Watching MTV music video countdowns at six years old was not a typical thing to do at that age. I should’ve been watching more cartoons or PBS to inform myself on whatever it was that we were taught at the age of six. But that wasn’t as important as finding out whose video would be #1 each week. I watched it solely to feel the music and how great I thought the production was compared to anything else I heard at the time. I was intrigued by the rap entourages, the cars and most importantly the shoes. Something about Air Force Ones being rapped about was my favorite thing to listen to. When I heard that Nelly song, I remember asking my parents to buy me all-white pairs to go along with whichever outfit I was trying to mimic. I probably had a new pair of Air Force Ones every month and felt just like the artist on those music programs. It was the start of what would eventually introduce me to the world of sneakers.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I fell in love with Old Skool Vans, Hi-Top Converse and most Jordans regardless of the model (I know how frowned upon that has become now). But as my feet continued to grow, it became a hassle to buy just any sneaker since money was harder to come by as I grew up. I had two options at that point: wait until my birthday or have a nice relative randomly hand me enough cash to buy some shoes. Unfortunately, the chances of the second option were slim. I turned to other hobbies that I really can’t remember as I’m writing this but I knew one day I’d be able to fund my passion for sneakers and clothing too. And at 16, my first job would allow me to revive my clothing hobby once more.

As a high school student, my 16-year-old self worried about every aspect of youth. From the grades I got, to the friends I had and to the way I looked to other people in class. I finally had the money for all these clothes just as I wished. But for some reason it wasn’t doing enough for me like it once was. My feelings of anxiety and depression were the only thing I really thought about at the time. I tried for the longest to figure myself out but my confidence was at an all-time low despite the Lacoste and Ralph Lauren I had in my closet. And because of this, I was afraid that somewhere in between, I would get lost in my own thoughts and worries. But after trial and error of figuring out what it was that I could do for myself, listening to music was my only form of therapy at the time. I immersed my playlist with pure Rap music just as I did as a child and listened to 2000’s Hip-Hop playlist from the golden ages of TV. I always relied on music to change the way I felt. And for a while, it did just that and again I would fall into this trap of depression. Until the day I found one artist in particular that made me feel a new excitement for living, accepting myself as I was yet being able to challenge my own train of thoughts into better ones. That artist was Kanye West.

Kanye’s music became a pivotal moment in my life whilst forcing me down a rabbit hole of finding every reference point he mentions involving pop culture, music and most importantly fashion. His ability to present the world with his clothing line inspired me to care about clothing more than anything else going on at this time. His outlook on fashion resembles a lot of the same frustrations that most people have ever felt about their dreams including my own.

The lack of support from your peers and family can make you second guess a lot of your ideas. As a teen, I felt like I had a lot of weight on my shoulders with my own family. The constant pressure of choosing my future at 16 was irritating and shameful to think about. The sad part was I really had no answer to that. I graduated high school and began to think about what I really wanted to do. Around this time, people expect a more definite answer to your future.

Throughout the first year and a half of college, I realized I didn’t need an answer. Even when I finally picked courses in Journalism, I had a lingering thought of venturing into other fields. Fashion was the better part of my life outside of school. I cared about what I wore, how it fit and the intricacies of each material. I knew that clothing was becoming more of an interest than other hobbies. In November of 2018, I sat down with a close friend of mine who described a similar situation happening to my now business partner, friend and creative, Bryant Medina.

It was through our mutual friend Jorge (my girlfriend’s dad) that we had met. And in the times I spoke with Jorge, he told me about his past experiences in making his own clothing line as well. He explained the ups and downs he went through to make things work out but it just never stuck for him. Jorge knew that with the passion that I had for clothing, it would only be right to bring Bryant alongside and form a team. And after our first few conversations, I realized the level of attachment we had to build a brand and hopefully (as I am writing this) make it an empire. We talked about our different takes on fashion, our interest in sneakers and missing out on the better end of streetwear because of our finances as teens. At this point in my life, I knew there was a chance to act on my idea and express my interest in creating a business with him.

Bryant had also tagged along his friend Eddie, who was on board with our idea, to become a five-person team in this journey. Jorge’s son Kendall also showed interest in what we were doing so he followed our footsteps to help us outline our ideas together. When we all had our first meeting, we barely took it seriously. Some of us were glued to the television which made others in the group pay less attention as well. After hours of binge watching Lakers games and live streaming concert festivals, we finally talked about coming up with some names. At first, I thought the names were going to be easy to come up with. But I quickly learned that with four other minds at work, it became more difficult to settle on a name. That night we came up with a few names like FiveFifths, BlankWorld, NoName and a list of other names we thought would work. We thought wrong...

Within the first two months, we changed the name about five times and Eddie had also left after a disagreement about our commitment to the brand. But if we’re being honest, none of us were prepared for this road. I was a full-time college student, while juggling a part-time job; I barely had time to think about the business. I couldn’t devote as much time as anyone else in the group had because I felt too clogged with my own problems. Once again, the same thoughts that buried my head when I was 16 came back to fog my mind.

It was down to three of us now and we had to really take this seriously if we wanted to make a name for ourselves. At the time, Bryant left to work with Eddie for the next few months as they continued to brainstorm through names. They eventually came up with ‘Veedá’ since they liked how the name conveyed luxury and a feeling of recognition. Bryant liked the name so much that it stuck with him through every design he was making. Later on, they added the ‘02’ since it was only him and Eddie working together at the time. But after several months, they shared some differences on their commitment to the brand and would go their separate ways. Byrant would once again join Jorge, Kendall and I on our path. When he came back in 2019, he pitched us every idea he was working on and the brand name that would stick with him forever.

Bryant explained to us the meaning of ‘02 Veedá’ and how he felt connected to Veedá. A friend of his gave him that nickname at the time and it felt right for Bryant to use the name. As he talked about his admiration for the name, everyone else in the group took on their own interpretation as well. The ‘02’ was powerful to each of us since it symbolized two ideas, two interpretations and many other things that involve more than just one thing to take place. We loved the name ‘Veedá’ as well for its elegance and how organic it felt to us when we heard it. Since Eddie was fine with Bryant taking ownership of the name, our brand would now be known as the precious 02 Veedá. I can tell there was a new level of confidence to our passion for building the brand. As time passed, we grew to love the name more and more and stuck with it just like Bryant had. All we needed to do now was reach out to a lawyer that would finally help us put 02 Veedá under our control. In the months that followed, that would be our main focus as a team.

By the time we came up with the name, it took us even longer to finalize our trademark and create a logo. We had months where we wouldn’t create or even mention 02 Veedá because we felt that without a trademark, there wasn’t much we could do. So we remained stagnant through the two-year process and only gave each other titles for what we would be responsible for. I chose to represent the marketing, Bryant would be our main designer, Jorge would help us run the business and Kendall would make the music for when we were ready to roll out content. During this time, we went through droughts of creativity, lack of effort and ultimately blaming ourselves for not starting soon enough. Throughout all these issues, there were always disagreements as to what our roles were. We invaded each other's office space (as I like to call it) and stepped on each other's toes too often. While these disagreements were miniscule, they would eventually turn into a huge problem in the end. Like every team, we each wanted to be the captain and would selfishly think we knew what was best for the brand. In reality, we were all new to this. Nobody knew what we were doing and it would show in the next few months when we would finally get to a major breaking point...

Before the breaking point, we had created designs for our first t-shirt and figured out production numbers, samples and photoshoots to schedule. We went to a showroom where we got to feel and see what it’s like to pick our own products. We decided to move forward with a 100% cotton 9 oz tees in black and white. We had a story for them and would name the collection Diamonds and Pearls. It would be the start of what we all want: A story which explores the struggles of life we all go through, but like a Diamond and a Pearl, the tough journey will have an end result of beauty in its core. I felt like we were finally in the right direction with everything that was going on. The only thing that would get in our way at this point was ourselves...

While we had some success in selling our collection, there were a lot of concerns I had about production cost and pricing. I knew what we made would have to be priced higher since we really wanted to hone in on quality. Our t-shirts were priced at $50 right off the bat and I had to let it work out. If we wanted to set ourselves apart from other companies, we had to show people that we strive for quality and not quantity. However, this motto didn’t make me feel so good at the time. I wanted my friends to support my vision as much as possible but it was too expensive for them. It hurt my passion but I knew it was for the greater good of the brand.

As we progressed on finding the next item to release, I pitched a new idea to the rest of the team that I had never seen before: Reversible denim beanies. It hadn’t been done before according to everything I had seen online, so I thought it was something we could bring to the table. I imagined it would sell out instantly and would be the best thing we ever made. We got to work and found a fabric store in DTLA where we would buy rolls of denim material and fabric that would help the denim work on our heads. The cool thing about this idea was that it was organic. I saw my idea being brought to life and it made me happy. It even inspired us to make reversible ski masks. During the development of each item, Bryant booked us a pop-up stand in Los Angeles where other small vendors would sell their products and bring friends and family to support 02. In the meantime, he would also start working on an LA inspired hoodie with a twist of our design on it. It was a neat idea. We thought everything would go well with production since we felt confident in our new products. But although we felt ready to put these items out, one disagreement would change the trajectory of our team and we would lose another member.

That member was Kendall. Kendall and I both held concerns over the quantity of items since our past drops made us skeptical as to how our beanies, ski masks, LA Hoodies, and leftover inventory from our Diamonds & Pearls Collection would turn out. The argument didn’t last very long since we knew we had to push forward. We all apologized to each other and continued to count down the days until our event. But Kendall had his doubts about a lot of our motives and it wouldn’t be until a few days before where he would step down from 02 Veedá. When the day finally arrived, it entailed countless problems that would once again shape our future with the brand.

The day of the pop-up event, nothing was going to plan. Bryant had to rush to finish some LA hoodies, ski masks and beanies that were still being worked on the night before the event. We were working until the last second and it showed how unprepared we all were for an event this early in our business. When we arrived, it was clear our booth was not as good as others. Our presentation lacked everything we initially wanted, the beanies were only on display and we had a makeshift table set up with a projector showing our past photoshoots. During the event, some of our items were being sold to our friends and family that came to support. That did make things a little better but it was nothing compared to the expectations we had. After the night was over, none of our ski masks were purchased and we closed shop quickly. I was upset because I knew the team had worked so hard for this. And despite what I thought was a complete failure, we kicked our feet up on the desk (not literally) and patted ourselves on the back for showing up. Deep down, I knew that it wasn’t the way we ever wanted to go about it. We built 02 Veedá on the foundation of two ideas coming together to essentially make incredible artwork in life, clothes and storytelling. All these elements of success and dreams were not as present as I thought they’d be. Weeks later, I left 02 Veedá.

A few weeks after the pop-up event I got a chance to talk to Bryant about where we were as a team. It was going smooth at first until we began to disagree on certain expectations we had for each other and the way we performed in our craft. Throughout the conversation, our voices grew louder and we began to insult each other on a personal level. We had arguments before but this one felt different. It felt like a broken trust in our brotherhood that was irreparable (at the time). This is where I believe we both fucked up. We had taken three years to finally make a product work and were barely in the process of starting our journey. All that didn’t matter to me at the time so I left. I deleted every piece of 02 Veedá on my phone, laptop and anywhere else I had stored ideas. After just three days, I truly let go of the brand. I announced it on my Instagram and made it clear to people that I was no longer a part of the company. I regret it now because I know how hard it was to even get to where we are even if it is not very far. So for the next month, I would figure out a way to get my name off any paperwork from the company.

Two months later, I went to NYC with Bryant and a few other friends as well. By this time, we were on good terms and we came to the conclusion that we were both at fault. We moved on with our problems and enjoyed the beauty of seeing the other side of fashion in New York. The style out there is unique from what I’ve seen in LA. You can tell a lot of people prioritize their comfort over style but it works so well for what it is. We also spent a significant amount of time at The MET and saw some of the looks from the 2021 Met Gala. It was incredible to see it all and get a second perspective from what we’ve seen before in California. When we came back home, it was time for me to look for the next step in my career. Like I previously said, I had very little interest in pursuing the field that I majored in. I tried my best to figure out where I wanted to be and when I applied to those positions, I kept getting rejected. I felt defeated in my path because nothing had seemed to be working out in my life. I had a degree, past experience in my field and still remained unemployed through it all. Thankfully, my girlfriend was very supportive through my circumstances and would try her best to network and find some jobs for me. And still no luck. I beat myself up over this and felt unworthy of every good quality I possessed. From the time I got back until March, I am still looking for employment. But something changed in me within the last two weeks of February. I was okay with failing. I was okay with rejection. I was now ready to live through these problems instead of trying to suppress them all the time. That was my issue and it was there when I was 16 too. I had to accept where I was on this journey of life and try my best to keep my head up and be open to any possibilities the universe sent me. That same open-minded thinking reignited the initial spark I felt with 02 Veedá. Since my name wasn’t cleared from any legal work yet, I knew I had to talk to the remaining members about coming back.

When I spoke with Jorge, he clarified his stance on my return and was open to the possibility. It was quite a quick response and now I just had Bryant left to speak to. We were already on good terms and I was content with how things were. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to bring up my feelings on returning to the company. At first, he seemed reluctant about his answer. He asked me to give him a day or so to think about it. Truthfully, I had been in a better headspace than ever before and I knew no matter what he said, I’d convince him that things would be different this time. The next day while we were sitting down with Jorge, Bryant was cool with my decision to rejoin the team.

It’s been about 2 and a half weeks since my return and I am excited to say that things have been better for me than ever before. My teenage problems won’t hold me back this time and they certainly won’t be the reason for my mistakes. While my mind continues to change much like my wardrobe, 02 Veedá is always a part of our identities as our dreams come to fruition. And that is the beauty of it all.

-02 Jesse Nunez-Garcia