Youth in foster care hear TapouT message
Message of self-empowerment TapouT leaders advise group to defy stereotypes Street Smart Jobz founder Todd Lowe was out to shatter…
Message of self-empowerment
TapouT leaders advise group to defy stereotypes
Street Smart Jobz founder Todd Lowe was out to shatter some stereotypes. He wanted those in his fledgling program, geared to career guidance for disadvantaged youth in foster care, to hear from successful real-world business leaders who’ve faced considerable challenges of their own.
Through a friend who worked at a mixed-martial-arts magazine, Lowe last year met the crew at TapouT, the Grand Terrace maker of edgy gear and clothing that last year sold nearly $200 million in merchandise at stores around the globe.
Two of the company’s tattooed leaders met Friday with 10 members of the jobs program, ages 18 to 22, who received words of wisdom and viewed videos on the improbable rise of the company and its rabid fan base.
“Their demographic is very much in tune with what we are doing,” said Lowe, 41, who runs the foster youth program in Orange County and is looking to expand it throughout the state.
“These guys at TapouT represent that wrong-side-of-the-tracks type of origin, but they’ve always had this message of self-empowerment,” he said. “They are very good role models.”
TapouT was started in 1997 in a tiny apartment by two Inland natives, Dan Caldwell and the late Charles Lewis Jr., who grew up in tough San Bernardino neighborhoods. Lewis, better known to fans as Mask, died last year in an auto accident.
Lewis and Caldwell, better known as Punkass, with longtime friend Tim Katz (Skyskrape), all trained in mixed martial arts, which combines elements of boxing and traditional defense arts like jujitsu.
The TapouT leaders continue to sponsor up-and-coming fighters, and the company is a key sponsor of bouts presented by Ultimate Fighting Championship, the league more commonly known as UFC.
Caldwell and Katz Friday urged their young audience to defy the common perception in business circles that “all foster kids must be delinquents” and can’t be employed.
They need to identify what they care deeply about, and take advantage of avenues for learning about that subject.
Street smarts can lead to good jobs and careers, even for those who think they don’t have book smarts.
For instance, Caldwell said while attending Redlands High School, he took elective courses geared to business and law enforcement. He and Lewis later worked for several years in law enforcement and security jobs before TapouT took off.
“I can do all kinds of Monday-morning quarterbacking about whether I should have stayed in school longer, or should have gone to college,” Caldwell said. “The important thing is, there were things at school that I did pursue, and it helped me.”
After their talk, students in the jobs program said they valued the encouraging words from the TapouT crew.
“I think they’re doing a lot to fight stereotypes, which I think this jobs program is also doing,” said Marre Juarez, 20, of Tustin.
“I grew up in foster homes for a lot of my life, and I saw a lot of people going through the justice system,” she said. “I want to go into law enforcement because I think I can improve the system.”
TapouT now employs 150 and its gear is sold in thousands of stores globally. Sales in 2009 came in close to $200 million, said company chairman and president Marc Kreiner, a former record company executive.
Kreiner said TapouT generally keeps its community works low-key, but it often reaches out to organizations that help disadvantaged youth, wounded soldiers and others facing life challenges.
“The message of mixed martial arts is that if you want to win, you have to be focused, you have to train and work hard,” he said. “The idea we want to encourage is that young people, especially if they are facing troubles, can channel their energy in constructive ways.”