Edition: Happy Hour
Magazine Orange County

Issue: July/August
‘10

Feature: Mind That
Moves

Writer: Adam Brugman

Photo: Blair Robb

Interviewee: Dean
Quinn

Website: OQuinnClothing.com

Age:

Current Residence: Huntington Beach Ca.

Favorite Happy Hour:  Tavarua bar

Favorite Cocktail/Beer: Corona

Favorite surf spot (World and in Orange County):
Cloudbreak Tavarua, River Jettys HB side of coarse!

What is something only a local would know about Orange
County? You don’t need to be a MMA fighter to live here.

Describe what kind of clothing and the lifestyle that is
O’Quinn Clothing? We are a company built on great fits, fabrics and cutting
edge style.

What separates O’Quinn Clothing from other lifestyle
fashion brands? Allot of action sports brands were built on great marketing
strategies, O’Quinn will be built on great products.

What is your surf background? Started when I was 9 yrs
old and have been doing it ever since. 
Local pro surfer in the 80’S won National title in 1999.

What is your business background? Started in sales, moved
into design later.  Been at it for
25 years. I didn’t finish collage because I was a traveling pro surfer. I wish
everyday I got a better education. It’s allot harder to do without one. I
decided to surround myself with people allot smarter then me.

What made you launch your own clothing line? It was time
for me to step out on my own and create a company that produced product I was
passionate about.  Some people are
happy to work for other people there whole careers, I was never that person. I
always knew that someday there would be an O’Quinn brand.

What made you name the clothing O’Quinn, instead of just
Quinn Clothing? O’Quinn is my real last name. My family droped the O from
O’Quinn when they migrated to America. I thought I should bring it back.

How did you fund the start-up? Dale Rhodes and myself put
in the initial funding then brought on partners. We also have had friends and
family who believed in our dream and we wouldn’t be here without there love and
support the last couple years.  Its
so important to have the right partners who share the same vision and have the
patience to keep investing even in the worst rescission this country has seen
in 50 years. Our partners at Rio are the best we could hope for.

Tell us a brief history of O’Quinn clothing. Started in
2007 by Dale Rhodes and myself after a surf trip down to mainland Mexico.  We were surfing an amazing 6ft beach
break and thought afterward we could conquer the world ha-ha. Wow what we
didn’t know at the time was how hard this was going to be!

Where is your clothing made? Our partners have factories
in Honduras; this is why we have in my humble opinion the very best tee shirts
in the world. Once you put on an O’Quinn tee shirt you will see what all the
hype is about.

How many employees do you have? We currently have 11
employees.

What has lead to the success of your clothing line to not
only be sold in surf shops, but being carried by high-end retailers?  It’s all about the product.

Do you feel that some of the ‘real surf/skate lifestyle’
community feels like you are selling out since you’re carried at a place like
Nordstrom? What makes a company “core”?, some would argue it’s the stores that
make a brand “core”. I believe it’s the people who run the companies like the
people at O’Quinn. Dale Rhodes and myself both surf every day and live the core
lifestyle. From a small brand stand point “core equals poor”. When we first
started out we wanted to be in only the best boutiques and surf and skate shops
in America. What we found out was the buyers from surf and skate were way more
hesitant to try new brands then the other so called non-core stores. It’s funny
to go from a big company I used to work for where they bend over backwards to
accomadate you. Then you start your own brand and they don’t give you even a
shot. I’ve been so humbled by this whole experience. It was a way to see who
your friends really are. The stores we are in now I feel are our partners and I
will never forget the stores and the people who gave us a shot and stood by us
from the beginning.  It’s easy to
jump on board when the brand is blowing up, it’s the stores who help build that
brand from the beginning that are my heroes.

Have you received any backlash from it or has it been
pretty much positive?  You need to
have enough sales to do give back to the communities in surf and skate or help
bands achieve their dreams. It’s what you do with those sales that matter.  When O’Quinn gets big enough my dream
is to have an ASP surfing event and a Maloof Cup in America. I want to use
O’Quinn to help faciilitat peoples dream not only my partners and mine. So any
backlash we might get is worth it in the end.

What are you day-to-day duties? I start my day by trying
to pay as many bills as I can. Then I start to work on production. Then it’s
onto working in design with Mike Morton our Graphic and Design director. Then
onto Sales with VP of Sales Dale Rhodes. And finish my days with calls to
people I couldn’t pay today. It’s always a fun filled day to say the least.

How rapid is the company growing? We have doubled in
sales every year since we started.

How much is O’Quinn Clothing expected to make in 2010?
Not enough!!

What has lead to the success of O’Quinn Clothing?
Product, Product and product.  Our
success has been by word of month. We have no national exposure to speak of,
but we are doing well across the country just on the quality of our product.
People who appreciate great fits and fabrics search for brands like O’Quinn.  O’Quinn is a “product brand” first and
a marketing brand second. Some brands are great marketing brands and some are
all about great product, I chose great product over great marketing.

What has been your biggest accomplishment or all-time
high as a company? Receiving “Entrepreneur of the Year” award this year was a
big surprise. You work hard and struggle everyday and it’s nice to see somebody
recognized that.

What has been the all-time low as a company? In 2007 I
had to let some people go to down size at the time to survive that year. These
were people who were with us from the beginning and was not an easy decision.

What has been your biggest challenge? Finding buyers
willing to give us a chance.  I
hear all the complaints about the big guys opening stores around these accounts
but very few are willing to do anything about it.  If you have new brands coming up then the big guys are not
as important. This industry was built on new and upcoming brands. They are just
as important as the big guy’s who been around for so long. The big brands of
the 90’s aren’t even around any longer. It’s always changing. I have nothing
but respect for brands like Quiksilver, Billabong and Stussy who been around as
long as they have and are still doing great product and giving back to there
communities.

Best business decision to date: To not listen to all the
haters and start a brand in this economy.

Worst business decision to date: To many to list! It’s a
learning experience every single day.

What is your ultimate goal for your brand? To build a brand
that can give people careers and athletes changes to live out there dreams like
I do everyday.

You just released a record. How was it inspired? What can
we expect from it? Where can someone buy it? This was the brainchild of Mark
Moreno who works with O’Quinn as a Sales/Marketing manager. Mark is an
accomplished DJ and wanted to get some of his and his friend’s music out
there.  It’s not for sale but just
to enjoy their talents.

What do you look for in your Brand Ambassadors? All sorts
of different things. Take Aaron Astorga from San Diego, he is an amazing
surfer, skater and snowboarder. But most importantly it’s his passion that I
like. He is willing to do anything to help build this brand. That is what I
look for in an ambassador, somebody with passion in and out of his or her
respected sport.

Which one of them should we look out for in 2010? Ryan
Carlsons videos parts, Tosh Townends come back, our girls surf team pushing the
level higher in girls surfing, 
Steven Lippmans amazing photography and (top turns!).  Every ambassador on our team has a
dream and its O’Quinn job to be there for them and to help achieve their goals.

Lastly, what is something personally that many do not
know about you? I donated a Kidney to my father and it saved his life. Please
be an organ donor it save lives!!

Anything else we missed or you would like to add? I think
I covered it. ;)

Thank you again for your time and best of luck in 2010 at
O’Quinn Clothing.