Meet Kevin Hobby | Entrepreneur

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kevin Hobby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kevin, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Well, since I was young, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur and start a business that could impact my community and give back to it as well. That business that I ended up creating was The County Project, a clothing brand that tells the story of Orange County, California through art, fashion, culture, and community.

I myself was raised in the OC and have been living here for over 20 years, however, the idea was originally planted while I was attending Morehouse College out in Atlanta, Georgia. I was looking to represent that I was from Orange County in a fresh and unique way and I came up with mock-up for a hoodie that I was going to make just for myself. I shared the mock-up with my friend’s back home and on campus and I received a lot of positive feedback from everyone to the point that they wanted me to make them hoodies as well. I had a few of them suggest starting a clothing brand and I was hesitant at first. I had no interest in fashion or even starting my own clothing brand, but I thought about how making this a community-based clothing brand could have a positive impact and went for it.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
What sets us a part from other brands is that this is more than just selling clothes for us. We can remove the clothes from the picture and our cause would still be the same. That’s the beautiful thing about what we have created with The County Project; our clothing just serves as a canvas for our mission.

I am excited to have our studio open up this summer in Downtown Santa Ana. The space will serve as a place where our community can interact and connect with The County Project in person. I know the internet and e-commerce is huge today in business, but with what we are doing, there is still a huge need for that in-person connection.

How I got to where I am today has ben by remaining consistent in my work and remaining positive at all times. I am not going to get the results that I am looking for every time, but what is important is if I am showing up and doing what is needed regardless of the results. That is how I deal with the challenges of being an entrepreneur and it has been what’s keeping me going still.

I want the world to know that aside from the preconceived notions, Orange County, California is an amazing place to be. It is home to diverse cultures and sub-cultures and I am happy to call this place my home.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So I would have my friends stay in the city of Orange because that is one of my favorite cities in the OC. It has a good pace to it and is right in the middle of everything within the county. I would definitely have them visit the beaches for sure (Laguna & Salt Creek Beach are my favorites). Sunsets at Salt Creek are my favorites so they definitely need to experience that. I would take them on a trail to hike because that is something that I enjoy doing in my free time.

The food options are endless out here; we have something for whatever you are in the mood for. Some of my favorite spots are La Mamalona, which is a food truck located in Santa Ana, Holdaak Chicken in Fullerton, PK Burgers in Brea, which has some of the best breakfast burritos around and my new favorite spot, which is Hammer Burger in Downtown Santa Ana, which is right next to my shop. We got numerous Mexican food spots, Korean BBQ, Pho, Mediterranean spots as well, but if I named them all, I would have written a book for y’all.

Some other cool spots we have out here is the Great Park of Irvine which has a lot of options for activities, South Coast Plaza if you enjoy shopping, and Balboa Island if you want to rent a small boat to and cruise around and catch a vibe.

I think we also have Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm as well, but I don’t know, I haven’t been to those parks in years.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Dang, there are so many people that I would like to thank that I can write an article on all the people I am grateful for.

To keep it short and sweet, I would like to shoutout my community for pushing me to keep going and believe in the vision behind The County Project. I have met so many people that have left the imprint on this movement with their contributions and there have been people who have changed my life while on this journey. Most importantly, shoutout to God for planting this vision and protecting me on this journey.

Website: https://thecountyproject.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecounty.project/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecounty.project

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe2qhaMypCD-XfQHMd4g2pA

Image Credits
Photo of myself: Indo Towers

Women with Bandanas & truck with flags: Jairo Valdez
Orange Hoodie: Bailey Pena
Landmarks Tee: Indo Towers
Safety Vest: Robby Gonzalez
Surfboard Shots: Ben Soto