Rob Starkman: Finding Your Niche And Pursuing Your Passion

Today we have Rob Starkman, the owner and founder of Rock ‘Em Socks, who built his business from a startup in his dorm room to the large scale business it is today. He talks about the hard work and dedication he put into planning, production, and growing a business from the ground up with his amazing team. This episode is all about going after something you are passionate about and chasing your dreams.     

[06:38] THE EARLY STAGES  

Rob kicks off the conversation by talking about how he got started making socks. He goes through this idea of dip-dying the socks for his college basketball team, doing trial and error with design, and the snowball of gaining public interest through online sales. He decided to take the leap of leaving school and pursuing this idea as an entrepreneur.    

[18:51] BRANDING  

Once Rob knew he was going forward with establishing a brand, he did research on how to market himself online and on social media. He worked with his friends and teammates day in and day out to perfect the products and move forward with new ideas.   

[22:42] BUILDING A NAME  

Up until this point, Rob was only working with Nike brand socks. He didn’t want to rely on another company, so this is where he worked on figuring out how to source and import the things that he needed to be independent in his business plans. This is when the Rock ‘Em Sock was created.   

[27:10] DEVELOPMENT   

Rock ‘Em Socks is always in development and finding new ways to become even better. Rob is in the heart of it, through planning to design and all other processes that go into making the products. They are always looking to improve and understand that the amount of growth is determined by the amount of work they put in.   

[35:00] PARTNERSHIPS  

The business has grown tremendously, and Rock ‘Em Socks is now in partnership with many large brand businesses throughout the country. Rob is always asking “what’s next?” so the business can have endless opportunities to grow.