EP# 6: Transforming Passion into Business: Donald Burlock's Journey with Kings Men Golf
Jul 30, 2024Episode 6
Sophia Yvette & Donald Burlock
What makes Donald Burlock with Kingsmen Golf a good neighbor?
How do you transform a newfound passion into a thriving business? Today, we sit down with Donald Burlock, the dynamic founder of Kings Men Golf, who’s making waves in the golf apparel industry just one year into the game. Learn how Donald’s journey from a design career at Coca-Cola to a post-pandemic love affair with golf led him to create high-performance, sustainable golf shirts that are as stylish off the course as they are on it. His story is a compelling testament to the power of merging passion with professional expertise.
During our chat, Donald sheds light on breaking down the barriers of this historically elite sport, making golf more inclusive and accessible. We discuss the mental and physical benefits of the game and how Kings Men Golf is expanding its product line due to strong customer demand. Whether you’re a golf enthusiast or someone interested in entrepreneurship, Donald’s insights offer valuable lessons on innovation, sustainability, and the future of golf. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that bridges design, sport, and community.
What makes Donald Burlock with Kingsmen Golf a good neighbor?
How do you transform a newfound passion into a thriving business? Today, we sit down with Donald Burlock, the dynamic founder of Kings Men Golf, who’s making waves in the golf apparel industry just one year into the game. Learn how Donald’s journey from a design career at Coca-Cola to a post-pandemic love affair with golf led him to create high-performance, sustainable golf shirts that are as stylish off the course as they are on it. His story is a compelling testament to the power of merging passion with professional expertise.
During our chat, Donald sheds light on breaking down the barriers of this historically elite sport, making golf more inclusive and accessible. We discuss the mental and physical benefits of the game and how Kings Men Golf is expanding its product line due to strong customer demand. Whether you’re a golf enthusiast or someone interested in entrepreneurship, Donald’s insights offer valuable lessons on innovation, sustainability, and the future of golf. Tune in for an inspiring conversation that bridges design, sport, and community.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Sophia Yvette.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a golf company? Well, surprisingly, one may be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Donald Burlock, with the company Kingsman Golf. Donald, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:
I'm fantastic, Sophia. How are you?
Speaker 2:
I'm great. Thank you so much for asking. Well, we're excited to learn all about you and your company. You want to tell us a little bit about it?
Speaker 3:
Yes, I founded Kingsman Golf in San Diego. We're one year old we're celebrating our first anniversary so very excited about that and we have been developing and selling initially shirts high performance golf shirts that have a ton of versatility off of the golf course, but we've been primarily focused on selling shirts over this past year. But we're about to expand our entire apparel portfolio.
Speaker 2:
Okay, you want to tell us a little bit more about the expansion.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, we were able to get a strong customer base here locally through tournaments, also interacting with some of the pro shops locally. We are very keen on showing off the material of the shirts. That's been the highlight of our product. People tend to really love the feel of the shirts and that's because we really focused our attention on developing a shirt that uses some of the most sustainable and some of the most high-performance material that's available for something like a shirt and because of that, our customers have been reaching out to us and asking if we're going to do outerwear jackets, hoodies, quarter zips, pants. Even so, we've developed a pretty I would say strong group of initial customers who are encouraging us to expand our portfolio and bring that fabric I would say fabric research, if you will to other products.
Speaker 2:
And how did you get into this business?
Speaker 3:
I got into it first and foremost because I love golf. I started learning how to play golf just two years ago, so I would be considered a post-pandemic golfer. That's kind of the phrase that a lot of people are using for people who don't have any background or history playing the game whatsoever, but fell in love with golf. And it starts there. I love being on the golf course. I find it to be one of the places I feel extremely healthy, both physically and then it's also a great place for mental health. If you're having a bad day on the range or on the course, you can always leave and come back and enjoy it another time. But often it's a beautiful, beautiful place to just allow yourself to experience, you know, the challenges of a really fun game, but then also the camaraderie that comes with playing with other people. So it starts there, but then it it really grows on my traditional background as a designer.
Speaker 3:
So I worked as an industrial, a product, a user experience designer and even a visual designer at certain points in my career, and I've been designing for different companies and different agencies for over 10 years, mostly in California, but I started my career at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. That played a big part in encouraging me to always think about the customer. I think about the user who's using your product. In 2020, when, you know, we were all kind of, you know, locked in and trying to figure out what we were going to do, I started becoming more curious about golf because of, you know, friends who were playing it, and I thought to myself you know, maybe it would be interesting to develop a brand around it and design things that I would want to see out there on the golf course. So that's kind of how it started. And then, you know, it continued to grow from there.
Speaker 2:
Awesome. What about any myths or misconceptions in your industry? Are there any?
Speaker 3:
Oh, there's a ton. Yeah, golf is, I would say, one of the sports and just in terms of an industry that has yet to really, I would say, jump over into our modern times. Historically, golf has been associated with the good and the bad of a very elite group of folks who are able to play it. So the uber wealthy, people who have the time and the means to get out and do it. So the uber wealthy, you know, people who have the time and the means to get out and do it.
Speaker 3:
But the reality is it's a game and it can happen in a variety of contexts. It doesn't have to be the most beautiful golf course in the world and just about everyone can enjoy it, including, you know, people who you know, perhaps have even a physical limitation, can still find ways to enjoy this game. So we're, we're part of a movement to modernize the representation that you see in golf. It's not just one group of people, it's not just one demographic, and we're working really hard to show that everyone can play golf and everyone is welcomed into that environment if you want to try it out. So we're lowering, I would say, the intimidation factor for something like golf, especially if you've never played and we're boosting the confidence that people have to come in and try it out, and we're doing that through, you know, giving you products that accentuate your personal style.
Speaker 2:
That's awesome. Well, let's go ahead and change gears for a second. I know we've talked about all the positives of golf and of your line, but can you describe one hardship or life challenge that you rose above and can now say because of it, you're better and stronger? What comes to mind?
Speaker 3:
I think what really comes to mind is starting the company shortly after losing my role at my previous company.
Speaker 3:
I was part of the downsizing of a team at my previous company and I'm sure a lot of people can relate over the course of the last few years.
Speaker 3:
There's so many people I know who have had to get back on their feet after a job went away or they were laid off or something tied to, obviously, all the changes that we've experienced in, you know, the the economy due to the pandemic over the last few years. So it was a big challenge, um, to decide, okay, I'm gonna start a company, I want to. I want to see if I can be an entrepreneur, I want to see if, um, you know, I can bring a brand to life and to get from where I was a year ago to where I'm at today, which is, you know, we've had so far over $50,000 in sales, both sales, like you know, in person and then online. I mean it's it's like, hey, we've reached some successful milestone. That's not it, but it shows that there's a great deal of promise in me as a, you know, entrepreneur, as a founder, as a business owner. So that's been a big challenge that you know. I feel like I've been climbing.
Speaker 2:
Okay, those are all positives, and I know there's many, many great things about your business, but if you could tell our listeners just one thing they should remember about Kingsman Golf, what would it be?
Speaker 3:
I would say remember to not be discouraged. I think golf whether you play it regularly, you know are out there playing golf or you're someone who's just getting started it goes hand in hand with the business. There's days that are really tough where I don't feel like I've made progress in terms of business relationships, and there's days where I play golf and I suck. I feel like I can barely hit the ball. You know, I'm trying to figure out my game and I think you know we do a good job of telling ourselves a lot of negative stuff, and and when I say we do a good job at it, I mean you know we pay too much attention to the negative things that come through our mind.
Speaker 3:
There's already enough. There's already enough hate out there. Right, you're going to have people that are going to hate whether you're doing really well or you suck, like you could be bad and you'll have hate. You could be good, you'll have hate. So there's already a lot of that that you have to, you know, kind of figure out how to deal with or not pay attention to. No-transcript of it.
Speaker 2:
Most definitely. And what about Kingsman Golf, specifically, would you say, stands out from any other company.
Speaker 3:
What I would say, sophia, that stands out is that we're what I call an aspirational brand, meaning you aspire to be more, do more by way of that brand. In sports, sometimes you see it with a brand like Nike, right, they have commercials that essentially aspire, they encourage you to be more and do more, so they're considered aspirational. There's luxury brands like, for instance, like Rolex, right, you aspire to have some amount of fiscal or, you know, I would say just financial success in your life, so that you can, you know, obtain that product or obtain some experience around that product or obtain some experience around that product. And so when I look at golf brands, I don't see a brand like us, because I don't see aspirational brands. I don't see a brand where it's like oh man, if I could just kind of up my game or do better, do that personal development, then I'll be able to kind of feel like that brand is for me, you know, and I don't.
Speaker 3:
I don't see that. I don't see that brand. That kind of like excites you in that way and so I feel like that's what kingsman golf brings to the table. It's like this is a brand where you're like oh, I aspire to actually, you know, be a part of that, to the point where, when you you wear one of our products or use one of our products, you're like, oh man, I'm doing something, I'm moving somewhere, you know.
Speaker 2:
That's good. Those are definitely all good things to remember. And how can our listeners learn more about Kingsman Golf?
Speaker 3:
I think the easiest way is to just hop onto our social media pages. We're on Facebook, of course, but Instagram has really been the I would say social media platform that's allowed us to do a bit more of our storytelling. So, if you want to see what the shirts look like on people who are golfing Kingsman Golf K-I-N-G-S-M-E-N golf is our handle. We're on TikTok, so we got videos there if people are wanting to see what it looks like for customers wearing shirts. And then, of course, just our website. If you only have three to five seconds in the day, bookmark Kingsman Golf and hop on the website occasionally. We always try to keep it fresh and we're always showing off new designs.
Speaker 2:
Perfect. Well, thank you so much, Donald Burlock. I really appreciate you being on the show and we wish you and your business the best moving forward.
Speaker 3:
Thank you so much, Sophia. I really appreciate the time and I hope your listeners love the discussion today.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP Friscocom. That's GNP Friscocom, or call 469-221-9345.
