It has been almost a year since we delivered the last State of the Union address as it pertains to Royal Dynamite. Just the other day I was on Facebook and caught a video of President Obama encouraging the American people to attend a watch party for his State of the Union address. For all of our fans outside of the US that may not be familiar with this address, it is an annual speech given by the US president that addresses multiples issues including the current condition of the nation along with his legislative agenda for the rest of his term and national priorities. Royal Dynamite has mimicked this model and once a year, we release an article that lets all our royal fans know how things have been going, and what we plan on accomplishing in the months and years ahead.

Royal Dynamite co-founder and a great friend to me, Ralph Diesel, has been trying to get me to get out of my writing block funk so that I can begin the process of writing again. I always manage to give wimpy excuses, with my favorite being that I would write when it was time to put out RD’s annual State of the Union article. So without further ado, I present to you a succinct rundown of new and exciting things happening at the Royal Dynamite headquarters since our last address.

Brand Recognition

We are happy to report that Royal Dynamite’s popularity continues to grow and has become quite the household name of clothing lines within our circle of friends and family. A BIG THANK YOU to you all for continually being  believers and brand ambassadors for RD. You have helped in spreading the word to others and thus the royal lifestyle movement continues to grow. Our imminent plan is to take our growing popularity and expand it beyond the imaginable by reaching out to the masses on a more global scale. In order to accomplish this, we have outlined a detailed plan that involves a lot of hard work and patience but we are committed to the plan and are up for the challenge.

Website

Since we last updated you, the rollercoaster ride continues with thrilling and heart dropping moments intertwined. Adapting and evolving through an ever challenging and changing journey has allowed us a certain level of success and we hope that it continues on that trajectory. During our last address, we didn’t have a website but have since then launched our temporary site http://shop.royaldynamite.com. The photos that are plastered throughout the site are the result of 2 very successful photo shoots, thanks to a number of great photographers, make-up-artists, and models.

Online Ordering and Shipping

We have also updated our shipping process to become more automated and efficient. We hope this change has been reflected in how quickly RD threads are shipped out after submission of an online order.

Collaborations

We engaged in two separate cross-brand collaborations: The first involved The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, a brilliant and funny web series that has achieved much success and fame. During the summer months of 2011, we put out a Seth Brundle X Royal Dynamite Summer Collection - a partnership with LA celebrity stylist Seth Brundle on designing “Mrahaba” and “Nyumbani” racer back tank tops. We also had our first major feature in the Our Weekly Los Angeles.

Royal Dynamite, Inc.

On the business side of things, in late 2011 we dissolved our DBA (Doing Business As) and Incorporated the company to plan for upcoming growth, as well as to build a better infrastructure.

Events

Over the past year, we have hosted a number of events such as our first ever Lucky Strike Bowling Event and The SB X RD X ABG Launch party. We have also been privileged to be a part of the Ankara Fest, The Mocolate Fashion Show, and A Laced Affair; all the aforementioned events featured RD threads in one way or the other. We also began the RD Duffle Bag Tour series through numerous cities in DC and Maryland, as well as the Big Easy - New Orleans. On a grander scale, we took the tour globally to the UK, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

RD Goes Retail

We are excited to announce that we sealed a deal with our first retail store Lily and Star, a fashion boutique for women’s clothing at the Rosewood Mall in Roseville, Minnesota. Check out their website here: http://www.lilyandstar.com/

To put the past year in summary, Royal Dynamite has had its share of wins and losses and as we grow so do the challenges, however our future projects are so exciting that we can’t wait to get started and make all of you a part of it.

The Future

·      In the summer of 2012, we will be launching a more enhanced and integrated, user-friendly, e-commerce website that will be hosted under the domain name RoyalDynamite.com. This new site will have a smoother interface and be able to better handle our contests and collaboration platforms.

·      We will also début a program that is near and dear to our hearts and will be the focal point of our mission moving forward. The program entitled RDCares, will embrace the one-for-one concept; for every t-shirt bought from the company, we will donate an educational package (book bag, notebook, pen, pencil, eraser, and sharpener) to a child in need, starting with Sierra Leone and further expanding to other countries and regions. We believe that education is the key to a brighter future for the upcoming generation yet children across the world are being deprived of this fundamental right due to abject poverty. Royal Dynamite believes it is our responsibility to assist in changing the current status quo that many are subjected to due to failed governments and poverty, particularly in sub-Saharan African countries like Sierra Leone (our motherland). In the upcoming months, we will publicize more about the RDCares programs and how royal fans such as your self can help in meeting our one-for-one goals.

·      We are planning on launching a new and dynamic RD kids line that will address the numerous requests from royal fans for baby tees and onesies for their little ones. Stay tuned for more on the RD kids line in the months ahead.

·      Also on the RD agenda for 2012 is to engage and embrace the cross-branded collaboration model by bringing many creative partnerships to our platform, while keeping you, the RD fan at the forefront of the decision making process. We have also begun the process of getting more RD products sold in more retail store locations across the US. 

 As we have said in the past and we continue to reiterate, our passion and drive to attain success is second to none, however it is our commitment to serve you and leave the world better than we found that fuels our desire to accomplish great things. So once again, thanks for your support and may this New Year inspire us all to start something that matters, regardless of how little it might be. Viva Royal Dynamite!

The last 6 months have been a roller-coaster ride of sorts; starting a new company, learning about partnerships, technology, e-commerce, sales, retail, mishaps et. al has been exciting to say the least.  The challenges have been beyond our imagination, however we have successfully embraced and overcome them industriously so far. Our journey has just begun and the road ahead is far from a clear path so the process of perfecting our business model, infrastructure, and organization continues daily. We will strive to do our very best in making sound decisions as we move along.

Chances are if you are reading this, you most likely have been with Royal Dynamite since day one and for that we are truly grateful. While we realize that it is impractical to entirely depend on friends to reach our goal of building Royal Dynamite into an empire, without our friends we wouldn’t have complete strangers know who we are and what we do. You, my friends have given us HOPE since we created our Facebook page and grew from 50 followers to 400+ fans within a week, sold out our first printed batch of 60 shirts within 5 days and had a week where every single order received was from overseas. While these might be small accomplishments to others, to us they mean the world as we continue to increase our support system within the U.S. and globally. We THANK YOU for your support and hope that you keep spreading the word, and continue buying RD t-shirts (BIG SMILE). For those that only started the journey now or most recently, THANK YOU for joining the movement; exciting, fun, innovative and creative times lie ahead. Our passion and hunger to succeed feeds our drive, but it is our commitment to YOU that ultimately fuels the need to deliver.

Many of you have inquired about buying products online so we are proud to announce the launching of Royal Dynamite’s temporary online shop:www.shop.royaldynamite.com. Go there NOW and shop with ease and peace of mind. Keep in mind that the site’s functionalities are limited to giving you an easy shopping experience. It does not incorporate other aspects of our business model such as a platform to launch design contests and voting. We are diligently working behind the scenes with a talented group of web designers and developers to make that happen. Our growth experience should be organic, so patiently follow this journey towards making you “Befitting Royalty”! Thanks again for all your support and devotion to our brand. Stay tuned for more updates and feel free to follow the journey on Twitter:www.twitter.com/royaldynamite and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/royaldynamite