Retail clothing entrepreneur and TV personality Daymond John of ABC’s wildly popular “Shark Tank” series kicked off The Harold L. Martin Sr. Chancellor’s Speaker Series at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a talk April 27, in Harrison Auditorium.
As part of John’s appearance at A&T, four students were selected to present their business plans to him, Chancellor Martin and Board of Trustee member Janice Bryant Howroyd in a Shark Tank-like review.
The Chancellor’s Speaker Series is the second major lecture and discussion initiative launched by N.C. A&T this spring. The speaker series is a high-profile lecture initiative, featuring speakers of national and global recognition who reflect preeminence in their respective fields. Areas of interest will include leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, politics and social awareness, although not limited to those topics. John will be of particular interest to the campus, which has both a prominent College of Business and Economics and a Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation that focuses on student start-ups.
From humble beginnings in Queens, New York, John revolutionized the sportswear industry in the 1990s through the creation of his iconic brand, FUBU (“For Us, By Us”), an apparel and accessories line that he launched with a small inventory of hats that he made himself.
By 1998, FUBU was generating $350 million a year in revenues and was well on its way to more than $6 billion in global retail sales. John was recognized as a visionary who understood the potential for sportswear with broad appeal to urban youth, suburban teens and more – an industry valued today at $20 billion.
John joined “Shark Tank” in 2009, and is one of the hit show’s most recognizable figures, affectionately known as “The People’s Shark.” The series has won three Emmy Awards and multiple Critic’s Choice Awards and has seen millions of dollars of investments made in business ideas presented on the show.
He has expanded into books and is a best-selling author (“Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding & Lifestyle,” “The Brand Within”), public speaker and consultant. His latest New York Times Best-Selling book, “The Power of Broke,” takes an insightful look at individuals who’ve launched their own powerful brands and careers from a place of desperation, harnessing the “power of broke” to think creatively, alternatively and aggressively. “The Power of Broke” won the 2017 NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional.”
Over the course of his fast-paced career, John has won numerous awards, including Ernst & Young’s Master Entrepreneur of the Year and Brandweek Marketer of the Year. He is also the CEO of the brand consultancy, The Shark Group, which has worked with a long list of businesses and brands, including Gillette, Miller Lite, HSN and Capital One, and celebrities such as the Kardashians, Pitbull and Stan Lee.
In the days following make sure to visit the university website for photos and stories from the inaugural event. |
