Fashion Gxd Magazine - NCMPRBL CEO Entrepreneur Cover (Print Issue NOW Available)
Written By: Samantha Cee
This issue we sat down with the phenomenal brand created by Dr. Mario McCoy. , NCMPRBL We caught up with the CEO of NCMPRBL We’ve acquired the exclusive interview with the rising brand. Take a look at the exclusive cover story below.
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Website: https://ncmprblwatches.com
Fashion Gxd Magazine : How did the idea for your business come about?
Answer: NCMPRBL was created to be a feeling and a look. Our brand realized the area of opportunity where at the core, black culture highlighted by our triumphs, our creativity and individuality could be properly represented in the watch and fashion accessory sector. As a lifelong lover of watches, it was easy to merge the idea into creating timepieces that the most emulated culture ever could be proud to wear. Satisfying that need was imperative because growing up I saw, listened to, and mimicked our favorite music from Biggie, Jay-Z, Tupac, Nas, etc., and had a dream to create a brand where we could be mentioned in the same breath as the bigger brands, we grew up paying homage and attention to.
Fashion Gxd Magazine : How do you find people to bring into your organization that truly care about the organization the way you do?
Answer: Finding people who genuinely are maniacal about their passions. Like, there’s a difference between business and hustle but you need both in order for your brand to thrive. You have to be around energy and professionals who put aside ego and have a singular focus on getting better and remaining creative. At NCMPRBL, we have brand partners that naturally fit our cultural ethos of “Create Over Conform” because they came in great at their own respective talents. We give our partners a platform to flourish without compromising who they are. Of course, there are certain expectations that are respectfully communicated from jump, but once our partners see the way our structure is implemented for them to thrive, the buy-in becomes easier. We are very meticulous and careful about who we welcome to the NCMPRBLife from our board, to creative partners because we are a small unit. Having commonalities, ego removal, and commitment to growth equals connecting with like-minded individuals whose intent is on making history. No hidden agendas.
Fashion Gxd Magazine : What three pieces of advice would you give to children who want to become entrepreneurs?
Answer: Pace, Pay Attention and Patience. Same rules apply no matter the age. Pace is important because you should not compare your year 1 to your competitors’ year 10. Of course, being inspired and implementing practices to make you better, is well… expected. We all do that in some way shape, form or fashion. But knowing your pace is critical in order to maintain a strong mental and remaining present.
Paying attention. We have the world at our fingertips with the internet. Pay attention to what your competitors are doing. Pay attention to new technology and how you can work smarter not harder. Pay attention to the energy around you. Especially being young, you’re going to have people who want to be around you solely for their benefit. Pay attention so you can identify that energy and do away with it early.
Patience. If it comes quick, it’ll leave faster. Success, money, people, all of it. Don’t be in a rush while you’re young. Live, make mistakes, fail forward. Don’t be afraid to fail. Harry Porter failed repeatedly and was rejected BEFORE Harry Porter. If you truly have an idea, a brand, a product, that you feel can provide a solution to a need, stick with it. Entrepreneurship gets lonely, but you have all the energy and time in the world to grow and make history. You are tomorrow’s leaders + are our future.
Fashion Gxd Magazine :If you had the chance to start your career over again, what would you do differently?
Answer: NCMPRBL is a firm believer in everything happens for a reason. Cliché, we know, but honestly, I, as the founder, would have started with a team, first. Please place emphasis on first. Entrepreneurship like I said…gets lonely. You sacrifice so much, it’s easy to get frustrated when things don’t go your way and boom, you quit. Starting with a team helps your process and your overall growth. Your mental remains sharp. Your hours aren’t as long. More opportunities and time to not only connect with your community, but to remain present with things that matter the most: family, your own well-being. Having a team, you can trust also helps you weed out potential negative energy we talked about before right? It’s important to know the difference in people who want to jump in with you because they see your potential, they see your brand growing, or just so they can benefit from their own ego or even worse, plot to be a detriment to you. So, having that solid foundation of people around who simply want to add value to what you’re building and everyone knowing their area of importance, would have been something I would have stepped in the door with as opposed to thinking I was superman.
Fashion Gxd Magazine :What would you say are the top three skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur ?
Answer: Be a sponge. Always look to learn from people around you. Keep people around you who are doing better than you, solely for motivational purposes. Utilize them as resources and provide value to them as well. This is not limited to money, status, but look to learn from good character, proper business etiquette following entrepreneurs who genuinely want to help.
-Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Entrepreneurship is not for the weak. You lose friends, you lose sleep, you sacrifice time with family, you miss birthdays, you lose your social life when starting out, amongst other things. But being a beast, that comes with knowing that you’re going to be hit with way more no’s than yes’s. Once you understand the laws of gravity are designed to work against you and not for you, you learn to be a beast and take outside noise personal. Don’t expect support, don’t compromise on your vision and standards, and stay pure.
-Saying no is ok. We’re in an era where it’s more prevalent than ever that businesses and people disguised as businesses will try and snake you. Everyone wants to make it to the top first and will cutthroat you if it means get ahead. Again, there’s a difference between business and hustle, but you need both to make history. Don’t be afraid to say no if your instinct believes something isn’t adding up, ask questions. Don’t say yes to the first offer. If something doesn’t readily reflect who you are and where you want to be as a CEO, say no.
Fashion Gxd Magazine :What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them?
Answer: NCMPRBL we learned to sharpen our laser-like focus. At first…we had our promotional shirts, as well as other important things under our umbrella but didn’t fit the cultural aesthetic of our site when we first launched, and it made prospective NCMPRBLife members confused. We asked ourselves: What did we want to be known for? What did we want our brand to represent? Are we launching things aside from the watches too soon? How can we incorporate other important facets under the brand name to effectively reach our demographic? How can we build trust? All of the above we had to address as critical factors within our brand in order to properly expand. Again, goes to the Pace, Pay Attention, Patience pieces that we previously addressed. Learning how to not only properly but effectively communicate with our demographic was beneficial because it helped trim the body fat if you will. We realized some things were better off being introduced on other platforms, learned how to place emphasis on certain releases, and most importantly, building that trust within our NCMPRBLife community to further establish ourselves as a brand. Branding before expansion.
Fashion Gxd Magazine : How many hours do you work a day on average?
Answer: It’s trimmed down slightly as I have a phenomenal squad of partners and realized rest is just as important as being successful. 10-12 hours. I learned how to conduct a sound structure even more so from David Meltzer and learned how to maximize my productivity from Dr. Eric Thomas. Like I said, always being a sponge is critical, even for NCMPRBL productivity.
Fashion Gxd Magazine :Describe/outline your typical day?
Answer: I get up. Pray to the Lord and thank him for another day to have the opportunity to make an impact on the world. Eat breakfast with my son. Play around with him. He loves going to the car wash, so a couple times a week we go and he’s fake scared that the car wash is going to turn into an octopus and get him as we ride through. Lol funniest thing ever. I check emails, connect with my brand partners, conduct business with our shipping department, have a block of time where I review all media inquiries, do an interview or two, check our business statements as the numbers keep the business trajectory afloat, and watch sports. I’m a big lakers and packers fan, so that’s my space of solitude. A few of my brand partners are former athletes so we pop off a lot to each other when somebody’s team is getting absolutely agreed. It’s important for me to get to know and connect with my team outside of just NCMPRBL on a day-to-day basis. The how are you? Are you advancing? Is your family good? Caring about my people is important for the culture we’re building, and it helps to have authentic conversation.
Fashion Gxd Magazine : How has being an entrepreneur affected your family life?
Answer: At first, it was challenging. Being completely transparent. Because with a 9-5 there’s structure, right? You know you go in at a certain time, you’re home at a certain time, your day is over, work is left at work. You’re back at home at a certain time. When you’re an entrepreneur, you are the work on top of work, and work pays the bills, and initially you don’t see any money from it. I have this thing where I never miss birthdays in my immediate family. Living in Houston, Texas and being born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, I didn’t visit home much at all when NCMPRBL first launched so that was challenging. But having an understanding and sound support system helps to make chasing history a bit easier. I’m now able to go play in the park with my son, I can get up at 8am and not beat myself up for not getting up at 7am, and I have the opportunity to be blessed with empowering my partners to be great not only for NCMPRBL, but for their own growth. My family appreciates that and respects the vision. Seeing my son get happy whenever he sees a watch is everything. He hi-jacks almost every new design ever so swiftly.
Fashion Gxd Magazine: What motivates you?
Answer: Failure. Sacrifice before Success. The journey to growing. Chasing History is about the process, not the outcome. Being able to give back and be a beacon of light for my community. Presently, NCMPRBL is the only black doctor owned in the country and I don’t take that lightly. I started NCMPRBL while in my doctoral program. I don’t really look back much to relish in the “accomplishments' ' but seeing aspiring and continuing entrepreneurs look to NCMPRBL as a reason for motivation, is it for me. It inspired us to start our Create Over Conform Scholarship Fund for aspiring entrepreneurs, as well as our upcoming #AdvanceYourEntrepreneur master class for aspiring and continuing entrepreneurs where we merge authentic intelligence from creatives and provide structure for entrepreneurial growth. And of course, having the opportunity again to interview with Fashion Gxd is always a dope vibe.
By Pilar Scratch in Entrepreneur cover for Fashion Gxd Magazine
30 pages, published 2/7/2021
