PHILADELPHIA – It’s bigger than selling T-shirts and hoodies. Walking down Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the way to the Made in America festival, this reporter saw Donnell Lynch and G, both 22, standing in front of an open trunk full of T-shirts and hoodies on hangers.
“We’re just trying to survive, man,” G told rolling out.
The two young men spoke to rolling out about the entrepreneurial spirit of the city of Philadelphia.
Walking to the festival, people were selling Gatorade, water and Arizona tea. How would you describe the hustle culture in Philadelphia?
G: It’s hard. You just got to put that work in and put yourself out there if you want to go farther with it because it does get difficult.
Lynch: To piggyback off of what he said, it’s definitely hard because we’re in the city where I’m pretty sure, you said you’re from Atlanta, right?
ro: Yeah.
Lynch: Atlanta is probably similar to Philly where people are kind of closed off because there’s a lot of violence and a lot of things going on. When the pandemic happened, a lot of things shifted. Entrepreneurship is definitely harder, but as we said, you got to push and go hard, which we’re trying to do and seeing other people do out here standing and trying to socialize just to get sales. Entrepreneurship life is definitely tough, but if you put the work in and really try to get yourself out there, you will get noticed for sure.
What motivates you guys as young entrepreneurs to succeed?
G: Well, this is my brother, you know? I’m going to support him all the way. We’re going to make sure we get this worldwide.
Lynch: To see people our age, let them know, it’s possible to do something different, to take it really far and go hard. We’ve got kids, too. We [do] it for the kids. It’s all for the kids.
What are guys selling tonight?
Lynch: We have some T-shirts with our main slogan “Don’t Die Wondering” on the front and on the back. We have Love Park T-shirts with a couple of nice little cars. On the sleeve, it says Social Misfits Clothing, Philadelphia PA, EST. 2019, that’s the year we started our brand. Zip hoodies, we also have a studio as well. We have some more stuff like resale sneakers, sweatpants and other cool stuff as well.
Where can people find you all on social media?
Lynch: On social media, Instagram, socialmisfit.clothing. On Facebook, Social Misfit. You can find us there.
Do you ship across America?
Lynch: We have a website, socialmisfit.co. We have a studio in Philadelphia at 2534 N. Broad St.
