Ali Omar, September 2nd, 2022

Ali Omar, September 2nd, 2022

In this interview, Ali Omar talks about being a part of the Hustle project, his business and growing up.

Detroit Historical Society

Detroit Historical Society

en-US

Ali Omar

Ali Omar started his business in 2014, a dream he had aspired to achieve since he was 16 years old.

Billy Wall-Winkel

Detroit, MI

9/2/2022

31:49

Taylor Claybrook

BWW [00:00:00] All right. Awesome. Awesome. Hello, my name is Billy Wall-Winkel. This interview is for the Detroit Historical Society's Hustle Project. Today is Friday, September 2nd, 2022. And we're in Detroit, Michigan.

AO [00:00:12] Detroit, Michigan. There we go.


BWW [00:00:14] And I'm sitting down with Ali Omar, if you please spell
your name for me.

AO [00:00:18] Yep. A L I O M A R. That is my artist name. My last name is different, but that's what I go by.

BWW [00:00:26] Cool, cool, cool thank you so much for sitting down with me today.

AO [00:00:28] Of course. Glad to be here.

BWW[00:00:30] And congrats again on being an honoree.

AO [00:00:33] Thank you. Thank you. Yeah it's kind of crazy though when I found there was 800 businesses that made me even more honored to be a part of it.

BWW [00:00:40] So when did you first hear about the hustle?

AO [00:00:44] I would say maybe a month and a half prior. I got an email about it and my business partner reached out and she said, I'm going to nominate you and that she’d send it to different family members and things like that. I didn't think that many people voted for me though. That's still like a mystery right now, that kind of know who actually voted for me.

BWW [00:01:07] Nice, nice. So let's do some like quick qualified questions. What year did you open for? First off, what is the name of your business.

AO [00:01:17] The name the business is GODNII, as in God and I.

BWW [00:01:24] And then what you did you start?

AO [00:01:26] Officially started in 2014 on paper with the government. I had the idea since I was 16. The idea literally came in a dream. And in this dream I was told why God created me, which was to be an inventor. And after that dream, I start to see all these downloads of different ideas of things to make, and the glasses were the one that stuck out the most. The original concept was asking for a tech frame, a futuristic frame, and…you know, I was 16, so I just wrote it down, you know, and I mailed this letter back to myself, like a like a personal patent. And when I was 21, that same voice inspired me.

[00:02:17] *someone enters the podcast room on accident and interrupts for a moment*

AO [00:02:33] No. When I was 21, God spoke to me and told me so He said, Don't be comfortable where you are, work on the vision. And I heard the word vision. I knew I
needed to start working on this company. And yeah, so it was like a five year gap period in between. But 2014 is when I officially started the business.

BWW [00:02:54] Did a part of you go “glasses, really?”?

AO [00:02:58] Um, kind of. Sort of. But the glasses that I envisioned there were like this technology in them. So I was more in like, awe, you know, because I couldn't believe that I had this idea, you know, to make this product. And so our idea was less. Get some skin in the game and start producing, you know, regular glasses. And brand ourself as a eyewear company and then continue to grow and build out in the tech space. But yeah.

BWW [00:03:29] So what was the process like for you getting started? Like, aside from the vision, aside from getting your own passion going, what were your next steps going forward?

AO [00:03:39] Um, so this is the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. When I met my business partner, that was in 2013. So a year prior to me actually forming my, my business. And, you know, I shared the idea with it and I'm like, yeah, the name of the company is Prince Ali, Inc. And she hated the name. And so she was like, you need to go back to the drawing board and pray and figure out what the name of this company is. And so, you know, I listened to her, I started, you know, kind of like thinking about some names and anyway, long story short. I started praying. I said, Well, if this idea came from God, then God must have an answer. So I sat in my room and I wrote down names and long story short God and I came because God told me this vision was for the world. It wasn't just for me. And. I think I spent the first 2 to 3 years doing research and development. I was putting about 5 hours a week into the company I wasn't actively working on it. I had a 9 to 5. By year three, I was like, okay, I need to make this happen. And so I started going and talking to jewelry companies, different manufacturers in Michigan, trying to find someone who dealt with small parts to make this product. So I had one company in Garden City who was actually going to build me out a room and get equipment and help me to actually make this product. But I didn't had the money, of course, you know. But they were very interested in the concept. And what I was going to make. I went to a jewelry company in Ann Arbor, very well known. I can't remember the name now, but I showed them what I was working on. They were interested, but they're like, We can't make something like this. And so. I was like, you know, my wheels kept spinning, I never gave up. We got us a room inside of a school in southwest Detroit through O'Connor Realty, so shout out to do. And that gave us our first space to start prototyping. That's what we kind of we took a step back and say, okay, instead of focusing on all the technology, let's, you know, work on a frame we can make with our hands. And then I started work with manufacturers still with a lot of money. They wouldn't give me creative control as much as I wanted on a product. And it was very frustrating. I had a lot of prestigious people look at what I wanted to do. One from…I probably shouldn’t say their name, one from a very big beverage company. I went in his house. His apartment downtown here awards all over the walls. I was super excited. It's $1,000,000,000 company.And he thought my idea was the worst idea he ever heard and that he wouldn't spend any more time working on it. He wouldn’t spend another dime working on it. I want to make a pair of glasses and they're going to drop out of someone's hand and break all over the ground. I'll never, ever forget those words. But he saw he saw the tech frame I was working on. And he just thought, you can't do this. And my friend introduced me to him thinking he was going to like help push me forward and like, you know, do the exact opposite. So I'm going through a lot of crazy stuff. I've lost business relationships. I've had people steal money taking advantage of me because I was young and ambitious. So a lot of things that could have made me give up,
but I never did. So yeah, that's a little bit of what the journey has been
like, a lot of ups and downs.

BWW [00:06:54] What is the name of your business partner?

AO [00:06:56] Her name is Carrie. Carrie Roberts. She's in real estate development.

BWW [00:07:01] Gotcha. So you mentioned that you never forgot what he said, but. What steps after that like did it affect you for a minute or did you just plow right through?

AO [00:07:13] Through all of the hardships and things like that?

BWW[00:07:14] Well, mainly the one critique.

AO [00:07:18] Oh, the gentleman who…oh, I left a little discouraged because, again, this industry doesn't exist here. Eyewear manufacturing. There's like a few families who make glasses for themselves, but they won't make it for other people. So France is the headquarters in the world for eyewear making. Then you have China, of course you have Japan below so surely this industry exists overseas. So I met someone who had worked internationally and I thought at least he can point me in the right direction because there is not even a college course on this, you know what I mean? And so it was very discouraging to meet somebody who I felt was like high up person who had achieved some success to tell me that I can't do something. And I probably was about 23, 24 at the time with what has happened. So very discouraged when that happened. But then, you know, I've been through a lot in my life. I'm not gonna say a lot of things in case my mom hears this just but. I don't really give up on anything. You know, if anything, it gave me more of a drive, you know, to prove myself right now, to prove them wrong, because I didn't want my energy to come from him. It had to come from me. You know what I mean? Mm hmm. So.

BWW [00:08:35] So you, you mentioned that you had this the space in southwest and you you pulled back from the tech focus and just focus on the glasses.

AO [00:08:44] Right. Because I knew the tech focus would be more like raising capital, you know, maybe crowdfunding, bringing a lot of people in a room. And I was I was nowhere near that point. And I didn't know, I didn't even know the meter scale of business back day. And people were asking, so how are you going to scale your business? I had no idea what they were talking about. So all the business lingo and terms I felt very small in rooms because I just had no idea what these people were talking about. And it took me a long time. I started reading books and looking at business terms to try to understand what I was doing. And so I had to become a businessman. You know what I mean? Which was also a really big part of my journey. A lot of people. A very good friend of mine, Eric Thomas, who's a national speaker now. He was a part of this journey when I first got started because I would tell him as I were designing, I'm going to make these glasses every time I would see him, he would say, Where are the glasses? And I'm like, I'm working on it. So for years, I would say probably five or six years. Every time he saw me, he asked me that question and it gave me more drive and it made me, you know, think different. And my biggest break was in 2020 before COVID. And I asked myself, what can I do today with the people I know with the money I have not if I had $1,000,000, not if I had the investors, not if I was perfect. But what can I do today? And that's what really changed
my life. And I started doing more of what I could do instead of focusing on what I can't do because I don't have resources.

BWW [00:10:19] And so in 2020, what did you decide to do?

AO[00:10:22] In 2020, I reached out to Architectural Salvage Warehouse in Detroit, Michigan. I actually worked for them right before COVID and. A good friend of mine, Chris. He taught at CCS (College for Creative Studies) as a designer, you know, professor, but he taught design. He's a designer, even with this company. And I worked for him. And so I called him and said, Hey, I need you to work with me on this project. And so we spent about six months prototyping glasses and took the entire summer for 2020. And I don't know how much material we went through, how many frames we went through, and we still didn't have it right, but we had more than what we had before I went back to the pony ride when they were still on Grand River. And I went in one day and I said, I've been trying to get in contact with you all for a year now. No one contacted me. No one has responded to my email that I need a space to be able to work, and they got me right in. And so now I had a space where I could work and do all the prototyping and which is a blessing. I'm still in that building now. And so, yeah, Chris from ASW was a huge part of, you know, where I am now. All my mentors, man, there's a lot of people, I’m not gonna start namedropping, but during that time, you know, we prototype for six months, we still didn't have it right. None of our frames would stay together. The arms would come off when we thought they would stay together. Going into 2021, we're like deep into COVID. We started looking at different hinges to keep our arms together like we needed. We needed machinery. We needed machines that cost thousands just to put the lenses in the frame. These are all things I didn't have access to. And so with little money, I can make about every machine, one by one, to make a pair of frames. So it took me another year before I could afford to even buy those machines to make them. End of 2021, we had one of our biggest debuts at the Dose Collective downtown with T Campbell, who's an amazing friend. We had about 150 people there, people I'd never even met before in my life. It really changed my entire. I was in the back of the store putting glasses together to finish them so the models could walk out in the frame. And I think we had about 60 people buy tickets and I went out, there's 150 people there. And even then the glasses still weren't ready. Yeah, you could wear them, but they wouldn't stay together too long. So even that was frustrating. No one knew I was going through this. Everyone thought I had figured everything out and had a perfect running company. But in the back of my mind, the whole event, I'm trying to figure out what is my next step to make this happen. And so this year. 2022 in March, I made my first fully functional prototype that worked. I went through all the stress tests and make sure that it was stay together. And I had a young lady named Asia Pierson, who’s from Detroit. She's a singer, just signed to Eric Belanger and she wore my frames on tour and that got me so much traction and I started making custom glasses for people. So now we’re at 50 frames in just three months of our completely custom frames. I mean, just to even be sitting here is crazy because again, many people have no idea what we went through to make this happen. But a lot of good people are around us for sure.

BWW [00:13:52] Have you walked up and given Eric a pair of frames yet?

AO [00:13:57] Not yet. Oh. So his wife actually follows me on Instagram. Me and Eric haven’t personally talked, I've heard things through people, you know? That he said, but we never met. So waiting for that time to come for sure.

BWW [00:14:13] So you mentioned that after a few years of getting starting the company, you wanted to put more more focus on it. Did you stop your 9 to 5?

AO [00:14:24] Yeah. So I actually was an area manager in 2020 at a cell phone company and I was on salary making good money and they started shutting down stores. So the stores I was over began to shut down. They didn't give me the money that they promised they would pay me. So basically I was out of a job. And so I got, you know, a little bit of hope, you know, with the different loans that were available for COVID, like merchant had different things I had. So I was able to offload a little bit, you know, I mean, Rust Belt Market was a huge part of that. I had a mini store at the Rust Belt market in Ferndale. Which helped us continue to make money from our clothing. But yeah, it was tough I've been full time for the last two years. I have not had a 9 to 5. Most of the jobs I was applying to, they wanted you to have a vaccination. I'm not gonna get into that. So it was difficult. You know, all the skills I have, I will go to these places to try to use them. They're like, Well, you can't go if you don't have this. And if you don't have that. And so I was just like, okay, well, I want to put, you know, 60, 70 hours a week into my craft. And so that's what I've been doing the last two years..

BWW [00:15:39] Nice. Well, how did it feel for you turning your side hustle into your your main gig?

AO [00:15:45] Um, you know, when I, when I first started doing it to me was just a lot of work. You know? I mean, and the more I did it, the more I started to see the lives around me I was impacting. But even today, it's still kind of crazy when I meet people who are inspired. When I get DMs all the time from people from the companies I previously worked at. And I used to run my mouth and say, you know, what I had is I used to work at Nordstrom, I had a high top fade and I wore these big circle glasses. I looked like a clown when I look back on those those pictures, I look terrible. But I would tell all my customers about this company. I would tell them I actually one of my biggest clients, her name is Jamie. She works for Shinola. She bought a custom pair of frames that she was she was one of the main people. She waited. I mean, that was back in 2016, 2017. And she bought a pair of glasses five years later, you know what I mean? So the people who I'm surrounded by, they inspire me the most. They are the ones who kept me going. But I just never had an idea of how many people's lives I was impacting by never giving up. Hmm. You know, so, yeah, that's probably the best thing about what I do.

BWW [00:16:58] So now that you're up to 50 custom frames, you have orders coming in. It's not just you putting them together in a back room anymore, right?

AO [00:17:05] That's the crazy thing. So right now, I still do the majority of the frames. Actually, I built all 50 those frames with my own hands. And if I hadn’t done that, I wouldn't be where I am. So right now we're working on a build out of our warehouse right now to actually have, you know, train our artisans. My amazing team here, they're helping me more on the back end of the company. So all my digital, PR,marketing, they're incredible. There's, like, seven of us, so. But as far as the hands on side, that's something we're still working on. It is just it's a pain point, but we're working on it. We have eyewear shops right now who want to carry our brand. So we're working on those purchase orders to be able to get funding, to get additional equipment to hire people. So we're at a good space, you know? Also it’s like is growing pains, you know.

BWW [00:18:00] Is it I'm guessing it's added pressure and say like a bigger pain because you you're doing something that isn't typically done in Detroit.

AO [00:18:10] Yes. Not done Detroit. Not done in America. Not done by a black man who's 30 years old. Most of the people in the industry are Italian and French. And so I you know, I had I went to an event at the Detroit Opera House I designed for and the more I tell people that I own a manufacturing company, the more they were like. So you get the product and then you assemble them. They kept going around in manufacturing because no one believed that I actually manufactured the glasses. So I had to keep till now I actually manufacture the frame. Like I get the material, I cut the material, I put them together and it is just hard for them to believe. But yeah, we do, we do everything. So this is interesting, but it also is a part of the Detroit Hustle. It's like a lot of people here are self made and I feel like there's no better city to make these frames is there is a few companies that make glasses from like recycled materials, like you got Genesee and Flint, Michigan, which is a really dope company, I hope I can say dope on the microphone.

BWW [00:19:13] You can say dope.

AO [00:19:15] There's a few out of Chicago who make glasses out of like recycled wood. They upcycle and things like that. But full blown eyewear manufacturing, I haven't found one other than the small families who don't want to make them for other people. So my goal is to make my product and be branded, but also manufactured for people who want them for their own brands. Do private labeling for different eyewear shops around the country and to be a full blown out manufacturing company.

BWW [00:19:44] Do you find that there…Do you find that there's actually the added pressure also being from Detroit, when you're talking to these other people, like, do you find that there is an expectation that not only do Americans not do this, but Detroiters don't do this?

AO[00:19:59] Oh, yes, for sure. Because even myself I had to learn how to do it. I literally made my own manufacturing process, so even then, there's no blueprint for it.

BWW [00:20:09] Hmm.

AO[00:20:10] So, yeah, I would say 100%. There were so many people who inspire me were like DOC. Of course they got bought out, but DOC finding out they were from Michigan. Finding out that, you know SEE Optical was founded by the grandson of you know the DOC founder. SVS Vision is founded here. So we have a long eyewear history, just not manufacturing, you know. So I guess both sides. Yeah. Like, you know, I got to have a lot of hustle, but then there's also a lot of inspiration from, plus we’re Cartier City, you know, I mean, this is where Cartiers are talked about the most.

BWW [00:20:46] Hmm. Yeah. So. But. It is the goal to replace them if you're the next?

AO [00:20:58] That's crazy. What do you think? Well. I wouldn't say replace. I mean.

BWW [00:21:00] I think join the ranks.

AO [00:21:01] Yeah. Yeah, we are Detroit's eyewear. We're, like, GODNII of Detroit. Mm hmm. That's who we are. And many people don't know that yet, but they will know. So I feel like it might.

BWW [00:21:16] So you talk about the front end of it like the glasses and manufacturing some of the back end. So you have mentioned a couple of times now that you had to learn how to do a business plan, how to scale. What was your process for learning that? Did you take advantage of or were you able were you able to take advantage of Tech Town or any of the other options out there?

AO [00:21:34] Oh, no. I failed a lot. I didn't know Tech Town existed. I didn’t know design court existed. I didn't know any of the I didn't know pony ride existed. And so I failed a lot. I probably tried to launch this company four times. I tried back in 2016 in Birmingham, Michigan, not going to mention the company. But they were going to let me rent their space out and have an event that I found out they wanted to be open for business while I was having my event, which I wasn't okay with. So then they kept my deposit. They weren't giving my money back with a misunderstanding. It was a lot of money. And so me and owner didn't see eye to eye that I lost the money and I lost the opportunity to kind of introduce myself to the market. And so I walked away frustrated, you know, that someone would, you know, see that you were trying to do something right. And instead of saying, okay, hey, we had a misunderstanding, but let me still help you this way. They just want to keep my money, you know, not give me the opportunity. You know what I mean? So I went through a lot of things like that, and I didn't have people I didn't have a lot of people like. You know, a lot of my mentors are older. You know, they're up in Ann Arbor. One of my mentors is from England. And so they didn't know about all the resources that were here in Detroit. And at the time, I you know, at the time I was living out in Ann Arbor. So I moved back to Detroit recently, you know, which is where I'm from. And so I just didn't know. I just really didn't know about the resources. And so most of my I would say from 2014 to really 2019, that five year gap, was just me by myself. So. Yeah.

BWW [00:23:14] Well, what about after that? You said it was your solo time in 2019?

AO [00:23:20] Yeah. So I would say the people I first got connected with who began to help me probably was the pony ride. So I joined with them in 2019. That was my first kind of like, step into seeing like a world full of creative people. Mm hmm. These people being very genuine and actually wanting to help. So I think it started there. I missed retail boot camp this year. I was supposed to join, would take time. But I've been working with Tech Town. They've been trying to figure out how they can help me. I've been working with Nest, and Nest is an amazing, I want to say, nonprofit. They are actually the ones who introduced me to Hermes. Probably saying it wrong and, you know, got me on a panel with them, which is insane for my company to even be on a panel with a company like that and design. I mean, they helped me a lot. Of course, I'm a part of the design this month. So now, you know, I'm beginning to work with a lot of people and they're starting to know what we do. And we're going back and say, okay, what can we offer? You know, of course we want to grow, but it's about it's about community. This whole thing is about community, right? So the jobs that I want to bring and what I have, I'm going to give back the eyes of God, I hope, you know, I mean, my my business is about people. So design court, Nest, Tech Town, pony ride, Rust Belt market, Architecture Service Warehouse. These are all people in the last 2 to 3 years, who were really helpful.

BWW [00:24:57] Now that you have the frames coming out, you're getting this much recognition. Do you still have people beating around the bush when you're trying to explain to them that you also manufacture them?

AO [00:25:07] Oh, yeah, for sure. Even friends of mine who were friends, they didn't know I was making the glasses myself. And it was partly my fault, even I was telling
them, you know, I make glasses and things like that. Like when I started posting on Instagram and started showing my process, then people started to really understand what it was I was doing. But before everyone still thought I was designing here, sending off the designs overseas and getting the product back, and no one knew that I was actually making them in my head. So yeah, I still get that every single day.

BWW [00:25:45] Yeah. So earlier you talked about the next goal, of course, is scaling up the manufacturing process and getting that going. What else is going on in the company?

AO [00:25:55] Yes, I'm joining Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance. Some amazing people over there helping me with funding so I can build on my back in the network. You know, the next goal after that was we had that down pact is to open up our shop. Full service shop. I'm not going to go to detail because we have some really creative ideas we're going to do that's never been done before, but 86% of people still want to go into a workshop to get their eyes checked. So we have to have a brick and mortar to grow. And so but working with them, I'm working with we're talking to them what they're working with yet but motor city match on Tuesday to figure out you know how we can work together as well with the funding and so yeah that's what that's what we are and that's what we are now is working on the back end and building on manufacturing as well as what the future holds for having an eyewear shop.

BWW [00:26:47] Nice. So you mentioned that the framed 50 custom motors earlier where those primarily Detroiters did you see those orders coming in from across the country?

AO [00:26:55] Detroit, Atlanta, yeah I’d say Detroit and Atlanta for sure. I have a really big following in New York. But, you know, still that whole aspect of marketing and storytelling, because they see the product and they get inspired. People who are really into the style of fashion, but they still have no idea who we are. They don't really know what we're building. So we actually have a young lady who's going to be a brand ambassador soon in New York. We have some in Atlanta, some in California, of course, here in Detroit. And so more and more people will have like a more inside look, even if we're not physically in those cities yet.

BWW [00:27:37] What is more important for the company going forward or just what's your preference? Getting the glasses in eyewear stores or having your own brick and mortar?

AO [00:27:47] Um. That's a good question.

BWW [00:27:50] I genuinely don't know the answer. I was wondering.

AO [00:27:54] Man, I would say right now is getting them into eyewear stores. So we'll soon be working with Sharper Vision, which is on Garfield right down the street. And the main reason I say is because people need to get their eyesight checked and get the glasses at the same time, which right now we just make the custom frame. But having all the stores, because no one can bring an experience that we can bring and no one's ever going to do that. It's like we are designing a very specific way. We all think a certain way. Everyone is unique in their own way. And so the vision that we have only we can actually make that happen. So that's just as important.

BWW [00:28:36] Is there anything about the company or your journey that you wanted to share with me but I didn't ask you about.

AO [00:28:43] Oh, yes. What GODNII means. I guess well God means God’s vision. And that also came throughout the journey. I actually didn't even know what the name meant when God gave it to me. So my amazing business partner challenged me every single day. You need to know what his name means before you start selling the product. So I had to go back to the drawing board again, you know, praying all the time. And the first the first thing I heard from God was, is that God and I is the blueprint of heaven. So heaven on earth is seeing yourself from God's eyes. And living from that perspective is your highest. So, so GODNII means God in your eyes seeing yourself, how God sees you? It means God is not a God within you. It means God, like God next to you. So again, when I tell people that it's kind of crazy because it probably came over a span of two years, me fully understanding even what it was that I have received. So, you know, that would be the biggest component. Even if someone doesn't buy the product, I want them to hear that message.

BWW [00:29:47] Very nice.

AO [00:29:49] You know.

BWW [00:29:51] Just a few more quick wrap up questions and we’re all good. When you think of the word hustle, what comes to mind?

AO [00:29:58] Be sure to hustle harder. I think about the Motor City. I think about families. People who work hard to feed their families and take care of them. I think about education. You know, people are educating themselves, whether they're in school, whether they're getting a trade. You know, whatever they're doing to work their mind, you know, to actually make something happen that's going to ultimately make the world better for people. You know, if I'm making clothes, I'm putting clothes on people's back to have a restaurant is feeding people. If I'm an educator, educating the next generation. So whatever it is is in your mind is is what God is giving you to help people around. So that's what I think about when I think of hustlers.

BWW [00:30:44] And then very similar, very similar question What do you think of when you hear the word hustlers?

AO[00:30:51] I think of myself. I think about myself. I think about my journey and how long it took me to get here. I think about persistence and honestly, you know, to be an ultimate hustler is to really know that whatever you're hustling for, whatever vision you have is bigger than yourself. That's what I think about.

BWW [00:31:12] Do you have a new side hustle now?

AO [00:31:18] Oh, I do Lyft occasionally. So, you know, actually. I met my one of my advisors through Uber being a driver. So yeah, it's, it's crazy. The people you meet when you are hustling, you know what I mean? So I did every now and then, you know, make some 6am runs hand out my business cards, you know, we talk to people still about what I do, you know?

BWW [00:31:43] Yeah, very nice. All right. Thank you so much. This was great.

AO [00:31:46] Thank you. Appreciate it.