Few teenagers tin accidental they founded a concern earlier they could adjacent legally drive. Kumei Norwood is an exception. The 17-year-old entrepreneur and activistic has been moving her shop, Tofu Tees, since she was 8. The brick-and-mortar store, a fixture of Fergusons Downtown since 2021, has been a task of passionateness but besides purpose.
Norwood, a Las Vegas Academy of the Arts elder with a flair for fashion, uses her apparel designs and creation for activism, shining a airy connected societal issues done everything from T-shirts to totes. You’re conscionable arsenic apt to find covering with timeless taglines similar “Racism Is Trash” arsenic you are to find books connected Ruth Bader Ginsburg oregon Pinky Cole’s vegan tome Eat Plants, B*tch.
That said, Norwood is inactive your mean teenage miss successful each mode that matters. Her prom was thing abbreviated of magical. She’s eagerly awaiting the adjacent Olivia Rodrigo album. And precocious schoolhouse graduation is conscionable astir the corner. So what happens next?
As Norwood prepares to participate a caller signifier of life, the Weekly sat down to speech astir the aboriginal of Tofu Tees and however gathering it has shaped her.
Now that graduation is astir here, however bash you consciousness astir the adjacent section and wherever you’re headed with Tofu Tees?
It’s truly been a blur moving Tofu Tees due to the fact that I person each of these astonishing memories of things I’ve done passim each the years. Everybody Downtown is conscionable truthful supportive of me. I ever telephone Fergusons my 2nd location due to the fact that I’m down present 24/7. But decidedly successful the future, I’m precise excited astir conscionable going guardant and progressing Tofu Tees. … I did get into UNLV and everything. I was gonna spell determination for marketing, but past I decided that I didn’t truly privation to bash that currently. I wanted to much truthful conscionable beryllium 1 with the concern and myself without the unit of school. When I archetypal opened my store, I was already successful school, truthful it’ll beryllium benignant of a caller acquisition for maine and let maine to person much experiences to network.
What has moving the store taught you that schoolhouse could never?
Definitely a batch of real-world experiences. Having a concern taught maine a batch astir taxes and managing my ain wealth and stuff, which schools bash effort to push, but you request to outwardly question that to beryllium capable to larn it. Also successful schools, I consciousness similar present they’ve made it precise optional for radical to bash nationalist speaking. But that’s a precise important thing, conscionable learning however to pass with people. Running a concern and being truthful integrated successful a community, you request to person that successful your accomplishment set. Then besides conscionable expressing yourself artistically, due to the fact that my schoolhouse is precise bully astatine doing that. Some schools don’t person the accidental to person a ton of creator programs for radical to explicit themselves. And I mean, that’s what my concern is each about.
Was determination a constituent wherever you thought astir stepping backmost and conscionable focusing connected being a teen?
I ne'er had the sentiment that I should conscionable wholly stop. At immoderate points I did get a small discouraged, with however governmental my messaging is, successful presumption of immoderate adults being like, you’re a kid. You shouldn’t beryllium knowing astir each this. There’s adjacent immoderate radical who would heckle my parents astir it. They’d beryllium like, we’re gonna telephone CPS connected you. That was the lone clip wherever I was truly like, bash I proceed this? And past I got the accidental to unfastened up the shop, and it conscionable went up from there.
Have you ever had a customer interaction that reaffirmed wherefore you’re doing each of this?
It’s ever erstwhile families travel in. It’s a truly brainsick acquisition whenever radical bring successful their kids. And they’re like, Hey, look astatine this girl. She started erstwhile she was 8, and she has each this now, and they amusement them astir the shop. And I’m trying not to get embarrassed oregon truly excited [laughs], but that’s conscionable ever an astonishing feeling. That’s truly what keeps maine going, knowing that it’s inspiring for different radical to privation to bash that. Entrepreneurship is specified a brainsick way to spell on, but it’s truly amusive and it’s specified a bully learning experience, adjacent if you don’t privation to prosecute it successful the aboriginal oregon marque a vocation retired of it. It’s inactive specified a large happening to bash astatine slightest erstwhile successful your life.
Tofu Tees has ever been truthful assemblage focused. Has determination ever been a clip erstwhile the assemblage showed up unexpectedly?
Yeah, really a week ago. I really had a precise large taxation outgo that I needed to make, and it conscionable came retired of the blue. It was a truly large amount, and I didn’t person capable to wage that. So I conscionable made a small post. I’m not 1 to inquire for things, particularly wealth due to the fact that it’s precise hard for maine to inquire for assistance successful that way. But my ma and different 1 of our friends were like, conscionable bash it. Some radical mightiness amusement up and assistance out. So I did. I was like, Hey you guys, I request to merchantability 37 shirts by Friday. …I deed my extremity within, I think, 36 hours. People truly showed up online and besides came to the store. That was truly astonishing because, similar I said, I’m not 1 to inquire for that.
Last year, Phil Rosenthal featured Tofu Tees connected his Netflix show, Somebody Feed Phil. What did it mean to beryllium spotlighted connected specified a nationalist level?
I’ll beryllium honorable astir this: I didn’t cognize who helium was astatine all. One time I conscionable opened my email and they were like, bash you privation to beryllium featured connected a Netflix show? I thought it was a scam astatine archetypal due to the fact that there’s a batch of spam emails similar that, but past we conscionable went for it.
It didn’t consciousness existent until helium was really here. Even present I look done my camera rotation like, did that happen? He’s specified a down-to-earth guy, too. When I was talking to him, it conscionable felt similar I was talking to a household member. He’s conscionable truthful lukewarm and inviting. And being connected the show, it helped my concern truthful much. I’ve had truthful galore planetary orders now. …The amusement was truthful brainsick and awesome to beryllium on.
This acquisition has been astir of your adolescence. How has it changed you?
When I archetypal started Tofu Tees, I was successful simple school. Back past it was little governmental and much conscionable immoderate I felt similar doodling. … But past it benignant of evolved arsenic I got older and much into my mediate schoolhouse years, that’s erstwhile it began to get much political. It truly gave maine a governmental individuality arsenic well, due to the fact that I consciousness like, astatine that time, I was 1 to travel the crowd. I didn’t privation to truly basal retired much. In mediate school, you privation to acceptable successful with everybody.
Tofu Tees truly gave maine an outlet to conscionable explicit myself without having to talk. At that clip arsenic well, I was precise shy and closed off. … When I was acceptable up astatine a marketplace oregon anything, oregon conscionable successful my constituent with the store, I was truly capable to explicit myself and beryllium self-assured successful what I was saying. … Tofu Tees, combined with LVA, made maine myself. It gave maine an outlet to explicit myself successful antithetic ways that I typically wouldn’t person if I didn’t spell down those routes, particularly with my fashion. …That operation conscionable truly lit a spark successful maine to unfastened up.
English (US)·