#312 - Dad Gang Decoded: Building a Fatherhood Community One Hat at a Time With Bart Szaniewski

Bart is building at the intersection of commerce & community and promoting the message of fatherhood through fashion. With a twelve year stint optimizing brands and content, Bart now champions the Dad Gang, a movement that brings dads together under the banner of quality streetwear. We kick off with how he turned a small investment of $750 into a phenomenon that has sold 90,000 hats and counting and is consistently repped by some of the biggest celebrity and athlete dads.Bart breaks down the strategy behind investing strategically in organic content & paid social, which has led to a burgeoning community and movement for dads, by dads, in just a year and a half!Episode brought to you by More StaffingJoin 15k founders and marketers & get our pod highlights delivered directly to your inbox with the DTC Pod Newsletter!On this episode of DTC pod we cover:1. Introduction to Bart and Dad Gang2. Dad Gang’s Growth through Organic Marketing Strategies3. The Quality and Appeal of Dad Gang Hats4. Nurturing a Community-Centric Brand5. Marketing Strategies and Experiences6. Sales and Community Engagement7. Product Recommendations and Community InvolvementTimestamps00:00 Interest in hip hop led to career in marketing and branding.05:57 Transition from freelance to agency, experiencing burnout.10:24 Friends, family supported hat-making venture organically grew.14:39 Connected with manufacturer to create high-quality hats.17:04 From 100 hats to 90,000 in 1.5 years.20:14 Highlight new dads, share their fatherhood stories.23:31 Fatherhood has trials, community provides support.26:37 Bart, startup success, building community, unexpected growth.29:31 Boosted ads with back-in-stock notifications work well.35:33 Started private Facebook group for back-in-stock updates.38:01 Dad support group fosters community and advice.41:50 Focus on collaborations, new hat styles, feedback.44:15 Best-selling black and white horsepower hat sold out. Shownotes powered by CastmagicPast guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands-----Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you.Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter here and our Projects the DTC Pod team is working on:DTCetc - all our favorite brands on the internetOlivea - the extra virgin olive oil & hydroxytyrosol supplementCastmagic - AI Workspace for ContentFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTok ---Bart Szaniewski - Co-Founder at DadGangBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of CastmagicRamon Berrios - Co-Founder of Castmagic