An alum of Hampton University, Rick Moore’s designs can be seen on celebrities such as Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, Tyler Perry, Omari Hardwick and Kevin Hart. Moore founded his clothing line, Nyla Elise, in a one-bedroom apartment in 2009. He Moore shared his journey in the “E-Commerce and the New Virtual Retail Reality” workshop at rolling out‘s RIDE Conference on Saturday, Sept.23.
Moore credits his success and unmatched salesmanship largely to working hard, building relationships and taking risks. Though his current goal is “to be the Motown of fashion,” Moore first sold ice cream cones and mixtapes in college. The father of two encouraged the collegiate attendees to leverage their time in college.
“In college, it is so important to use that network because when you’re at college people are from everywhere in the country. You can get so much done and cover so much ground. If whatever you are selling is good enough, those people are going to spread it for you for free,” he said.
In addition to leveraging your personal network, Moore encouraged aspiring business owners to get online every day to research and find possible partners for their businesses not solely investors. Furthermore, he says he prides himself on being a risk taker and shared that some his biggest opportunities, such as a recent deal with Pepsi, came from walking into their corporate office without a meeting lined up.
“Randomness is the new black. It just feels right,” he said.
If you are not as bold as Moore, grassroots efforts are a calculated risk business owners can take. Going to trade shows and festivals related to your brand are also invaluable opportunities.
“The reason I say festivals is because you have a way better chance of picking a needle out a haystack with 400K people than you do just going online trying to target people. Sometimes the people you are trying to target are not the people you should be talking to anyway,” Moore said.
Rolling out’s inaugural RIDE Conference highlights the opportunities available for multicultural millennials and professionals in technology, entertainment, business and thought leadership.
The RIDE Conference concludes with a hackathon tonight at the Loudermilk Center in Atlanta. Other guest speakers include Ryan Leslie, Keri Hilson, John Singleton, Steve Canal and Laz Alonso.
Visit ride.rollingout.com
