Meet Dri-Towel founder Reggie Young; talks entrepreneurship and finding a niche

Dri-Towel was born five years ago when training some of our athletes and one asked if for a few more towels because they were sweating so much. I then went in to the back to gather more towels and asked the young lady washing the towels is she going to put detergent in the towels, she then said oh I’m sorry we ran out of detergent yesterday. By far the most disgusting thing to hear in a gym. Went back to resume training the guys and they asked where are the towels, relayed what happened and they too said disgusting, I then vowed never to use another gym towel again. The guys said Reg you train all day what are you going to use, my response is I will create a new towel and they laughed.  After session, headed over to the sports store and purchased a Nike Dri-Fit shirt, I then cut one sleeve and thought, aha, this is my new towel! On to my next session using the sleeve to wipe the sweat off my face my realization was the sweat was being smeared from the left side of my face to the right. No this is supposed to work and my athletes laughed at me saying that sleeve and fabric is just a regular polyester, nothing special. The athletes stated if you are going to create your own towel, you have your work cut out for you and so the journey began.

Growing  up and seeing my father as our lead pastor wear many hats was my first inspiration. Watching my father be a confidant, one who encourages, teaches and leads was humbling and helped to create and mold my future. Understanding the many roles one takes on as an entrepreneur is not for the average person, and realizing at a young age that I wasn’t average attracted me to entrepreneurship.

Excellent question. The process was quite tedious and has been a process of re-education. Many people see towels just as towels. Creating Dri-Towel, the first towel specifically engineered for skin opened many eyes, yet raised many questions. One question for certain I used to get before one would feel our fabric, what makes your  towel so different from a regular towel? Next, one would say now that I feel and like the texture of your Dri-Towel what makes it so special?  We then would educate the consumer what makes Dri-Towel special and different is our products are antimicrobial, hypoallergenic, eco-friendly, fashionable yet functional. After impressing the consumer and allowing to know how cotton and microfiber towel absorb not only sweat but bacteria, smells and stains not to mention a cotton towel can retain MRSA, yes staph, on its surface for up to 6-9 weeks even with washing. Now think back to that day in the wash room when the young lady didn’t put detergent in the gym towels. The last question we usually get is, how do you wash the Dri-Towel?  Our answer usually blows them away when we state you can hand wash the products when you wash your hands after working out or such use and it air dries in the mesh bag given at purchase or you can tie on the straps of your gym bag and it dries 50 percent faster than cotton or microfiber towels. You can also machine was and the each one of our products, dries in the spin cycle of the washing machine and after hearing they can save energy and electricity the consumer says, oh, interesting, how do I purchase one?

What motivates me most to grow my business is my daughter.  She helps me to focus on leaving a legacy and building a brand she can be proud of and say I remember as a little girl watching my dad cut, create and design his product in the living room of our home. Also seeing the fruits of the labor, when people feel our fabric and purchase then to hear their testimonies and come back as repeat customers.  That is very motivating and rewarding.

I see Dri-Towel acquired by Nike or Under Armor.

Dri-Towels can be purchased at www.Dri-Towel.com. They can be found on social media using the following handles.

FB: Dri-Towel

IG: Dritowel

Twitter: Dritowel