Today we’d like to introduce you to Quentin Hill.
Hi Quentin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Chapter 1: Founding Of Convenient Clubs
In August 2015, I moved from North Carolina to California five days before my freshman year. I was dead set on playing college golf and ended up joining the Dana Hills Golf team, coached by Glen Forster. My passion for golf extended off the course as well.
That fall, I applied to work at a golf shop called “No Bogeys” in Laguna Niguel, California. The shop specialized in custom fitting high-end clients for golf clubs that best suited their game. The shop owner stated that they didn’t currently have a need for employees but he felt as though there would be a need in the beginning of 2016. I began hanging around the shop hoping for a job to open up and I began to pick up on some red flags within the company. They would only fit customers for their highest margin items, so what the customer ended up buying typically was not what was best for them. It truly bothered me. While I was hanging out in the store, the owner offered for me to sell his extra inventory through online third parties and make 5% commission off each sale. I gladly accepted, hoping to save up for Christmas presents. Looking back, it was a large time commitment for minimal return, however it did introduce me to the world of e-commerce which I am now grateful for. Eight weeks after beginning selling his product online, he offered me a full-time position in the store working on golf clubs, but there was a catch. The first six weeks would be unpaid as I could be in “training.” I felt disrespected by his offer, as I felt I had the knowledge necessary and he was looking for cheap/free labor. I returned his inventory I had been selling and declined his job offer, vowing I would compete with his business in the best interest of customers, not myself.
I founded “Convenient Clubs” that winter with $112 to my name. The concept was a play on many individuals having extra clubs in the corner of their garage that were of no value to them. If I could offer cash for these clubs, the seller would be happy to have extra space and monetary compensation, I would receive an undervalued asset, and my customer would get a great deal on the clubs. I immediately began purchasing single golf clubs from individuals that I felt were undervalued, cleaning them up, and reselling them. I made $15 on my first sale and couldn’t have been more excited.
As my high school golf career progressed, my teammates were hitting their growth spurts and needed new clubs but couldn’t afford to pay top dollar. I saw this as an opportunity to expand the business into fully fit custom sets that were best for their game. Word quickly spread that Convenient Clubs offered customization at affordable prices and revenues and profit picked up quickly. My junior year of high school, I created a subsidiary, Convenient Clubs teaching. As my performance got better throughout high school golf and it became apparent that I would play college golf, local parents started reaching out inquiring about lessons for their kids (typically aged 8-14 years old). I started teaching 8-12 kids per week, 15 hours during the school year and 35 hours a week during the summer. As Convenient Clubs Teaching grew, there began to be overlap. All of the kids, my students, would ask their parents for new golf sets from Convenient Clubs for their birthdays/ Christmas. This was truly a blessing to me, as I was able to do what I loved all day in golfing, make parents and kids happy, and run a profitable business. I briefly explored expanding the teaching business and having parents book through a website and based on the sport they needed, they would be sent to a directory of teachers available. The concept was parents would pay $50/hr, the teacher would be paid the majority and the company would get a cut for setting up the lesson. Unfortunately, upon diving deeper, the insurance policies were so expensive for high school kids to teach 8-14 years old kids sports that it did not make financial sense.
As my senior year of high school came to a close, I committed to play golf at San Diego State University. Upon arriving at college, I lost my core customer base in Orange County as I had to be in San Diego 5 to 6 days a week. Opposed to liquidating current inventory and shutting down the business, I created the Convenient Clubs website. The learning curve of the e-commerce world was mitigated by my previous experience selling clubs for “No Bogeys.” To date, Convenient Clubs has had the honor of servicing customers in 48 states and 27 countries worldwide.
Chapter 2: Founding of Hidden Gems Sportswear [https://www.qhillenterprises.com/portfolio-2/hiddengems]
My second company “Hidden Gems Sportswear” was founded rather unintentionally in 2019. I caddied for my friend, Hailey Borja in the USGA Women’s Amatuer golf tournament over the summer. As a thank you, her mom offered to take me to the store she worked at and purchase me a jersey. Upon walking into the store, I quickly realized it was flooded with extra inventory. I asked the store manager and she explained that they had begun experiencing delays in shipments from China that were time sensitive. For example, Super Bowl hoodies were arriving after the Super Bowl. That day, I purchased 2,000 sports jerseys and Hidden Gems was born.
While on the surface Hidden Gems is a simple sports apparel selling product at an affordable price, it also solves the problem of container delays and port issues for big box United States retailers. Many name brands are waiting 8-12 months for products to arrive from overseas, oftentimes missing the season the apparel was intended for. Hidden Gems has allowed retailers to sell off inventory at cost and stay in business, and in return we’ve been able to offer customers exceptional pricing on sought-after apparel.
Chapter 3: Founding Of Jesus In a Bottle [https://www.qhillenterprises.com/portfolio-2/jesusinabottle]
When the pandemic arrived, I was sent home from school as were my two sisters. My sister Jaden stated that she had many ideas that she wanted to turn into a business, and I asked her to put together a list. It may be worth mentioning that Jaden attends Columbia University and is currently studying sustainable development. In typical Jaden fashion, she gave me a list of 100 items, including fixing the ozone layer, building wells in third-world countries. I did not feel as though I had the resources to help her with either of these things, however two things on her list stuck out: stopping the use of plastic water bottles and helping those in need.
We founded Jesus in a Bottle on these two values.
I began reaching out to businesses around the country asking if they’d be opening to partner with us. Within three days of the charity’s inception, Promo Direct of Henderson, Nevada agreed to donate us bottles with scripture on the side, free of charge. Vetter Dentistry followed suit by offering to supply us with toothbrushes and toothpaste. Masking OC was next vowing to support us with any number of masks needed throughout the pandemic. We were also able to get a commitment from One bars, who provide us with protein bars at a discount.
We began packaging these bottles with the help of friends and family. My sister Maya formed a club at her school, with 100 kids joining who have been instrumental in the packaging and distribution of bottles. Her school, Jserra Catholic of San Juan Capistrano, has made a long-term commitment to the club and helping those in need locally. Lastly, my company Hidden Gems Sportswear donates inventory that doesn’t sell in 90 days to the charity to contribute.
The nonprofit has now been able to distribute more than 5,000 bottles in four states and we hope to continue to expand to reach more people in the coming years.
Chapter 4: Purchase of Iliac Golf LLC [iliacgolf.com]
In 2016, I was on a driving range warming up for a golf tournament. The player warming up next to me was wearing the coolest, classiest outfit I have ever seen. I complimented the player, and he responded that it was his company, iliac Golf. I knew the company, as they were known for supporting many of the world’s best players over the last two decades. We exchanged business cards and after the round, the CEO/ owner reached out asking me to do apparel modeling for him in exchange of free products. For the next five years, we met up every two months and I modeled his new releases in exchange for free products.
At the close of 2021, he expressed his interest in selling the business. He had 17 investors who wanted to exit the business, including the San Diego Chargers owner, a Wall Street private equity group, a PGA Tour player, and a silicon valley tech mogul. I was intimidated but wanted to make it happen. However, the price to purchase the company was 5 times higher than what I could afford.
I was able to raise money through stock and debt, purchasing 51% myself, selling 12% to a previous Convenient Clubs Teaching customer who runs her own marketing firm, 12% to my San Diego State finance professor, 10% to a previous iliac investor who held the international relationships, and lastly the previous owner retained 5%. That left 10%, which my dad purchased. I truly look up to him as my role model and credit him for teaching me how to carry myself in the world of business, build credibility as a kid in a man’s world, and how to treat people the right way.
When the transaction went through to purchase the assets of the company, there were 646 customers awaiting orders from previous management. Our average order is $196.98. That is $127,249.08 in orders outstanding. Although we purchased the company through an asset purchase, we honored every single outstanding order and awarded those customers 110% store credit. The first six months were full of customer phone calls, screaming, cursing, and frustration as they had not received their product in a timely manner from previous management. However, by June 30th, 2022, every customer was satisfied and whole. If we never spend another dollar on marketing, that will forever be the best marketing campaign and decision we ever make.
I believe the relaunch of iliac has been successful largely due to our obsession with making customers the center of our attention. The product quality has always been superior, as we import leathers from tanneries in Italy and source fabrics from all over the world – however customer service and fulfillment times were not put at the forefront as they should have been. Now the customer is the center of our focus each and every day.
Chapter 5: Founding of 72 & Sunny LLC
In October 2022, there became an obvious need for in-house production and automation for iliac Golf. We worked with five different factories between the Mexico border and Los Angeles in 2022. The decentralization was great for risk management, however the MOQ and lack of customization limited our options substantially. I was lucky to meet a world-class designer and wanted to give him the ability to design with no limits.
I founded a new company called 72 & Sunny, which is a real estate holding company specializing in the acquisition of commercial properties. The company’s first acquisition was a dual-purpose factory and storefront, which is located in San Marcos, California. 72 and Sunny will rent the building back to iliac Golf, which will allow iliac to have a store for customers to be custom fit for apparel, a photo studio, and most importantly in house production that will allow us to create special pieces in limited runs. Iliac will move in January 1, 2023 assuming closing goes as planned.
Chapter 6: Quill Enterprises Present Standing
Currently, I am largely focused on the future of iliac Golf. The Qhill Enterprises revenue is on track to book $750,000, with $500,000 being iliac, and the factory valued at $370,000, bringing the businesses revenue + hard assets surpassing 1 million for the first time. I finish school in less than three weeks, assuming I pass my seven classes this semester. It has been an exciting year filled with acquisitions and growth, as well as the opportunity to meet influential people that are loyal iliac customers. The most difficult thing personally has been to balance my schedule day to day. So far this year, this is how I’ve attempted to manage my time.
Monday- Friday
6am: wakeup, eat
6:30am: ship packages (The other two businesses are 50% the size of iliac, I manage fulfillment due to the smaller scale)
7am: workout (I’m lucky to have a small workout area in my San Diego garage)
8am: drive to Carlsbad factory (I have my own office here, check on order progress, take meetings, answer emails)
12pm: lunch, drive back to San Diego
1-3pm: knock out schoolwork
3-5pm: hidden gems sportswear, Convenient Clubs (I take this time to work on the admin side)
5pm: eat dinner
6-12pm: website, international meetings, see roommates, homework (This time block changes each day. Sometimes I finish work early and see friends, while other times I’ll work through the night. Oftentimes meetings with international partners are during this time due to the 14-16 hour time frame).
12pm: sleep
On Friday- Sunday, I typically spend 1 day in Oceanside with our designer working on new products, 1 day with family in Laguna Beach, and 1 day in Los Angeles with iliac suppliers.
Something that I have adopted that has led to increased productivity and peace of mind is time blocking each day. In the current growth stage of the company, it feels as though there is a never-ending checklist. I avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed by creating a daily list and checking off each meeting/to-do items as the day progresses.
Chapter 7: The Future of QHill Enterprises
I hope to continue the growth level seen within Qhill Enterprises over the last seven years into the future. I think it is a truly unique structure in that our nonprofit helps people looking to get back on their feet, while Hidden Gems and Convenient Clubs serve those looking for a great deal, while iliac serves primarily the top 1% that disregard price and simply want the best, highest end product available.
I believe that if we can bring value to every demographic through the various companies, whether it be for profit or not, I will feel fulfilled and I hope that feeling carries over to customers as well as investors. I think it is likely that acquisitions will continue to occur, whether it be for new companies, real estate, or other assets.
I wholeheartedly believe that the next big step is to hire on a great team, person by person. I feel blessed to have met iliac’s designer, Matthew, who believes in the future of the company and is willing to help in any way necessary. I think this will help me to think through big decisions in the future opposed to rushing due to so many other things to check off.
My long-term goal is to have a fund called “Unconventional Excellence.” I would love to invest my own capital, as well as any others that are interested into a variety of assets with the sole purpose of beating traditional money markets. I think that operating businesses efficiently, making customers’ lives better, as well as investors brings me a high level of happiness.
As for any money that is made in the coming years, I would like to continue to donate a portion to Jesus in A Bottle as well as found other charitable organizations. The reason I like to manage this nonprofit side is that it gives myself the ability to see it through. I have met very few people in my life that I would trust with money to do 100% the right thing, and I believe in cases such as Jesus In A Bottle- you are able to see the entire process through from the donations from various companies, to the packaging, to the distribution. I feel good knowing that these packages that countless people worked to put together are getting to their end destination which helps people.
I think that the charity is special as growing up, I never knew what to do when someone homeless/ struggling asks for a dollar. Internally, I want to say yes but I also don’t know what I am funding. Am I funding their next meal or a bad habit? Giving that same person a J.I.B. packaged bottle- it helps the environment, they have a clean reusable bottle to drink from, the have a meal (protein bar), a toothbrush and toothpaste, and clean clothes. Regardless of what the future holds, my goal for my companies is to provide value in all aspects, parallel to what the charity offers.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In my opinion, business ebbs and flows as does life. No two days are the same, and there is no one to blame except yourself which I love. I would be lying to say that owning your own business is a “smooth road,” as there are constantly new competitors, external economic factors, and the challenge of going out and growing the businesses while also ensuring that internally systems are in place to best serve your customers.
We had one particularly challenging situation this year. The United States raised interest rates by 150%, which made the USA dollar more valuable. While this was necessary to slow inflation, our currency becoming more valuable made other currencies less valuable.
The issued arises because 50% of our business is in Tokyo, Japan and this created a situation where our products became extremely expensive in comparison to past years. We have actively worked with new factories and our distributors to cut costs and create baseline models that allow customers to purchase our product at reasonable prices.
We’ve been impressed with iliac Golf, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
iliac Golf was founded in 2005 and is known throughout the golf industry as the company that sources leathers and fabrics around the world and creates limited handmade pieces in California. This unique process brought a unique customer base, with names such as Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson and 74 other PGA TOUR players using our products.
Experts in other industries such as Andy Garcia, Tony Hawk, and Peyton Manning have become loyal customers and utilize our products as well.
Due to our extreme growth over the last 12 months, we will be opening our own factory and storefront which will be called “The Crest” in San Marcos, California. This will allow us to innovate each and every day and allow customers to come in for custom fittings.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I think that my drive and passion for what I do. I feel extremely blessed to be able to interact with individual customers, create amazing products, bring value to shareholders, and bring jobs back to the States simultaneously.
When I wake up before my alarm every day, I know that I am doing what I love and am passionate about.
Contact Info:
- Website: iliacgolf.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quentinwhill/
Image Credits
Olivia Marie Photography PGA Tour Photography
