In our first ever episode of Nav’s new podcast, Main Street Makers, learn how Blake M. took Guapaholics, a lifestyle brand, from a dorm room operation to a thriving small business. Follow on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Episode transcript

Blake (00:00)

I got kicked off campus. They didn’t know what I was doing. They just know people always would come to my room. I was artistic, but they really didn’t understand. I had a full blown operation in my dorm room. And everybody else is just like, you know, just partying and trying to, you know, I had a whole different mission.

Catherine (00:29)

Welcome to Main Street Makers, a bi-weekly podcast that features real small business owners who have transformed their passions into profitable businesses. Join us to learn from fellow small business owners on how they overcome challenges, find opportunities, and create thriving operations that make our neighborhoods more vibrant, connected places to live. 

We’re honored that our first guest is Blake Milam, who owns a screenprinting business in Clarksville, Tennessee.

So Blake, we had the honor and privilege of meeting you in Clarksville last year and doing customer spotlight with you. It was really fun to meet your business partners and you’re really like the unofficial mayor of Clarksville. And it was really fun to just meet you and talk to you about your business. For everyone who’s listening and doesn’t know you, could you just introduce Guapaholics really briefly and what you do in your business?

Blake (01:00)

Yes, first my name is Blake.

My business name is Guapaholics. It’s a lifestyle brand. One of the brands is called Guap, which stands for Generation Not Around Profit. I first came up with the idea when I was in college. I was just eager and full of creativity, and I just wanted to express myself. I’ve always been a very fashionable guy.

I came up with a logo. I got it made on a shirt and then I started dressing it, know, wearing it out. And then my college professors and people I was associated with at the school, they was like, hey, that’s cool. Can I get one? So I just started, you know, wanting to be an entrepreneur. just started a brand. I just started getting T-shirts made and then it was costly. So I got to the point where, okay.

So I like, let me figure out how the process works. So I did some research. I ordered some screens and I found someone that had a screen printing shop. And I asked him if I could shadow him. And he was like, sure. So I shadowed him. I learned the process. He had all the equipment. So I would work for him and he would burn my screens for free. 

And then I would take the screens back to my dorm room. And that’s where I would press them up myself and that’s how it got started. So it went from me just having a brand to actually learning the ins and outs of how to produce a T-shirt, how to print, the whole screen printing process. So it was really like a journey.

Catherine (02:42)

Yeah, I love that. It’s so fun to talk about those early days. feel like those are some of the most exciting days in any business. I know like being in startups, that’s something that’s really fun for me is those really scrappy early days trying to figure out if something’s going to work.

You started in your dorm room. You were drying shirts in the oven. You told us that story. And today you have quite a thriving business with a big customer base. Can you talk to us about how you made that transition from the dorm room business to the business that it is today?

Blake (03:18)

Well, I was already going to school for well first of all, I’ve been an entrepreneur my whole life So I knew something was gonna blow up. I knew I was gonna come up with something like I was predestined for this.

In college, you have a lot of spare time on your hands. I wasn’t the average college student, you know, I really stayed in the library like I was hanging out with older people who like were actually knowing their trade. Like most screen printers, they’re older Caucasian men. So me being African American, there aren’t any African American screen printers around here. So I had to step outside my shell and just network. I’m a likable person. So the older guy, he liked me and we become best friends. we just start, he basically told me about the industry. So.

While my friends were partying and stuff, I was actually learning about an industry. And I knew just, it came to a point where I knew that once I learned how to screen print, not only can I print my stuff, but I can print everybody else’s stuff. And then I can make it cool to have a brand. Cause that’s basically what I did. My brand got so big that people got inspired. And then at this time, nobody’s really, nobody’s doing nothing. 

This is like 2007 between 2007 and 2010, there were not a lot of entrepreneurs around. Everybody wasn’t begging to be an entrepreneur, but I was at that time. So it’s like really I kind of started like an entrepreneur wave. Not only that, but when I graduated, this is around 2014. So from idea to concept to I went from a dorm room to a condo.

Downtown right by my school. So like I was really making real money like in the in between my dorm room stage and everybody else was partying and they didn’t have any money I was actually making money so I was able to actually make the money and honestly, I got kicked off campus because I was up printing I was just basically up doing Stuff that I wasn’t supposed to be doing

I got kicked off campus. They didn’t know what I was doing. They just know people always would come to my room. I was artistic, but they really didn’t understand. I had a full blown operation in my dorm room. And everybody else is just like, you know, just partying and trying to, you know. I had a whole different mission.

Catherine (05:56)

Yeah, for sure. And how did you start landing those customers and drumming up some of that excitement around your brand?

Blake (06:06)

Well, what I would do is I would go to, I’m a sneaker head. So I had all the sneakers to match the clothes. So every time I knew Jordan would drop or our colorway, it wasn’t just Jordan. We had everything. Like we worked at the mall, we had connections. So being in the sneaker community is kind of big. So we would go to all the different pop-ups, sneaker con, we would travel. 

So it, you know, it became like a brand because people would see us and every time they see us they know like we’re fresh, we got the heat. Because not only that but we were selling shoes too. So all the money didn’t just come from screen printing, it came from selling retros and shoes. This is when people used to camp out for shoes. 

And we were like, you know, we would camp out and you know, we just had, we had what everybody wanted. So there’s kind of like, you know, people kind of gravitate to you once they see that you’re cool and you have what they want. And not only that, but I wasn’t a gatekeeper. So if you came and talked to me, I would kind of tell you what you need to do. And that’s how I got into consulting.

Catherine (07:21)

Yeah, I think one of the one of my favorite parts about your story is that you started out in screen printing and you’ve kind of expanded out into multiple streams of income. How did you get into the business consulting side and how does that side of the business work?

Blake (07:40)

Well, just being on the entrepreneur side and having a degree and just understanding economics and stuff like that, that kind of opened up my brain. Not only that, but I have a degree in psychology, so I have two degrees. On the psychology side, I’m a social worker. So I’ve always worked a nine to five in between this. Like it got to a point where I needed to get a job to kind of keep income going in because it was like getting costly. 

So I only got a job at first. I got a job working as a contractor at the immigration office. So I started meeting people from all over the world, my contacts and my networks. I’m in Nashville. So I was like, I was a biometric technician. We would fingerprint people who are coming to get extensions on their green cards. 

So I live in Clarksville but I’m driving to Nashville every day. Nashville is a major hub. Not only that, but I worked in an office where everyone in the state had to come at least once every four years to get the sticker for your car. people would see me. I live in Clarksville. We’re right next to Fort Campbell, which is a Navy base, a military base.

So it’s very cultures, a lot of cultures, there’s people from all over the world and people just start seeing me and my face becomes familiar. I’ve been in Clarksville all this time. So it’s like, do, host events, I do sneaker shows and stuff. So I just became popular.

I’m always an entrepreneur at heart. So if I ever leave a job, I’m not worried about it because I have a business to focus on.

Catherine (09:22)

Totally. It sounds like you get so many of your business opportunities and just opportunities in general by being involved in the community and just showing up and helping people out and answering their questions and things really just evolve from there. Thus, yes.

Blake (09:39)

It’s about being resourceful. Once you become resourceful and you understand how systems work and people trust you, and you’re known for being reliable and working with the government, So of course you would think, he’s reliable, he’s trustworthy.

Catherine (09:56)

Yeah, definitely. And that does kind of lend itself well to something that I want to back us up a little bit. You were in Clarksville and we witnessed people coming up to you on the street. Like this is not a metaphor. They physically came up to you on the street and were asking you about business credit and how to set up their business. 

But I kind of want to take it back to your story and how you found business credit and started to get serious about your business. You mentioned that there was a time in your business that you realized you needed to kind of scale beyond bootstrapping and you were looking for solutions that could kind of get your business in order. What was the trigger point for when you started looking for that?

Blake (10:42)

Well, I’ve always been looking for like grants. I’ve always been aware about grants and things like that. So I would always have some type of social piece to my business. Like the gas can that represents gas, which stands for gradually achieving success. 

So I used to teach a Google classroom where we teach soft skills. So I used to always have like, you know, a different piece to my business that always makes people wanna be involved because I’m always teaching a skill or something. So really just kind of pushing positivity and just trying to get people to actually live that lifestyle and just really living by it, living by it.

Catherine (11:24)

Yeah. And what was the point at which you felt like my business feels mature enough such that I really need to get serious about kind of getting my financials in order and kind of getting a business credit card and stuff like that?

Blake (11:40)

I would spend thousands of dollars, like thousands and thousands of dollars just trying to keep up. I mean, cause you got to go to these shows. You might have to go to Vegas to one of the cons. I mean, you’re just constantly spending money trying to promote and advertise. So eventually you got to be wise about, you know, cause you either like you say, you’re going to go crazy or you’re going to complete all your funds.

I mean, literally, long nights of being stressed, like, oh, what I’m gonna do? Like, man, I’m spending too much money. And then my parents are not really understanding, you know, because, you know, we come from a small community, so they’re not really understanding, like, how big of a operation I got. They just think I’m just printing T-shirts, you know, and it’s like, no, it’s really, it’s bigger than this, but they don’t know anything about business credit. So you really have to kind of get a mentor.

And not only that, I was a part of, in Nashville they had this thing called the Entrepreneur Center. So I’m always around information and cohorts. I was a part of a cohort, accelerators, they show you how to raise money. So I’m just around the right crowd.

Catherine (12:50)

Yeah, that’s so important. And how are you managing your finances before you found that mentor in those communities?

Blake (13:01)

I mean, at first I really wasn’t. I just always made sure I made more than what I spent. I mean, like literally I would, I mean, I would make a lot of money, but then I would spend it all just trying to keep the brand name going. And then you would do it again. So it’s like, it’s always up and down and you got to be good with finances. Because a lot of people aren’t good with managing money, but always, I never ran out of money. I’ve always kept an overhead. I was always strict on that.

You know, I didn’t splurge. I went the first 10 years, I didn’t go, if it wasn’t business related, I didn’t go anywhere. Like I wasn’t going on spring break and doing stuff like that. I was, you know, investing into myself and the people around me. Cause it wasn’t just me, I had help. You know, people believed in my vision and not only that, but I was actually teaching people to do what I was doing. You know, once you teach somebody something and then they’re like, wow, I can go.

I can go and now I can go print for somebody else or basically I use my model for other people, especially if you’re just sitting around. If you’re just sitting around and not doing nothing, you can come and fold shirts. I can show you, you know, could pay, come fold some shirts and then watch me. And then I’ll teach you how to, I’ll teach you the basics. And then for you know, we got a, we got a graphic designer for you know, we got a screen printer. Like I’ve created like mini-mes. There’s other people that got their own brands and then you can teach them about being entrepreneurs and just the whole benefits of having a business.

Catherine (14:36)

Yeah, I noticed that when we were there that you’re really embedded in the creative community and such a key part of the creative entrepreneurship community in Clarksville and that was really fun to see. What are some advice that you give people who are looking to start their own brands?

Blake (14:59)

Research, definitely research. Because before I even thought about printing a shirt, I did all the research I could. I literally, like I went around, I saw the market, not only that, but I was already into fashion. So I knew what people was doing. I just didn’t understand how, so are they using printers or is this ink? Like how do you put?

Logo onto a shirt like I had to think a lot of people don’t think about that They don’t think about the whole process of a T-shirt just even the T-shirt I did a project on my business and it was basically I had to talk about the life cycle of a T-shirt and we collected T-shirts and we sent them We sent them overseas. I forgot where we sent them to but if you think about a T-shirt and how like sometimes the logo will fade before the actual T-shirt would fade. Like a T-shirt will never fade and you can reuse it, they’re recyclable. I even when you’re done wearing a T-shirt, you can pass it down seven times.

Catherine (16:11)

Wow, didn’t know that. So what’s really important when someone’s starting a brand I’m hearing is like researching and really developing technical expertise and whatever it is that they choose to pursue.

Blake (16:13)

Yes.

Yeah, well, see the way I started, I was so eager. I had already had like, I’m not gonna lie, I was already, I’ve been a hustler my whole life. So, you know, from picking up pecans to, I remember I would take my scholarship money, my school was paid for, so I would have some extra money left over. I would take that money and then I would buy cars and then right during tax season, I would sell them.

Or when students got their refund checks, I would sell them cars. So like I was already ahead. So my learning curve, I wasted a lot of money just trying to, just being eager and wanting to get started and not wanting to wait. So I would tell a lot of people like really get a job, save some money, cause it’s expensive, you know. Especially when it’s trial and error, I wasted a lot of T-shirts.

Catherine (17:26)

Right. Yeah, there’s so much money involved in starting up a business and it can be really hard to get financing at those really early stages when you need it the most.

Blake (17:36)

Yeah, but I would say just jump out there. Just jump out there, do your research and just jump out there and give it your all. Don’t give up. That’s why I stayed so consistent. Even when people wasn’t really believing in me, I always believed in myself. never stopped and I stayed consistent. And throughout the years I’ve been, whatever I do, I’m just very consistent with it. And that’s just how things are going.

Catherine (18:04)

Yeah, love that. So that’s kind of on starting a brand, especially like a creative brand, because that’s kind of where you come from. What about advice for people who are trying to get their business finances together? What do you recommend that they do then?

Blake (18:24)

Very first thing is to start working on your personal credit. Because a lot of people don’t know that eventually you’re going to need your personal credit. See what I did, I used my personal credit. So I learned about credit early. And when I was in college, I had like perfect credit because I never used it. And I did take out a couple of school loans. I had a credit history early.

So by the time I got ready to use my credit, I had access to whatever I wanted. I wouldn’t recommend using, doing what I did, but I used my, I took a gamble and I used my personal credit and I got credit cards and I used that to help me get started. But you’re gonna need your personal credit to guarantee your business credit. So I would just say right now is a perfect time to start looking at disputing your credit,

Another thing with me is I have a partnership with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and they send me material and I promote financial literacy. So what I would suggest is actually just learning to partnership or work with these organizations that actually give you the information. Because I get my information straight from the CFPB. So you don’t have to be misled. I know a lot of people get their information off YouTube and stuff and that’s not accurate.

You need to actually get it from an actual federal organization. So just working with them and they let you know about when, for instance, Experian and Equifax are being sued right now because people have been disputing and they haven’t been investigating. So right now I’m very busy because now you have supporting documentations to help your claims with disputing anything on your credit.

So that’s the first thing I would tell anybody is to start taking their finances serious, start working on their personal credit. That way they can use their personal credit to guarantee their business credit.

Catherine (20:27)

Yeah, that’s great. It is so important to get your information directly from the bureaus. That’s like a big part of how we structure our education at Nav just because it can get so confusing. It’s so confusing out there. So that’s great. 

What about budgeting? Do you have any tips for budgeting? What were you kind of you mentioned before that you were really focused on just like in the early days, just making more money than you spent. Do you have any budgeting tips from those early days or any lessons that you’ve learned since?

Blake (21:03)

You basically live below your means.

I mean, literally, I mean, it’s just like the college diet, like just cheap meals, noodles, just living below your means, but eventually it becomes normal and then you just do it. And then, you only eat good on holidays. So you just, you grind it out and then the holidays, you go home and then you feast it out and then you go back to living below your means.

But literally that’s it, living below my means and just learning. If you’re busy learning, you’re not out here spending money or doing other stuff and it’s like, you’re not, I don’t get bored. Like I enjoy sitting in my house, peace and quiet, reading books, studying. That’s why I like being a consultant. Cause I already like to educate myself and why not being able to help others, educating others. So really that’s like where I’m on right now. It’s just really.

Educating myself and then once I educate myself, I use what I learned to put me in a better position

Catherine (22:10)

Yeah, for sure. That’s great advice. What about financing? How do you think about financing your business? Or, you know, when people come to you with questions about it, what do you tell them?

Blake (22:24)

I tell them to give me their number first and then I send them my link to Nav and I tell them to click that link because that’s the first step. first you just gotta get, I get technical with it. I start talking about algorithms and how credit scores and algorithms and how this data is composed and compiled and this is how this is created. 

And then it just really goes over their head. And then they’re like, okay, I know you know what you’re talking about, but I don’t understand that, but I do. And then I break down like Facebook algorithms and how you stay consistent on something and then how you feed the algorithm. And basically I tell them that Nav is feeding the algorithm for us. Somebody has to report these payments on time. You know, you’re not doing it. 

So how are you going to build your reputation? I don’t even know you. Like I tell people all this time, like what’s your credit score? Like I go, I’m going to base you off your credit score because this is what they’re doing in the business world. 

So what’s your credit? Are you trustworthy? Once you break it down to like common terms, then people understand like, okay, so this is why I can’t get no more. Because they don’t even know me. They don’t recognize me. They don’t know my spending habits. They don’t know how much income I bring in. Like these are things that you need to know. And as a business, if I don’t know this about you, then I don’t want to associate with you. And once you break it down like that, they understand, are you right? I need to pay this $60 a month and then I need to pay you, that’s really what they want to do. 

They don’t want to take accountability. And that’s the first step you just got to like learn this stuff because people like me get overloaded. Like I can’t focus on my business and consult at the same time. There has to be a point where I still like, “Hey, no more mentors. I’m focused on me. Once I get to where my business is back where it’s you know where I’m comfortable then I can kind of show you the way, but you gotta take accountability.” 

That’s the first step is taking accountability and setting clear goals. A lot of people don’t set goals so they don’t have real expectations. I’m good at goal setting and just, like I said, just holding myself accountable and holding the business accountable. Because even though the business is a separate entity, it’s still ran by, you know, we’re the advisors of the business. So if everybody’s not working together or the people that I assigned to work with me, if we’re not all working as one, then the business is failing. I gained a lot from working for the immigration office and working for these federal entities and going through security clearances and stuff. it’s like, you got to really trust who you work with. so I just take everything I get and I just kind of put it into myself and my business. 

That’s how the world operates. It’s like business is its own language. Some people understand it, some people don’t. And when I get to talk in business, if you haven’t been doing your research and you don’t know what’s going on in here, then we’re not gonna click, we’re not gonna work. I like to be around business people who are working towards something.

Catherine (25:13)

Yeah, for sure. That’s something that is so challenging. It can be a harsh reality about running a business that you may know your business, other people may know your business, but when it comes to seeking financing or outside help, people are going to be looking at certain numbers and indicators that you’re a reliable business because they don’t know you personally. So that’s a really good point. I do want to revisit, you mentioned goal setting. How do you set goals for yourself in your business?

Blake (26:10)

Well, I set my goals by the quarter of the business year, the life cycle of the business year. So I set my goals by the quarter. 

Then shout out to Nav, because now you can really just log into the app. And you can kind of see all your numbers now. So I know how much I’m making. I know if I’m green or red. And I know that, OK, this is what we made last month. OK, let’s try to double it this month.

Because realistically, if we’re not doubling up each month, then we’re still doing what we were doing last year. And that’s what I’m not trying to do. I’m not trying to go backwards. I’m trying to go forward. So really just being able to actually just log in into the app and then just see everything clear cut. Because numbers don’t lie. That’s why I like math and data and numbers. They don’t lie.

They will, if you know how to read graphs and charts, then you can actually see where you’re going and you can see if you’re going downwards. So just really just keeping track of everything.

Catherine (27:12)

Yeah, that’s great. That’s funny that you, I love that you use Nav to do that. That’s great. We love to hear that. My last question for you is what’s kind of like your biggest takeaway or maybe your top two takeaways of growing your business over the past several years? Like what’s some advice that you would impart on other entrepreneurs?

Blake (27:32)

Um, sacrifice. You gotta be willing to sacrifice. You’re gonna have to sacrifice a lot. Like, there’s times where I don’t even get to go home and spend time with my family because I’m trying to take my business to the next level. And in order for me to do that right now, it requires me to be where the business is positioned. So just having to sacrifice and then time, because you don’t get this time back.

That’s why I’m so persistent on my goals because I know that my time is valuable and I know my parents are aging and people are aging. you know, I remember when I was 19 in the dorm room and then I remember when I was 24 living in the condo and now I’m 35 and now I’m like, I’m ready to buy a home now. So it’s like just seeing progress. And when you’re not seeing progress, you need to stop and redirect. So just.

Looking forward to the future and just, I pretty much have everything down on paper of what I wanna do. So I can always go back and say, okay, I’ve done this.

I don’t know if y’all know, but I shoot videos as well. I got tired of paying for photo shoots. I was paying $250 a photo shoot and we were having at least once or two a month. So I was like, you know what? I’m just gonna buy camera. So I bought a camera and I practiced with it. And then I said, you know what? I’m ready to shoot videos now. Practice with it. I start shooting commercials. And then somebody asked me one day, hey man, will you shoot my wedding? I said, yeah. So I shot a wedding.

And all the nervousness just went away. So I was like, okay, if I can shoot a wedding, I can do it. There’s nothing I can’t do. So now I can do anything. I can do weddings, any type of video content. I can do it because I’m comfortable with the camera. I know how to get angles and I know I have an for editing and things like that. So there’s nothing I really can’t do. So really just being a jack of all trades, cause that’s extra income.

Same thing with writing grants and applying for grants. On the educational side, if I can teach you about financial literacy and say I get a grant and now they’re giving me a grant to host a business class or teach a cohort about how to start a business, I can do that and then that income goes towards my business income. So that’s another form of income that kind of helps me be useful to my business. Even when my business is not making money, I can still make money.

On behalf of my business because I have a business structure. And that goes back to using Nav. So Dun & Bradstreet and all these other entities that all work together, they report. You gotta have some type of relationship with these people if you’re not incorporated and your name’s not out there, when they look you up, then nobody’s gonna give you no money. There’s a lot of grants I missed out on because I had the right motive, but like I said when they look up your business credit and they don’t see anything I mean you don’t exist so really it’s just about existing.

Catherine (30:34)

Yeah, for sure. I love just your approach towards business and everything you do. It’s always so inspiring to just hear you talk about how you take the opportunities in front of you and just grow and change. I love that about you. So thank you so much for being part of our first ever episode. I’m really excited that you joined us. And yeah, thank you so much.

Blake (31:01)

Yeah, well thank you guys for giving me a spotlight because a lot of times, I don’t get opportunities like other than being alumni with the school and working with the school. You’re not, Clarksville is on the up and up, but it’s not like a major city like a Nashville yet. 

So we have a lot of entrepreneurs, but there’s a lot of people who are wannabe entrepreneurs, but they’re not ready to digest the information. They’re not really learning and take it to the next level. So a lot of times when I promote financial literacy, a lot of people don’t catch it until it’s too late. So you guys giving me a platform and running my commercial and now people are like, I know him and he was printing shirts and I remember him and yes, and everything he says, he’s very reliable.

Yes, I know him, because I’ve done a lot of stuff in the community. So just having my face in the community and then people seeing me online and then they were kind of like, it kind of puts the puzzle together. So now it’s like, okay.

I know I can go for him because I know him. I’ve seen his face around, you know, and his business is, I market a lot. I do a lot of advertising and marketing. So people have seen it. They just didn’t know, okay. So now they’re kind of, I can use my personal brand and the business and now it kind of fleshed, it kind of flows together now. So you guys kind of helped a lot with that.

Catherine (32:37)

Well, we are so about financial literacy and so we love it when there are people like you in the community helping to educate on finances and entrepreneurship. So it’s our honor.

Blake (32:52)

Thank you.