André Wright: Create As Only You Can, That’s Leadership.
The clothes we wear can change conversations.
The Birth of Two Brands
André Wright started his first apparel company — Tailgate Barn — in 2004. It catered to college crowds looking for customized shirts on game day.
During its five years in operation, Tailgate Barn grew into a nationwide operation that had items licensed by powerhouse brands like RAYGUN.
But building a successful company didn’t satisfy André’s broader aspirations in the Iowa City community. After the birth of his first child, André sought out a new direction.
He pursued a balance between his passion for inspiring people to become leaders and his talent for fashion and the creative arts.
My son was like six months old and I decided to make a transition. After a year of soul searching, Born Leaders United was created.
Art & Fashion → Outlets for Leadership
André “channeled his inner Mandela” to develop Born Leaders United (BLU), the company that would inspire others to pursue their own passions and embolden teens to become leaders through creative endeavors.
Within a year, he was putting on his first ever BLU fashion show.
I didn’t know what I was doing with our first show, but that allowed me to be as creative as I wanted.
Since that inaugural event in 2013, André has put on over fifteen more.
These events are often directed at local youth and aim to expand their self-image.
Just going to a school and talking to students about being an artist helps them realize that they can do something else besides basketball or football.
Rethinking the Curriculum
In 2017, André doubled down on his commitment to students.
He pitched a 12-week course to a nearby high school, and — to his surprise — it was approved by administrators.
Everything came back to Born Leaders United’s core values.
After moving out of game day lifestyle apparel, André was now using his fashion background to cultivate community leaders and elevate people following their interests.
His new brand became an outlet for those individuals.
Humanize My Hoodie
Born Leaders United is a fashion company that exists within a broader ecosystem. While its garments largely transcend everyday barriers, they are also made with an awareness about the society in which they are bought.
As a black business owner, André realized he could use his entrepreneurship to add to discussions about racial inequality in America. Through his “Humanize My Hoodie” line of sweatshirts, André contributes to conversations surrounding police brutality against black men in the US.
If you look around the country, there definitely needs to be a change in how a black man is looked at when he wears a hoodie. We all have differences, but I’m still a human. Everyone should be understood as a human being before anything else.
Andre collaborated with Jason Sole — a professor at Hamline University and former president of the NAACP chapter in Minneapolis — to create a research project around his hoodie’s release.
Together the two men collected data from over 100 Minneapolis police officers as well as Hamline students on how they perceived Sole while he wore different hoodies.
Now the duo are putting together an art exhibition featuring photos of 50 black men and women next to an interview excerpt describing their experiences while wearing the hoodie.
We just hope that taking these stories around the country might increase people’s empathy. In our society, there needs to be more of that because that’s how conversations change.
Converting scarcity into creativity
As a child, André was forced to find creative ways to deal with money shortages at home. The creativity he displays in his art is a direct extension of the scarcity he experienced as a child. As André describes it:
Because my parents couldn’t afford to buy me G.I. Joe action figures, I was forced to make my own… Not having everything really made me as creative as I could be. My earliest works were out of pure not having. They were from want.
The scarcity is no longer driving him, but André has never lost the drive it inspired.
As a parent, he is able to provide a more comfortable life to his own children. But creative projects like BLU and Humanize My Hoodie ground his family life in giving back rather than acquiring more.
Whether taking his oldest son around the state so that he can pursue his basketball ambitions or enabling his daughter to participate in his creative endeavors, André does anything he can to help his kids.
At every level, André Wright lives his brand, which is an extension of his values, and he views that as a major driver of his success.
A lot of my company’s revenue comes from relationships. Just building really positive relationships with people. People understanding my story; understanding that this guy is authentic, he’s trustworthy, he’s truthful, he’s loyal to his mission.
At home, he provides a model of support so that his children feel empowered to pursue their passions. In his community, he develops events and courses that allow the local youth of Iowa City to move beyond limiting perspectives about their available options. Beyond Iowa City, André leverages Born Leaders United to shift the way people understand themselves and those around them.
Living His Truth
André inspires us because he has constructed his entire life around the values that he holds dear.
He creates art based on his talents, and uses that art to share his values with the world. He builds relationships with people who support what he stands for, and those relationships help sustain a business that encourages children to take up civic roles.
At ActWorthy, we salute people who put their money, time, and energy where their heart is. André Wright does that every day, and we hope that his story might inspire you to pursue your own passions.
Want to live your values? Visit ActWorthy to find actions you can take to impact the issues you care about in the community where you live.
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