 I'm here at the main mall with my friend Victor in his store which is called sufficient classic and Victor and I go way back. Yes, in fact I was kidding him because I found some pictures of when I first met him. What were you doing there? Well that was the time when I met you, by that time I was still young and still doing music. How old are you now? Yes, so now I think time to shift and people going up and I think. Got serious, right? Or maybe to a different path. Yeah, but I want you to briefly speak about what you were doing then. Come on, don't hide it. Yeah, so I used to do like music, so we used to like travel different stage and do performance. It was in high school times. Okay, and you were hoping to be recognized? Yes, definitely. And I'm not making fun of you because I've known a lot of people who started off with, you know, that skill and you wanted to be a rapper and your raps, but your raps were different which is why we use them for our program because and how were they different? Well it's different because I was encouraging young to be brave and to use the talent that they used to have is just in them and they just need to learn it out. So they were inspirational raps. Yes, inspiration. And clean language. Yes, definitely. I think that was the other thing. Because at the time I was working with the same gentleman I work with now, Anthony Bezier, and we wanted to bring you two events and have someone inspire and you were good. Yes, yes. But like you said, times move on. Definitely. Things change. Now you're originally from? I'm originally from South Sudan. And you came here at what age? I came here at 15 going to 16 years old. Okay, what high schools did you go to here? Well when we came we arrived in New Hampshire, Manchester, New Hampshire. Okay, which I know I went to Central. Oh, same thing. Oh my gosh. I didn't know that we both graduated from the same high school. Only a few years apart. Yes, Central High School, oh my god. You seriously? Yes, I graduated from Central High School. Oh my goodness. I won't tell you man. This world is too small. But I suddenly thought, oh my gosh, she's from Manchester, maybe we went to those. Amazing. So then eventually you came over to Portland. Yes, yes. I know other people in your family, so I know a little bit about your background. And you had to, like everybody else, you had to find a way to, and once you'd graduated from high school, to support yourself. Tell us a little bit. This is something other people need to know who are also maybe new. You have to try a lot of different things. Tell us about some things you tried. Definitely. So after when I finished my school, I tried, because I've been working a lot, so I was thinking of doing, you know, star business. Because I have experience of business since I was young, but not that much. So my first business was transportation. So I had my first cargo van. So this cargo van, I got a contract. I went online, indeed.com, and just put my experience. I have cargo van, I can deliver. You purchased the cargo van. Yes, I did. I went, I tried to get loan, but it seems like I have a bad experience with loans, so I rather deal with cash right away. So I bought it at the, you know, just a savage storage. Right. Well, that's one of the things that everybody has a problem with, is getting capital when they want to start up on their own. So how long did you do that, delivering cargo for people? Well, I did it for one seller year. I had a discontract with this company called Golden Way. So they gave me some loans. I took some from D.C. I transported some goods to Wyoming. I went to Iowa. So you got to see the country. Yes. I drove all the way to California and Utah and Texas, Arizona. So it was beautiful. So when I came back, actually the dispatcher and the team, they told me that I think it's better if you buy a bigger, you know, 18 wheeler's truck drive, you know, a truck. So it kind of encouraged me. It's like you make, you make okay money, but if you get 18 wheeler's truck, you might make more than that. All right. So it kind of encouraged me. So I came back to Maine, Portland, Maine, and I got another contract with Bob's furniture. Oh, okay. Right. I used to deliver some furnitures and I did that for like one year and raised me some capital. And basically I went and I purchased my first 18 wheeler's truck. Which I believe you still own. Yes, definitely. Definitely. So I put that on lease right now. Someone is leasing it. So this investment that eventually you drove a big truck long distance, right? Yes. And so then, and again, I hope you understand what I'm doing is breaking it down for people. You invest in this bigger truck, you drive it, you make money, and then you say, oh, you know, I don't think I want to do this forever. Yes, definitely. Because you were a family man by then. Yes. Yes. It's difficult. It's difficult. I mean, especially when you're trying to do business and you're going to be putting 100% into it, it's just your family's going to be there. You're not there for the kids. And it's kind of funny because when I did my first runs to California, and it was close to Christmas time. So I had to make my trip back before Christmas. Oh, boy. And my kids was like, dad, are you going to come for Christmas? I was like, yeah, I'll make it. But unfortunately, I made it really like I made it on December 2024. Wow. You came down the chimney. 2021. I came at night too. And the woke up in the morning was like, oh, dad, you're here. Oh, that's great. You and Jackie now have six kids, right? Yes, yes, yes. All together, yes. Yeah, all together. Big family. Big family. Big responsibility. Yes, yes. And then at some point, I guess, from our conversation fairly recently, you told me that you ended up traveling to Africa, you and Jackie, mostly probably to get in touch with family and see things you hadn't seen. And while you were there, was when you, this was, was this in Dubai? Yes, yes. We went to Dubai. And actually, we went to Tanzania too. And we, that's what kind of encouraged, we just went accidentally. But I think, you know, the plan just went perfectly. We went and went to this big market, we found, you know, I like dressing suits. So most of the time when I go to church, people are like, Hey, where did he shop? Can you take us to a shop or whatever it is? Just shop with him. So it kind of encouraged me too. But when I went overseas, I saw a store, the selling suit. So basically there were, if you are just a regular customer, they can sell your suit with higher price. Of course. But if you were, yes. So if you have a come, like you want to do it for a company, whatever it is, so the price is kind of, is, is reasonable. Right. So, yeah. So basically, me and my wife, we thought it was a good idea to start this. So our first investment was about $3,400. That was the first purchase that we made. Were you scared? I was, yeah. It's very, I was very scared. I mean, because you buying something, you don't know where, where you're going and how you're going to do it. Figure you're just going to have those suits in the closet for the rest of your life. Yeah. And probably knock people doors. You're like, Hey, I got super sales. Yeah, I know. It's scary. It's scary. Yes. Yes. But it comes with risk. So, yeah, I know I have to interrupt here and just say this is, I've been working with, with people from other countries, particularly Africa now for over 10 years. And I find it absolutely amazing that you guys are willing to take risks. I wouldn't have taken for all the, no, I'm sorry. I wouldn't do it. And my family would have said, don't do it. Don't do it. You know, I mean, I have some skills in terms of making things, but I would never have thrown all my all, you know what I mean into doing that. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. So you were nervous, and I'm sure Jackie was scared too, but you went ahead and did it. Yes. Did you start right here in this particular space? No, actually. So when we got the place, I mean, when we got the suits, we came home. And so we bought the suits and we bought some different purchase for, you know, the brand names also for the women. But so we want to start, my wife is like, let's just do it locally. So we went and asked the price for locally, but I was concerning about safety and someone can come and break in your store and can steal. And another thing, you have to put a lot of work on advertising just to make sure people that know your location and so they can come and get some, you know, stuff from you. So I was like, okay, you know what, I think it's a good idea, but let's take another risk. Let's come to the mall. Go whole hog. In other words, don't just find some hole in the wall that nobody knows is there. Yes. Yes. Let's go where everybody goes shopping. Exactly. Very good. You went to the market. So we took this huge risk and I believe it's a good idea because we don't have to do a lot of work on calling people or putting flyers. The advertising is here. People are going to walk on. Everybody just walking through and when they see something good, of course they'll come and we're trying to get. So I have what the market, what people want. And when you have what people want, they always come and get it. That's right. Let's talk about what you have because that's one of the reasons we're here. Yes. Where would you like to start because we are going to have some photographs. We're going to overlay to this, but we're also going to, you know, take some things and show everybody. Yes. Yes. So basically here we have a lot of different colorful suits and tuxedos. It's beautiful. And don't be scared. The price is reasonable. Our regular suit here is $194. It comes with three pieces, jacket and the vest and the pants. So here I have collection of many suits here, but I have this children's suit here. It could be for wedding or birthday. It could be wedding or birthday. I'm a grandma, so I'm looking at it going, oh, yes, yes. It's very cute. It's very, very nice. And I remember you came last time, you found the yellow, like, gold. Yes. The one looked like Michael Jackson would have worn it. I wish I'd bought it. That one has been. It falls right off the shelf. It's out of the stock right now. Yeah. Yeah. So we do have also a black tuxedo for children as well. We have all different size from one, one years old to 12 years old as well. So it's beautiful. It comes with, with the bow tie and the price is reasonable too. It's $145. So all three with this can go on with that. And we have different ones. So we're not going to go too far, but that's okay. We have a blue one too, shiny, sparking. And we have this, this classical one with some, you know, checker, green. Yeah. That's, I think that's called a plaid picture. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. The plaid one. Yeah. Beautiful. So I have. And then for the big boys. Yeah. For the big guys here, I have one of this, this one here is a great tuxedo. It's gold and black. And I got to be honest with you, when I first met my friend Bazeer, he would have gone, oh, buy me that, buy me that. I love it. And I would have said, ah, but now I've been to African weddings and all the men look just as good as the ladies. I mean, they are wearing some very sharp looking clothes. And my tastes have changed because I can see, I think it's because when, I hate to say this, American men don't dress up very much. And to see something like this, I'd be like, wow, I never would have seen my father in that. But I'm starting to like it. Yeah. I'm starting to like it. This one is kind of famous in African, African parties. If you go to African parties, you see a lot of people wearing those kind of tuxedos. Yeah. All right. And we have a gold one. There's gold here. Wow. This golden one, shiny. I'll tell you, a man looks very nice in something like this. It's beautiful. A lot of prom kids love this. They used to have, we brought some couple of stocks in it right now. I believe there are only three left right now. So we also have wedding suit for men. If you're looking for having a wedding, we have three pieces sets here. It comes with the jacket. It's a piece of lint. Jacket and blazer and divests and the pants as well. Oh, the vest is black. Yes. Okay. That's interesting. That's okay. It looks nice. The reason also this one, this business kind of encouraged me because I went, when we had our first wedding, me and my wife, we basically, I struggled. I was looking for men tuxedos, wedding tuxedo. I couldn't find any. Really? I drove all the way to Boston. It's just not what I want. And also my son was, I couldn't find anything for my son. Yeah. It was a household. I used to drive all the way to New York. Because people here don't buy a tuxedo. Yes. They rent one. Yeah. And that's just, I think the man should, I mean, certainly a woman would never rent a wedding dress. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's a big event. And I think the more, what, the bigger the event, the more you should invest in yourself and how you look and how you feel. Yes. You know, that's a hand, that's a handsome suit. Yeah. So yeah. And we just have a couple of them here. And here we have a good double breast tuxedo as well. And we have this for children as well. So as you know, you can see around this tour also. Yep. I'm going to put some more pictures up of what you have. Yes. Definitely. Something for everybody. Yes. Something for everybody. Yes. On the women's side, what do you find that people like the most? All right. So if you need to get up and go get something, it's okay with me. Okay. So women are a little bit difficult, trust me. We struggle on selling for women here. Okay. Yeah. So we have women suit as well. I think part of the problem though is that the women have many more stores to go to in the area. Yeah. Do you think that might be part of it? Maybe. Yeah. But it's difficult to understand. I can hold this one. So we have this suit. That's very nice. Two pieces of suit for women. Just two colors. It's very beautiful. Yeah. Very professional. Yeah, it is. And we also do party dresses as well. I like this one a lot. I couldn't wear it anymore, but it's beautiful. So we have just party dresses. Oh, what a nice. They can go all together. What a couple. I know, right? Yeah. Yeah. Maybe a 25th wedding anniversary party. Yes, definitely. Yeah. And if you're looking for a wedding that's also white and white, you look beautiful. Yeah. It's very nice. That's really pretty. Yes. Let me have you. I don't want this to get dirty. Yes, fine. So what do you think you would say? So say you run into some young guy who's from some part of Africa right now and he's looking to start a business. What are some advice that you'd offer him? I didn't ask you this question before the show. I'm sorry. Yeah, that's fine. So all I can tell you, first thing, you must be a person that takes risks, especially when it comes to business. Because business, they have a lot of business, but if you don't try something, you won't know it. So you must learn how to get in there and have faith. Believe that whatever dream that you have, just believe that it's going to come true. And it won't just come overnight. So you have to work through it. It's like a ladder. You step by step and be constant with it. And definitely you will see the results that you want. Have any problems, any things you wish you'd known when you went into this? Because I know you're a man of faith, and I'm going to put in a little plug here. You are also a pastor of a church. How do you juggle all this? The business and the pastor and family? I'm everywhere. What? You're everywhere? I'm everywhere. Yeah, amazing. Yeah. So I've tried a lot of things. So music first, and then a father. And then driving truck. And working here and also have another job. You do. You didn't tell me? You didn't tell me? Well, I work at Granite Bake here. Oh, okay. Yes, yes, yes. So I do have another job. And you have the truck, still, the big truck, the long-distance truck, which you lease. So that gives you a backup in terms of income. In case anything happens, you know, have at least a backup. Yes, definitely. So I'm going to add some advice. You're saying, don't throw all your eggs in one basket. Yes. You know, have a little bit of something else planned, backup. Definitely. So even in trucking, if you go in transportation, if you want to be in trucking, if you want to lease, like for example, I have one lease is out there, I'm planning on getting another truck, but I'm not going to give it to the same person. I'll find another person that I'll lease it to. In case that one, his business goes down. Right. I'll take my truck, but that one is still running in the same time. So as you say, don't leave all your eggs in one basket. Yeah. In case it gets run. Yes. So that's why I wasn't focused on one business. I was doing transportation, and now I'm into clothing, into transportation. I think you're going to do very well. I think you've done very well. I shouldn't say going to. I mean, it's been a few years since you and I talked. Yes, definitely. And when I saw the store, frankly, I was like, wow, Victor, the guy who was a rapper, and now he's doing, but you've always been a people person too. Yes, definitely. That's part of it. You know, I don't think you can run a store, a business like this, without liking people. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And letting them become a part of, because I was watching you selling a suit to a young man earlier, who's going to a prom. Yes, yes, yes. It was going well. Yes, yes, yes. Yes. So thank you for letting me interview you. Yeah. And I hope this brings plenty of business to your store, because I think we need more people from different places who are willing to take the risk of diving in. Yes, definitely. And it can't all be those big chain stores. I'm sorry, I've got this. That's my little soapbox I get on every once in a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's, it's beautiful. I mean, because I have a lot of people supporting me for just being a local businessman. Yes, yes. Instead of supporting big corporations. So this, this working pretty good. Great. Working pretty good, yes. Victor, thank you. Thank you very much.