Ep. 92: Samuel Baker, Founder of Persevere Gear, on Faith, Youth Entrepreneurship, and Turning Setbacks Into a Brand

I love that.

And I love the meaning behind it as well, because, you know, it goes far beyond just the pandemic and, you know, maybe things that people suffer internally, like depression and all of that.

But it goes into, like you said, sports.

You know, I understand that firsthand.

I grew up doing sports myself competitively.

I come from a family, as you may know, that also does sports competitively.

So we get that growth mindset, that never giving up.

Right.

But it also translates to a lot of people here on the podcast when it comes to work as well.

When you see that name, when you see that brand, it inspires you to keep going and keep pushing and keep persevering.

Right.

At the end of the day, you want to do that in the day to day.

And that's, you know, that's what we're meant to do.

Right.

Keep going, even though when it's tough.

Right.

Yes.

So you originally launched Persevere Gear digitally during COVID, like we just mentioned, but eventually had opportunities to sell in person at local malls and within your community.

So what did that evolution teach you about entrepreneurship, your customers, and actually building a brand in an era where you're actually able to go now finally outside and just sell to people?

So it taught me about entrepreneurship and customers that I have to, I have to be, I have to be marketable and I have to like have face-to-face interactions, like basically with my customers.

Like I have to build a community around the brand.

Like it can't, I feel like Nike, Being online isn't everything.

You have to have in-person interactions with the customers so your customers can understand your story.

And when they ask, who am I buying from? Well, when they see me in person, when they see me at a pop-up event or just see me in general and when we're talking, they know who I am and just...

like the purpose of my story.

I love that.

And I love the meaning behind it as well, because, you know, it goes far beyond just the pandemic and, you know, maybe things that people suffer internally, like depression and all of that.

But it goes into, like you said, sports.

You know, I understand that firsthand.

I grew up doing sports myself competitively.

I come from a family, as you may know, that also does sports competitively.

So we get that growth mindset, that never giving up.

Right.

But it also translates to a lot of people here on the podcast when it comes to work as well.

When you see that name, when you see that brand, it inspires you to keep going and keep pushing and keep persevering.

Right.

At the end of the day, you want to do that in the day to day.

And that's, you know, that's what we're meant to do.

Right.

Keep going, even though when it's tough.

Right.

Yes.

So you originally launched Persevere Gear digitally during COVID, like we just mentioned, but eventually had opportunities to sell in person at local malls and within your community.

So what did that evolution teach you about entrepreneurship, your customers, and actually building a brand in an era where you're actually able to go now finally outside and just sell to people?

So it taught me about entrepreneurship and customers that I have to, I have to be, I have to be marketable and I have to like have face-to-face interactions, like basically with my customers.

Like I have to build a community around the brand.

Like it can't, I feel like Nike, Being online isn't everything.

You have to have in-person interactions with the customers so your customers can understand your story.

And when they ask, who am I buying from? Well, when they see me in person, when they see me at a pop-up event or just see me in general and when we're talking, they know who I am and just...

like the purpose of my story.