love my wife differently because it was like, Yo, some man one day is going to want to marry my daughter and I need to provide.

with the example of what a husband and what a father, what a brother, son should look like, right? So it, it reshaped my entire being when I was holding that little six pound baby. . It was, it was crazy. But when my son was born I had a totally different [00:16:00] experience. Like I didn't cry, obviously with him.

It was like, Oh, this joke is here. He came out screaming. My daughter was quiet. He came out screaming. He's two now. Still screaming . But when I looked at him, it was like, Man, now I gotta, I gotta raise this boy on how to be a man. Like he's going to be respons. For people, like that's a tall order. And you know, I'm looking at myself growing up without my dad in the, in the home.

I'm so thankful that my mother realized that she needed to have me around influential males, whether it was my grandfather, my uncles coaches godfather. She made sure I had that. It was like, now I have to pull on that. I have to piece this together so I can show this boy what it means. To be a man, what it means to, to lead a family, shepherd a family.

Because at the end of the day, I mean, as, as a husband, as a father, it's all on you. You know, like, like I tell my wife the roof over our, our head, like, [00:17:00] if, if stuff doesn't work out, y'all are looking at me like, daddy, husband, what are we going to do? You gotta figure this out. So it hit a whole different.

For me, which is why the brand was born. Mm. Yeah. Mm. I have a quick question for, you know, you guys who have fathers. So when you're becoming a father, do y'all like, have resources or for people to help you guys?

You don't need no resources, just do it. Exactly. You know, nobody really prepares y'all, Y'all kinda just get like thrown into the, the junk. Do it. Yeah. Yeah. That's mean, That's, that's really how it is. I mean that's how, especially in like the black African American community, it's like, look man, like you show no emotion.

You just show up and you do what you gotta. So I mean it, there's nothing you literally go from, it's just me and my wife to now I got this kid, now what am I supposed to do [00:18:00] with mothers? Like, y'all get nine months to like get accustom to this thing. You're feeling all the things, not us. How do y'all feel about that?

Good point. So like, So we, we, my wife and I, we were not gonna know the, the sex of our kid and we were getting the ultrasound or whatever, and, and then I had the peak. And honestly, like I, I think I would've felt a lot like easier about a daughter. As soon as I knew that he was gonna be a boy, I was like, I was terrified.

I was crying. I was sneaking off to cry because there's like, there is something, so I don't even know how to describe it, but there, there like, like the influence of a masculine force is, is a harsh one. Even if it is done in kindness. It is. It is like mm-hmm. , like it's that voice that's telling you [00:19:00] when everything's falling apart and you in the gutter, bitch, get the fuck up.

Yep. Do your shit. Yep. You know, and, and it's like, I, I knew that that had to be something that I instilled, but also I didn't wanna do that. I just wanted to be like unconditional love, You know what I'm saying? Yeah. And that balance between their, you know, and that's not like my father's always been in my life.

I still can't have that conversation with him. . Yeah. You know what I'm saying? That doesn't change anything. real talk. That's, that's a, that's a very serious question because Yeah, you're, you're thinking about. Like the way in which you have to rear that child. Are you rearing that? Like, and the way you're, you're thinking about it too is interesting because do you not try to instill that same type of force in the, the, in your daughter that you would and your son and vice versa with care and you know what I'm saying?

That's a hard thing to do and to think about. And so, man, I can imagine the amount of [00:20:00] stress and trepidation that you all. When figuring out, you know, alright, having this child cool and then the role that you're gonna have to play in that child's life, like the job. Because there it is a, it is a job.

There's a task that goes along with that child coming into the into the world. Man, that's a, that's a very good que that's something that we gonna have to. Continue to follow up and build on, because no one ever asks these questions about, he wants talk about this shit. They don't , they'll ask and then they wonder why, like, why they're bad fathers out here or why fatherhood is not like no one ever asks, like, no one's doing no case studies on this.

We don't have any statistics or data. We don't know how to make it better. Or what's, what's the issue or the problems in the systems or the procedures that we're doing now that aren't working? Cause no one's tracking this stuff. Man, that's crazy to think about it like that. Only advice I ever got from anybody was like, Don't leave

That. That's, that's it. That's it. Thanks. That's the same advice you got, . [00:21:00] That's it is, is don't leave and make sure you always provide. Mm, that was it. But they don't tell you how to provide Richard. Hey, no, like break everything down. So I'm dealing drugs. I'm gonna deal drugs and move so I can provide, I'm gonna do this credit card scheme and why cause easier, like that's what ends up happening.

I seen it all the time, like I see all the time. Cuz you do have to provide you. See, my wife got the masters, you know what I'm saying? Like, yeah, her earn potential is weight more than mine. More is like, go with that money girl. Go give it. Go . I'm not angry. Look, that's how, that's the situation I'm in My, she has more education than I do.

Her earning potential is higher. So the thing is like still, you're, you still have a job to do though. And that's amazing. That's an amazing question thing about, and, and Richard, with your brand, they're focused on cultivating. , that aspect of bringing up fatherhood, not hiding it or diminishing it. Like what was that?

I [00:22:00] know you made that decision for a reason like you were talking about, but. Man. Is there any particular point that you can harp on or that you can explain to us about why you thought it was so relevant for you to do that? Yeah, I can definitely do that. I mean, like, I gotta give credit where credit is due.

Like my wife is, she's very instrumental in all of this. Cause I mean, like with our brand, we started with. Two hats, man. Our logo hat. And it came out of a place where we just want, my son's a pandemic baby, so all we could do is go in that backyard and we needed a hat to put on him, you know, cuz he has like severe eczema, all the allergies, all the things this kid has.

Aw. So you know, we wanted someone to put in his head to go in the backyard, but we're not fans of like putting cartoon characters on our kid and all that kind of stuff. At least not from a hat perspective. I just think it looks a little crazy. If that's your thing, then cool. No problem. Yeah, so we designed that hat, but like we sat back and we launched a brand.

We sat back and [00:23:00] we thought about like, well, what, what point could we really drive home? And my wife was like, Well, you know, she's like, You did grow up without your father. I'm like, Yeah, you know, my pops left. I was seven. You know, I was seven years old. Like, and if my dad ever listens to this dad, I love you, man.

I want you to know that. But he left when I was seven. You know, literally it was like we went to, my mother went to work one day. She got us ready for school and she went to work. We came back and I ain't seen my dad. I remember the dish that she prepared for him that was just sitting in the microwave.

It was spaghetti. Oh, wow. Untouched. You remember that? Yeah, I remember that. Those details. So like we came back to the next. The next day comes around, we go to school thinking Dad is gonna come back. And when we get back home, we notice my dad was real big into music. We would have like Saturday morning jam sessions.

So like he played keyboard and we would get on an electric pad, drums came home, his [00:24:00] keyboard and speakers were gone. We started seeing little traces of him gone every day as we you know, we would come back home. And then I got to the point where I was like, Yo, like dad's not coming back. And then that's when.

you know, anger started to take place in, in, in, in me, like resentment, Like, like for a while, like I, I really did not like my father for a while. But with the brand, what I wanted to do is I wanted to, It came out of that place man, because like at the age of seven, I remember sitting in the playroom at that point in time.

And this was a couple years before my mom lost the house because she couldn't afford it without my dad. I was looking at a picture in him cause my dad was an ex-military and that's a whole different story. Cause military poses a whole different set of issues on people. Yep. And that could have been in a lot of what he was dealing with.

But I looked at the picture and I was sitting on the floor and I was like, Look, it's like, Dad, I love you, but [00:25:00] I'm never gonna be like you. I'm not gonna leave my family because at seven I could, I could already feel I already knew what that felt like. So it was like I wanted, with this brand, we wanted to create something to, you know, Celebrate Fathers because quite frankly, There are a lot of great fathers out here, but you don't hear about 'em.

No. And you don't hear about 'em. It's like all that, when I tell all of my customers potential customers or anybody who's curious about the brand, like a father, in my opinion, is like the foundation that at home, as long as it has no cracks, you don't hear anything about it. But the moment that it becomes cracking, you start seeing those cracks in the corners of the wall and that how it starts to.

that's when you hear about it. So like in my circumstance, you probably hear about my father because he wasn't there. But if he was there, would you hear as much about him? Probably not. Because he's there holding down the, for doing what he needs to be doing. And [00:26:00] Shepherd and Stewart and his family will.

So we wanted to create the brand to you know, celebrate Dads. I, I mean, you look at Mother. People go crazy, Lord, don't even Mother's Day, you know what I'm saying? Look at NFL draft, NBA draft most of the time. Who do you see standing by their sons mothers mama? Never really Dad . So it's like, Nah man, I want something that's gonna celebrate us.

Like, and, and if you aren't on your stuff, when you see our merchandise, when you see what we have to offer, when you talk to us, it's gonna prick your heart. You may not move on it right. , but it's gonna prick you. Mm-hmm. because like a, a positive like, like just a, a triple effect. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Putting out that you're putting out an idea, they call these things an ireg or, but it's like an idea that lives it's energy and it moves on and it can be infect infectious inception of people. Yes. Seriously. Because you gotta change the, Y'all [00:27:00] really don't get enough credit or like, praise that.

Especially when you're doing it's, That's part of masculinity too, though. That's, Yep. It's, We're not supposed to need that. We're supposed to just do it anyway because Yep, yep. You just label to do the labor.

It's, it's like y'all fighting for y'all, for yourself. Like appreciate me like. You know? Yeah. But it's weird, like you said, as a as as a man and in masculinity, like you aren't supposed to be, because you know, we call people that do that. We call an arrogant pigheaded bull. We got bad words for those people.

They shouldn't for compliments. Yeah. Especially as, as a man, you don't do that. You just wait. You do what you do, someone gives you comment. Cool. All right. Got one. Kudos nice. But especially with fathers being good, like that point you made, you made that point so Well, and I remember I know Chris Rock, he has a, a joke in his standard that he tells where he's like, I'm not gonna congratulate you for doing something you supposed to be doing.

Like, [00:28:00] Hey man, I stayed outta. You supposed to stay outta jail. Hey man, I'm raising my child. You supposed to raise your child. That's how we think. We was like, Well, it's something we supposed to do. I guess you don't get nothing for that, but you should because it, the, the long term effects of that adulation, people, we tend to.

Strive or do things that we get adulation for. That's why as a kid growing up and they do things proper, you give them some incentive or you re or you reinforce the behavior, good behavior, you reinforce it. by giving them AIA or congratulations or to, or something to show them that, Hey, you're doing well.

So that's something that you accomplish with your clothing as well, because if you get that for a father and give 'em that on Father's Day, do you know what that's gonna do to them? They get to see that, they get to walk around with it, see it all day. When they look in the mirrors, it's gonna say Dope dad on it like it is.

That is a, it's a positive, a very strong message. They're proud, man. I, I mean, I kid you not this past father say, Man, I [00:29:00] was not prepared. you weren't, I was not prepared not for, for the, the numbers that it did. It was like, Hey, let you, I was like, Oh man. Like I, I think I can get this done for you. It's like, cause you know a lot of people there, they think like I'm.

I have you know, a screen printer actually print up these shirts that we have. I'm like, Nah, man. Like that's my daughter and I in the garage, like making this stuff. Oh, you actually do all the production. Whoa. You're still doing it? Yeah, we, we do, we do the production because, I mean, I mean it's a, it's probably way off topic, but I had our first run when we first launched a brand, we worked with a screen printer.

I hated the quality. Yep. I did not like it. So it was like, you know what? I'm bringing this in house, I'm gonna control it. Control. So how do, how do you do it? You actually like got, cuz this little backstory. We, we used to mess with music back in the day and Kevin and I have screen printed [00:30:00] shirts and all of that stuff with the Kit

Yeah. We did the jeans. Oh, that's dope. Like, like, so you have like a legit, like, like a press or you got the little, the little frame and you, you're doing 'em each one by hand and trying to lift it off without smudging it and all. So what I did is I looked to go that route with like setting up a actual like screen printing, like workshop in the garage.

I was like, Nah, I'm, I ain't got the money to be putting into that. Right. It's a lot kids. It's a lot of money. And like I got school to pay for for these kids. Yeah. And my wife is not gonna be cool with this. So honestly, I gotta give credit to my, my sister-in-law, Whitney. She because I was so upset with the quality.

You know those ts that came out, The first ones, she was just like, Why don't you just do it yourself? She was like, I was like, What do you mean? She was like, Get a heat press. I was like, No, I'm not doing that. I'm not doing a vinyl transfer. She was like, Well, I don't think you have to just do vinyl. So then I started researching and I came across [00:31:00] the screen print transfer.

So it's, it's a screen print that they just print on release paper. So it's like, okay, where I can do this. So I moved along that route and I mean the first screen print transfer company that I work. Quality was terrible. I mean, it looked better than the original screen print. Yeah. From working with a, a local screen printer, but after a certain number of washes, things just tore up.

I was like, I'm not working with y'all anymore. , I found this other company, I've been rocking with them since now. I mean, like getting my product in is, is a little slower, but I was like, Man, the quality is a one, you can't beat it. So I started rocking with that and we press 'em up right in our garage, like the aro that you see on.

All of our tees, our hoodies, anything, even our hats. Like my daughter, I get hair in on that action. I'll lay it down, pull it down. She gets to pull the paper off. So you know, teaching her what it's what it's about too, so, but teaching, teaching 'em that, [00:32:00] like you can just decide to do something and do it.

Mm-hmm. . Yep. Like that's a big deal, you know? Yep. That, that teaches them how to, how to, Inertia from keeping them moving forward. Like it's, people don't realize how big that is to see your parents doing things and you watch them create and something come from nothing. That's, that's an important thing, boy, I'm trying to tell you.

Especially, And then the fact that you're teaching her that business acumen young and her life is gonna be something that she's gonna take with her from here on out. And you don't have to reteach it, you don't have to worry about her not having that with her. It's almost like parable with like whether or not you.

Get feed a man a fish, or if you teach him to fish, like you wanna teach the man to fish. That's the best way to do it, you know? And that's, man, I can't law on that anymore than that. I mean, that's, that's what you wanna be doing. Who, and, and this is another thing, how do you get your hats done though? All right. So I'm, I'm gonna give you the game. I'm gonna give you all the game. So like, what I wanted, [00:33:00] because I wanted a fully custom hat. Yeah. I didn't, So like you look at our ass like. It's custom every piece. So I didn't want to just not knocking Richardson hats, but I didn't just want a Richardson hat and then get my, our logo em embroidered on there.

I didn't wanna do that. So, man, I I, Cause I had another foray with you know, starting a brand that I stopped. But I man telling y'all hook up with these Alibaba Dot. Yep. me about that side. Pick up with that. I mean, like my, our tech packs, I come up with all of that. So like every piece, every fabric.

Yeah. Sizing the stitching that we use. I put all of that in our tech packs and I sent it over to them. I have one manufacturer that I. that I actually really like. The first two [00:34:00] that I used, I quality wasn't great. That's the bad thing about dealing with overseas. Like you're not there to see it. So I deal with the manufacturer outta China.

They created all for. Me based off of my tech pack. And one thing I do is I always buy the sample. A lot of people, they skip that step. I always sample it cuz it's like, and it might, it's probably gonna cost you like 80 bucks just to get a sample. It's better than having a box full of crap.

Exactly, exactly. Yeah. So it's like this is a song cost because I want it to look a certain way. I wanted to feel a certain way. So with every hat that I do, I order that. , I gotta see this first before I place this bulk order with you. I gotta be able to trust that your quality is going to be up to par.

And if it's. Then on to the next one, . So yeah, that, that, that's how we do the hats. I tried to do it here in the US but it was just so expensive. Yes. To work with a manufacturer here in the US it's like, man, so I'm, I'm gonna have to pay you, [00:35:00] you know, 25, $30 a hat to get it made here in the us. Wow. So you have to sell 'em for like 50 to 60.

And the secret is, most of the time it's just assembled in the US and they get it from China. Exactly. Getting you over the top. You might as well go straight to the source. Mm-hmm. , man. That is that is dope, man. Dope. How did you, So you didn't just fi, How'd you figure this out, man? Research man. So, while I've always been someone who's been.

I consider myself a lifelong learner, you know? So I'm always, you know, I'm always trying to figure something out. I'm always researching, gets on my wife's nerves because like any free moment I got, man, I'm on the phone looking something up, or I'm on the laptop Yeah. Looking something. I'm a little old school, even though I'm just 32.

I like to feel the keys, man. You get to spread out more, you get to, you get to explore things happen. Multiple windows. Yeah. I feel, Yeah. Yeah. So uh, of course I'm old. Dirt.

But that's, that's how I, that's how I found it out, man. I just, I literally went to Google and [00:36:00] was like, custom hats. How do you make a custom hat, infinite knowledge, resources out there? And I just started sifting through it and I stumbled point and I was like, All right, I'm gonna try it. And it's working.

So man, have you ever thought about putting together, Like a web training on how to do what you did and selling it on your site. You know, I have, I have, I have thought about that. And I'll be honest with you guys, like my struggle, the struggle that I have too is even like with the pricing of our products also because I've run across people where they're like, Yo, like you should be selling this stuff for more than what you sell it for.

I'm like, Nah, but I'm my demographic. Our fathers, you know, like they got kids. They're not trying to bust people over their head. Inflation is real now to, Yeah, it's like all, it's like, I have thought about it, but it's also like, you know lately when people ask, I've just been giving them the game for free.

You know, cause I really do wanna see people [00:37:00] win. You know, I wanna see people win. It's like I don't have to capitalize off of everything. Yeah. Eventually I might do that, you know, once I get to a certain point where like my time is much more limited than what it is now. It's like Right. Yeah. Go down to ebook for 1999 or whatever it did.

You can see how to do this. Yeah. And then you'll, you'll get the game on how to do this. I have thought about it. It's something that I, you know, I've written in this journal that I keep cause I try to write everything down man. So if I forget it, I can revisit it. Or, but yeah. Yeah, it's something I've thought about.

It'll probably come in the future. Where do you uh, see the brand going? Man, you know, honestly, I want to get the, I, I tell my wife all the time, and we've, I wanna see this from a numbers perspective. I wanna see the brand grow to about 10 grand a month. And when I do that, like. I'm gonna have to make some pretty serious decisions about what that looks like for my family and what it looks like for my day job at that point.

Yeah, like we've already [00:38:00] proven that we can have a 5K month. Like we, we've done that, but I'll be transparent, like me doing all the printing it myself, that's all 5K of business. When you are doing all. There's not, It's a lot. Retirement money, . No, it's not. It's not. So it's like, you know I just wanna see it continue to grow.

Like, I really just wanted to, I wanted to touch the lives of, you know, more fathers. I want more fathers to learn about it. I want more fathers to be proud to you know, be, you know, and you know, receive the accolades that they should receive on this side of, you know, heaven. Mm-hmm. , really, I, I just, I want the brand to be a, a mouthpiece for.

For relaying just how important fatherhood is. Like yeah, you're gonna have tough days. Like that's with everything. Nah, it's not always gonna fall into place and no, there is not a playbook for this, but like you're gonna be okay. But then also [00:39:00] realize that like when you see like another brother with dope dad across the shirt or something else that I'm working on because I'm trying to capture more people than, you know, Cause some people don't wanna wear dope that across the front of their chest, just being frank.

But I wanted them to understand that like you gotta band of brothers who like see you, like we see you and like let's support each other going forward. So really, I mean, yeah, I mentioned I wanna see the brand go to 10 k a month and like money, it's important, but that's not the number one thing for me.

Like I just want fathers to get the recognition that they should get. I see a lot of it, especially dudes like me who came from single parent homes where like, we're changing the trajectory of our families. You know what I'm saying? So like we, we made a decision where it's like, look, we're not gonna repeat that.

It's like, I might not have had the blueprint for what a father looked like in my home growing up, but I can piece it [00:40:00] together from what I've seen or. And I can drive forward from there. So I just really wanna see fathers be uplifted, you know? I wanna be able to provide resources, pour it back into the community.

Man, there are a lot of non-profit organizations here in the metro area that I wanna be able to pour back into. So it's like, look man. Here's, here's these funds, or like, let's collaborate in every shirt that, you know, sells. Y'all keep the profits from it. You know, like, I wanna be able to do that kind of thing.

I want, I wanna be able to put my money where my mouth is, like, this is serious for me. And like, impacting the lives of, of children too, you know. So you trying to like, like partner with other organizations like, like Yeah. Churches or initiatives and grant money, that kind of thing. Absolutely, man.

Absolutely. That's, that's like.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Keep man. Hey, it seems like you know what you're about to do with that. I'm saying keep pushing on that [00:41:00] and anyway, which we could help do, do so to help promote you or push that information out. We definitely will help you with that, that man, cuz what you're doing is extremely positive and it's something that I know is missing out here.

Cause like I said, we've been talking, in, talking for almost an. And I'm telling you, brother, why do we not talk about this ? This is weird. It's weird to think about it like that. We don't talk about this stuff at all. And it's a big issue. Especially, it doesn't even matter. Like it's not even a racial issue.

It's just a human thing. It's a human condition issue. But man, it's about that time. Always tell people, We gotta ask you these questions. So this is the time we get to do your selfless promotion. Make sure that we have people updated on your calendar, what you have going on in your life. But first of all, what current projects are you working on?

Are you working on any brand changing or, or are you trying to do some [00:42:00] initiatives with other folks that you already have set up that you can, you know, let our audience in on? Yeah. So right now, I mean, that we're, now that we're going into hoodie season mm-hmm. , you know, I, I'm working on putting out, you know, our hoodies.

A lot of it's been delayed because we're trying to buy a house. So, you know, its been crazy. But I'm working on the hoodies. I plan on dropping those sometime in October. . And like I mentioned, trying to capture a broad, broader audience because some people, you know, they, they like what the brand stands for, but they don't wanna wear dope dad across the front of their chest.

Mm-hmm. . So um, I have something along the lines of, you know, dads are vital that I, I plan on. Dropping in two different color ways coming up. So I have the samples. I just haven't, you know, placed my bulk order and begun the printing process yet. So I'm, I'm working on that. And of course, I got, I got the whole year mapped out, so there would be a lot of stuff that's to [00:43:00] Excellent.

Excellent. Well keep us up to date, let us know what's popping on that stuff. And also how can we find. Social media. I was asked, so you can find us on social media at Raising Zane at This is Raising Zane. And remember the raising is with a z. We even have a, like, I'm terrible at a TikTok. Oh wow. Yo, I got this dope video of my wife and my.

He's trying to step, It's probably gonna be the first video that we post on our TikTok channel or Instagram Real, whatever. Cause I'm terrible at social media , but I do have it. Me do. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok at this is Raising Zane. Excellent, Excellent. Just so y'all know I'm gonna go ahead and spell out for him.

R a i z i n g, Zain, z a n. So this is Raising Zane and that's at Instagram and then the website as well. [00:44:00] Yeah, and that is, that is raising zane.com. So if you need, want to go get you some apparel, buy some cool dope stuff, please go out there to do. So anything else from anybody on the panel? It's a great conversation.

I think we need to have another episode with Father, so y'all can like deep. Yeah, we might need to do a round table or something. Oh, yeah. For a Father's Day episode. We need, might have you back on. Cause this's, you know, and, and I, I know we, I know we running and out of time here, but you know, there, there have been some billboards that I've been seeing around town that are

offensive almost, that are, that are like trying to encourage fatherhood Showing all of this list of things that you're causing by not being there. Oh, negative reinforcement. Right, Right. And like, you know, my wife was like, What the, you know, just, just based off of her, her you know, her childhood growing up, it was like, Why, Why?

[00:45:00] Calling me out on a billboard and you know, like it's, Anyway, I feel like a lot of people that are moving in this direction trying to encourage fatherhood initiative kind of things are coming at it from a very what we would call an activism community colonizer direction. Yeah. Yeah. Let me show you what you should be doing.

Yeah. And I feel like, like you in a totally different direction. And so whatever kind of partnerships you make out in the community are are gonna have that positivity behind them and actually be encouraging people and, and accomplishing the right things. So I guess I'm just giving you a little bit more shout out for, for doing the good things.

No seriously man, cuz whenever you find somebody doing good work like that, we have to pick 'em up wherever we can. That's what we try to do on our podcast. And I know closing out today is beautiful Sunday. I want everybody to go out. Have a great day, be nice to folks around me, show you, tell me, love them.

You cherish them. And of course our podcast is for millennials trying to teach us how to adult better. And this episode is a perfect example of why we need. [00:46:00] Have these conversations so we can learn how to adult better, be better people, be better man, be better fathers. And so signing out for the Hilltop Love Love podcast.

I wanna thank everybody for joining us today. I wanna thank our guests, Richard, for coming on here today. Explain his brand to us, his love for fatherhood, his, his issues with fatherhood, masculinity, talking about all these things that we didn't even think we were gonna talk about today. That was excellent.

Well, thank you for that. I wanna thank my cohost for being here with me. Other than that, man, peace, love, soul, man. Appreciate y'all having us today. And, and, and we want you to make sure you share our podcast with your friends, your family members, everybody else that you just think could get something out of this piece.


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