Meet Ten/10 Apparel LLC | Premium Lifestyle Apparel

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ten/10 Apparel LLC and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ten/10 Apparel LLC, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about work life balance when working on a new clothing line is you must absolutely love what you do and be excited to wake up every day so you can progress the line, come out with new content pictures and videos, network with other brands and people in general. The business is like a baby, you have to nurture it, put tons of hard work and effort into it for it to develop and grow in a positive direction. There are 3 essential words that we “Ten out of Ten” have adopted and currently live by: sacrifice, preparation, and adjusting. The first and most critical piece is sacrifice. Without understanding and applying sacrifice, time management collapses. Sacrifice is the foundation of time management because if we are unwilling to divest some time away from certain activities, leisure, and habits then our goals become unachievable. There are many times when we are on conference calls between the 3 of us late at night for hours on end, as well as on the weekends making sure that we are making the right decisions, figuring out our next steps, editing photos/videos etc. We all work full time jobs and right after work it’s like we go onto our second shift. If you do not love what you do, it simply will just not work. The next key factor is preparation. Failing to prepare is preparing ourselves to fail. As a business, the right amount of preparation leads to organization which makes completing our tasks more attainable. It takes time to prepare, we as a team have gone on a self-learning journey, educating ourselves on the best materials to use, best marketing strategies, and ways to grow our following etc. It’s never-ending learning, and that’s the best part about it, you pick up so many new skills that you are able to apply in real time. The final concept is adjustments. As a startup business, we quickly learned that things seldom go as planned. We may make a set schedule for a particular week but something unanticipated may come up that throws off what we originally intended to do. When these times come, we must be willing to be flexible and adjust our plans to still meet the task at hand. We had to adjust launching our business a few times due to unforeseen delays with our suppliers because of COVID. With these delays, we still had to find a way to keep progressing. As “Ten out of Ten” grows our time commitments increase. We realized that work life balance is more important than anticipated to stay refreshed. At the same time, we have been applying the 3 concepts referenced above. We sacrifice more time away from leisure, we spend ample time before each week preparing our weekly objectives, and we are flexible in adjusting our schedules when something does not go as planned. It is our belief that standing by these concepts and finding time for relaxation we will achieve our “ten out of ten” ideology: Driving for excellency while keeping the other factors in your life balanced.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Our “Ten out of Ten” team consists of 3 individuals. Sean first thought of the idea to come up with the clothing brand. Shane, Sean’s twin brother, is the strategic genius and creative content creator. Alejandro gives us the brand the savviness and is the marketing mastermind behind all of this. The 3 of us immigrated to the States from Colombia (Alejandro) and Jamaica (Shane and Sean), because our families were seeking better opportunities both economically and socially. Growing up, it was instilled in us that it is not where you come from that determines your outcome but your work ethic and perseverance. Thus, we adopted this mentality from a young age to excel, reaching high level collegiate athletics and today employed by Fortune 100 companies despite facing various challenges along the way. From here spawned the “ten out of ten” concepts of never settling for anything no matter what your initial situation may be. Also, always have a moving target set for yourself to exceed your aspirations and to continuously improve; defined in your own way despite the challenges you may face. As fans of fashion, we brought our philosophy to apparel. Through trial and error, we devised a shirt that is custom fitted to allow the everyday guy with an average build to feel and look their best. Our products are hand crafted here in the States. The materials used to make our shirt allow each shirt to have a plush finish, moisture wicking if you tend to sweat a little, and include 4 way stretch. Our goal at Ten/10 is to deliver a shirt that brings out your quality of appearance while reflecting your hard work, dedication, and passion for the goals you are pursuing in life.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Miami is known for its warm weather year-round, serene beaches, diverse cultural atmosphere, and vibrant nightlife. Mornings would consist of brunch at Seaspice or Kiki on the River for nice river front views. Tap 42 in Coral Gables is a good brunch option as well. Also, you could head over to Brickell for breakfast with a skyline view or take the boat out for the day to Hallover sandbar. Afternoon activities include touring the Wynwood art district, grabbing lunch at Nicki Beach, and biking down Ocean Drive. Nighttime outings consist of dinner at one of Miami’s many eclectic restaurants there are so many worldwide influential cultures here in Miami. If you are looking for Mediterranean inspired cuisine, Alejandro’s personal favorite is Astra. Shane’s favorite is the Asian Fusion style restaurant Kyu. He is always telling us we need to go and get the Tuna Tataki. Sean enjoys more casual settings and suggests the food trucks in Wynwood food court. Going to a Heat game at AA arena is a must. Shout out to Tyler Herro my Herro, Jimmy Butler always putting in the work, and obviously the legendary Dwyane Wade who changed Dade County to Wade County. Lastly, there is always the option to head downtown to explore Miami’s raved about nightlife, be prepared to spend some dollars though!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Daniela Uribe, the founder of DANIELA URIBE luxury footwear and INFREQUENTLY FOUND jewelry, has been one of our biggest advocates in the industry. She motivates and mentors us in the right direction. Andrew Tucker, founder of Millennials in Medicine – Mim Scrubs. He guides us, provides us inspiration, and gives us tips & tricks along our journey. A few years ago, Andrew started Mim Scrubs from the ground up and has now grown it into a nationally recognized brand.

Website: https://ten10apparel.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ten10apparel/

Image Credits
David Perez Donovan Henry Shane Hudson