Part 2 with Marcus Hall of Marc Nelson Denim

Marcus Hall (0:03)

So they left me on the side of the road. They took my car and left me on the side of the road. Took my phone.

So I had to cross the street, call my employee.

Paul (0:13)

They didn't arrest you?

Marcus Hall (0:16)

They didn't arrest me. They said that he asked me that I want to talk to him then.

SPEAKER_3 (0:20)

And I said, no.

Marcus Hall (0:22)

And I was like, I need to talk to my attorney.

Paul (0:23)

So at that point, they didn't have a warrant for your arrest or anything like that?

Marcus Hall (0:26)

No, they just had a warrant to go in my business. To build a case.

Paul (0:32)

From the IT Company, it's Made Right Here, the stories of East Tennessee founders, creators, and builders. From the idea behind it, to the impact it had on the community, their employees, and their personal lives. We're taking you behind the scenes of the movements they built.

Hey, it's Paul from the IT Company. Super excited you've joined us again for the next episode of Made Right Here, part two with Marcus Hall.

His story is like crazy. Getting caught for legal gambling, getting pulled over on the side of the road, being left with nothing, going to prison, and just all the things that it taught him to lead up to kind of what he's doing now and who he is today. So, excited for you to listen. Enjoy.

Marcus Hall (1:19)

Just business is expensive. And looking back, I mean, I was ignorant to how much money. I mean, you've got to make a product. You've got to buy the fabrics. You've got to buy all the details, the labels, and get it made. And then if you're wholesaling, you've got to then work out terms, generally with a department store or boutiques. They want 30, 60, 90 days. So, you're floating all this money.

And not to mention the developmental part of it. Before you actually make this shirt, you've got to make 10 of them to go, what's the shrinkage?

What's the fit? You know what I mean? How does this fabric relax? You got it. So, there's just a lot. Yeah, trade shows. I mean, it's just a really, really very competitive business. Not to mention marketing.

How do you get people's attention? And what makes your brand different from others?

And so, it's crazy. So, yeah, I did. But the answer to your question is, I used the money from the number of business to start the Marc Nelson Denim.

Paul (2:15)

Interesting. I assume you knew it was wrong. You knew it wasn't legal.

Marcus Hall (2:19)

Absolutely, hands down.

SPEAKER_3 (2:21)

Did you know they were on to you?

Marcus Hall (2:23)

Yeah, it's interesting.

And we talked about that addiction thing. You know what I mean? We were making a lot of money.

SPEAKER_3 (2:32)

Right.

Marcus Hall (2:32)

And when things are going well, even when you're doing something wrong, ethically or morally or whatever, you tend to not want to pay attention to the signs. And in hindsight, absolutely, we should have saw the signs. And it took two years before I got in trouble.

I brought this up to my partner. I think it's time to quit.

And if I were being honest, and this is funny, had he said, you're right, I would have quit. But in hindsight, again, silver lining, listen, I was around a lot of bad people all the time. All the time.

Paul (3:13)

Because of the business you're in.

Marcus Hall (3:14)

Yes, I mean cash business. You know what I mean? And so there was constantly someone trying to rob us.

SPEAKER_3 (3:19)

Did you even put that money in the bank?

Paul (3:20)

No.

Marcus Hall (3:21)

Oh God, no.

Paul (3:22)

You can't put that money in the shoebox.

Marcus Hall (3:24)

You just use your imagination. There you go.

So that's how it's so easy for them to.

You lose a lot of friends when you make a lot of cash money because you hold this for me, and then two months later, it's like gone or they're gone or whatever. And so yeah, it's interesting. So the hindsight is, I probably should have been dead. And so now I've got, I remember the day that I got arrested. I was like devastated.

Paul (3:59)

You were shocked.

Marcus Hall (3:59)

Yes, like I was devastated.

Paul (4:01)

They were chasing you down, and you didn't know what was happening.

Marcus Hall (4:04)

They weren't chasing me down. Literally, I got pulled over by, this is crazy.

I was on my way to, and it's funny that I mentioned it's to meet with one of the Haslams, talk about business.