How Eastside Golf Redefines Golf With Contemporary Design and Inclusivity

0:00I knew what the outside world would think about it. I just didn't know what the golf world would think about it. And if I could figure out both, then I feel like we would be the only company that would truly ride that line of streetwear and golf. Hey, what's going on? I'm Benjamin Gottlieb, and you are listening to Shopify Masters, your companion for starting and building a business. You know, great ideas can change how industries operate. And change is coming from Olajuwon, Adjanaku, and Earl Cooper. They're the founders of Eastside Golf, and this is not your grandfather's golf company. Their brand designs golf apparel and accessories for the contemporary golfer while still meeting professional golf guidelines.

0:41And they're doing a ton with getting kids involved in golf too, especially for communities that have historically been left out. Olajuwon and Earl are my guests today, and so happy, guys, to have you here on Shopify Masters. Thanks for doing this. I appreciate you having us, Benjamin. Thanks for having us. This is dope. I agree. I agree. And by the way, full disclosure, I'm a big golf fan. So sorry to my listeners. I get too into it today, but just to start guys, why golf? Yeah. Uh, well, I mean, I've been playing golf since I was six years old, all the way through middle school, high school. I mean, golf taught me a lot about myself growing up.

1:20I mean, I was, I was, I would say I was raised on the golf course, you know, and didn't have, I would say a lot of a father figure after a certain point in my life, you know, at home. And when I would go to the golf course. And where was home, by the way? In Atlanta, in actually East Atlanta. And it's crazy, me growing up on the golf course, you know, I'm around judges, accountants, lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, all of these positive people that I actually saw what I wanted to be like. Or I asked them so many questions, you know, day in and day out. But just to become a better me at the end of the day, you know, and then also build my circle and also find mentors as well.

2:04That's where I would say why golf to even start off with. You know, you mentioned judges, entrepreneurs, attorneys, other folks on the golf course, right? These are the stereotypical golfers, right, when you think about golfers. And let's be honest, there are a lot of stereotypes associated with golf. It's exclusive. It's only for a certain type of person, how that person looks. But for your brand, that is not at all who you're targeting or, in fact, how you're approaching marketing. Right, Earl? Agreed. No, I mean, I think we certainly positioned our brand as, you know, kind of removing barriers and allowing everyone to essentially define what golf is to them.

2:48Right. So whether we like to say whether you're a miniature golfer, whether you're a putt putt golfer, whether you're playing golf for 11, which we have guys like Wyatt Worthith and competing in the PGA Championship, you know, we make apparel for you. And then even if you don't play golf, we often like to say you don't have to play golf in order to wear Eastside golf. You know, we just want to create quality products. There's certainly a story around the product. And we ourselves love the game. So if it's something that you're interested in and want to do, we're here for it. But we would also say we don't want to lose anyone that necessarily feels like because their skill levels, they can't wear Eastside golf or because they're not interested, particularly in the golf that they can't wear Eastside golf.

3:33So similar to how any sports apparel might work, whether it's Nike or Reebok or Adidas, you don't have to be a basketball player to wear Jordans, for example. That's exactly correct. We want to create a brand that services everyone. You know, you ask the question, why golf? I mean, we're golfers at our core. That's what brought us together. That's what continues to, you know, I think the through line. But at the same time, we also understand, like you said, it's just more about like basketball and Jordan brand. It's the greatness that's associated with it. And so for us, it's the greatness of the game that's associated with it.

4:09But it's something for everybody. Olajuwon, I want to go back to this origin story you shared with me just a few moments ago. Growing up in East Atlanta, growing up on the golf course, what was it like for you as a young man on those courses? What was the experience like? And did you feel like you fit in, like you were part of the golfing community, or was there something missing? So, I mean, and Earl, I guess can contest to this, but growing up in the South, in Georgia, and playing golf, it looked, and I would say when I was growing up, or even now, totally different than a lot of other places.

4:46You know, a lot more people that look like me, a lot more diverse crowds that are out on the golf course, a lot more people that I can, you know, truly feel like I can be myself out there, and especially where I just practiced at. But, you know, when it came to tournaments, you know, it was a different field. I was usually the only, I would say, black person there, you know, at times. At the tournament? Yeah, at the tournament. At the tournament. And this was when you were playing, what, junior or professional golf? Yeah, this is junior golf. This is junior golf. And then even a little bit of high school golf.

5:21I mean, my team was all black, but all the teams that we played against usually were all white, you know, unless it was a few other schools that were close by. But, you know, at the end of the day, the game taught me so much about myself. And I wanted to turn back pro at one point. And that was after I was in commercial finance for eight years. But the whole thing was I couldn't find any sponsors, you know. So I created this logo, you know. I was going to put this on my bag and put this on my polo. And I was going to turn pro. and it was just going to be my logo. It's me at the end of the day.

6:01And I showed it to Earl. He was like, yo, you need to just put that on a T-shirt. And put it on a T-shirt, gilded, ironed it on, went downtown Detroit. And I was still in commercial finance at the time, but I went downtown for a couple hours. I maybe got stopped like 120, 130 times. No way. Just looking at the logo. Yeah. Who are you? What's that logo? Where can I get it? And do you play golf? from there, I was like, damn, I got something, but still don't know what it is. You know? So I went back to Earl, he was just like, he was doing his own thing and, um, he was just like running with it. So I ended up, uh, creating t-shirts, uh, socks, lapels, umbrellas, sweatshirts, you know, and the first 3000 orders I shipped out for my apartment in Detroit myself.

6:48And from there, I knew we had a brand, you know, but I knew what the outside world would think about it. I just didn't know what the golf world would think about it. And if I could figure out both, then I feel like we would be the only company that would truly ride that line of, let's say, lifestyle and golf or streetwear and golf. And that's what we're doing now. So at the end of the day, I started this brand because I was tired of being told, no, why not take the entrepreneur route and sponsor myself to get back into professional golf? And hopefully I'll be turning back pro next year. Well, we wish you all the best.

7:23And it's really fascinating because we do a lot of these interviews and there are a lot of similarities, not necessarily in the product, but why the product gets created. Oftentimes it comes from this fact that no one else is doing it or no one else is supporting you. And it's like, you know what? Forget it. I'm going on my own. I'm doing this my own. For folks who are not watching us, but just listening, I want to describe the logo a little bit. Both of you are wearing, looks like hoodies that have the logo on them. maybe Earl tell me about the logo itself yes as Olajuwon said I mean he is the logo so it's uh it's clearly it's a black man swinging a golf the Jerry West of Eastside Golf you mean yes exactly that's exactly right um so he's out there swinging a golf club and it was really inspired by kind of two photos of Olajuwon he has a photo of him as a child swinging a golf club and it's kind kind of getting in the right position at the top.

8:17It's like the optimal position. And then there's another photo of him with the gold chain. And so kind of in combination of those, you know, for him, it just represents being your true authentic self, kind of freedom and just like really just getting up there and crushing it, you know, and just giving it. I think we all as golfers like to get up there. It's nothing like hitting a hard driver right now. It doesn't always go straight, but it's nothing like getting up there and gripping, ripping the driver. And so this is kind of like the epitome of that moment, right? Right before, you know, you stripe it.

8:48By the way, you can check out the logo and all of their items from t-shirts to pants to also driver covers. It's eastsidegolf.com. Fellas, let's get back into how we actually turn this from an idea into a business. So Olajuwon, you're back in Detroit. You want to go pro. You can't find sponsors. And you're basically like, you know what? I'm going to put this on my bag. I'm going to go at it. You get stopped on the street walking downtown. When did you know that you had something that was more than just putting a logo on a t-shirt? There were a couple of instances, of course, you're going to be like, of course.

9:27But the first one was CJ Paul, Chris Paul's brother. He reached out to us and he was like, I love what you guys are doing, love what you guys stand for. I mean, we even had the PGA of America and PGA Tour reposting some of our posts and that stood on diversity, you know? Posts on Instagram or on? Posts on Instagram. Yeah. I mean, they would literally repost some of our posts and say some of the same words that we're saying and just really, literally just take our stance with us. And he saw what we were doing and he was just like, this was during the bubble. And he was just like, we love what you're doing.

10:06We love your story. Let's buy two of everything from me and Chris Paul. Chris Paul, of course, is a big golfer. Absolutely. Absolutely. And then when the NBA boycott happened, him and Russell Westbrook were walking down the tunnel. And you can rewatch it over and over again. It was on CNN, ESPN. It was on like Bloomberg TV. But Chris Paul was literally from head to toe in Eastside golf. His hat, sweatshirt, shorts, socks, all East Side golf, walking Russell Westbrook when they announced the NBA boycott. And, you know, at the time he was the head of the MBPA. So the National Basketball Players Association that worried about basically like the union of the NBA.

10:48So that time I knew. And then when we had to pitch to Michael Jordan, we met Gentry Humphrey, who used to be the VP of Jordan Brandt. and played golf with him. He loved us so much. Well, first, C.J. Paul introduced us to Gentry, played golf with Gentry. He loved us so much. He was just like, I want you guys, well, first off, do you want your own shoe? We said, absolutely. You know, and that was our first Jordan Ford golf shoe that we came out with. But he said, well, first - Do you want your own shoe? Yes. What do you think the answer is? From there, he was just like, well, you do have to pitch to MJ.

11:26you know it'll be 30 minutes or something like that and we got in there we pitched and we I mean he stopped us literally in the middle of our pitch it was just like man you two guys have two amazing stories at Jordan brand we tell the best stories have we signed them looked at his team have we signed them yet you know and then from there on Michael Jordan said this to you in the pitch meeting absolutely absolutely and then from there we uh end up getting our first shoot and have come out with nine Jordans so far over the past three years. I mean, just hearing you mention these folks, by the way, for our audience who's listening, Elijah was talking about the bubble.

12:04This was the NBA bubble during the COVID. And of course the boycott during the racial justice protests of 2020. When you hear these stories of these incredible athletes that you're with and the fact that they are interested in wearing or supporting your brand, it says something about you two, but it also says something about where the game of golf has come, right? Absolutely. Earl, what has happened with golf that it has now grown into something that is not just for, you know, the judges and the entrepreneurs that Elijah was talking about earlier, but now really it is starting to represent more of what Americans look like.

12:44Yeah, no, that's exactly, that's exactly right. No, I mean, the game has evolved. And I think a lot of it happened during COVID. So the timing of the brand was just optimal. You know, in entrepreneurship, you need a good timing. And so I think the timing was definitely right. But we were clearly prepared for the moment. I mean, golf is just exploding right now. You think of all the stats, you know, I think it was just like 10 million people picked up the game of golf last year. or 10 million new golfers. There was a stat that I'd recently heard. And, you know, that includes the top golf golfer, right?

13:21And so, you know, you got new leagues forming like Live and, you know, Junior Golf, you know, is still exploding. So across the board, there's just huge opportunities with Five Iron that's popping up all over these different cities. I know GolfZone just partnered with Troon. So from simulations to miniature golf to golf courses itself, I think it's just exploding. And I think you're also starting to see a lot of, you know, household names, you know, your favorite athletes in other sports. That's what they do. You know, Patrick Mahone's a prime example. Wins the Super Bowl, but he's out there, you know, he has a couple holes at his house, actually right Jason Tatum same sort of thing you know he's got a golf simulator in his home Steph Curry wins a golf tournament the other right huge golfer Tahoe Classic got the hole in one and so you're again these are all these sports you know even Tom Brady's picking up the game now you know and so in general it's just the game that it's the ultimate challenge right and so you have these amazing athletes but then it's also the the ultimate connector you know we often talk Talk about the ability to connect with people and spend quality time with them.

14:37And it's something that you can do for a lifetime. So it's certainly one of those things where we feel like we're servicing all of those people. And we're just super excited to see that because we grew up in a world where our families didn't play. So we understand that dynamic. But then we're also friends with the Roy McElroys, the Tony Phenons of the world. And so we understand kind of we sit in between this dichotomy of professional golfers playing at the highest level and people that have never played the game. And we want to bring them together. And we feel like Eastside Golf sits right there in between that.

15:12Well, there's no question that you guys have enjoyed a lot of success. I want to get into some more about how you've built this brand in a moment. My guests today, Olajuwon Adjanaku and Earl Cooper, the founders of Eastside Golf. Before we continue, I want to take a moment and thank you, the listeners, for joining us each week here on Shopify Masters. You know, wherever you get your podcasts, please leave us a review, comments. We'd love to know what you think of the show, of this episode even. And again, thank you so much for your continued support. Olajuwon, you mentioned some of the incredible partnerships that you have had the pleasure of getting involved with, from Michael Jordan to, we haven't mentioned this yet, but Mercedes-Benz.

15:55For folks who are listening who want to emulate your success in business, how do you go about securing a partnership with a big company? Yeah, I would say first off, it does start with your brand. Our tagline is be authentic. Like our just do it. For Nike, our tagline is be authentic. You know, One of the things that I've told Earl ever since the beginning, as long as we're authentic from the start, we don't ever have to change what we're doing, how we do it throughout this entire thing. We can just be ourselves and we can continue to be successful. So I would definitely tell everybody it's strength in being yourself.

16:33Like it is strength in being authentic, because then the more you're yourself, the more you'll find more like minded people. and on top of that, the more you will find your lane. I mean, you just continue down that road, you will find your lane and that's what we did. I mean, when we talk about really being different and really standing on, I would say, the truth. One of the things that I've told a lot of other golf companies and I'm not even trying to hide it or anything, but if you want to do what we did, be yourself, be authentic and tell the truth. You know, and also the only way to grow the game of golf is to go after non golfers.

17:16If you're a member of the country club, how am I growing the game by selling you the next TaylorMade, next Mizuno, next Callaway driver that's coming out next year when you already got the last two that came out? How are we actually growing the game? You know, I mean, at the end of the day, that number of what was the 80 billion of the of the golf community? That's how much is spent on golf yearly. that number is going to stay at 80 billion, even though it's still growing, you know, but now there's just so many different lanes for for growth. And like I said, well, talking about MJ earlier, he called us pioneers of the game.

17:52And he said that because we're doing something that he's tried to do within Jordan golf. But he knows exactly how hard it is. You know, I heard earlier you guys were talking about just golf in the direction that we're taking it. And when I say we're trying to take golf to culture, culture is for everybody. When I say culture, culture is just non-traditional. If you're into non-tradition, I don't care what color you are, then you're in the Eastside golf. You know, it's the same thing with, you saw, you see the Ralph Lauren logo. I mean, everywhere, everybody wears Ralph Lauren, but does not play polo.

18:30It's the same thing with us. You don't have to play golf to wear Eastside golf. I mean, there was a young man, we just had a meeting with Steve Stout, and he saw a guy that was actually sitting next to Mary J. Blige courtside at the last Knicks game he had on Eastside Golf. And Steve talked to him, he asked him, yo, do you play golf? He was like, nah, I just love the logo. And I feel like it represents me. and at the end of the day, I want everybody to see this logo and feel like it represents them that they can just truly, if you look at the logo, they're just being themselves. Doesn't matter what they have on, jeans, sweatshirt, Air Force Ones or some white sneakers.

19:15Just swinging a golf club and having a good time doing it. So if you can just truly, from the start, just be yourself, be authentic, the game is missing authenticity. The game is missing non-tradition, you know? And as long as we continue to run down that road and show them new pieces that can live on and off the golf course, we'll continue to be successful. You'll continue to be successful. And it's really simple yet actionable advice. Be yourself, be authentic. But if I could just push back a little bit, maybe I'll swing this to Earl. Earl, it's not easy to have that self-confidence, right? I mean, it's one thing to say like, hey, you know, this is who I am.

19:55I like my brand. I'm authentic. but you also need to have that, dare I say it, that belief in yourself, right? How do you, if you're trying to do something or emulate what you two have done, how do you build that belief in self? Yeah, at the beginning, it starts with a dream. I mean, me and Earl have been friends for since college. We won a national championship together. I know that the things that he's done, you know, his confidence is through the roof with the things that he's done. He's seen me the same way. my confidence is through the roof of the things that I've done. But then when it came to Eastside, we loved the game of golf.

20:31And to build confidence at the end of the day with Eastside, I had confidence in my golf game, in my golfing ability. I knew that I was willing to do whatever in my capacity to turn back pro in golf, you know, whether that's start a company, whether that is, you mean, try to raise money. I mean, all the things that I've never done before, literally just jumping into it. Now, prior to this, I was in finance and prior to this, Earl was in literally, I would say government policy. So at the end of the day, confidence for me to build this, it started out because I had no other choice, to be honest.

21:13I'll give you, I'll even be a hundred percent honest because we don't usually talk about it much or I don't usually get to say it much, but I started this business. I had an eviction notice on my apartment door. I mean, I maxed out the credit cards, maxed out the 401k, sold all my cryptocurrencies, and even borrowed the last$10 ,000 from a guy that sits on our board today, but we actually paid him back a couple of years ago, about$25 ,000. And it was just a napkin signature, like a handshake over the money. So I didn't have any other choice. I was literally packing the first 3 ,000 orders. I literally would fill up all the blue canisters and all USPS two hours out from my apartment because I would fill them all up.

22:03So all these packages have to go out tomorrow. So I got to find the next USPS post office. And I'm traveling from Detroit two hours out almost to Indiana just trying to find somewhere to ship out the packages. So, I mean, at the end of the day, it takes belief. It takes grind. It takes grit. And it takes that, it takes, at the end of the day, you, sometimes there is no plan B. I mean, I hear it all the time, but to actually live in it, I mean, because there's a point, Earl hasn't always been a part of the brand. I had to convince Earl. I had to convince Earl. I had to get his sweat equity. You know, I had to get his, you had to get him going.

22:48You had a girl convinced, right? Yeah. So I just had to work hard on the Instagram, the marketing, the emails, the entire brand to build it to a place to where it is now. So again, the need to make this happen, you had no other choice. In other words, this is what you were doing, an eviction notice on the door. Yeah. I literally started the brand on legal zoom. Wow. Yeah. It's amazing. You know, it's really, it's an incredible story. And I remember years ago, I think it was probably during the pandemic that I saw you guys, or I saw East side golf on Instagram. I was like, Oh wow. What was the strategy online?

23:23Because I think, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you guys were very successful in your early days, getting the word out on social media, man, this is, this is a really good nugget too. But literally the things, when you go play golf, all the things that we talk about on the golf course is literally what I'm posting. Like literally we talk about business and, oh man, did you see the stock go up and down when it comes to college? Who did Callaway just buy? We just talk about Topgolf. When you talk about just different sports, when you talk about a player now getting into, you know, baseball or baseball.

23:57I mean, just any and every single sport that, or any and everything that we talk about out on a golf course for women and men, that's literally what I was posting. But then also talking about just the logo and what it means in our eyes, but not giving everybody else a meaning of what it should mean to them. So continuously just having it open-ended for discussion. And hopefully when people see this logo, it builds self-confidence within themselves. So in other words, you were just, your strategy for posting on Instagram was basically to mirror what was actually happening in your real life on the golf course.

24:35And that was what you think was resonating with folks. Absolutely. I mean, and me and Earl's, you know, growing up in the game of golf, when it comes to like traditional golf is not traditional. Right. You know, like we're talking, I mean, Earl, he grew up growing up on the East side of Delaware and Earl, you can speak more to it, but he literally used to talk about golf to his barbers. you know i mean they had the putting mat and we did a whole uh episode with scratch with scratch and um but just about his barbers and just talking about golf and them being caddies when they were when they were growing up you know definitely uh you mentioned earlier elijah when you guys won the national championship was this or was this at morehouse college is that where you guys were playing yeah that's correct yeah it was a junior year an incredible feat to win a national championship.

25:26What about that experience bonded you two? And do you think it had anything to do with that moment, Earl, when Olajuwon came to you and was like, hey, I got to convince you, help me, join me, join up with me. Let's do this. Yeah, no, for sure. I think that definitely was the groundwork. I mean, it's obviously my highest achievement in golf. You know, being a part of that team, those are still, all of them are still good friends today. And, you know, we keep in contact and definitely, you know, just again, just seeing the hard work, the ethic, you know, I mean, the hard work that goes into, you know, winning a national championship and kind of, it's nothing like being able to set a goal and then being able to accomplish it.

26:08And so that definitely, to your point, kind of laid the groundwork to where, you know, just where we are now. And I think it's still fundamentally that a lot of those same things apply, you know, where it's like, you know, you set a goal out and you just got to continue to keep working at it so that you can accomplish it. Fellas, it's kind of a dream, I think, for many folks to be in business with their friends, right? My grandmother and her best friend started a women's golf and tennis clothing company years ago, right? And that's the dream. But working with your buddy, it doesn't always work out well.

26:45So maybe Earl, and then I'll throw it to Elijah and Earl, what advice do you have for someone who wants to work with a good friend of theirs? I think you got to understand like, what's everyone's why, like, why are you doing it? I mean, I don't think just to do it, just to work with your friend. I don't think that's a good enough reason. You know, I think it has to be a bigger reason than you both. And then I would also say, I mean, it's just communication. It's a relationship, just like any other relationship. You know, you guys got to make sure you communicate. You're not always going to be on the same page.