Moziah “Mo” Bridges loved to wear three-piece suits as he loved dressing up, but he hated the bow ties that were sold in stores. None of them were stylish enough for his taste to make him look sharp. At 9 years old, he created Mo’s Bows, to solve that problem.
When Mo came up with the idea for Mo’s Bows, his grandmother, a former seamstress, taught him how to sew. Mo, his mother, and grandmother all helped out sewing the ties in the early days of the company and ran the business from their home. He sold his creations to local stores and got attention of national press outlets like The Steve Harvey Morning Show and Oprah Magazine. This helped him land on an episode of Shark Tank in 2014, and got one of the best deals in the show’s history.
He landed a deal with Daymond John as Daymond offered to mentor Mo for free. Daymond said he identified with the young Mo working with this single mother and grandmother out of their house trying to grow their clothing business.
Since 2011, Mo’s Bows has brought in $600,000 in sales. The company now has seven full time employees, including Mo and his mother. He bow ties are still being made my hand in their hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
This relationship opened up many doors for Mo, like getting his bow tie business in Neiman Marcus and Cole Haan stores. Recently, he scored a 7 figure licensing deal with the NBA to make bow ties for all 30 NBA teams. Daymond taught Mo about giving back, so Mo incorporated this and now has a redemptive side to his company: each year Mo creates a bow tie where all proceeds go to St. Jude’s Research Hospital.
Now at 17 years old, Mo is planning on having a complete fashion line by the time he is 20 years old. He wants to attend The Parsons School of Design in New York City pursuing a degree in Fashion Design. He added new clothing and apparel to Mo’s Bows including neck ties, pocket squares, t-shirts, and hats.
Mo found a problem in his passion of style and fashion and turned it into a $1 million company.
Check out Mo’s Bows here
This is such a great story of an individual who wanted to fix a problem he saw. It might not have been a problem in his mind at first but it was an annoyance. Even those little annoyances can lead to big ideas that can solve annoyances for others or just create a product that people didn’t even know they wanted. Another cool part of this story is how much networking can help you. Yes, Shark Tank is a special case, but having a mentor or someone who has connections help you or do it for a cut can help your business tremendously.
As someone who enjoys men’s accessories this is an amazing idea. Many times the ties and bowties sold in stores lack personality. I am definitely going to go and check out his products. It is very impressive for someone this young to be running a business already. It is important to have people around you to help you chase your dreams, in this case it was his grandma and mother. Also another important person that has helped him, Daymond John, seems like he has been an amazing resource. This is a great example of how older, more experienced entrepreneurs can help the coming generation. It is amazing to see how age is really just a number and that anyone can start a business.
I love Mo’s story! I love watching his interviews that are online because he is just so passionate about what he’s doing and loves it with all his heart. I think that his mentor, Daymond John was the PERFECT match for him because he too loves men’s fashion. I also think it’s super cool that he signed a contract with the NBA to make bowties for the NBA teams. That is a huge deal, and he will have so much fun designing them and being a part of the experience.
How many suits did Mo have when he was 9? It is very interesting that he would be designing bow ties that young. It is also incredible that he was able to get shark tank and make such a successful deal. I love the part where Daymond teaches Mo to give back and have a redemptive side to his business.