Taylor Dominic is the CEO/Founder of NFQ (NeverFuckingQuit). He is 25 years old and currently resides in sunny San Diego, California. The first ideas of NFQ were brought to life in his military dorm room. Some current goals are to perfect his craft within his entrepreneurial journey and spread a message of positivity throughout the globe.
What is your entrepreneur story? How did you come about building your business?
My entrepreneurial journey started two years before my separation date in the United States Air Force. I initially wanted to Palace Chase, which is an option to separate from the military early to pursue school, but I was never a good student. I knew that was not the route for me. Shortly after, I decided that I was going to start a clothing brand. I was always a relatively creative person, learning skills such as video/photo editing/design (Photoshop) and thought that my skills would translate into building my brand. I created the Instagram with the initial handle “@nfqofficial”, which was a phrase that derived from my best friend/business partner’s career field at the time. I was heavily into fitness/lifting weights and thought if I was going to start a clothing brand, I needed a name that I knew would stand out. Especially if I was going to grow Instagram organically. I first developed the overall theme for Instagram. I then did my research and ordered a heat press, and began creating t-shirts in my dorm to give out for free at our local base gym in Cannon AFB, New Mexico to receive feedback on them. I received much praise for the shirts, specifically with people loving the name “NeverFuckingQuit”. We then purchased our first order of t-shirts and advertised them on Instagram. After our very first successful drop, It didn’t take long for our audience to request for us to make more clothing. As we sold out after the next few drops, we knew we were onto something. Around 7 months after creating nothing but shirts and products that we were able to create stateside, I began sourcing overseas manufactures. If you know NFQ, you know we are all about our training shorts. To this day they are our most popular product, but we’ve expanded our gear to pretty much anything fitness.
What is your business model and how were you able to grow so fast?
Our business model has always been a Limited Piece Drop model. Very similar to Supreme, which I attribute to my love for streetwear when I was growing up. From our very first item sold, it has always been limited drops. With the combination of our rapid growth and Limited Drop model, it wasn’t long until we had an endless amount of requests for more clothing and larger stock. To this date, we continue our Limited Drop model. Although we have significantly increased the amount of stock, allowing more customers to purchase our gear while continuing our limited-edition exclusivity.
Can you give me an overview of who you are, what is your educational or overall background? What are some of your achievements?
My name is Taylor Dominic. I grew up on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. I served 7 years in the United States Air Force as a Special Missions Aviator, which I joined immediately after high school. As mentioned earlier, I was never a good student, graduating with a 2.0 GPA. I never went to college and possessed zero business knowledge before creating NFQ. I’ve always been one to pick up new hobbies, as often as I can. I absolutely LOVE the challenge of learning a new skill. I trained as an MMA Fighter for a couple of years, competing & winning two MMA bouts. I’m also currently boxing full-time in which I intend to compete soon. I picked up video/photo editing at a young age, which helped benefit our company greatly. As I grow older, I’ve realized my true passion in life is creating. I have a few other ventures outside of NFQ; some that have failed; but I embrace the challenge of creating. Whether it be a new t-shirt design, a pair of shorts, Instagram post, website design… I love it all. It keeps me motivated as ever to be able to create something new every day. I have many personal achievements throughout my life, but the only important one to me is NFQ.
What have you learned through your experiences as an entrepreneur that can be used by aspiring business individuals?
I’d have to say the number one skill I’ve learned throughout my journey so far, is to embrace being independent. Although I have a business partner that possesses a great number of skills that benefit NFQ greatly, there are many areas in a business that I still have absolutely zero knowledge of. I’m constantly learning in new areas of expertise, utilizing platforms such as Youtube & Google. The internet is beyond powerful.
What makes your business so unique and successful?
Our name “NeverFuckingQuit”, our motto “A Different Breed”, and the simple fact that we LIVE our brand. As mentioned, I continue to train and compete in various sports and take risks in numerous areas of life. To this day, I continue to model for our brand which requires me to stay in shape. I’ve seen countless brands/companies “pop up” over the past few years, that definitely are appealing, but lack the backbone and true persona of what their brand is about. We practice what we preach and that gives our customers the courage to do the same in every facet of their lives.
What have you learned through your journey as an entrepreneur?
Oh man, I could go on for countless HOURS on the number of things I’ve learned throughout my entrepreneurial journey so far. From legalities to manufacturer sourcing, marketing, Facebook ads, designing… I could go on forever. I continue to learn something new every day, which again is why I love this journey so dearly.
What skills and attributes make you as successful as you are?
In addition to the skills I mentioned earlier, I am an incredibly self-reliant person. I’m constantly learning and doing my best to stay one step ahead of everything… Which doesn’t always work out, but I will try and try again until I find the answer/solution.
Why is online business, marketing, etc important?
I believe E-commerce is the future. I’ve been asked countless times if NFQ will ever have a brick & mortar store. While I won’t completely rule that out, I embrace online business. It’s one of the main reasons we have the business model we do.
In the early stages of NFQ, we didn’t actually put much into our marketing. Being that I was a rather creative individual, it helped visually get us off the ground, but since we have improved our marketing tenfold. From lengthy photoshoots to editing, catalogs for future products, and ultimately planning. I’d have to say improving our marketing has made a drastic impact on our success.
Is there anything, in particular, you’d like me to add in the articles?
Our ultimate dream is to see NFQ grow into more than just a clothing brand. To be a movement. We want to see people around the world take this brand, embody it as we do, and never give up on their goals. You really can do anything, even if it seems so far fetched and out of reach. If you have the will power and determination, it all can be yours.
Where to find Taylor online :
Instagram : @dominicstrength
NFQ Instagram : @nfqofficial
Website: www.neverfuckingquit.com