Cadence 004: Building in Plain Sight

004: Cadence of Bobby.t

There's this concept that is done a lot in startup companies, kind of bootstrap tech-based groups, called creating a minimal viable product, an MVP. And ultimately, what the concept is, is that as we are trying to create a new product, a new type of service to then engage markets or engage others, and hopefully finding customers and clients, the best strategy, and the best thing that you can do is basically create a minimal viable product, put it into the markets, test it out, and see and adjust to kind of our adjust and see what happens as you get customers and people to engage a fit.

I'm a big fan of Kanye West and his music. And his latest project, one of the things that he's been doing, which I don't know, if everyone's aware, he's been testing his album out through his listening parties. He's been touring to different parts of cities, hosting stadium-wide listening parties, before he's released his project. And in that process, you can kind of see that he's doing a number of things in that pursuit or in that process of creating a better album. He's seeing how it performs in the real world in different settings. Now, obviously, in his studio, he brings it up to a certain level, but when he hits the stadiums, when he sees how people vibe, and how they go with it, or how it sounds, when it's done up into these kinds of more real-world scenarios, he's able to tweak, refine, and create our book that next session, that next listening party to see how people now work with sort of his projects, I think you can also apply and kind of create a similar format, with the content that you're creating, and the projects that you're doing.

Whether it's Yes, you're a content creator, digital designer, and artist, or if you work that corporate ladder and you're just kind of an employee working that nine to five, I think there are ways, and there's value in building in front of others. It's easier said than done building in front of others, has two fields to it. Yes, it's really important to kind of document the process your wins. But it's also very important to share your losses and share the moments in time that you struggle because, in that, people might respect that final product even more.

My first business was a clothing store. And while we were sort of working, engaging with different brands from across the world, some of the brands that we featured and some of the brands that we felt and perform the best in our stores were ones that had a story, a concept and almost a belief that allowed us to kind of interpret and share with our customers. One brand, in particular, stood out the most was this group that was creating this concept called the Brooklyn circus. And what they were hoping to do as they were an urban streetwear brand that had a varsity prep look and style amongst all of their apparel, and all of their kind of merchandise that they were creating their styles were heavily influenced by kind of that 1950s, 40s, 50s, culture that they were taking some of those same silhouettes of hats, five-panel, hats, varsity jackets, and then they were remixing it into their own interpretation and styles to then share with the community of fashion. On top of that, they created this bigger plan, this 100 year plan that kind of mapped how they were trying to build both Yes, their fashion lens, but also a community aspect. Kind of retrofitting of like engaging and empowering the next generation while pursuing a bigger goal, a bigger vision of just engaging more people around this bigger idea of reinventing urban fashion.

This concept we fell in love with at my store. And that was one of the staple brands that we tried to educate and really engage a lot of people on. This brand and group did an amazing job of really showcasing their processes of where they were sourcing, where they were manufacturing their gear and how they spent the time to ensure that the quality met each kind of piece. As concentrators, we are always trying to put our best foot forward, which is important.

But internally, we must understand that sometimes when we share some of our struggles when we share some of our short fallings, it kind of normalizes us as people, but more importantly, it will begin to start to build up a stronger value when it comes to sort of that final process, that final output that final project. And that final piece of content, when it's done, people will understand the work that you put into it. So it's not just you picking up a fancy camera and pressing a button; there is sort of a method to the madness; there is a process to the system. And there's a way that you kind of create that allows you to produce these high-quality and really engaging images, videos, and just information as a whole.
I myself, I'm really going to be trying to really put myself out there and start that; I guess you could say the process of building in front of the public and using it as a way to kind of engage more people such as yourself who are listening to this and more importantly, showcase to others about some of the details that happened behind the scenes, and not just that final product, or that final video.