Meet Marcus Mattox | Entrepreneur & Designer

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

Hi Marcus, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
i knew i wanted a dope streetwear brand. i’ve always admired people who have their own brand and rock it daily. to me that’s the coolest thing ever, it’s probably my biggest flex.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My brand is my baby, I tell everyone that. I’d truly go to war about mine. I’m so passionate about it that I bring it up in any conversation I can. I think one of the main things that sets my brand apart from others is the creativity used that was birthed in the heart of necessity. When I started this journey I didn’t have an elaborate set up, it was just me on the ground printing single color design shirts and trying to figure out the best way to do it. I had to accommodate for the fact that I didn’t have a real press so I had to use what was around me to get dope prints. It was a lot of trial and error from the start but over time I learned to manipulate what was around me to screen print. For example I used to use old voting signs to keep the garments flat so I could print on them. Once I learned it was a way to screenprint on a budget without the expensive set-up it was over with and I turned it into an entire business model. The thing that I’m most proud of is probably the success my brand is having in college. I came to Morehouse with a plan to take full advantage of what the AUC had to offer. Before I even got here I came up with the concept of the AUC tees starting with my own school, Morehouse. I got the design made and came up with a sample and showed it to all the guys here and everybody messed with it. I dropped it online and made a tik tok showing myself make each shirt by hand and the video blew up. It was my first video to ever go viral and hit over fifty thousand. I eventually dropped a Spelman and Clark rendition and made videos on those and they both blew up. Everybody was noticing me from tik tok and wanted to know how they could get their hands on a tee. Three restocks later here we are, sold out. I think the AUC shirts was the best thing I could’ve ever did for my brand. It got me the exposure I needed and motivated me to go harder. Now, I see someone in my brand everywhere I go on campus. THAT’S A FLEX! The other day I went to starbucks and counted 11 people in Wise Juve in a span of only 5 minutes. That’s honestly the dopest thing ever to me.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As a fashion head I like being around other fly people so I’d probably take them thrifting with me and maybe hit a few boutiques at five points. Also I’d definitely take them to a fashion convention or pop-up like Atlanta Streetwear Market. You get to meet new people and form relationships. It’s also one of the best places to draw inspiration from since everyone here is a celebrity, It kinda forces you to think on a different level of creativity.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
John. My homie John is like a mentor to me. He runs two clothing brands and put me on to a lot of game in the earlier stages of my brand that help set me up for success. He talked to me about the type of stuff that a lot of brand owners usually gatekeep and even copped my very first product just to support me. On top of that he shot the whole thing to help me get promo and did it all for free! He didn’t ask for a dime, he just wanted to help me be great and for that I could never thank him enough.

Website: https://www.wisejuveniles.com/

Instagram: @wisejuveniles

Other: Tik Tok: @Wisejuveniles

Image Credits
@coulqq @khalil215_