Robert Felder was just a high school student when he stumbled upon an idea that would shape his career. It all started when Robert went on an overseas trip with his father and came back home to Florida. During the trip, he gained insight on clothing and how it was made in factories. His father works in the apparel industry, so he had exposure to the career from a young age. Once Robert came back home, he was in the market for a new pair of shorts. However, he was not able to find what he wanted. He began to question how much effort it would take to create his own pair of shorts; made exactly the way he wanted them. With the help of his father, he began to create his own line of shorts and made a website. Bearbottom. During his time at college, he launched his company completely. With every pair of shorts sold, Robert wanted to donate a pair to the people of Bangladesh. He noticed that they needed a pair of adventure shorts as much as he did, and he truly believes that they need support. Another value of the company is to create comfortable menswear clothing. Robert says in his interview from Forbes that the company as a whole, cares immensely for their customers. Robert views his team very highly. He describes his team as the backbone of his company. BearBottom has expanded to sell more than just shorts, with plans to sell women’s clothing in the future. BearBottom has a mission of giving back and giving to communities that are not able to experience clothing like BearBottom. According to their website, the company has donated 100,000+ shorts to children in Bangladesh and even India. Overall, BearBottom is a comfortable clothing brand focused on helping others be more comfortable in their day-to-day adventures.
This is a great post! It’s really cool to hear how Robert was able to go with his father overseas and get some first-hand experience with something (clothing) he was interested in. I also love it when people take action and find their own solution when they have an issue/problem. Robert has a really good story, and it is always great to hear about a younger person giving back to people who are less fortunate as he himself is finding success. Great Job!
Wow this post is really inspiring! This is crazy because it is actually something that really interests me and would be so cool to do. I like how Robert really just saw the idea and with the help of his father completely immersed himself into the midst of the clothing world and tackled his dream. This boldness to solve a problem regardless of the difficulty seemed to be hugely vital to Robert’s thriving career.