I love this series and I’m thankful for those who agree to take the time for me to ask how they are doing as I think it’s an important question. Like I always say, it’s community and I’m hoping this brings us closer to one another in Charlotte. JD Harris, the owner of Glory Days Apparel is a honest and genuine soul who donates his time, energy and efforts to help move this city forward. He recently opened the first retail location for Glory Days Apparel and more impressively, during a pandemic. I asked how he is doing:
"I've been extremely busy with the opening of our store. It's a different busy, but it makes me happy. It's not easy. Nobody wants to open a store during a pandemic, but so much of our sales and interaction before came from pop-ups and those were all but eliminated for safety measures. So, the store was actually a good thing for allowing us to have a place for our fans to safely come and experience our brand. It was already challenging enough preparing our first store opening. Then, on top of that, making sure our fans are safe and comfortable when they come in. This is my baby and I want to keep it going for our fans and the city but I want to make sure we do it the right way. The store is more than just making Charlotte shirts. I want it to be a place where people feel like it's a destination spot and a brand they're proud to have represent them."
Glory Days is something that seems to always bring a smile to our faces when JD donates, collaborates, or releases new shirt artwork. I was curious about what his biggest struggle was to get to this point with the brand:
"One of the hardest challenges has been the journey of starting from no one knowing your brand to growing it. It's so hard and challenging but it's worth every second of the ride from the experiences and the people you get to meet along the way. You have to continuously push and prove yourself. Never want to get complacent. It's been a long journey but well worth it. I've had Glory Days Apparel now for just over 4 years now. The pop-ups always treated us well. Fans really came out to support and it's how we grew our fanbase over the years. it's great to meet people at these events. I take what I do with the brand very seriously, but I don't take myself too seriously. I like to have fun and joke around with people and I hope that personality comes through with the brand. It's so important to me that people feel connected to this brand."
JD is always involved in helping the community. Why?
"It goes back to when I first started the clothing brand. When I started Glory Days, it was important to me that we made quality clothing with awesome designs but it was just as important to me that Glory Days was part of the community and engaged. I'm happy to be able to make monetary donations with our charitable pursuits but if we can do something, like with the CLT STRONG campaign - we raised money to buy meals for essential workers but I also delivered meals myself to the hospital in the Glory Days van, that means much more to me to be involved like that. I'm very thankful for those opportunities and it means a lot to me where people reach out and think we can help out."
I asked if he has any personal or business-related takeaways after going through this year to take with him going forward:
"That's a good good question. I always try to lead my life with empathy and I think this past couple of months really put that into focus for me. Especially, with the Black Lives Matter movements here. That hit me harder. When I was growing up the narrative was more "don't see color". The intention behind that was meant for good but ultimately it wasn't the right perspective. It's important to recognize the differences and how you can support and empower one another with that understanding. It was something that really jolted me and saw that serious change needs to occur. It's not simply just about listening but being open to change and having your mind changed"
