Former Kentucky guard Jeff Sheppard owns a clothing company called 15 Inc., named after his jersey number.
In school, I had no idea I would be in the apparel business. I was just focused on school and basketball. I majored in math education, which has come to help me a little bit.
Once I got out of professional basketball and started getting into the business world, different opportunities came up. I was in pharmaceutical sales. I had done several things, and I’m still doing several things. Our apparel company is just one of the things I’m involved in.
All the work I used to put into basketball, I’m now putting into the different businesses.
I also work with Wazoo Sports. We are getting ready to a launch a state-wide sports channel that focuses on local high school and college sports.
My interest in clothing started with UK apparel. I had written a book called Heart of a Champion, and I was doing some sales with UK calendars around the state. I just saw that, as a former basketball player, it was fun, and there were several opportunities in selling UK product.
I picked the name because I was just looking for a neat marketing concept that would draw attention and that we could brand easily.
Now, it has evolved into our own private label. We specialize in golf shirts, hats, sweatshirts, windbreakers and that type of thing. We service a lot of corporate customers around Kentucky.
We get a lot of banks and insurance companies. We do a lot of work for the Wal-Mart distribution centers, coal companies in eastern Kentucky, car dealerships, bands, high schools and colleges.
I’m involved in everything. I do a lot of work with sales. I work with our graphic artists in developing different designs. I oversee our warehouse and embroidery room, as well.
I’m a traditional guy. I like the real simple stuff. I like the Indiana jersey that has been around forever, and they don’t need to change it. North Carolina doesn’t change its uniform.
Kentucky, we’ve tried all kinds of different things, and I disagree with it. I think you put Kentucky on the jersey, and that’s all you need. I don’t need all the fancy stuff that goes along with a jersey. I like real simple and traditional stuff.
I’ve incorporated that philosophy into our business.
Our whole focus is on good, quality product – not too many bells and whistles. We want to be competitive with our price structure, but to have a great, quality product that people can wear, appreciate and have a positive experience with.
It’s not something that’s off the wall. We do a lot of conservative, corporate colors – not anything too liberal. When it comes down to our line, we keep it pretty simple.
