Business

After Starting His Own Business, 15-Year-Old Trey Brown Retired Mom From Her Job

Trey Brown is showing us all how it’s done. The 15-year-old entrepreneur began his own fashion brand, SPERGO, with his birthday money, and his mother was able to retire. According to Harlem World Magazine, Brown was able to turn $178 in birthday cash into a lucrative business in just three years.

Brown created SPERGO because he wanted to start a clothing line that made urban luxury activewear. He was inspired by people like Diddy and Steve Jobs to begin a business young. Brown also noted the violence in his community and said that he wanted to give kids better options.

“There’s so much violence in my community. Kids are being killed; kids are killing kids. I created SPERGO to give myself and my friends another option. SPERGO keeps me busy and off the streets. This year, I was able to hire four of my friends and my brother at the Odunde Festival, and it felt so good to give them an opportunity to make money while doing something positive.”

He discussed how he got

SPERGO started with Philadelphia Magazine back in 2019 who he was just 13-years-old.

“I reinvested all of my earnings 100 percent,” he said. “I don’t take money out of my business because it is still growing. Once I sold out my first week, I put all of my earnings towards my next purchase to get even more products. I kept doing that. I started SPERGO with $178, which was part of my birthday money. I asked my mom if I could start a clothing line, and she said, ‘Yes, we will research it.’ But I took the initiative to reach out to some local people for help.”

Nehemiah Davis sent Brown videos about how to start a T-shirt business, and Brown took notes. With his mom’s help, he bought some T-shirts and had them printed. After that, he went around to local shops to sell them.

Soon, people like Meek Mill and P Diddy wore Brown’s gear, and Diddy gave him a $25,000 business grant to expand his business. He now has a second location in Washington, D.C. Brown also recently signed a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers’ Buy Black Program, a program created to help local and Black-owned businesses grow.

Brown is homeschooled, and his mother was a teacher, so that he can balance his work duties and schoolwork quite well. The young businessman isn’t done growing yet, either. Eventually, he wants SPERGO to be sold in stores like Saks, Neiman Marcus and Macy’s.

Niko Mann

Niko Mann is a Freelance Journalist for News Onyx and Sister2Sister. She lives in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter@niko1mann.