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Team Couture Founders
Team Couture Founders Cassandra Johnson (left) and Audrey Tolson (Image: Team Couture)
Long gone are the days of settling
 for bulky T-shirts and bland, blinged out, afterthought attire for women who want to represent their favorite sports teams. The founders of Team Couture, 
Cassandra Johnson and Audrey Tolson
 saw a need in the market for sports merchandising options that appeal to
 the fashion-forward female sports enthusiast. Johnson is an operations executive with 20 years of experience who has worked across 
many industries such as public utility,
 retail service industry, engineering,
 supply chain, and customer service.
 Tolson is a practicing attorney and
 trial lawyer with 20 years of experience specializing in medical malpractice. She owns a law firm in Atlanta, Georgia and first worked
 under the late attorney Johnny Cochran. As former college roommates and graduates of Georgia Tech, they are redefining the game of sports merchandising with brilliance and poise as they also juggle full-time careers.
The sports merchandising industry generates more than $12 billion annually. These forward-thinking entrepreneurs are certainly moving in the right direction. Forbes contributor Steve Olenski recently covered a story on “The Power Of Global Sports Brand Merchandising” and cited “the most powerful brand ambassadors in the world: women.” You can request your team on their website customized with your school or team logo.
BlackEnterprise.com: What’s the vision for Team Couture and when did you get started with the business?
Team Couture: The Team Couture collection consists of an array of fashion forward styles. The collection embraces and reflects a sophisticated and understated style for the fashion conscious fan and supporter. Team Couture is indeed the offspring of the perfect marriage between the likes of a Nike and Burberry..
Johnson started a previous line TIG:MIR greek apparel to meet the needs of fashion forward high end Greek apparel. She built up clientele and customers started asking about colleges. She knew it would take more than her to launch a new segment and Tolson also had an interest in fashion. Johnson presented the business opportunity about three years ago and the rest is history. They invested their own cash, learned from the shortfalls of the previous line, and sought lots of customer feedback. They were able to leverage the relationship with their manufacturer to get initial samples created fast. They hit the ground running with research and rolled up their sleeves to learn the collegiate merchandising industry.
How were you all able to break into the sports merchandising market? And how difficult or easy was the process?
The process was very difficult but when you love something you’ll do it even when it’s not easy. It’s a long, tedious process applying to individual organizations for the license that you want to use. We had to target an initial list of schools first which was Georgia Tech (our alma mater) and the University of Georgia. To request your school, please submit your team on our Website. It’s also been a challenge because we have weaved this business into our existing careers. We want to leave a legacy for our children. They may not want to take the traditional route and go into corporate America or join a law firm so we want to provide them options. Everyone has an affinity for a team so it’s something that our kids can relate to and something we can leave behind for them.
Did you seek out any mentors or advisors during the business ownership process?
Most definitely. I like to use the phrase, “You don’t know what you don’t know,” says Johnson. We needed individuals to provide a different perspective. We attended a trade show for collegiate apparel and connected with a gentleman who’s been in the licensing industry for 20 years. He helped us broaden the scope to all professional sports and gave the direction to aim for the NFL. He soon joined our board as our biggest advocate. He provides a pulse of what’s going on and why. He pokes holes to uncover why we can’t do something in order to mitigate and prove why we can. He asks those questions before they even come up so that we can position ourselves to be successful. That’s the best type of advisor to have. We also connected with high-end retail executives at companies like Neiman Marcus. They can provide insight on what customers are looking for and the best timing to launch different styles. On the collegiate licensing industry side, a woman we like to call our “guardian angel” has taken us under her wing. The president of GT Alumni Association Joe Irwin has also worked in the apparel industry in the legal, fashion, and collegiate arena and has become our biggest advocate. Other individuals that have helped and inspired us are: Mary Brock, co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, first female president of Morehouse School of Medicine, and Dorsey Levens from the Green Bay Packers.
How do you balance family and business?
Our husbands are very supportive – both as fellow business owners. Being an entrepreneur can consume you, especially when you’re passionate about it. You have to take the time to strike the balance, but there are times when you can’t get that balance. Deadlines can take over your life so it’s important to have a significant other who appreciates and understands that. We spend as much time with family as we can, and during times when we’re away working we use it as an opportunity to set a good example about who our children should be when they grow up. We make sure our children know that they come first. Tolson says, “One of my mentors Johnny Cochran told me, you have to keep your life in perspective. Know what your priorities are and keep things in order. If those priorities are not in order, then your life is going to be out of order. The balance comes in with keeping those things in order and it will all work itself out. It is hard being a working mom.” Johnson adds, “My family is so supportive, in particular my mom. She does so much to help take care of my son. Without her, I know it would almost be impossible.”
Where do you see Team Couture five years from now?
Team Couture will be the staple brand for high-end sports apparel. We want to set the standard and set the horizon for where sports fashion should go. We would like to be a part of New York Fashion Week, design for the U.S. Olympic team, and have fully funded “Your Story” scholarship endowments at multiple colleges/universities. We are blessed to have accomplished what we have in our personal careers and we want every young woman to have the same opportunity. Our ultimate goal is to leave a legacy that is intertwined and at the level and impact of the likes of Coco Chanel in fashion and Bill and Melinda Gates in philanthropy.
What’s your No. 1 business tip for entrepreneurs?
Stick with what you love. Make that your vision and it will never feel like work. When choosing a partner, make sure it’s the right partnership. You should complement each other in your core competencies and background. On the personal side, know when to fill in, when to step back, and how to trust each other. You should have that foundation of trust, respect, and actually like the person! You’ll spend a lot of hours together and will be juggling a lot personally and professionally. You should trust each other to represent the brand individually and have a good line of communication. Sometimes you won’t have a 50/50 workload, but in the end make sure the responsibilities and resources balance out. Look at it as working towards something bigger than yourself. Your significant other also has to believe in the vision and appreciate the journey.
What advice do you have for those looking to break into the fashion industry?
Don’t chase trends and don’t change your brand to fit a certain mold. Stick to your vision and don’t modify it to a cookie cutter fit. The trend setting brands are the ones that people love. Also, don’t make a style that you wouldn’t wear yourself. Ensure that you know what your brand is about and stick to it. Every designer has a certain look that people can identify – it stands outs. So we’re committed to staying true to our brand. We want to build something that’s iconic.


originally posted by by Candace Mitchell