Apparel line STRYVE supports following your dreams
Myra Been, Romar Duco, Valerie Mendoza, Kobe Amo and Monique Reed repping their STRYVE sweaters. Photo courtesy of Romar Duco
By Kemi Omorogbe, Contributor
Being a young entrepreneur is no walk in the park. 23-year-old Romar Duco can confirm this with his early start in creating his clothing brand, “STRYVE.”
Not only is STRYVE a brand that sells sweaters, t-shirts, tanks and sweatpants, it is a brand with a message behind it that reminds people to never give up when it comes to succeeding at their own personal aspirations in life.
Duco created STRYVE at the young age of 20 to live out his dreams. Since then, STRYVE has transformed into a recognized brand, leading Duco to hire his friend Joshua Magtoto.
Duco says,“STRYVE is actually a combination of the word strive and try (sTRYve). Anything you’re striving for in life has to be backed by effort.”
Living in a generation where success is always desired immediately rather than gradually, having the patience to pursue personal goals can be a hard concept for some to grasp.
Duco explains that his design concepts are meant to express a message of patience and growth. For example, his popular rose. design represents a seed that is ultimately the starting point of all of our ideas.
He says, “As we grow as individuals, slowly moulding ourselves to an ideal version of who we want to become and accomplish, the beauty of the self development we go through is compared to the beautiful bloom of a rose.”
Planting his own seeds was a struggle at first.
As a young entrepreneur who was trying to figure out his way around building a business, money was one of the first challenging obstacles he faced.
Duco says, “I wasn’t working much at the time when I launched the site. I remember getting my tax return back in April and putting it all in the first batch of hoodies. I’d be maxing out credit cards in hopes that the hoodies would sell out.”
Thankfully, his brand took off, but not everyone is as lucky. He put all of his cards on the table and took a huge gamble so he could finally “STRYVE” himself.
Duco later realized his risk paid off because it has led him to great successes like reaching a personal goal of 1000 orders and getting invited to pop-up shops.
“Seeing the actual product in public on people we’ve never met is a crazy concept to digest for sure,” says Duco. Even with his successes, Duco knew he couldn’t just stop after attaining them.
He says, “People think I’m motivated non-stop but it really isn’t like that. I 100 per cent lose motivation occasionally, and I think that’s fine. I believe if you’ve truly got a goal you’d like to accomplish, it doesn’t matter if you’re motivated or not. You do the work regardless.”
A business built off of the unknowns has helped Duco understand that thinking about our goals isn’t the only step we should take when pursuing success. It’s all about the work ethic behind the dream.
Duco explains, “We’re more than just a random name slapped on a piece of clothing. We create products people can wear, and relate back to what it is they’d like to accomplish in their life, and hopefully motivate them to keep pushing — whether you’re on the top of your game, or completely lost in the direction you want to take your life. There’s always something to strive for and go after.”
