The One Thing

Start with one thing.

At first, building a golf apparel brand was going to be an extension of what I already knew. I viewed it as a professional development exercise that would be wrapped in the familiar cloth of customer experience, marketing strategy and audience cultivation.

As a seasoned marketing, content and brand strategist, I thought I knew the way forward. I quickly learned this will be different. The sheer volume of tasks hit me hard. I needed to conduct market research, get into product design, build a business plan, develop a brand identity, create bill(s) of materials, build out product technical packages, source suppliers — and on and on. It was numbing to think about the litany of things to do.

I was stuck in my own overwhelm.

When you lead a marketing department at a large organization, you need not worry about such things. That’s because my main job isn’t to do all the work myself. My job is to guide a purpose built team and the work. People development, business strategy, budgeting, operations, etc., are things I’m responsible and accountable for, but the team leads the day-to-day work and brings longer term vision to life.

But in this case, it is just me.

For a moment, I thought about walking away, burying the idea before it even had a chance to grow.

Then, I had a conversation with my wife. As I listed off all the things that need to get done to build a brand, she gave me a crooked look that I know from years of marriage means, “stop talking, dude.”

“Why don’t you start with one thing? Do one thing well, then move on to the next.” Simple. Profound. Smarter than anything I had come up with in weeks of unnerve. ICYMI: my wife is MUCH smarter than me.

What’s the one thing?  

Here’s the truth: the world doesn’t need another golf apparel brand. But when I think about why I love this game, it’s clear.

Golf is my sanctuary. It’s where the noise fades. Its where I find community and peace.

My why isn’t about apparel per se; it’s about crafting a reflection of the passion and lifestyle that people like me live for. I need to thread that story — the soul of the game — into every design. And, it needs to be a memorable experience.

Why does why matter?

Because without it, you’re noise.

If you’re a golfer like me, you get it. You embrace the grind of digging progress out of the dirt. Like me, you gladly spend hours on the range chasing the perfect shot. You are oddly obsessed with getting better. You can’t wait for tournament season to begin and you count down the days until the annual ‘guys golf trip.’ Like me, you find solace and joy in every swing, every walk down the fairway. Most of all, you know the home-nine feeling — where everything clicks and the world disappears.

Building Things Like This for People Like Us.

In Seth Godin’s essay about a big idea, he wrote: “The one thing that drives all of humanity all the time, from the first day we are able to remember until the last day we breathe, our actions are primarily driven by one question: ‘Do people like me do things like this?’”

The next step? Build things like this for people like us. Take my obsession with golf and build something that reflects a golfer’s heart and makes it an experience.

This brand won’t be for everyone.

But, it will be for guys with discerning taste. Guys who care about the clubs they use and the apparel they wear. It will be for guys who want exclusivity, demand quality and appreciate the experience of wearing timeless pieces that are of the highest quality.

It’s for the relentless golfer—the one who re-watches his swing in slow motion late into the night, who has a spare glove in every bag and keeps a putter by his desk to sneak in a few practice strokes between video calls. He’s navigating the demands of life—family, work, responsibilities—but cherishes that sacred Sunday tee time or that last minute emergency-9 (if you know, you know). For him, golf is more than a sport; it’s a sanctuary, a space to escape and reconnect … a true reflection of who he is.

Expert advice.

Early in this process, a friend introduced me to the founder of an emerging golf apparel brand (I’ll tell his founder story later). His advice? “Ron, niche down. Focus on one thing and do it well.” Where had I heard that before?

Spinning plates while juggling fire. There are a thousand things to do, and more that I don’t even know about yet. But as long as I stay grounded in the why, I’ll find my way.

Because when you start with one thing—your why—the rest follows.

Onward!

RAZ

PS – My Instagram and TikTok handle is @ronzwerin. That’s where I’ll share stories about this process along with marketing, communications and branding best practices.