James Lynch: The man of many hats

Originally posted: August 26, 2019

James Lynch, owner, founder, and designer of No Luck Club. His drive and passion for people, and clothes exude off of him. James is newer to this business, but he has been in the industry for 8 years now, when he launched his first business and clothing line, No One’s Safe. James has a business brain, from creating his own business plan, to not taking no for an answer. He is going after what he wants, with pure hard work, and determination.

His love for clothes started later in life, but started with some force. James is not someone to follow the crowd. If anything he is going to lead the crowd, lead the crowd right to original designs.

“Probably after high school was when I started falling in love with clothes. I was always into design, graphic design, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Then I kind of just merged the two, just into design. Started with graphic tees. Started buying t-shirts, like PacSun, zumiez. I started going to parties and realizing everyone was wearing the same t-shirt. I would just be annoyed because I didn’t want to be wearing the same t-shirt as them, so I decided I wanted to design my own shirts.”

After high school he turned to his parents. Once he was able to present a business plan, they gave him money to start his business. The lessons began quickly after. Like most industries you have to be able to know your own value, as well as read peoples intentions.

“I got ripped off of my very first printer. They misprinted one of my shirts, and blamed it on me, and then recharged me for it. I didn’t know anything, so I was like, okay lets just do it. Here is the money, here it is. Right there was a lesson I learned right away. Looking back you can’t let people push you around. And then going into stores, I was heavily pushing No One’s Safe, trying to get retail. What ultimately ended No One’s Safe was that the fact that I had all the money into one of my stores, and one of my stores went bankrupt. Then pretty much one day, I woke up and got an email saying, ‘Hey we are going bankrupt, if you want your money take us to court. But we owe a bunch of other brands way more money than we owe you.’ So with No Luck Club I’m not going to go to retail, I’m not going to do any of this. I’m going to go direct to consumer, cutting out the middle man.”

No Luck Club is going to keep going forward. Like many people, James has noticed that malls are not as big as they once were. It is way easier to just pull up your computer and shop. Terrible for your account, but so easy for your time.

“Where retail is moving today, it is moving away from brick and mortar and going online. I think it is important to have a physical presence. I think it is really important with No Luck Club to do pop up shops, if it is just once a month, once every two months or what not. The days of brick and mortar and someone going to the mall to find an outfit are done, but they still want to feel the product. There is still going to be the people that are not comfortable with the online sale. I think it will also be a good experience for creating a buzz with a pop up shop.”

A pop up shop makes the whole idea, company, and product that much more exciting. James will be catering to all types of people with this way of selling his product, as well as staying relevant with how product is sold.

The name, No Luck Club can be intense sometimes, but the idea has so much strength, and hard work behind it. He is going after what he wants, with pure hard work, and determination

“When I was running No One’s Safe, and they(people) didn’t know all the struggles I was going through. When I was maxing out all those credit cards and everything. They were always saying, ‘you’re so lucky you are doing this.’ They didn’t know the struggle behind it, and what I wanted to create wasn’t based on luck. I wasnt sitting on my couch saying, ‘I hope this would happen to me one day.’ I was out there pursing it. I was just tired of people thinking it was just straight luck. So No Luck Club was the meaning of people chasing after what they want and not depending on others. I don’t want to just segregate to one type of person, the skate kid, the streetwear kid, or the 9 to 5 person. I want anyone that can relate to what the brand means of chasing after what you want, and have them feel apart of a community of other people chasing after what they want.”

So what is his goal?

“I want to create something I like, while pushing out encouragement to people going after what they want. I can’t say I want to be the next big fashion designer because that is not my goal. My goal is just to see other people succeed, build a show case of their success within the brand. I want to create a brand vision that if you’re wearing it then you’re fitting the identity of the brand. You’re going after what you want, you’re not depending on luck. If that’s you wanting to start your own business, start your own podcast, start your own YouTube channel, or even go to manager in your 9-5, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be your own thing, as long as you are pushing after it. It’s not going to be for everyone, the style of clothes, but I hope even if you don’t buy a shirt or buy a hat, if you follow the brand, share the posts, share the message, that’s just as important to me as you actually physically buying an item.”

James learned a lot about what he can handle with No One’s Safe, so what does James have in store for us when it comes to No Luck Club?

“When I started No Luck Club, I said, ‘I am going to do hats and accessories’, but I couldn’t keep the bug away. I want to do shirts, I want to do sweatshirts, I want to do flannels, I want to do all of that. So I was lucky enough to find a manufacturer who would meet the minimums that I could afford. A lot of the time with companies their minimums are 100, 200, into the thousands. I don’t have the inventory. I’m running everything from my house, and I don’t have room for thousands of one shirt, and sit on it forever. So I’m really excited that I was able to find a manufacture who could do some cut and sew which is high quality, and will give me the avenue to branch out into a lot of different categories.”

He recently launched two new fashion shirts in black and white. “It is an extended cut and sew shirt, longer in the bank, normal in the front.” James not only wants to make great items, but he wants to push out encouragement as well. He understands that he has this business because of the people that love his product, and he is very appreciative.

“I love the people that are staying with me, the people that are commenting on everything, sharing everything, they will feel each success, which is what I want them to feel. It’s not just my success, but their success as well, because they are watching me go through all the struggles. That is one thing I want to do with No Luck Club, I want to open up behind the scenes where you are seeing the struggles, you are seeing the victories, you’re seeing the failures. Today with Instagram everyone sees just the successes, everyone sees the nice cars in the background, everyone sees the nice vacations, and they don’t see the struggles where you go days and weeks without anything, the issues, the misprints, or anything like that. I want to eventually get to the point where I can open it up, so if someone else is inspired to start their own brand or anything like that they can see what I’m doing and take that as a blueprint and apply it to their own vision.”

One thing that James is really excited about is his monthly newsletter. It will feature people that support his brand, while chasing after their own dreams. Every month No Luck Club will feature someone new that is going after what they want. It comes out the first of the month with a discount code that can be used on anything they want, free shipping, 20% off. He wants to build a community, and he is doing just that.

Main photo: Daron Jackson Photography

Video: Zachary Alexander