Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Hill.
So, before we jump into specific questions, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I just turned 21 years old. I grew up playing football since I was five, my only goal in high school was to play college football.
It changed when my junior year, I broke my ankle twice in six months. This turned my focus to my other passion which was making YouTube videos while I was in rehab from injury. When I decided I wanted to make a living making videos, I went on Instagram to try and grow my YouTube Channel.
I quickly realized Instagram was much easier to grow on, and I never looked back. At the same time, I also stumbled upon e-commerce and building businesses.
I created @Mentality in 2017 in my college dorm room. It’s a mix of my passion growing up as an athlete and my ambition for business growing up watching Shark Tank and always making money on my own never having a “real” job.
I started the Mentality clothing brand in October of 2018. The Instagram page @Mentality is now about to cross 1 million followers. The brand/website went on to do over $200k in revenue for 2019 and is on pace to hit $700k-$800k in revenue for 2020 which will officially make it a million dollar company.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It was definitely not a smooth road. I dropped out of college not once, but twice, and went through six other failed businesses in the process before seeing my first results.
My first actual business that failed was exactly what Mentality is today — a clothing brand. It was named “BallWear” and I was selling shirts and athletic arm sleeves. At the beginning, like most young entrepreneurs, I thought it would blow up and bring in sales almost immediately. That was far from reality as it failed very quickly and gained no traction with lackluster marketing, no proper branding, and no incentive for customers to purchase.
I went on to create four other dropshipping businesses that failed until I started my first private label brand. This brand went on to do $20k in one month which was my first ever results. It went on to fail one month later due to a bad product, bad shipping times, and bad customer service.
I learned from all these failures tremendously, especially BallWear and the first private label brand. What I learned from those failures is what helped Mentality do so well from the start: Building a dedicated following, enticing marketing, and good products.
Mentality – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Mentality is a clothing brand. I hate calling it a “motivational” brand due to the stigma around fake motivational speakers, corny motivational slogans, etc.
If I were to describe it to anyone, it would be what the motto is on the website and Instagram page — “A Culture of Ambition.”
We’re known for our daily quotes posted on our Instagram and our products such as the Mentality bracelets, and custom number pendants.
I’m most proud of the brand image. We get thousands of emails and DM’s from kids and adults who tell us how the page/brand has helped them or changed their lives. On top of that, the bracelets were something that I had the idea of back in high school. Seeing it come to life from an idea to samples, then actual products that people love is an amazing feeling. A feeling I chase in every business that I now create.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Personally, I’m most proud of the businesses and brands that I have created that have given lots of importance or joy to customers. I don’t scam, sell shady products, or do shady business to make my money like lots of people do that are in the social media game.
From creating a strong positive following to selling meaningful products: Every main product I’ve sold such as the Mentality bracelets, and other products from my other businesses like Humbler dog tags came from ideas I had on my own and seeing them develop from an idea to samples, and then finally to products people love is a very proud feeling.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Mentality.co
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/Mentality
- Twitter: www.Twitter.com/MentalityOG
- Other: www.YouTube.com/JLZZCAM
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