Grant Chapman may be 24 years young, but he has the entrepreneurial old soul. Hailing from Danville, California, Grant was born November 29, 1997 (Happy belated, Grant!) Interestingly, Danville was recently ranked as the safest town in California and there is something reminiscent of this in Grant’s fashion line, Hidden Hills. Not only has Grant already started his own business, but he also works in the music industry. With the amount of creativity and accessibility in the music industry today, the music industry is certainly an exciting place to be.
If you ever had the chance to hear a fun fact from Grant, you might find out that he ruptured an eardrum on a wipeout course, of all places. Injuries can happen anywhere, but a wipeout course is one for the books. Another fun fact comes from the story behind Grant’s LLC, Hidden Hills Apparel. He shared that this name is actually representative of a community in Calabasas which already had free press in various forms, including music and media. Grant was inspired by what he saw to jump on this unique opportunity and activate this name and begin to monetize his own business.
To step behind the curtain of Grant’s business is to step into a world of creativity and clothes. At its baseline, it is a fashion brand, and a good one at that with the likes of Forever 21 as well as other companies taking note of Grant’s designs. However, Grant sees Hidden Hills Apparel as an opportunity to dig deeper than just clothing. Recently, he shared, “The most exciting part about my business right now is definitely creating something that brings another person joy enough for them to wear it everyday. I love bringing something into the world that leaves an impact on someone.” For Grant, it isn’t just about clothes. It’s about the creation behind the clothes and the creativity of each individual person.
Running a clothing line takes more than just creativity, as Grant shared his secret to success: Consistency and never giving up when you face adversity. Grant can actually speak to facing adversity, as he initially dealt with loss of money in his business in the startup, as well as the hustle to network and gain exposure to his line with the relevant audience. Over time, though, the relevant audience took note as previously mentioned Forever 21 as well as other brands allegedly stole Grant’s designs. This harkens back to the saying, “imitation is the highest form of flattery,” which ended up being true for Grant!
Through a consistent mindset and taking heart that various companies clearly valued his work, Grant was able to push through the adversity and make it out on the other side, successful. And now his lived experience helps him find other talent! Grant shared some tips for finding top talent when he shared, “Seeing their daily habits […] if they’re focused on the right things […] normally, they have a good head on their shoulders.”
Grant looks to the future with excitement as he plans to do more pop-ups in strategic locations and network in order to grow his business. Grant even has plans in the works for store locations within the great cities of Los Angeles, New York, and Miami. It brings Grant true joy to do what he does, as he shared that putting smiles on his customers’ faces keeps him motivated. When asked what his mantra was, Grant replied with, “If you got no sauce, then you lost” (Gucci Mane). Whatever that sauce may be, after his success we can say without a doubt, Grant has got it!
