Landlords: More than just a sneaker

Inspiration and determination create a good foundation but for Rashid Thobega Stewart helping you put your best foot forward was the end goal.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for the faint-hearted Thobega’s entrepreneurial persuits stem from his love for Hip-Hop as an art form, and culture which started in the Bronx USA by unhappy youths who wanted to express themselves with music like “Fight the Power”, eventually spreading across the globe and giving birth to serious entrepreneurs like Percy Miller.

In 2019 Thobega had an interest in formal leather shoes and that would include your loaders, brogues, mules, etc. Which led to him making two formal pairs which would be sampled as he geared up to start the business, yet he realized a large percentage of SA men prefer sneakers or tekkies. The second challenge was the cost of leather, which would then force him to price his newly found brand at a higher price, something he frowned upon. “I therefore chose to drop the idea and went with sneakers rather and it became a success with 300 pairs sold in the first four months.”

Fortunately for Thobega, he realized and capitalized on the thriving and growing sneaker culture and that was the birth of Landlords, a sneaker brand with a name that carries stature.

A brand made for a generation that has hopes of practicing ownership over their lives, regardless of whether you are in business or not, an academic, musician, Investor, etc, it’s for individuals who aspire to own that beautiful space and add value to it and be a LANDLORD.

Landlords was born out of pure faith and hope that your circumstances or situation don’t define you because you are still capable of achieving great things.

Thobega is motivated to inspire! And it is this foundation and mindset that has helped him build a successful customer base by staying true to his word and himself. “A lot has been written with regards to the subject, I just believe staying true to your word and delivering as promised builds relations.”

And he like others, is using social media strongly, as well as other major media outlets and radio stations to market his brand. And because marketing is expensive, especially as a  small business,  social media has been beneficial because it enables him to communicate directly to the end client in real time.

Thobega has a blueprint to success and won’t be detected by pressures of creating a digital persona that has nothing besides memories of splurging in clubs and having nothing of value. For him success is being able to do what you love, sticking to the script long enough till you see the mountain peak just like a Landlord.