One of nineteen-year old Tomar Haynes’ creations from the Kids to Kings, Caps to Crowns collection. He is one of the young entrepreneurs participating in this year’s Classroom to Boardroom Challenge hosted by Yello.
From Kid to King: Tomar Haynes embraces a path to entrepreneurship
Growing up in New Orleans, Tomar Haynes admitted in his early childhood he was making some bad choices which were getting him in trouble. However, today he is on the right path and he is a proud owner of a business. As a young entrepreneur, he is seeking greater
knowledge and growth to further his business.
Speaking to The Barbados Advocate, Tomar has mentioned, during the launch of Classroom to Boardroom 2017 programme, that he had started his own business. It is a clothing line which creates a unique brand called “Kids to Kings, Caps to Crowns”. Presently he focuses on printing T-shirts, hoodies, pants and eventually he wants to do suits and sporting apparel as well.
Rough Beginning
For Tomar, it was being a part of a juvenile camp and a tour to the prison which changed his perspective in life.
“It opened my eyes... to what would happen if I continued to make certain decisions,” said Tomar.
He then decided that he was not fond of that path. Fastforward to 2014, the sixteen-year old student decided to make use of his daily school allowance in a better way. Tomar explained that he saved that money to start the business.
As to the name of the venture, the now Upper Six form student at the St. Michael School said the “kid’ represented immaturity of brain and mindset while “King” for him meant an understanding about what life is about and a great sense of maturity.
He highlighted one of his favourite quotes on his shirts is “A king knows how to build an empire with the same stones thrown to him”.
Looking Ahead
In addition to taking part in the Yello Challenge and Classroom to Boardroom programme, Tomar said he has plans of focusing more on the marketing and legalisation procedures of the business. He is hoping to work with schools as in the past he had started a relationship with these institutions as the sole provider of Independence T-shirts. He revealed that his materials are sourced externally however he is looking to source them locally in the future.