Francis Torres, Motif Co founder, GBC graduate and former SA St. James campus director, talks fashion and entrepreneurship
During his time at George Brown College (GBC), Francis Torres had a lot on his plate.
He started off as a member of the Student Association’s (SA) events squad and went on to run for the position of St. James campus director, while also starting a street clothing line called Motif. Co.
However, Torres said that originally he had no intention of getting so involved with campus life.
“I figured I was going to study, I was just going to go to class, go home and one thing led to another,” said Torres. “I started from the event squad and things just went from there,”
The GBC alumnus credited his success as an entrepreneur to GBC professors who encouraged him to pursue his passions and the courses at the college which helped him realize his potential with things that he didn’t expect he’d be good at.
He also attributed his current success to the experiences he had with as part of the SA.
“It taught me a lot, it taught me ‘people, people, people’,” said Torres. “To meet as many people, it helped me out of my comfort zone to really reach out and meet like-minded people.”
Listen to the full interview on The Dialog Podcast
There were days that Torres felt overwhelmed. His secret on managing everything despite a hectic schedule is simply to know what to prioritize and who to prioritize.
Sometimes you have to take a step back and be like ‘maybe I have to push this a couple of days back so I can sleep and maybe work on things for school’,” said Torres. “Sacrificing is something that you do as a student and sometimes I had to bite, so to speak.”
As an entrepreneur what Torres thinks really matters is “talk, talk, talk, people, people, people.” Meeting different people from different walks of life with different viewpoints is vital to anyone who sets out to be self-employed, according to him.
Founded in July 2015, his street clothing brand has had several collections, yet still remains a “side hustle”, as he calls it, due to the lack of time and resources. Torres has set his goal to make Motif. Co a full-time passion.
Torres thinks his brand Motif, which stands for “Motivate Others ‘Till It Fits”, can help motivate people.
“When I reached out to other people and they were talking about how much the brand changed them and how much that inspired them to do other things, I find it really cool and I found that it was cool that something so little to some people could motivate to the masses,” said Torres. “You’re motivated, you’re trying to do what you can and that’s what it’s all about.”
With files from Manseeb Khan, The Dialog Podcast.
