Born in the city of Boston, and raised by a single mom, Jared Moses knew the meaning of struggle. He found himself constantly in trouble in school and eventually found himself diagnosed with a mental illness. The world kept telling him, no, and at first, he really wouldn’t listen. Screenwriting was something he discovered in his late teens, and he fell in love with it. In a world where he could control nothing, he found storytelling to be refreshing as he could control everything. He planned to make a career of it but was thrown a curve ball in his mid-twenties. A thyroid cancer diagnosis put the dream on hold. Handling his recovery he looked to potentially starting up again, but was met with consistent discouragement, told to be reasonable and think realistic. Jared gave up his dream to be a writer and moved to New Jersey. There he and his fiancee’ got married and he settled into a life of average. At first, he thought “This would be fine” until a familiar itch began to creep in. Jared realized he had not only settled but he allowed himself to be told no, and he listened. His wife who had been suggesting he make a clothing brand, much to his constant deflection finally got through. Jared decided to create a brand for creatives, one that would allow them to be protected from the no’s of the world. One that would let them have someone standing with them, provide them a suit of armor. So together his wife and his older brother came together and created Guttr. Now on a mission, Jared Moses plans to change the world one creative at a time.
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to be an entrepreneur for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
I’d say it was a few things, desperation, compassion, and poverty. Each of those played a part in who I am today and my desire to not work for anyone else. The truth is that I came to the realization that if I did not do this for more than just me, ultimately I would be affected. So it was more of a necessity than anything else. The people who influenced me would be Gary Vaynerchuck for sure, Tim Ferris, and my older brother.
2.) If you could compare your clothing company to an already established clothing company, which would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare, then what separates you from other businesses out there?
I don’t like comparing actually, mostly because I sort of stumbled on a clothing line by accident. My wife actually had been pushing me to start a clothing line. I spent so much time telling her about market saturation, and startup costs and how it just wasn’t feasible. The reality was I couldn’t find an in, nothing about it spoke to me. Which brings me to what makes us different, I wanted to start a business but I wanted to start from a position a lot of people don’t start from. I start with the consumer in mind first, who did I want to build a business for. Creatives came to mind as I had a bit of a background in creative industries. I realized that creatives were often forced to battle so many people and torn down by the ones they claimed to love the most. I wanted to create something that would absorb all of that negative and be that suit of armor for them. That led me to think about Under Armour and armor led me to think about clothing. It all came full circle. Guttr is different because it’s not just about apparel for us, it’s about the people who wear it. What we have to offer them and how passionate we are about them.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to starting your business?
Lack of money and lack of knowledge has been the biggest challenges so far as far as dealing with building the business. Low funds, and this being our first business it has been blindly navigating the waters. I’ve learned that reading books and listening to YouTube videos, and podcasts can only get you so far. It’s like a quarterback who watches game tape or a soldier who hears all about the enemy, it all changes when you get out there. It’s nothing like what you’ve trained for, or what you’ve read about. The top ten lists and email newsletters you sign up for don’t prepare you for the real thing. But I love every minute of it. Another major issue or adversity that has played a big part in traveling this path has been mental health. As an individual who struggles with a mental illness, I go through stages of crippling depression and many other things that really make it difficult to press on. But everyday I take it day-by-day and just remember why and who I am doing all of this for.
4.) How do you and your partners prepare to create? What is the process?
Everything we do is as I mentioned before, audience first. We are tailoring our website to the user, creating content that they want and need to see, we are designing clothing with messages that speak to them. Everything we do is for creatives and so our process starts with them, looking at their needs, their pain points, their happiness, their trials etc. Once we know that everything else just falls into place, once we know who, and why we are doing it, then that’s what almost becomes second nature for us.
5.) Unfortunately, the fashion industry is full of talented individuals who more or less become struggling business owners and don’t get any recognition for their hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed?
Good question! I think the best way to stand out and get recognition is to try to not get recognition. So many brands focus so much on “Look at me, Look at me” tactics. I think our brand is about “Hey, look at YOU!” We build around our target audience and shine a light on THEIR Accomplishments, and hope they feel so empowered by us that they see wearing Guttr apparel as a badge of honor recognizing what THEY are. Not who WE are.
6.) Would you rather work with a big corporation or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not?
For now, I think independent is best. The reason why is because so many big corporations don’t fully understand the creative heart, for many its about the money and how profitable they can be. Don’t get me wrong, money is not a bad word, but money is secondary, the people are first. Unless I could find a corporation that felt and aligned with our goals, I don’t see us partnering with anyone of that nature. Also, I don’t quite think we are there yet.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the fashion industry and how clothing companies (small or big) are able to market themselves?
I think social media as a whole has helped so many companies build brand awareness in ways that haven’t been possible before. The truth is marketing is about attention, right? It’s like this, let’s say you enter a room with a bunch of people watching TV and on that TV, in 15-second intervals, different pieces of content are being flashed. Your goal is to find a way to get them to stop looking at that TV just long enough to be entertained by you. That’s what marketers are constantly trying to do, not just get in with the rest of the content but stand out from it. For the fashion industry, it is like that same thing except let’s say it’s 5-second intervals. Social media has made it possible to try to carve out your own little space, not just blend in with the content loop. Many people have faded into that or out completely. This is due to lack of content strategy or just being too “selly”. But it gives everyone equal playing field. Where people used to have to try to pick the lock to get in that room with the 15 second interval TV, now the door is wide open and you just have to be good enough to get that attention.
8.) Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an entrepreneur will be able to survive in today’s economy if they’re not social media savvy?
Survive yes. Thrive no. They may be able to hang on with word of mouth and remain very small. But with all the noise it is virtually impossible to thrive in this economy without being on the same playing field as everyone else.
9.) Entrepreneurs who try to expand and create for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your company stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
I think any entrepreneur that goes off mission, who betrays the reason they began the whole journey, sells out. I don’t think to make things for the general public or getting more money makes you sell out if you remain true to your why. If doing either thing helps you achieve the why on a grander scale then, by all means, do it.
10.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
I see myself leading a movement, helping make the world a little more beautiful one creative at a time on a much larger scale. I see Guttr being a household name with it being involved in NPO’s and launching a mentorship program for creatives of all ages. My goal is to help the people who make an ugly world beautiful do just that until I’m not breathing anymore.
The Store Launches on 11/26!
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