By Dylan Deprey
Steven Bradford and Jurrele McDonald are young entrepreneurs looking to go above and beyond.
A lot can be done in 24 hours, and as the clock ticks, hard work and progression can be sidetracked by procrastination and distractions. Whether its pushing off that essay until the last minute or binge watching Netflix instead of finalizing a resume, sometimes people need a little nudge.
Milwaukee-bred clothing company TwentyFour is more than a nudge, but rather a lifestyle.
Founders and entrepreneurs Steven Bradford (21) and Jurrele McDonald (20), strive to spread progression, persistence, and passion to those trying to utilize every hour in the day.
“You want to use that 24 hours you’re getting in the day,” McDonald said. “We want people to feel that they can be able to do whatever they want to do.”
Bradford and McDonald met during their Freshman year at Rufus King High School, and as McDonald hustled candy bars and Bradford began to work on music, the entrepreneurial spirit resonated between them.
In 2015, the duo built their website, Dopeornope.net, and interviewed local musicians. Their clothing line, TwentyFour, was an extension of their website with a message that could relate to everybody.
“You can wear it at the gym, or to a party at a club because it’s very universal,” McDonald said.
“The Golden Goals 24” TwentyFour’s Summer ‘17 release.
Bradford took on the reigns of the business and networking aspect, while attending business school at UW-Whitewater. McDonald took on the graphic design work, while taking going to UW-Milwaukee.
The two had little insider knowledge about the clothing industry other then: finding a distributor, making a design and pushing it out to the public.
“We do one time releases,” Bradford said. “We call that wave control, so get it while you can or you’ll miss the wave.”
Two years after its first drop, TwentyFour has expanded its reach throughout inner-city Milwaukee, across the UW-Whitewater campus and even out of state.
“You can’t go around Whitewater without seeing 10 or 15 TwentyFour hoodies, t-shirts and hats,” Bradford said. “Since I’ve been here, it’s all I’ve been doing.”
Bradford said networking and expansion were the main focus for the upcoming year. Even after inking a deal with the UW-Whitewater bookstore, TwentyFour continues to push for more.
“We come up with the designs ourselves. We’ll sit down and brainstorm, and then I’ll try my best to bring it to life and then tweak it. We’ll stay up all night tweaking it,” McDonald said. “We really won’t release it if we don’t agree on it, so it could take thirty minutes or three days.”
The latest TwentyFour pre-order for the new “The Golden Goals 24” line will be up for three weeks with a limited number of extras. The newest edition to the TwentyFour collection is a black, white and gold t-shirt that embodies utilizing one’s time to achieve all goals in 2017.
“If somebody incorporates what you’ve made from your own thoughts and put it on their body is a pretty good interfeeling,” McDonald said. “If you invest in yourself, there’s no telling what you can do.”
Check out the latest TwentyFour designs at http://dopeornope.net/store/