Ball Club Newsletter

What's good Ball Club fam? 
Happy Monday! Thank you and welcome back for edition #26!

Let’s jump right in.

Here’s what’s on the menu today:  

• Quote of the Week

• What’s the Game Plan? (DO YOU KNOW YOURSELF?)

• Ball Club fam fits from the cleanest people on the gram

• Meet Damion Fraser (Founder of Hunters & Hounds)

• Community Corner

• Giveaway Update

Thanks again for reading. Wishing you all great week!

Let's keep growing together!

As always,

Blessings, peace, love, and good vibes

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

WHAT’S THE GAME PLAN?
DO YOU TRULY KNOW YOURSELF?

2023 was a trial-and-error year for me. Let me explain.

If you've been following the Ball Club for some time, you know it started in 2019, posting tunnel fits from basketball players and other sports. 

If you've been following since the beginning, you know that I didn't always post motivational content.

While I enjoyed style content, after a while, it didn’t feel right on a deeper level for me. 

So, in 2023, I pivoted. 

I truly consider this a trial and error year for me— a year of figuring out what "Ball Club" means to me and what I want Ball Club to mean to others. 

The wild part is, it was not until I started aligning with myself that I started to figure out the real mission of the brand.

Why am I saying all this?

I'm sharing this because, for so long, I felt that I was doing it just to do it. Like I was posting just to post, and I had no real vision or game plan for the Ball Club. 

If I'm being quite honest, I had no sense of direction. And then I started to think. 

Why did I have no sense of direction for the brand? Because I had no sense of direction within myself. I didn’t know myself. Now, you might be asking yourself, ‘how (tf) do you not know yourself?’ 

Trust me. It’s very easy to start to lose yourself when you’re focused on what others think and say and when you start chasing things that are not aligned with who you are.

For me, that’s what it was. I was trying to follow a path that didn’t fully align with the values I know I have as a person. 

I'm grateful for 2023 because, in aligning more with myself, I was able to realign with the purpose of the Ball Club. That purpose is to create a sports-inspired community that motivates others to be the best version of themselves, in whatever shape or form that may be for them. 

When you are in alignment with yourself, when you truly know yourself, everything else will start to fall into place. I promise you. Tap into yourself before anything else.

So before I make this story any longer, let me give you the game plan for this week. ⬇️

1. DO THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY.

This is how you will start to align with yourself again. Now you might be asking, how do I know what makes me happy? My tip would be to think about the things you enjoyed as a kid or young adult. Start there.

2. DON’T BE AFRAID TO START ALL OVER.

Some people are afraid to do this because it might seem like you failed. But pivoting does not mean failure. Sometimes, we keep doing things just to do them with no real sense of purpose or direction. Sometimes, we need to pause, and redirect. Pivot, if you have to. It’s okay.

3. STAY TRUE TO YOURSELF

In life, sometimes we start to chase the wrong things and get lost along the way. Or, we lose the core of who we are around certain people. At the end of the day, no matter what you’re chasing, know yourself, and stay true to your values.

That’s it. That’s the game plan. 
Know yourself so that you can be your best self. 

Remember, 1% better every day, and small wins are WINS!

BALL CLUB FAM STAYS FLYYY

This is where we feature some of the flyest fits from the Ball Club community. Tag us on Instagram to be featured!

MEET DAMION FRASER
Follow Dame on IG
Follow Hunters & Hounds on IG

Tell us a little about yourself and the story behind Hunters and Hounds?
Well my name is Damion I go by Dame .. I live in Miami Florida and I also run a personal training company called max-rep fitness. Hunters and Hounds came from our movie nights that me and my pops would have we’d always watch this movie the hunt for red October one night while we’re watching the movie he said something that stuck with me “if you don’t hunt you don’t eat”.
That stuck with me and I always had a love and passion for clothing. I would write my ideas out in a note pad and I would just make hats and Tee’s for myself. After doing that for about a year or so I decided to start Hunters and Hounds as an official clothing brand and launching my first collection in 2021. It was only trucker hats and vintage style snap backs but the plan was to expand slowly and now here we are on our 5th collection.

What inspired you to start your brand?
I’m inspired by where I live Miami is a city that is rich with culture art and if I’m honest it’s a hub for fashion forward free thinking people the brand draws inspiration from Miami as well as my back ground in fitness and sports. I’m heavily into the rich history we have from the 80’s. I love coming up with ideas that take inspiration from the eighties and putting my own modern twists on it.

You’re also the owner of Maxrep Fitness, did fitness and wellness influence your brand in some way?
Yes fitness played a huge role in helping me navigate and sort through my ideas for designing some pieces. For instance in the most recent collection some pieces are purely inspired by fitness. For instance the nylon “est”. shorts came from gym culture and athlete’s like obj and Shawley Coker, from inaka power played a big role in my inspiration for some of my design concepts.

What’s been your favorite part so far about building Hunters and Hounds?
The freedom …freedom to lead a community.. specifically to create things I love the feeling I get when I have an idea and I watch my idea go from concept to reality I’m the most excited when I get to share my brand story or the why behind the brand.

How do you manage being the owner of Maxrep Fitness and Hunters and Hounds?
DISCIPLINE that’s how I keep things in line and my Assistant who helps me keep my head on straight a day in my life usually starts at 4 or 5 am clients then I switch over to hunters and hounds work after. whether its social media marketing or it’s brand strategy for launching pieces the most important thing is having a daily routine to keep things separate and in order.

Have you faced any challenges along the way?
I think the most important thing is to learn how to tell the story of your brand and if you are going to work with someone make sure that they can show proof that they are who they say they are. The clothing brand and fashion industry is littered with people just waiting to prey on those who need help they will promise a lot and under deliver. Simply put vet people.

What’s next for you and Hunters and Hounds?
Well we have our Black Friday drop we are dropping a Tee in two different colors a trucker and our first hoodie as well as putting past collections on sale outside of that the 6th collections is also well on its way I can’t wait to show that to the world I’m most excited because with each collection our pieces have gotten better from a quality stand point it’s a way to show growth in the brand while also showing off just how tapped in we are with the current state of fashion.

Okay, one final question, imagine you're drawing up a 'game plan' for someone to start their brand; what's the most essential play you'd give?
Plan then execute get your ideas down on paper or into the note section in your phone from their source a place to get your suppliers for your product again make sure you vet them and make sure they can meet your turn around time for final production next make sure your financials are in order and you have a budget for everything I’m a fan of order and organization so keep your financials in order and you’ll be alot less stressed next is networking I can’t stress that enough building a solid network can get you into doors that a degree or two can’t.

COMMUNITY CORNER

The community question this week was,
What’s something you learned about yourself this year?

Thank you to everyone who took the time to answer, believe it or not, you are helping someone feel like they are not alone in their journey of self-improvement.

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