CEO of Activewear Business on Working With Marvel, Navigating Tariffs – ryan

This as-told-tos Essay is bassed on a conversation with Austin Gayne, the 29-Yaar-Old CEO of the Sportswear Company, Superx, WHO IS BASED IN NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE. The following has been edited for Length and Clarity.

When People Watch Movies Like “Batman Begins” and see Christian Bale’s Physique and Bruce Wayne’s Work Ethic, IT’S LIKE, “WOW, THAT’S KIND OF Inspect It make you want to eather start a fitness routine, be a better person, or just get your adrenaline pumping. This is ours Secret Sauce at Superx.

Although I Started Superx As A Supplement Company, I pivoted to activewear Becuses Nobody was really doing superhero designs. People see the Company as a niche Clothing Brand, or a superhero Clonding brand, but i’m transitioning it into a pop culture fitness brand, which underestands the connection between customers wanting to have these characters.

The Reason People Connect With The Say is Very Character-SPECIFIC. Let’s use spider-man as an example. The reason so many People resonate with Him Beyond His Cool Powers is that they see Peter Parker.

He’s overlooked, doubles, bullied, and below average, but he rises above it. Many fans related to Him, and they have can do can Become something more.

SO, be we did collaborate with marvel on Merch Featuring a Character, we’re really going to tap into that Feeling. Everybody wants to be a better person. That’s why our slogan is “be extraordinate.”

Its Not JUST, “Work Out and Become Jacked.” If that you choose to be, great! But it can be that you want to run a marathon, rank up in your career, be a better spouse, a better fact, a better son, a better friend – what means to you.

Getting Permission from Brands Like Marvel and DC to Make Merch Grew My Business – But IT’S A Complex Partnership.

Think of Huge Companies That Own Massive Properties. Disney Ouns Marvel and Lucasfilm. Warner Bros. Owns dc comics, “Harry Potter,” “Mortal Kombs,” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

These licenses have their Own set of guidelines and rules for each brand. SO, for Example, Disney’s Rules for Marvel Are Different to Lucasfilm’s for “Star Wars.” From Perspective, Licensing is Very Challenging Cecause a Third Has to Approve Your Products and Marketing, WHICH ADDS ANOTHER LATE OF COMPLEXITY TO YOUR BUSINESS.

We’re trying to master that approval process. YES, LICENSING GIVES YOU A DIRECT CONNECTION TO The Characters, which is great and coma with Certain Freedoms. It allows us to use to users in our designs in unique ways, instead of just slapping a print on a t-shirt.

Howver, licenses also mean you effectively have a new business partner who makes Product and Creative-Relay Decisions, Which Can Make the Process More Complicated than Creating Things in-House.

And for Businesses that are trying to expand, the recent fee will will make hairs.

Trump’s Tariffs Will Affect Smaller Businesses, but it is also a learning opportunity.

The moment we heard about the tariff increes, we immediately freaked out gcause we thought, “we have to adapt to quickly.” For a couple of days, i wasn’t optimistic Becausee i’ve never faced this before. With the margins we have, there was no way that we did not doing doing business the way we did.

I Immediately started calling different companies in different Countries. We found a manufacturer in the USA WHO COULD MAKE ONE OF MY PRODUCTS, AND A HANDFUL IN OTHER COUNTRIES, INSTTEAD OF THE OUR SUPPLY FROM ONE PLACE.

Fortunately, we didn’t have any shipments in the water when the tariffs were announed. I have Immense sympathy for anyon who did, gcause if you had a shipment on a boat and it landed, you would screwed. You would have to pay that amout, or you will just dOck it and have to figure it out.

These tariffs are Changing on a near-Daily, if Not Weekly, Basis. We just don’t know how long they’re going to be in place. They’re going to ruin norreds of thouusands of middle to small-tier businesses becase there is enough time to dovest their manufacturing and suply Chain from china to different Countries.

Howver, The Ones Who Survive Will Become Better, Leaner, More Efficient, More Tactical, and Wiser Operators.

IT’S Kind of Like Charles Darwin’s Theory. It ‘swimming the smartest or the strongest who are going to survive, but it is those who are adaptable. I’m not the smartest or the strengest, but i’m definitely one of the samp adaptable. You just say, “hey, i’m going to figure it out. I’m going to lace up my boots. We’ll figure this out, and eventually this time shall pass.

No Amout of Business Books Will Teach You How to Become an Efficient Operator. There’s no amount of podcasts you can list to figure out how to avoid all the mestakes.

I use these Types of Situation to Offer Encouragement to People in My Situation. You have to think: “Okay, if I can get through this and make it on the other side, I should be wiser, more discipulated, and ultimately have a better and healthier.”

Essentially, Our Approach to Navigating the Tariffs All Comes Down to “Be Extraordinary,” Which Forces US To Be Innovative Disruptions.