Matsar
Dahsar + Wear Many Hats universe continues... soft launched a new brand into the world of CPG, wellness, food & beverage... what have I got myself into?
Do we need another brand? Everyday there is a new brand being born.
When I was 18, I wanted to start a project with someone and came up with ideas to make it come to life. I would draw the logo and see what the name stood for. Glad it never worked out because I hated everything about it but I loved doing it.
When I was 21, I was a buyer for a streetwear BMX shop while being a dishwasher at a burger joint known for being hipster during the indie times no sleaze. At the shop, I helped curate all of the events from activations to pop-ups before they were called pop-ups and gallery openings for local artists. It was the best first job I could ever have in a metropolitan city. While pretending I was at UArts but actually at Delaware County Community College then eventually went to Temple University. That’s a story for another day.
I recently found one of my first Moleskine mini notebooks that was dated from when I was 21, coming up with brandnames to put all of my creative endeavors under. I wrote Dahsar on the first line. Not thinking of it, I started making t-shirts and soccer jerseys with the name all over it and was called a curator for coordinating photo and art shows all over Philadelphia. I didn’t care it was perfect, I just did it and got my first few checks doing it. That’s when I started having imposter syndrome combined with marijuana wondering, you can get paid for doing fun things?
During the time of coming up with an umbrella to put everything under, my dad really wanted to create something as well. Dad came up with Matsar and wanted it to be a thing. He wanted to piggyback off of what I was doing but didn’t know how to do it. I was coming up with names for fake bands all the time and they were so bad but who cares. Who thought we were in the world of branding without calling it branding? Matsar was a cool name but for what, I don’t know, nor did I care because I was too busy trying to be a new adult as well as get through my 20s.
With the many jobs I had, I always had a coffeeshop job on the side. It brought me joy, mental clarity, and relieved my mental health. It was talk therapy with the customers, having them share about their day and enjoyed hearing what they were up to. The first coffee shop job I ever had in NYC, I worked with good friends that we met during our time in streetwear.
The coffee shop was on Canal Street so it felt like we were a part of the Pearl Paint era of our time in NYC. The coffee bar setup was a dream. Modbar espresso AV that was in partnership with La Marzocco. It felt like working with Porsche but at a new mall. With that being said, all malls comes to an end.
It had everything I ever wanted in a coffeeshop. The best part was that I discovered matcha there. High quality matcha. Ceremonial grade, single origin matcha. We made matcha in bowls made by ceramicists before ceramics was a thing. We climbed on stools to reach high places before rock climbing was a thing. We used new tools like a electric matcha holder called a Charaku to hold the matcha whisk together. It was exciting to be entering a time like this. Not saying that we were the first but we were the best coffee shop in the neighborhood that looked great, catered to the best in the fashion world, and did not give a single damn while doing it.
Matcha plays a part in my life just as much as coffee. Mental health working in coffee shops, when I was recovering from health issues, matcha was there for me and I was off the coffee. Went sober, quit running and transitioned to the world of wellness.
Matsar was born. It took a long way to get here actually. If it wasn’t for the Wear Many Hats World Tour, finding our farm in Japan would never happened. If it wasn’t for my studio, Dahsar, both Wear Many Hats and Matsar would be nothing. I’ve wanted to call it all quits a million times but I realized these 2 projects (now 3) keep me out of trouble.
Just like anything, it’s oversaturated. This time it’s challenging more than ever before to start a brand or even to start something. You are competing with creators, VC, people in tech, influencers, even your fellow neighbors. Comparison is the thief of joy. You have to do things you’ve never done before like make silly videos but I’m here to tell you how to win.
It’s not about how much units you’re selling or the amount of money you’re making from your project. It’s now about how long you can stay in the game for. I see so many brands come and go. It’s exciting when people release new projects and you’re in the honeymoon period but can you keep it going? You got to love it like really love it. Be obsessed with it. Think about it constantly. Try to be consistent and have a lot of fun doing it.
The thing about my three projects is that I hate it. I really hate it. I hate it so much that I love it.
The love is why we do it brother! Keep on pushing 💪🏾