Rising Stars: Meet Rodney Watkins III

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rodney Watkins III. 

Hi Rodney, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was born in Detroit MI and attended DEPSA where I played basketball and fell in love with sports. I moved to go to high school at Lanse Creuse North where I ran varsity track. I always loved sports and the impact I seen it had on people, especially our culture. I seen a way athletics could and have historically uplifted the black community. Knowing that in the back of my mind as I entered entrepreneurship is how Blackletics was birthed in August 2020. I wanted to be a solution to the lack of equity the black community holds in the sports apparel industry. We have some of the world’s best athletes representing brands that does not sow back into our community. Blackletics was made to be the answer to that problem. It started with a simple google search. I wanted to buy some basketball shorts from a black-owned athletic wear brand and I could not find any!! I googled for days black-owned athletic wear brands and all I got were leggings and sports bras. It saddened me to know how many black athletes plays sports across the globe but don’t have a brand to call home. Blackletics was made to fill that void. Our ultimate goal is to build this brand to a point where we are able to build the black community while having a brand black athletes can proudly represent. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
NOT AT ALL. I am very new to entrepreneurship. I had no clue what I was doing in the beginning, all I knew was I had a God-given vision and I had to figure it out. I have lost so much money getting the brand off of the ground with bad sponsorships, certain suppliers running off with our money, and never giving us our products. I’ve sat a couple of months in the beginning of the brand with no progress because I didn’t know what to do. But now, here we are. The brand was birthed in August 2020 but was launched on November 23, 2020 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I was in the US Navy from 2012-2020. I separated after being stationed and living overseas in Okinawa, Japan, and Manama Bahrain. I’ve travelled to several countries during my time and one thing that I found consistent was the effect black culture has all across the world. I heard our music being sung in different countries, our black athletes being hailed as icons in different countries, and our culture as a whole being embraced all over the world but our people have no equity in the stake. With me being a veteran, I come from a different perspective, with seeing not just black Americans but black people from all different tribes, languages, nations, and regions, I can see how our impact is global. I want to take that global impact and influence and concentrate it into Blackletics so that we can have a brand that not only represents us all over the world but also fights for us, invests in us, and builds us up. 

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking?
While I was in the Navy, I was making over six figures a year. But I knew I wasn’t satisfied with life. I knew I wanted to make an impact in a different way. I knew I wanted to go into entrepreneurship just like my great-grandmother and grandfather who were both entrepreneurs in the early 1970s in Detroit Rankins Market on Linwood and Carter. I left my six-figure job in March 2020 and haven’t looked back since. I got into entrepreneurship in the middle of a global pandemic. This is the ultimate risk. With no experience, no income, and just leaving a six-figure job, I launched Blackletics, knowing that this is something bigger than me. 

Pricing:

• Black Athletes Matter shirts $20
• Black Athletes Built the League Shirts $20
• Leggings $60
• Sports Bra $35
• Hoodies $50

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.weareblackletics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackletics/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackletics/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCh5x0bPPuU6G6bWDoDCpm_Q

Image Credits
@auviancecreations
@maiyarene_