Rising Stars: Meet Bryan Valverde

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Valverde.

Hi Bryan, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Growing up as a first generation Mexican in my family, I was always taught that I should always work hard at any job I have. I one day decided I should give the same effort to something I can call my own. As society progresses and information becomes more available at the palm of your hands, I hope I can build something that can contribute to my community using all the education and tools I have acquired. 

The idea of my business, Infiltrate Designs, came about in late 2021. I’ve always wanted to start my own small business and have something that I could call my own. My little brother, Uribe, played a big part in motivating me to pursue this business venture. He would always talk to me about his dreams of one day opening up a food truck. His mindset is very business and operations oriented while my strength is coming up with creative ideas. With him handling the business aspect and me directing the creative side, it’s a perfect match! 

He graduated from George Washington University with a business degree and I am currently in Cal State LA working on my computer science degree. Unfortunately, the idea for our food truck has to be put on hold for now since he lives in New York and I’m based in California. Nonetheless, I still wanted to start something with the intention of having a foundation to one day being able to have a family-owned business.

My friend Ricky over at AstrosCollective has an anime business where he sells all kinds of anime-related items. I went to help him out one day at a show he was vending at, and it was really inspirational to see how far he’s come with his business. He started out selling items on his social media pages and expanded to frequently attending events and having his inventory permanently stocked inside a physical store. He told me about the products he planned to release, and he encouraged me into getting involved with the community. I stuck with anime because I actually enjoy it and have been watching it since I was a child. One of the first animes I remember watching was Inuyasha and YuYu Hakusho.

As I began researching extensively on marketing, how shirts and custom rugs are made, and understanding how to run social media pages as a business, I quickly felt overwhelmed. I would always call my mom for ideas and to hear her advice. She is very supportive of what I am doing and is always giving me feedback on minor details and on things that I might have missed. She reminds me to make sure I am respectful to everyone since you never know where those conversations will go.

The origin behind the name of my business came from feeling like an outsider all my life and when I would get involved in anything I always felt like a nuisance. So I figured a cool business name would be Infiiltrate Designs. I simply wanted something that was easy to read and that you don’t have to ask yourself if you’re pronouncing it right.I feel like it sounds cheesy to say out loud, but I hope I can bring value to that word so that one day people can associate my brand with that word. 

Late 2022, I started putting out a few items here and there because this whole thing was still nerve wracking to me. Putting out your creative ideas is a vulnerable thing for someone to do. I had a Luffy from One Piece rug that got a lot of attention. I had a few anime shirt designs that I wanted to put out but in the end, I scrapped them. I will eventually come back to those original ideas with a fresh new mindset. I ended up releasing a Mookie Betts Los Angeles Dodgers shirt instead, so that way if people still wanted to support the business but didn’t want a rug, they could get a shirt. 

From there, it was a slow climb up. I started taking rug commissions and the name started slowly getting out there. The good people over at Hoon Studios saw my rugs and we ended up doing a collab giveaway. They are an apparel company, so we had a shirt and rug giveaway. That collaboration really helped me out because commissions started coming in and I started getting more eyes on my page. I eventually revisited putting out a shirt because I only had rugs and not everyone necessarily wants a rug. I put out a Chainsaw Man design shirt that I really like. Fortunately, people were giving me positive feedback.

That pretty much sums up the story of where I am today. I had help from some very nice people and also received support from my brother, Uribe, and my mom helped with steering me in the right direction. My plans right now are to just keep putting out rugs and apparel. I hope to one day expand Infiltrate to something else. Maybe Infiltrate Tacos for my brother’s taco truck! I have a lot of ideas and aspirations of things I hope to accomplish one day, but for now I am focusing on taking this slowly and enjoying it, while finishing my degree. I try to find a good balance between working full time, going to school, and running Infiltrate. Luckily, I have people in my life that can help me pack up shirts or drop off a rug at the post office so I can make sure I don’t lose focus on my studies.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, because I was still learning as much as I could. I was not expecting it to go smoothly. For example, when I started working on shirts, I would have samples made but the blanks were terrible, the print wasn’t good, or I just didn’t like how it looked at all. When I was shipping out rugs at first, I didn’t know exactly how to price out shipping. I have never shipped out something as big as a rug. I also had to learn how to properly wrap and box it up so it looks presentable. These small details can really ruin your day if you are not well-equipped and they were things I did not think about early on. Thankfully, the challenges taught valuable lessons and have only set me up for success moving forward.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My full-time job is being part of a marketing team for an aftermarket wheel company. My main focus is taking pictures, shooting video content, content ideas, and just pretty much talking to anyone so I can make as many connections as I can to help elevate the company. We go around to shows in the United States as vendors so I get the opportunity to meet people in this industry and better understand how different businesses are run. This job has played a major role in the development of my personal business because I’ve learned how to improve my networking and also how to better market myself. One of the things that I am most proud of is that I am always learning something new here. It can be as big as learning how to reach out to a big business or something small as learning how to use a certain feature in Photoshop. Constantly learning and growing, and looking forward to what the future holds. 

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory was when I got my Xbox 360 during Christmas time. It was the Halo 3 edition. It was a navy green color and the hard drive on top and the disk tray cover had this orange metallic color. The controllers were the same color. I only had one game, Kane and Lynch. That was a nice childhood memory. I loved that Xbox 360. I made my childhood friends, that I still talk to till this day, off that machine. I don’t think people understand the bond people make from playing video games. I hope everyone on my Xbox friend’s list is doing well.

Pricing:

• Rugs: Prices Vary
• Shirts: $30 – $55
• Hugs: Free

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.infiltratedesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/infiltratedesigns
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/senpaibryan_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@InfiltrateDesigns
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@infiltratedesigns