Today we’d like to introduce you to Toby Powell.
Hi Toby , thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
This is what’s featured in the About US Section of our website. It’s the best way to describe my story……
Toby Powell, Owner and Founder is a former Division 1 basketball player who at the age of 30 became addicted to golf.
After continuous frustration of going to golf stores and trying on women’s golf polos, she decided to develop her own line and solely focus on fit, fabric and design. In her eyes, everything in women’s golf apparel appears to be too big, too small, unflattering and just out right ugly. Her hope is to change that by giving women a better option.
The goal at Golf Addict Apparel is to allow female golfers to wear this shirt feeling confident and comfortable while having plenty of patterns and designs to choose from.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
NOT AT ALL! The struggle began with making the perfect shirt. Most importantly the material and the fit. I used several manufacturers, paid for multiple samples and also had to find a company that would allow me to have a low MOQ. (Minimum order quantity) so that I could see how sales would go. The first mistake I made was place an order of 500 shirts on my first order. They didn’t go as quickly as planned so I was stuck selling most of those shirts for the first 2 years in business.
Once I found my supplier, things were good until my account manager left the company. I stayed with them but getting a new contact person made me feel like I was starting all over again.
There have been mess ups, money lost and one instance where I received another companies shirts and they had mine.
There are many times in this business where I feel like a hamster on a wheel. It’s one thing to get up and running but its another to know how to market yourself enough to become successful. I was spending all of my profits on SEO Marketing and Google Ads until I realized I can no longer afford it. I am currently focusing on making my money at in person events such as golf tournament’s, pop ups and vendor shows.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Golf Addict Apparel ?
Golf Addict Apparel is a woman-owned business with 1 employee, me, Toby Powell. I am the Owner/Founder of this business and I do it all. I create and place the orders with the manufacturer, I come up with the shirt design ideas and contact my designer to have those ideas come to life. I take photos for the website and social media, I develop the contact for all social media posts and send out marketing emails to my customers on a monthly basis. I also keep track of inventory, keep the website updated and lastly I get product packed and labeled for shipping as well.
My shirts are a hit with all ages of the female demographic and I believe the designs and the fit are what set my brand apart. I am most proud of the fact that I have sold over 1000 shirts in under 3 years and have not had any returns due to dislike. The only returns there have been due to sizing and there have only been maybe 3 of those.
Golf Addict Apparel is special, its fun and your guaranteed to get compliments. I get people telling me all the time that while wearing our brand, someone asks where they got it from. We have hundreds of repeat customers and have expanded to hoodies, t-shirts, hats and now a men’s line and s few youth polos as well.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Be ready to spend money and it costs money to make money. Take help when its offered and give yourself time to be successful, it doesn’t happen overnight.
I also own a real estate brokerage so I was pretty prepared for the business aspect but I did lack knowledge of the apparel industry and for that, I wish I had done more research.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://golfaddictapparel.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golfaddictapparel/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/golfaddictapparel/
