From Walmart employee to clothing brand owner: A South Ga. man tells his story

DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - At the ripe age of 24, one South Georgia Black business owner has taken his brand nationwide in just four years.

“Honestly, a lot of times what I’ve seen is, people, stay where they’re at and never see growth because they’re scared to fail.” Owner of Rich Royal Clothing Brand, Keyshun Holmes said. “Recently we started a new campaign called ‘Expand Your Comfort Zone’. It’s our company’s message; our slogan. Which basically entices people to step out of their comfort zone.”

Holmes said at first he saw his work as a hobby, not a business. Once he made the switch he started to see the growth that he wanted.

“We were literally going to college campuses, doing pop-up shops, selling out and doing 10k in a day — at a pop-up shop,” Holmes said.

In July 2019, Holmes made a goal to have his brand reach all 50 states in the U.S. Not even a year later, in May 2020 – Holmes tackled that goal.

“When I started to put myself out there a little bit more, and tell the message behind the brand, rather than just trying to sell clothes, I started to realize how much of a deeper meaning of the brand we had. It easily helped us learn,” Holmes said.

Before his brand took off, Holmes was a retail associate.

“I went in, I turned in my two weeks’ notice, and I never looked back,” Holmes said. “Now at this point, where we are today, we are a now a multi-million dollar company.”

From a Walmart associate to a clothing brand owner — Holmes says he has shipped out over 100,000 orders since he started in 2018.

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