We make disruptive tools for disrupted times.
A virus 125 nanometers in size wreaked havoc on our world. Millions of people lost jobs, homes, and brutally, loved ones. The psychological toll was immense for many people as we came to grips that things are never really in our control. COVID19 wasn’t just reflected in the loss of life, civil unrest, and a great shifting of consciousness for our world. It was a hope extinguisher for many, a killer of dreams. We all struggled.
The thing is, we've never been much for accepting the status quo. We like to change things, fix things, and improve where things could be. Maybe it's because we're creatives. Maybe it's because we're from Toronto, a scrappy city with a relatively young history but a vibrant and diverse identity hungry to prove itself. Or maybe it’s because we had a few dreams left ourselves, and we couldn't let darkness win this year.
Whatever it was, instead of sitting back, and saying, “It is what it is,” we got to work. During the final three months of 2020, our team grew from one to seven, and we built a revolutionary platform that we like to think of as a dream maker.
Yes, 2020 changed everything, but then again, so did we.
We're not a tech company. We're a human company.
Leadership.
Stephen Shaw
A self-taught designer, he honed his craft by starting in the creative industries with recording artist Janet Jackson, cultivating strong relationships along the way with top talents across creative fields, including art, music, film, and fashion.
Throughout his varied career, he’s owned several businesses, but has always remained grounded in the creative community. In the fall of 2018, he made his biggest shift yet, and began refocusing his efforts on his hometown of Toronto, where he fostered a partnership between HXOUSE and Microsoft. Once again, reacquainted with the youth in the city, he was driven to create Dopesite Co., Artful Record®, and It’s All Sad™. Together, they empower the next generation of creative talent.
Management.
Daniel Goodman
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Outside of work, Daniel is passionate about music, books, film, food, architecture, and design. He believes all fulfilling work is found at the core of one’s why, and that flow is the optimal state between structure and surrender.
As Senior Marketing Manager, he hopes to continue to support the team in discovering their why, and empowering this community so people are encouraged to be their most elevated and connected creative selves.
David Salas
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This passion and curiosity to be in new environments brought him to participate in an internship program in Toronto during the Summer of 2019. It was there where he explored the city’s burgeoning creative ecosystem, attending events such as HXOUSE and Canon’s The Creator Class. It didn’t take long for him to realize that that was where he belonged. Eventually, this led him to become the first development intern for Artful Record® and later, the Senior Brand Manager for Dopesite Co.
David found his passion for photography in high school, and gets most of his creative inspiration from his twin brothers, Eric and Ernesto. Together, they manage a brand named HORATII, which reflects the unity of the triplet’s brotherhood and their lifelong pursuit of passion and excellence. By using the creative tools of Artful Record® and Dopesite Co., he hopes to create an impact that will outlive him and create a sustainable future for creative individuals just like himself.
Brand team.
Oscar Fraire
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Spending the early years of his life in the city of Juarez, Mexico, Oscar Fraire has been a Denver, Colorado native for most of his life. Currently attending the University of
Colorado Denver (graduating in Spring 2022 with a double major in Business
Management and Entrepreneurship) he’s determined to build generational wealth and consciousness. As a first-generation college student and a son of immigrants, he has focused on establishing a foundation for future minority generations by creating a blueprint that has allowed him to break the cycle and obtain a college education debt-free.
Oscar recognized the power of being involved in his community early on, propelling him to apply to student leadership on his college campus. He has served in various positions for a leadership program focused on developing young minority leaders: the President of the
Urban Male Initiative, as well as working as a program coordinator assistant and as a program mentor for his peers.
These positions led Oscar to finding his passion of maximizing his own potential and empowering others through self-actualization and knowledge sharing . His mission is to continue developing his passion for communication and community through his Junior Brand Manager position with Dopesite Co. while developing his personal brand IAM, an erudite platform looking at creative entrepreneurship with a philosopher’s eye.
Tristian Wolfe
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Tristian Wolfe grew up in Denver, Colorado and is currently striving to influence his hometown environment. Being introduced to the creative community through his best friends, he saw endless opportunities to showcase his perspective through his own lens.
He was first intrigued by music in middle school where he joined band class in the percussion section. Band didn’t last long, but once he was a senior in highschool he came across a video of Metro Boomin and Travis Scott in the studio making “Skyfall’. The feeling that he experienced pushed him to study videos, tutorials of the artistic process. Going from watching interviews and studio sessions, to envisioning what it would be like to be in a setting like that, made him even more motivated to try it himself.
Tristian downloaded a free program to get producing and started making beats. On an almost obsessive rate, from that day forward, he’s been passionate for sounds in a way he never thought was possible. During quarantine, he’s also become fascinated by the world of photography, diving deep into the legends and fundamental skills, and finding how he can thread visual ideas into his brand as a musician. From all of these different outlooks, he looks to influence society through multiple creative mediums, which he likes to label as “Speaker” and “Lense”. He’s stoked to see how Dopesite Co and the surrounding ecosystem can introduce him to more creatives like him with shared values.
Eric Salas
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Eric Salas studies finance and real estate at the University of Colorado-Boulder. His love for self expression and creativity began at an early age, specifically being introduced to breakdancing and music. After winning first place in the talent show with his brothers and best friend, and loving that feeling of expression, he knew that he always wanted to pursue something that could recapture that magic.
During high school, he stumbled across a fledgling app that we now know as Instagram, amazed by the creativity on display. Seeing the work of photographers such as HumzaDeas, 13th Witness, and Stephen Vanasco, he felt very connected with the medium and working hard at his job in order to save up for his first camera, a Canon Rebel T4i. Through photography, he was then introduced to other mediums such as fashion, art, and architecture.
After learning the fundamentals and seeing how these mediums could connect, he realized that he wanted to explore his own multidisciplinary talents, founding HORATII in 2017 with his brothers as an outlet for their creative desires. Today, he is on a journey to further the dialogue between these creative practices, through the methodology of what he calls Creative Destruction, fusing his business skill set with creative entrepreneurship in the pursuit of living well.
Rawi Bahran
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Rawi Bahran was born and raised in Sana’s Yemen. Moving to Michigan in 2012, and then Ottawa in 2018, Rawi is a passionate, creative, and curious person, with a deep yearning to make a difference in the world.
He is a music producer, product designer, and entrepreneur. After moving to the States, he enrolled in university for computer science. After facing many frustrations and struggles of being a student immigrant, including issues of access and privilege he developed an obsession with entrepreneurship, fascinated by what made people fulfilled and successful. He devoured every episode of Shark Tank, and read every business and economic book in the Carleton Library. He also sharpened his sales skills selling web products door to door, conducting extensive economic market research.
His new role at Dopesite Co. is a natural extension of developing products that help young people express and build ideas, from blueprint to sale, and he’s excited for what comes next.
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Better together.
What do I get?
Everything you need to successfully launch your brand.
A beautiful website and online store that we help you build. With analytics, SEO, optimization, marketing, commerce tools, and more, built right in.
Access to over 300 high-quality products from leading brands. The ability to easily customize those products, everything from print location, embroidery, and even inside labels. You get to set your pricing, make mockups, and push products to your online store with a single click, while our API handles the rest.
When your customers make a purchase, we process their order at one of our nine fulfillment centres, and ship it to them in your custom packaging.
Who is this for?
Any visual artist whose ever dreamt of selling their artwork and getting it out into the world.
Any musician who wants to support their careers and build their fanbase by selling merchandise.
Any content creator who is ready to capitalize on their existing brand and reach.
Any designer wishing to create a full fledged fashion and apparel brand.
Basically, anybody with vision, who wants to create vibes, connecting culture and commerce with ease.
How long does it take?
A realistic timeline would be one month from signup to first sale. That being said, It mostly depends on your readiness to launch a brand.
We’ve provided resources for helping you work through, as well as, understand some of those initial steps on our blog.
Your brand manager will help you along the way, but the more you know your own brand, the more easily they can help you launch it.
What if I'm not a designer?
It’s possible you’re not a designer, but still want to launch your brand.
When you sign up on our platform, we also give you membership to Artful Record®, our invite only talent incubator, content hub and private social media platform for individuals up next in global youth culture and young tastemakers and trendsetters in creative industries.
As a member, you’ll gain access to a growing community of some of the world’s best creatives. Maybe you need help designing your logo? Or a photographer to shoot your products? Or a cinematographer to film your lookbook? The possibilities are endless.
We’ve even made it possible to post jobs to the entire community.
How much does it cost?
We have upfront costs to use our platform, in addition to recurring monthly fees, because what we’re doing here is quite complicated, and also, completely novel.
This kind of service has never been offered before and you can’t find it elsewhere. Go ahead, have a search, we’ll wait.
We’re looking for people that are actually serious about building their brand. Serious people already know, launching a brand, in any kind of successful manner, will cost tens of thousands of dollars.
You can start with our platform for as little as $250 CAD and $72 per month recurring. We also offer financing, no questions asked.