Nicolas Fletcher is a man of his hustle
Fletcher custom prints t-shirts for a variety of businesses largely in the Oak Ridge area, including several schools and the local Girls Inc chapter.
If there’s one person who knows what it means to hustle, it’s Nicolas Fletcher.
“Everybody has a hustle at some time,” he said. “Whether it’s a small business person like myself or even a large corporation, you still have to have the hustle mentality in order to make sure that you’re thriving.”
Hustling for Fletcher started as a way to make spending money as a kid.
“My mom worked two jobs when I was younger, and I never really wanted to ask her for money. So I always sold like candy or mixed CDs and stuff like that,” he said.
He’s always hustled and always loved shoes.
“That was my main thing,” said Fletcher. “I never really cared what my shirts looked like just as long as I had the cool shoes.”
Shopping for clothing that wasn’t shoes was no fun, and Fletcher was underwhelmed by the clothing he saw in stores. So much so, he figured he could make something better himself. So he did.
“So I just started doing research on what I needed to get, how to design stuff, and just started printing it,” Fletcher said. “Local brands were like, ‘Oh, can you make me something?’”
That was the start of Man Of My Hustle Clothing Company, based out of Fletcher’s home in Oak Ridge. He’s run his branded and custom-printed t-shirt company full-time for five years.
“I really didn’t think it was going to go like it’s been going,” said Fletcher. “I just was going to do this on the side, but then I really got intrigued with the whole aspect of it and was like, alright, I guess this is a business now.”
Fletcher custom prints t-shirts for a variety of businesses largely in the Oak Ridge area, including several schools and the local Girls Inc chapter.
“It’s really opened my eyes to seeing what different types of businesses are out there for me,” said Fletcher.
In an effort to grow his business, Fletcher applied and was accepted into Cohort 6 of 100Knoxville, an initiative to help double the revenue of local Black-owned businesses through the investment of time, talent, and access to social, political, and financial capital. 100Knoxville’s goal is to help Black-owned businesses in Knoxville grow by $10,000,000 in five years.
“It’s the best thing that’s ever happened for my business,” said Fletcher. “I say it was grueling, but it was very educational for me.”
Over the course of five weeks, he met with other entrepreneurs, speakers, and his assigned mentor to strengthen his business and work on growth. He said he learned to turn the fear of failure into motivation.
“I might not get as many orders that I want to do but taking those business practices and being able to utilize those to bring those orders in, or even to look into something else that will help supplement my business, that’s one of my main takeaways,” said Fletcher.
He’s hoping to grow his business large enough to start hiring employees, particularly high school students who used to hustle like he did.
“I’ll say, hey, come and join my business and I’ll give you two options,” said Fletcher. “You can either just work strictly for the business, or I’ll give you an opportunity to start your own something, whatever that is. I just want to be able to give back to my community that gave to me.”
Fletcher will be alongside them the whole way.
“I want them to understand that I’m willing to do the same work that I’m asking them to do,” he said. “If you’re always going to be a man of your word, everybody’s going to trust that. So of course, I’m a man of my hustle.”
You can view and purchase Man Of My Hustle branded t-shirts or inquire about a custom order here.
