My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, fell in love by going to music festivals. What you wear and how you express yourself at these events is a key part of the overall experience.
“On the show, Robert Herjavec from Shark Tank said, “Brian was one of, if not the best entrepreneur we’ve had here.”
I had the pleasure of interviewing the EmazingBrian, Brian Lim Founder and CEO of iHeartRaves. Brian leads the corporate office and is CEO of the brand family, the Emazing Group https://emazinggroup.com/. Brian is known as a serial entrepreneur who has bootstrapped 3 ecommerce businesses that include emazinglights.com, iheartraves.com, intotheam.com, which collectively gross over $20M per year. He started out with $100 selling out of the trunk of his car, and was able to grow that into a company called the EmazingGroup. Brian was on season 6 of ABC’s Shark Tank where he received offers from all five sharks. He took a deal from Mark Cuban for $650,000 in exchange for 5% equity in the company, and a licensing deal from Daymond John for 20% of profits.Since 2010, The Emazing Group has been the comprehensive e-commerce solution for passion-driven consumer lifestyle brands with unique and innovative brands such as EmazingLights https://www.emazinglights.com/, iHeartRaves and INTO THE AM https://www.intotheam.com/. Inspiring individual creativity and expression through fashion at festivals and beyond, the iHeartRaves team is comprised of avid festivalgoers and dance music enthusiasts from all walks of life. Their love for music and festival fashion is what drives and inspires their passion to create innovative products, provide high quality service to truly connect with customers. Believing in expanding the culture of the EDM community has inspired them to strive to provide customers the ability to express their own personal style.
Thank you for joining us. Is your career path in the fashion industry a lifelong dream?
My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, fell in love by going to music festivals. What you wear and how you express yourself at these events is a key part of the overall experience. We would always customize our outfits and wear items you couldn’t find in the local mall. We got compliments and asked all the time where we got our clothing. We felt like there was a huge need in the marketplace that no professional companies were filling and thus we started iHeartRaves.
I love it because it’s something that I’m truly passionate about.
Where do you get your inspiration?
Dave Ramsey — Entreleadership & Tony Hsieh — Delivering Happiness
What is your greatest accomplishment professionally and personally?
I was on season 6 of ABC’s Shark Tank where I received offers from all five sharks. It was one of the most exciting moments of my career as a business owner. On the show, Robert Herjavec said I was “one of, if not the best entrepreneur we’ve had here.” I took a deal from Mark Cuban for $650,000 in exchange for 5% equity in the company and a licensing deal from Daymond John for 20% of profits.
Can you tell us an interesting story that has happened in your career lately?
The iHeartRaves team is traveling out to TomorrowLand in Belgium for the first time ever! TomorrowLand is the biggest EDM musical festival in the world and everyone dreams of attending.
What made you want your clothing line focus be on rave type of clothing?
We live, eat, and breathe electronic dance music culture; which includes attending music festivals worldwide. We strongly believe in inspiring creativity and empowering self-expression.
During festival season, what are your top 5 tips to make sure you have the best festival season this year?
1) Buy your tickets for the festival well in advance.
2) Plan your outfits with your rave fam.
3) Make sure you stay hydrated when you’re dancing non-stop.
What makes your clothing line unique from others?
Our clothing is designed by avid festivalgoers always looking for the latest trends in festival outfits. We love sparkles, soft fabric, bright colors and tight curve-hugging fits. We understand the culture behind raves and do our best to incorporate that into each and every piece of clothing. At raves, we treat each other with peace, love, unity and respect and we hope to create that same feeling with our customers when they go through the experience of purchasing something from us.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Mark Cuban and Daymond John certainly helped me quite a bit. But I probably never would have made it in front of Shark Tank if I didn’t have an amazing team standing strong with me. My incredible employees are what continue to drive our brands forward.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world? What charities or organizations are nearest to your heart?
We regularly donate to our favorite charity, The Joyful Heart Foundation. Also, one of our social initiatives that we’ve created is called the Unicorn Crew. We actively recruit new members to represent our brand at festivals throughout the year in an effort to interact with attendees, spread positivity, and provide coverage of the event. We feel that it’s important for people to express themselves and have the ability to wear whatever they want, without judgment from others or society in general. This helps promote that.
What advice would you give a young professional just starting out their career in fashion?
Fashion moves extremely fast and that speed translates into everyday business decisions. There is never a dull moment for sure!
What can consumers expect from your clothing line this year?
Expect more eye-catching gear made with outrageous and fun fabrics that you’ve never seen before and unique prints created by our own in-house team that will make you stand out. As much as we make clothes specifically for raves and festivals, we’re coming out with more styles such as bomber jackets, kimonos, leggings, and shirts that you can pair with your everyday clothes so you can feel magical any day of the week. Check out our brand new Lifestyle collection, which goes beyond the rave and focuses on outfits for everyday life.
