Competing in one of the most lucrative industries in the market, high end entrepreneurs present high end collections to correlate with their target audience. Designing and producing high quality apparel for any kind of scenario, is really harder than you think it is. In the top list of upcoming clothing brands mastering this craft is a company called Prodigy-Collections, Prodigy attracted us with their amazing message and vibrant success in both categories of fashion and fitness wear. We conducted an interview with the founder Zach Lalwani whose name is starting to be more prominent in the industry for his brand’s powerful message and community.
Hi Zach! So tell me a little about you and your brand.
Hi! Thanks for having me, it’s honestly an honour. My name is Zach Lalwani, i am a Silicon Valley based young entrepreneur, i started my clothing brand around 6 months ago and have successful branched and networked globally to increase the community of the brand.
What is The message behind the brand of Prodigy?
Zach Lalwani: The brand is all about one’s self worth when you’re a Prodigy, no one can take that away from you – you are yourself. Our international community are all Prodigies, they range from all sorts of skill sets, even ones you never would Imagine! The community behind the brand is the glue to our success.
How did you start your brand and what inspires you ?
Zach Lalwani: I started making designs in my class during Senior year of highschool, I originally was doing it for fun but turned it into a more serious note when I ordered a bulk shipment of sweatshirts and started delivering tons of them around Silicon Valley.
Honestly, not to be egotistical, but i find inspiration through myself – I saw the capability of what i created, the capability of what i can realistically achieve, and the capability of taking and running with it. It is a process that I still am in, I’m not a recognized brand but the legacy is developing.
So tell us about your local support system, how have they impacted you?
Zach Lalwani: Local support is amazing honestly, I have tons of friends and family who helped me keep my vision alive by supporting and showing love. That is what truly flipped the switch in my head on building a an amazing community online just through networking all over the world.
How do you deal with ups and downs of running a company?
Zach Lalwani: Ups and downs is always going to be there in the process, life is never perfect. This company honestly humbled my mentality, It is good to have the winning driven mentality but if you beat yourself up when you fail, that mentality starts to turn corrupt. I learned to be lenient with my failures – deal, observe, and fix – that process is what helped me build a solid foundation for myself and then my team.
How do you balance school, personal, and work life? I believe you are just starting college right?
Zach Lalwani: Yes! I am a freshman at San Jose State University and balancing is honestly come easy for me with the company, my dad always said, “Work hard, play hard” – that is how I base myself. I could not be that person who locks themself in their room and works for hours, don’t get me wrong, I have tons of respect for them, but for me, when I go to hang my buddies, that is sort of a debrief of all the stress and workload from the day. As my personal friends know me, I am a very outgoing guy, I like to go have fun, but now with all the weight on my shoulders with the company and other side gigs, I learned how to better balance myself where both worlds work with each other!
Where do you see your brand 10 years from now ?
Zach Lalwani: Scaling to double digits in the millions, Ecommerce is the new generation, mom and pop stores are going out of business and soon malls won’t even be existent. You see Tai Lopez and Rudy Mawer? They just bought Pier 1 Imports and converted them fully online. I plan to keep the store online pushing to develop a legacy and recognition as a top brand throughout the world.
Any advice for teens and young adults on pursuing goals in the clothing industry, actually in any work force ?
Zach Lalwani: Well sheesh, I’m not that big yet! But just the best advice is what my mentor taught me, One: Self invest, self investing is the key of real success beside materialistic paper that holds currency. Coming to terms with yourself is the greatest accomplishment one person can do, once someone is complete terms with themselves and their capabilities, they have unlocked the true power in life, at that point no one and nothing will get in your way mentally and Two: 30:30:30, surround yourself with 30% people not as knowledgeable as you, 30% as knowledgeable as you, and 30% more knowledgeable than you, and you are that 1% who learns from each category, it’s a never ending circle – I call it the circle of life.