Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Friedlander.
Hi Adam, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve been in the apparel industry for 13 years starting with my first retail job – a sales associate at a Hot Topic. I climbed the ladder to be a Store Manager before parting ways with that company. From there, I worked as the Men’s Dept. Manager at Urban Outfitters on Melrose – I HATED IT! I got my first non-retail opportunity with an international apparel company. With them, I dabbled in just about every area of the business, eventually mainly doing production coordination. After a few years hopping around between companies (getting married and having my daughter in between) garnering more apparel production skills along the way, I ended up at as an Operations Manager at a major merchandising company called Bandmerch; working on production and retail fulfillment for some great music properties like Bon Jovi, The Misfits, Circa Survive, Cheap Trick, Jane’s Addiction, and more.
In January 2020, my wife and I found out we were expecting our 2nd child. I felt confident; I had a good job, solid benefits – I was on a path that felt right. That’s when COVID hit and turned my life upside down. Bandmerch was a company heavily dependent on income from their touring acts and they just lost half their revenue due to COVID canceling concerts nationwide. I was put on furlough for a few months before finding out the company was closing their doors permanently. My worst fear had come true – I was out of a job. I was an unemployed husband and father with another on the way. I was panicked and starting to slip into depression. I remember many restless nights thinking what was I going to do with my life and how I was going to provide for my family.
I spent the next few months applying to jobs – any job – just something to get me back on my feet. After multiple interviews, rejections, and ghostings; I started to feel hopeless. My son was born in September 2020 which was one of the happiest moments of my life but also felt like the twist of a dagger and a constant reminder of my inability to support my kids without government assistance. I consider myself a prideful person, and being there for my family was always something that made me feel needed and important.
After a couple more failed interviews, I had enough! Enough rejection. Enough feeling of hopelessness. Enough not being in control of my life. I decided to do something I always wanted to – start my own business and be my own boss. I had accumulated all the skills and resources to facilitate apparel production from my various jobs. I had made enough connections over the years to where I felt confident building something upon it. In November 2020, BLUE HEN MERCH was born. The name comes from my two kids middle names Bodhi BLUE and Maizie Ren (nicknamed my ‘little chicken HEN’). They are my main motivation, so I figured why not use that as a reminder for why I started and where I was going.
I began to reach out to my contacts, re-build those bridges, and put my paperwork in motion. Since BHM is primarily a 1-man-band (with the unconditional support from my amazing wife, Kaitlin) I started opening up wholesale accounts with the best vendors and suppliers I had worked with previously. Utilizing YouTube tutorials to teach me about Adobe Illustrator and graphic design became a nightly thing. I began working harder and longer than I had ever worked on anything before – and it felt good! I started to slowly take back control of my life and my well-being.
In the short amount of time I’ve been in business, I’ve been humbled at what it takes to grow a brand from nothing. Every day has been an opportunity to learn something new. I’m very excited to see what the future has in store for Blue Hen Merch!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road to starting Blue Hen Merch has seen its fair share of challenges, but there are 2 in particular that stand out from the rest; the first being the financial struggle. The business started during a period where my family’s sole income was unemployment. We had already been dipping into our savings to keep the roof over our heads and food on the table. It’s hard to get a loan when you have no job; I knew I was going to have to roll the dice and dip even heavier into our savings. As any business owner (especially here in LA) can attest to, getting started financially can be a struggle but I knew it was an investment in myself and my future that I had to make.
The other big challenge I face and continue to face today is finding the balance between putting in the work and spending time with my family. My kids’ youth is such an amazing time that I won’t get back, so I try to enjoy it with them as much as possible. But when the success of the business fully rests on my shoulders, I feel a pressure to devote as much time to it as possible. My daughter sometimes insists on sitting in my lap when I’m mid-email and slamming my laptop shut; she turns to me and says, “no more work Daddy!” – that’s the biggest challenge because while I’m doing this for my family, it’s important to also live in the now because of how precious these days are.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As I’ve progressed through my professional career, I’ve been exposed to so many different aspects of apparel production – everything from screen printing, embroidery, sublimation, direct-to-garment printing, and more. I’ve managed in-house production as well as outsourced domestic and international work. This has left me with not only a wide network of vendor relationships but has taught me so much about the apparel industry to where I felt confident doing it for myself.
Thanks to my retail background, I have a desire to deliver above-and-beyond customer service. Having experience with the customer-facing side while also having a deep knowledge of the production side has set me up to deliver a service unlike any other. At Blue Hen Merch, our slogan is “A hands on approach with every order” – I work with all of our clients through every step of the process to ensure they are taken care of and the product comes out exactly as they envision. The look of excitement when my client sees their printed logo is a huge motivation of mine – I always take great pride in delivering a product that exceeds my customers expectations.
What matters most to you? Why?
Without a second of hesitation, my family is what matters most to me. They are the reason for everything I do. Every decision I make (I hope) is putting me one step closer to being able to build the kind of life I want to provide for them. They are my main source of motivation and continue to be my biggest source of inspiration.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.bluehenmerch.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/bluehenmerch
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/bluehenmerch
