The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Earl Cooper & Olajuwon Ajanaku Talk 'Eastside Golf;' Brand, Exposure, Black Representation + More

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Today on The Breakfast Club, Earl Cooper & Olajuwon Ajanaku Talk 'Eastside Golf;' Brand, Exposure, Black Representation. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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we got some special guests in the building. We have Elijah Ojanukwu, did I say that right? Ojanukwu. Ojanukwu, okay. Yes sir. And Earl Cooper, welcome. How y'all brothers doing? How you doing?

Doing good. Elijah, I always hear your first name as a last name. I've never met an Elijah one who's Elijah one who was the first name. That's because of Hakeem, Hakeem Hakeem Yeah, I was born in Houston. I was born in Houston But my family was a big rock They were both big Rockets fans and yeah, just one thing led to another first name is what last name is not first name Yeah, so it's a lot of one. That was my father He was born in South Memphis and he changed his name

I was born in South Memphis and he changed his name during the Black Panthers when he was about 24. Changed his name from Robert Rutledge to Kwame Adjonikou and now I'm Elijah One Adjonikou. Yeah, they wanted a slave master name. What's your ancestry? Yeah, 40% Nigerian. Okay, okay. But it's a Ghanaian name, Yoruba.

But it's a split in between the two. They were just big Houston Rockets fans. Dope, dope. And then when I first met Earl, I didn't realize that I'd never met a young Earl before. We don't care. It's Earl? Yes.

Earl. Earl. Earl for real? That's a name you gotta grow into. Yeah, yes, definitely. You ain't grown to it yet. You still look too young for Earl, but. Sorry, I got a son on the way.

He gonna be Earl too. Oh, okay. The world needs another Earl. I mean, DMX made it a classic name. Yeah, Earl Simmons, of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you right. You right about that. So how did you guys get into golf?

What made you say golf is a sport that I wanna do, I wanna try, I love, and talk about that, your passion for golf. Yeah, a friend of the family introduced me to the game. I grew up with his sons playing golf. We all end up getting golf scholarships to college. But the thing was, we ended up playing basketball and golf growing up, so we were really competitive.

And it was just on the east side of Atlanta. I mean, it was a way to stay out of the streets, for real, like off Bouldercrest Road, you know, east side. It was tough, but right when I leave, because right when I leave the golf course, I mean, the when I leave, because right when I leave the golf course, I mean the hood is right there. But when I'm at the golf course, it was positive influences, always at the golf course.

I didn't really have that as much at home, but why not go to the golf course and actually get that? So judges, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, these are the people that I'm looking up to. How are these people at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday just out and about doing their own thing and now it was golf. So I just wanted to be a part of that

and have that to be a part of my life. So that's what really just pushed me to it. Yeah, and you're from Delaware. Yeah, yeah, I'm from Delaware. Really? Yeah, yeah. I didn't know people really was from there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Until I met Lauren.

Yeah. I told you he was gonna do that. I'm number two. How long you? There's only two of us. Oh, and you're by him. Oh, and you're by him. Until I met Lauren. Yeah. I told you he was gonna do that. I'm number two. How long you? There's only two of us. Oh, and Biden. Claim Joe Biden. Claim Biden.

Two black people. No. Two black people. But you play golf too, right? Yeah, yeah, I started playing golf at the age of six, inner city youth golf program. It was called the LPGA Urban Youth Golf Program. And my parents just signed me up.

Nobody in my family played. And I often like to say I'm happy that my dad didn't listen to a six year old because left up to me I was like I don't wanna do this. You know, we're all my friends, everybody look like me, but he kept me in it and then at 13 I ended up winning the golf channel drive chip and putt,

which was like a free trip to Disney World. I was on TV and I'm like man, if every golf tournament like this I'm ready to practice. And you know, was fortunate enough, Elijah Wong and I had a golf scholarship at the Morales College and played on the golf team there and that's where we met. Break that down for you, you said it was called

the Inner City? It was called the LPGA, which is Ladies Professional Golf Association. So they had a ladies major event in Wilmington, it was called the McDonald Championship and they created like a non-profit off of that. And it was that urban youth golf program. So again, just trying to get young kids involved in the game.

And then for us, I'll say that's what also kind of helped shape our point of view, like, because everyone's like, well, how did y'all get here? And these programs are great, but you need an evolved adult, right? Like, all of you all have kids, so you're not just gonna drop, call it a 10-year-old off at a golf course, right? The average age is a 50-year-old white man, right?

And then you come back, you're like, what happened, right? So it takes an evolved adult, and that's one of the things that we're always constantly encouraging people, like go with the kid, you know what I mean? Whatever that may be. So a lot of our focus has been on young professionals, not necessarily just the kids, because we don't even make kids clothes just yet.

I wonder how much Tiger Woods made people feel like. Influence people. Yeah, influence people to reach out to young black kids and try to get them involved in golf. I mean, he was, yeah, everything for us coming up. Tiger Woods was, he dominated it, he made us want to watch it. You want to be just like Tiger.

I mean, the catalyst for me when I was 13, actually I was playing golf at, it's across from East Lake Country Club in Atlanta where they hold the tour championship. Y'all definitely gotta come out for that. But across from there, Charlie Yates Junior Academy. In 2001, I actually got sponsored by Nike to go up to Chicago.

I got a 30 minute lesson from Tiger Woods and Earl Woods at the time when his father was still here. So, I mean, ever since then, I just been on it. You know, I've been hungry for the game. I mean, everything that it entitles as far as like, gives you, you know, and just the people that it surrounds you, that surrounds you because you play it, so.

Now, it's done wonders for me. But what made y'all wanna stick with it though, right? Because I know you said, when you were six, you wouldn't have wanted to do it. It's born, that's the first for me. But what made y'all wanna stick with it though, right? Because I know you said when you were six, you wouldn't wanna do it. It's born, that's the first thing that people argue and they say about it. What made y'all wanna stick with it? Y'all actually have a golfing brand,

like what people are buying. Y'all got stores about to open up and airports and everything. You saw it go. Y'all still about to have y'all apparel in what, Nordstrom or something like that? Yeah, we're in Nordstrom right now. Yeah, we're here in New York on 57.

What made y'all want to stick with that? You don't really see a lot of us in golf, right? Yeah. Honestly, for me, golf changed my life. I mean, as far as temperament, resilience, you know, I mean, everything that I am as far as like just hard work and structure, I mean, because when you look at golf and every shot that you take in golf,

it's individual, you know what I'm saying? You can't look at the entire thing as you get it lost, but that's just like life. You gotta take it one step at a time, a day at a time. You know, and golf just taught me to be really intricate on each single detail. And that's, I literally just relate that over to my professional career,

as far as corporate finance, when I was in that, about to become VP of sales, over to here running a business. There's steps to it, and you have to build systems to be successful. And it's crazy, I use all of those things from golf to relay it onto my business, and it's been working. When do you take the step to be professional

as far as a golfer, right? You know, you see all these people, everybody's into golf, but when is it professional? And break it down a little bit. Like we all know basketball, we know there's a draft. We all know football, we know there's a draft. We know baseball, you go into the D-League or the Farm League as they call it.

So how does golf work when it comes to that? Because you were a professional one time. So I'm a PGA professional. So PGA professionals are the men and women, and we're experts in the golf business. So at every golf course, there's a person that manage that. And so more, that's what I did. So you get your PGA certification.

It's 28,000 PGA members across the country. Out of that 28,000, there's roughly like 300 African-Americans. Right? So the number is, you know, that's less than half of 1%, right? So there's definitely a lot of work to be done there, but that's what I'm considered a PGA professional versus Elijah Wong. You want to explain it?

Yeah. I mean, the reason that I started this brand was, I mean when I after I graduated from Morehouse major was accounting minor in finance Turned pro in golf. I did that for a couple of years won a couple of mini tour events But got to a point I just couldn't afford it anymore You know taking a by jobs cardboard caddy and like hustling however I can get it to fund my golf career Last time me and my mom got an argument. She was like, you know, it's about that time you get a job You know what I'm saying? And so I had to stop that,

and I started my finance career. I was in commercial finance for about 10 years, but it got to a point, like I said, I wanted to play professional golf, but I knew it'd be hard to find sponsors. So to your point, the only way to turn pro is to have sponsors in the game. I mean-

You gotta be good enough where a sponsor finds you pretty much. Absolutely, absolutely. And it's full circle for me actually. I'm turning back Pro and Golf in June. That's the reason I started the brand because I was like, if I can't find any sponsors, why not take the entrepreneur out and sponsor myself? So now I have Southern Company and Georgia Power being one of my sponsors for Professional

Golf along with a couple of other companies in Atlanta, but it's, I mean, the whole thing is sponsorship is dollars. If you can raise that and that company can see what they can really get out of you, where it comes to like a certain type of customer or a certain type of field, they'll pay you for it. And then-

How much do you need to be a professional? Like how much do they need to sponsor? Like say a company like that to put you in the league to go against the Tiger Woods or whoever the top professional is now. Yeah, it varies from tour to tour because some tour entry fees are, I mean it ranges from a thousand to sometimes $5,000

for an entry fee into the tournament. So that doesn't include, you know, travel, your caddy, food, rent, you breaks, so it would range from anywhere, I would say 175, 175,000 to 250,000 in a year. I love both of y'all, I love y'all stories because y'all represent, I like when people get into an industry and they show all sides of the industry. Because when I hear PGA professional,

I'm thinking that's a player. Right, that's what I mean. That's what I see. Somebody who does the business. Yeah. And that's like, damn, there's so mean. That's what I see. Somebody who does the business. Yeah. And that's like, damn, there's so many different ways for us to be involved in this sport. Yeah, no, I completely agree.

And I feel like that's one of the things that I'll say really just excites me about our business is the fact that we're having an impact on the sport without actually playing it, right? And so it's kind of like a basketball analogy would be like, we working in the front office, right? And so we're getting everyone excited and bringing everyone along with us, right?

Like when you think about when the brand started, it was right before COVID. And then, you know, our first viral moment was Chris Paul wearing it head to toe when he was a player, when he was the president of NBA Players Association, the night of the boycott of the event that happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin. And so like, that's how we kind of went viral,

but it was through basketball. And then from there, you know, we got hooked up with Michael Jordan, and we've had like C.C. Sabat, the Victor Cruz, you know, Pecos, Steve Stout, like you name it. All of these guys are like, we see exactly what you guys are doing. You are bringing in people into the game,

culturally relevant, and in a way, our tagline is be authentic. So that's all we require. And your logo, I love it. It's Barack Obama, right? It's Barack Obama. It's not Barack? No, it's not.

Nah, nah. You sure? I ain't caught you sure. I think they? No, it's Smack. Nah, nah. You sure? I ain't clear. Oh, you sure? I think they know. I'm looking at the ears. Yo, stop. I'm looking at the ears, it's crazy.

He got a rock swing in a golf club. With a chain on. It would not say yes, it was. Huh? It's so crazy. No, it's crazy. The logo is actually me. I created it.

I was the... Oh, my bad. I just said the ears. I ain't even gonna lie. He just killed you. Look at the hair. I just know that's a lot of money. I didn't know that in my whole life. I never looked at his ears till now.

I know what you're talking about. Yo, but yeah, I created the logo. I wanted the Turn Pro, like I said, it was gonna go on my bag and my polo. And then I showed it to him. He was just like, yo, put that show on a t-shirt. So I did, went downtown Detroit, and I maybe got stopped 100 times in two hours,

just like, who are you, what's that logo, where can I get it, and do you play golf? That's when I knew I had something. I mean, it's fly, even if you're not into golf, it's just a fly logo, short. Yeah, nah, that's one of the things we always say, like, you know, you don't play polo, but you wear Ralph Lauren, right?

And so you don't have to play golf in order to wear East Side golf. And like, even a jacket, like, we got a play polo, but you wear Ralph Lauren. Correct. Right, so you don't have to play golf in order to wear East Side Golf. And like even a jacket, like we got a Jeff Hamilton jacket. Like that's not, you know what I mean, you're not going out on a golf course with that. But we do make golf clothes for the golfer. But at the end of the day, like our whole strategy was like meet people where they are, right?

And that's why it's important to come up on like this platform, cause this is where the people are. And they need to know and hear, golf is available for you. Golf, when you think about it, majority of golf courses are public parks, owned by municipalities. So your tax dollars go towards that. And so, again, just encouraging people to go out there and experience that.

And matter of fact, we actually have a community day coming up in Wilmington this Friday, this week. And again, it's a great microcosm of what we're trying to create, where we buy out the entire golf course. So everybody comes and it's not just, we like to say, it's not just underrepresented communities. People fly in for our events as well.

We certainly bring the community out, but we pay for everything. The food, the lessons, the range, the golf course, and it's an unbelievable atmosphere that's created when you eliminate the financial burden and people can really discover how great the game is and just meet other people. I was gonna ask, with golf being so expensive,

how do you get our community to get involved? Because clubs are expensive. Rending the time at the golf course is expensive. It's not like you grab a basketball and get a part and you just go shoot. So it makes it so expensive. Rending the time at the golf course is expensive. It's not like, you grab a basketball and get a park and you just go shoot. So it makes it so expensive. So what do you tell people? How could they start if they want to get into it

and don't have defined answers? Yeah, I mean, there's plenty of ways to start. First, you gotta, you know, the hard part is just kind of finding a golf course. Once you find a golf course, there are programs out there. And should you start there or should you start at a range first? Well, just, I'm saying most golf courses have a range. It may be small, but you shut it started a range first? Well, just I'm saying most golf courses have a range It may be small but you could start at a range or indoor simulator but getting the clubs

I think again, it's a misnomer that you have to you know, buy this whole set that's fitted No, you know, I think that's the worst thing to do. Yeah, that's my husband's problem Yeah in the beginning I'm always we're always encouraging people to go get starter sets, and starter sets can range anywhere from $500 to $750. You can go to a Golf Galaxy, also pick up Eastside Golf there, and that'll give you all the equipment. And in the beginning, it's just changing a lot. Even if you don't have that, you could go to the range and just say, hey, can I borrow

a 7-iron or just one club? And typically they have those clubs, they're available. So look, I mean, we spend money, you know what I mean, on clothes, on all kinds of stuff. So what our biggest thing is, we just want people to recognize the value. And when young professionals understand, like, look, you guys work at iHeart Media, they have golf events. So it's an opportunity to engage, whether it be artists, account execs,

whoever, like decision makers, and you get a chance to spend that quality time with them. And that's the like big unlock. Like oftentimes when golf opportunities come up, we're on the sidelines. We're like, man, I ain't going out there. I don't wanna embarrass myself, but that's where the deals are happening.

Let me ask you a question. I can think of times, right? Like when I was younger, you know, me and my now wife walking into, you know, restaurants in South Carolina, seeing nothing but white people in there, nothing but white people working there, and saying to ourselves, yeah, this ain't for us. And I remember one time in particular, you know,

we went to one and it was like, oh, no, we leaving. And the waitress was like, the woman at the door was like, why y'all leaving? Because it's too many white people and I was like, yeah The golf course probably is Ten times as intimidating as that and just because it's like we don't see each other out there So if a couple of guys just pull up on the golf course, are they going are they gonna be welcomed? Yeah, I mean well, so they have private country clubs and then they have municipalities, as he once said, public parks downtown where you pay your tax dollars on. That's where we need to be starting this.

A lot of those golf courses are definitely welcoming. They know it's your first time coming out there and on top of that, you know, some of these golf courses have, bucket of balls might be 12 bucks and play it against sports. Cheap for some balls. Yeah.

Pause. Play it. Pause. What's wrong with y'all? Grow up, y'all. Pause. What's y'all problem, y'all? Cheap for some balls. Yeah. Pause. Play it again. Pause. What's wrong with y'all? Grow up y'all. Pause. What's your problem y'all? Cheap for some balls.

What is your problem? All I said was that's cheap for some balls? Yeah. How much do you use to play for balls? Oh man. We got to continue on. Yeah we got to. It's so interesting.

But y'all know that it's cheap. Like we got to continue on. So downtown, bucket of golf balls might be 12 bucks, but then you can go to Play It Again Sports and get a whole thing of clubs, 14 clubs, for $100, $125. And this is an investment. You know, like whatever, and I see this all the time, whatever you do with your life, I don't care what you do,

if you play golf, it will increase that revenue. It will increase whatever opportunities you have. So many different types of people play golf. I mean, I've met guys that own movie companies, investors out in Palo Alto. I mean, all the way over to being at Liberty National, the fireman family that sold Reebok. All of these different types of people play golf. Doctors, lawyers, these same types of people that I grew up seeing, but the connection that they have in their circle. I mean, if you play golf, you can go out, oh, let me invite my guy.

All of a sudden you gotta force them, three, four guys out there playing golf, and you don't know who it is, you know? Relax. Yo, this. It ain't nothing. It's just that, you know, this, Since the bitty cases going on right now,

you know, people's ears are sensitive, you say force them, everybody trying to figure out, oh wow. You know, get ears. Y'all don right now, people's ears are sensitive, you say foursome, everybody trying to figure out. Wow. Y'all don't have gay ears. Really? Yes. This guy has gay ears.

I'm listening to you because I'm intrigued by what you're saying. I don't have gay ears. What do you mean intrigued by the foursome word? No, I've heard that before. I've heard everybody say that they golf because it's great for networking. Oh, for sure.

You know, I've golfed once. I was terrible at it. I got frustrated. But it's a time for men to do something we don't do, which is talk. You know, for a long period of time, it's good bonding for men, I think. Yeah, no, I agree.

I think it's- We're not gonna go off course, though. Yeah. Yes. No, and it's funny you said men, because we actually, we're doing a campaign featuring Justin Tuck, just talking about about fathers because a lot of times again You're talking about that opportunity to bond and like it's a great sport like to just go out there and a lot of times

That's a that's a man's hobby, you know I mean, we definitely support the women to get out there as well and I I agree that golf can be intimidating like look I was as well and I agree that golf can be intimidating. Like look, I was the first African American golf professional at two golf courses that were over 100 years old. Whoa. So. Built in 1899. Detroit Golf Club and Wilmington Country Club.

In Wilmington I started out as a caddy there, right? So like used to dream of going in the clubhouse. Like man, like what would that be like? And you know, the point, and I feel like the reason why I took both of those roles was simply because he has an opportunity to reset the standard, right? They don't know. They've never even interacted with someone at that level in that position.

And so it's important that we do go and kind of push through that uncomfortableness. And that's kind of what I'm saying where as an adult, if the adults can go, we know it's just gonna, they're gonna look up to you, you know? And so if they see you if the adults can go, we know it's just gonna, they're gonna look up to you. You know, and so if they see you doing, the goal for us, we don't want it to be a shock when we show up or minorities show up

and they're playing golf. We want that to be normalized, right? But that's up to us to normalize it amongst that generation. Just like we normalize everything else. It could be something as simple as like going to the movies or every summer y'all go to this place, whatever it may be, it's just normal. Just you saw it. And yo, K-pop fans, it's your boy, Bom Han, and I'm bringing you something epic.

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But at least when the opportunity comes, we're not sitting on the sidelines. That's why labels suck, and it's like, who says golf is a white sport? 1000%. Imagine if Cooper Flagg, or Larry Bird felt like that about basketball. Basketball, yeah. Basketball, like no, if you gotta love for something,

you should be able to embrace it. Yeah, sure. Going back to your logo though, now, because most people may think it is a white sport, because that's what we've seen up until now and a little bit before. Did you ever receive any flack about the black man with the golf club and the chain and the jeans?

For sure, for sure. I mean, I'll take it a step back. I, that was a point, I went to this country club in Michigan and I was wearing these pants and these white guys on the range. It was a private country club. Uh, these white guys on the range had on the same pants. Now it didn't have any belt loops on the pants, but I got singled out and lo and behold, I ended up getting kicked off the course. Those pants you got on now?

No, not these. There were some other ones that I had on. This was maybe like four years ago and we had just started making pants. Yeah. While I was still at the business, had a Jordan, got kicked off. But why? Was it a dress code? Yeah, dress code. So definitely said, yo, is it okay if I just wear these for today? Like, no, you got to go on me and change. I come back and change, get back on the driver range and it just like, yeah, how can I help you? Like, you gotta wait till the member gets here, you know? And, you know, that was four years ago, and it's crazy to say now we have clothes

that are being sold in that Pro Shop, but I say that because it's the same logo. You know, this logo was me, and I mean, there was a point when I first came out with it, I got asked, yo, is that a noose around his neck? You know, like, I didn't know what that was. And I'm like, it's a cubilink chain. Like, come on, bro.

That's just a funny joke for them. Yeah. For them to ask that, like, they know that ain't no goddamn noose. Yeah, yeah. But either way it goes, giving the slack on it, I mean, to be honest, even my man, like, when we first started, like, he was just like,

I don't know if that's gonna work, you know? Just from, he was just like, I don't know if that's gonna work. You know, just from his experience being in that, I don't know if that's gonna work. And I didn't go through the PGA school and PGA program. I didn't work at a golf country club. I just wanted it bad, you know? And showing who I am, and that's our tagline, be authentic, that's how I want everybody to show up at the golf course.

That's what's gonna grow the game, is you being yourself and continuously being yourself, even though it show up at the golf course. That's what's gonna grow the game, is you being yourself and continuously being yourself, even though it's out at the golf course. A lot of people might see the golf course or country club and might feel like that's corporate America or I gotta change up how I am. Like, nah, I want you to be yourself and wear East Side Golf while you're doing it looking good.

Well, we haven't seen that influence yet. You know, at least in tennis, you know, Venus and Serena were unapologetically black. For sure. Tyga? No. Not so much. Tyga was like, I'm not black, I'm cobbling Asian or whatever he said.

Yeah, no, you're right. I mean, and that's really, again, that's up to us. And like for us, even our strategy, like we said earlier, all of the culturally relevant people that we engage with, we needed that first and lifestyle. Like we were selling our stuff in Up NYC, we were selling it in Bodega, you know, all of the top tier street wear accounts.

And now we're transitioning to more big box stores and now transitioning to the golf course, right? Because at the end of the day, if we just showed up, you're right, it was just two black guys with a logo. Even though we did play golf, it's just like, well, where the rest of y'all at? Is that really a model, is that a business? And we have proven that.

I mean, you've seen it, even, look at what Khaled has done in the golf space. And we were with Khaled very early on along that journey. You know what I'm saying? He's actually in one of, we have a documentary and he was featured in our documentary talking about the Jordan shoes and the impact that we had there. I think what we've done now is build a community and build a proven model.

On June, what is it? June 1, it'll be six years. I'm sorry, what? No, I'm just saying a lot of companies don't even make it to six years. It's certainly, it's a real thing that we got. It's just, again, we have to continue to push and support each other. Has Khaled had real impact on golf? Because I don't, I never can tell if he's really in love with golf or if he's just pushing sneakers.

No, I mean, he has. He was on the cover of Golf Digest. I mean, he got a lot of excitement. He's got a lot of followers. He's got big influence, right? And so, you know, we've been fortunate enough to work with him, to go to his golf events. He supported our merch. You know, he's got big influence, right? And so, you know, we've been fortunate enough to work with him, to go to his golf events, he supported our merch, you know, he's always shouting this out, like, we delivered him a locker and like all of that. And so, nah, it's been huge because also, also when you think about it, like,

in order to grow golf, it's gonna happen in this room. Like, they need us. Everything is trying to grow, and this is the only market that they haven't tapped yet. Listen, man, y'all got some of the dopest collections. I had me and my husband out there. The golf. Great.

Listen, I'm telling you, it was all kinds of people. What is that? What is that? What brand is that? You know, because yes, y'all here and some of the, the, and what y'all say street, y'all wouldn't call that streetwear. What y'all like lifestyle lifestyle. Right.

But then y'all also do have like a high quality app, performance apparel brand right where I had the tennis skirt on I got and The slacks my husband was a slacks. I even had the shoes. I got some of the dopest collaborations with Jordan's I think he had the I had the air max You can change the the uh, it come with a different color. Yeah, you can change the swoosh. I was out there like, what's up? I've been doing this forever, lying and everything.

We was out there looking the part, man. So it's definitely quality. Yeah, right. And then tell us about the Detroit store and the airport that y'all bought. Yeah, so our first brick and mortar we actually have in Tokyo, Japan. We created that maybe two and a half, three years ago.

Our second brick and mortar we actually built in at Detroit Airport, DTW. And the main reason is because we have a big history there. Him being the first black PJ professional at Detroit Golf Club. Me being, me starting the brand in Detroit, him being the first black PGA professional at Detroit Golf Club, me starting the brand in Detroit, downtown on the east side of Detroit. It's just full circle for us, so why not start,

why not build that store in Detroit? Why Tokyo? Actually the PGA show that they have at the beginning of the year, it's like a big box retail show, and we sell to all these different country clubs. We went there in February 2020, and literally got approached by some Asian gentlemen,

Japanese guys, and they loved us so much, they was just like, yo, we wanna bring that over to Tokyo. Sent them like a 10,000, they sent us a $10,000 P.O., we sent them back merch. It sold out in 24 hours. And ever since then, it just grew from there. And then we ended up getting a relationship with a gentleman as a distributor, and they opened our first store in Tokyo.

Man, congratulations. I wanted to ask y'all about the golf world. Is the golf world embracing this cultural shift that's happening? I think yes. I think they just don't know what to do, right? So it's like using the word like collaboration or like feature the remix. They like, we don't know. They obviously want it because like right now like YouTube golf is exploding, like exploding. Like YouTube golf in some cases are more popular than what the golf you see on TV. What is YouTube golf?

So YouTube golf is where they basically have like influencers go out there and they film around playing golf or like they're talking in the cameras and they're pulling in pros. But I think they are embracing it some. There's always gonna be some resistance as well. I think where we are though,

we recently just signed our PGA Tour professional, one kid by the name of Joseph Bramlett. Bramlett. Bramlett. 37 years old, went to Stanford. He's the second African American that's playing regularly out there on tour outside of Tiger Woods. But actually this week we have a kid playing in a major championship.

His name is Huguenio Chachara and he's playing in the PGA Championship, which is like a big deal. So you got the Masters, the PGA this week, and how we basically want to position is like, telling these guys to be their authentic self, but also at the same time, like they're waving the flag for us, right? And they're kind of showing them, you know, that on and off the course lifestyle,

like we're even gonna be having these guys do not a tunnel walk, but like a walk up, right? like we styling them from the moment they get out the car to they changing so we're really just a joint exactly we're really bringing that influence and you know we do have an investment from the PGA of America so they invested in our company so you know we've been raising capital as well to just grow and expand because as you all know as business folks you need money you know you need either, as business folks, you need money. You need either a relationship with a bank,

you need family and friends, you need something to be able to grow. And so, especially too, like now we're getting into Nordstrom's, Golf Galaxy, House of Sport, we're going into Snipes, and 70 doors there. So like, those are big, big purchase orders, right?

And so you're buying on future, so you definitely need that financial cash flow. And I see y'all investing in the HBCUs as well. Yes. How much was it, 300 grand in the morals? Yeah, so far 300,000. First year, I think about two years ago, we gave 50,000. And it's just been up ever since.

We have an invitation to Liberty National right over in Jersey every year. And we raised- That's the Eastside Collegiate one? That actually is at Frisco, Texas. We have an Eastside Golf Invitational for college teams that only play in. That tournament is a fundraiser

for the Morehouse College Golf Team. Gotcha. Yeah, yeah, so Mercedes-Benz has been one of our primary sponsors. We're both Mercedes- Benz and USA ambassadors. They sponsored the tournament and we end up giving the boys probably about 100 grand every year and it's just been growing.

Now they have Arthur Blink Foundation down in Atlanta actually gifted them an entire simulator room. So that means a simulator room probably about this size where they get to putt, hit golf shots all times of the night or just get in that practice whenever they can. Yeah, so I would just say it was like, it was so important to us because we can't sit up here and be successful

and not support the program that's how we met, right? What do we look like saying, well, we're here, but what's up with MWL's college golf team? And so that's always been a passion of ours to make sure that those boys are set up the right way and we just laid the foundation and now it's just great to see other organizations and other partners so when we go into these rooms

we're always thinking about them. So listen, when y'all buy the East Side golf golf course, can I invest? Yeah, for sure. You can invest now. Because I know that's next, right? Y'all gotta have y'all own golf course. Yeah, we working on it.

Yeah, okay, he was talking about it in the green room. Word, word, word. No, no, for sure, that's real. Before your own golf course, are y'all gonna have your own golf clubs, golf balls, golf, like your own East Side Golf branded golf balls, golf equipment? Yeah, so golf equipment is very expensive

to make, definitely golf clubs. That's why, partly Nike got out of the business, but we did collaborate with Bridgestone Golf on, definitely golf clubs. That's why partly Nike got out of the business. But we did collaborate with Bridgestone Golf on our own golf ball. So we do have our own golf balls, it's a Tour BX. They already use it, but me and Earl actually own the box itself. So they sell that at PJ's Superstore,

sell that at a few other places, golf courses as well. So I mean, it's just that, that equipment thing is a really tricky thing, just because it takes a huge investment on the front end. You know, and if you don't sell, and if you don't have probably the number one, two, three, or four, or five player in the world playing your golf clubs, it's gonna be kinda hard to sell them.

Who's the leader in that world, as far as selling the golf clubs? Um, Taylor Maze. Yeah, I say Taylor Maze right there at the top. Yeah, Taylor Maze got, is right there at the top. So they got like Roy McElroy, he's right now. Scottie Scheffler who is number one in the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They got that on lock. But like you said, I mean, we have a whole offering. You go to esidgolf.com and you're gonna see something on there for you, you know what I mean? Whether you're a man, whether you're a woman, where you're just getting started. And ultimately, the goal was not necessarily to make golf clothes, quote unquote.

Just make dope shit, you know what I mean? We gon' find it, right? Look, Tim's weren't made for- Construction. Right, exactly. Well, they actually weren't. They weren't made for the street. Construction, it is not made for the street.

Right. But they're not waterproof, which is crazy. Right, but that's the point. But we wear them all the time, that's a staple, right? So it's just one of those things where, and we love it like, you know what I mean? When our product is showing up court side, you know, I mean when our product is showing up in music videos like literally we did a collab with uh With paper planes and Memphis Bleak did a video with it on with Benita Butcher, right? So it's just because it's dope

It's not like we seeded it It was just like he was looking at it and it's like, yo, that's fly. Like, that's ultimately what we wanna create because that's gonna give us the confidence that we need when we go to the golf course. To your point, it's almost like anxiety when people sitting in them parking lots getting ready to go. Like, man, I don't want nobody to mess with me,

what they gonna say, all of that. So it's like, if you got your shit on and you looking good, just kind of alleviates that and I feel like that's also our next step where when you are headed to the golf course you could go on esidgolf.com and just get some small little tutorials right just get the verbiage down so you feel just a little bit more comfortable when you're going there speaking the language saying hey how much is a bucket of balls you know where's this what's that like you know what's your um you know how much you charge for t-time like just basic language no more than four no more than just yelling four no more than four yeah yeah for sure that's what's

happening how can they find how can they go to the site if they want more information yeah yeah finals on eastsidegolf.com we We actually have a TikTok at EastsideGolf and our Instagram is at EastsideGolf. Yeah, and then go download our app as well. We got a really dope app. We have a lot of exclusive product on there, merch, shoes, everything at EastsideGolf. Man, respect to y'all brothers

and everything that y'all have built, everything that y'all are building. This is very, very inspiring, man. And now we gotta get y'all out on the golf course. That's the next thing. That's the next thing, come on. Yeah, very inspiring, man. Thank y'all for having me. And now we gotta get y'all out on the golf course. That's the next thing. Yeah, that's the next. That's the next thing, come on. I was already out there.

Yeah, she was, she was. For real. In Baltimore holding it down. Sorry, no. I feel like God is calling me to learn. I tried it one time, but man, I swung at that ball like 30 times and couldn't hit it and just like, man, I'm just gonna ride around with y'all and drink.

Yeah. Yeah. Straight. We got a professional coach right here, so we got you covered. Yeah, we can definitely get y'all out there. he got you covered. Just let us know, man. We want to get y'all out there. But yeah, it's a great family atmosphere, too.

My son played. I played in college, and I stopped since college. But it was one of those things. We'd go out there, we'd drink, and we'd have fun, talk shit, and then come back to go to class, but my son actually plays. And I was like, I gotta get back out there, but just having the time. Yeah, I understand. The time is definitely a thing, but it's just so worth it.

And we go to Topgolf with you which is like the thing. Topgolf? What is that? That's Topgolf. Topgolf. Much success to you. Now how's you on Earth? Appreciate you. It's the Breakfast Club. Good morning.

For sure. Wake that ass up. In the morning. The Breakfast Club. This week on Dear Chelsea with me, Chelsea Handler, Ed Helms is here. I of course was drawn to the LSD story. This was all under official government activity. They built a apartment that had a glass mirror

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