Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Hodges.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how your company got started?
I started off creating a little personal brand while I was going to school at Davis Technical College. My brand was called MtHoodlum, which I named after the time I spent in Portland after High School. I created little Utah-centric designs and just started selling shirts at the Farmers Market in Ogden. But people loved the designs so much that they blew up pretty fast. I started screen printing my own shirts under the MtHoodlum name.
Eventually, I convinced my cousin to join me and we outgrew MtHoodlum and needed to create a new brand. We discussed helping others that were in similar situations as us. We wanted to build a brand that could help promote smaller creators and entrepreneurs. So we started Beehive Collective as an influencer brand, We would still sell all of our shirts and stickers, but we would use our following to promote others as well. Beehive Collective is young but we have been in this industry for a long time!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
No, it hasn’t been easy! Starting anything from scratch isn’t easy. While we know people love our designs, getting our already loyal base to switch over has been difficult. People just kind of give up on us when they see we’re starting new. That doesn’t discourage us though. We’ve built it once, we can do it again.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a Graphic Designer by trade for the most part. I still do a lot of screen printing and I even work part-time as a Graphic Design instructor at Davis Technical College. What I am truly most proud of is my Utah Area Code designs. I’ve combined unique aspects of Utah into one, simple design. People love our Area Code design. And seeing people so excited over them really makes me happy!
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Being able to adapt. People change. Markets change. Styles change. A big part of our success has been being able to adapt to what’s going on. When the economy took a hit, people weren’t buying our shirts as much, but they still loved the design. So we got stickers. And when people couldn’t buy stickers, we made little buttons that we gave away for free if they followed us on Instagram. It all helped build us.
Pricing:
- Shirts online will cost $25.97 plus shipping. Online has more factors we have to account for.
- Shirts at Farmer’s Markets cost $20. There isn’t any shipping or hassle for us to deal with.
- Stickers at the market go 1 for $2 or 3 for $5.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://beehivecollectiveut.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beehivecollective.ut/
