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

Hi Mike, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When we started The Bronx Brand, we wanted to create a platform for Bronx creatives to express themselves. We wanted to be able to support the local creative community and collaborate with as many artists as possible.

What should our readers know about your business?
When we started The Bronx Brand, we wanted to collaborate with local artists in a unique way. We wanted creatives to earn income on each sale, so we created a revenue share plan. It wasn’t easy but we persevered and did it for almost 7 years. We’ve since changed strategies but what set us apart in the beginning of our business was this unique approach to artist royalties. We were able to collaborate with over 20 local artists by creating apparel with their designs. We also launched The Bronx Magazine, where local Bronx writers could submit articles and earn income with each submission. We supported over 50 writers to date and have an eclectic collection of articles.

 

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?
The first place I would take my best friend is Johnny’s out in City Island. They have the best fried seafood any where and it’s right by the water so we can catch the sea breeze on these warmer days. Next, I would take them to Wall Works gallery to check out their current exhibit. Then we can take a quick car ride to The Bronx Museum to check out their exhibits. For dinner, we can stop by The Bronx Public for their chicken and waffles.

 

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to give a shoutout to a mentor, collaborator and friend John “Crash” Matos. He helped us create our first Brick and Mortar location and although we no longer have that space, it helped shape a lot of how we approach collaborations and how we work with artists. He always believed in our vision and did a lot to turn it into a reality.

 

Website: https://thebronxbrand.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebronxbrand/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-bronx-brand/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theBronxBrand/

Image Credits
Photos by Kasey-Lynn Rodriguez

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