Marcus Burton

Welcome and Who Is Marcus Burton

Taryell Simmons: Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to another episode of Rise Urban Nation. I'm excited for the brother coming to the microphone today. I got to know him and his shirt company, Aphase, at the pitch competition, but I'm sure there's more to him than that. Marcus Burton, did I say it right?

Marcus Burton: That's it. As a designer, I go by Marky Xavier. Xavier is my middle name. Professor X, X-Men, that's my stuff.

Taryell Simmons: For those who don't know, who is Marcus Xavier?

Marcus Burton: I'm a fashion designer by trade. That's my original passion. I'm also a student, which is very important, and a business owner. I do graphic design and screen printing for anyone who needs a design.

From a Sewing Machine to Screen Printing

Taryell Simmons: Growing up, I didn't know about this world. How did you get into it? Did your mom just have sewing machines and screen printing machines around?

Marcus Burton: Close. It was my great-grandmother's sewing machine. I wanted a pair of pants I couldn't find anywhere, so I asked her for the sewing machine, got some fabric and made my first pair. They were decent enough for me to keep making clothes. As I was sewing, I realized none of these clothes had my name or my brand on them, so I had to learn screen printing. It's a profitable industry, and it took over all my time. I haven't sewn in months.

Taryell Simmons: You learned that whole process from YouTube?

Marcus Burton: Definitely from YouTube. So many people post, and if you try to apply it, you don't need all the tools at once. Back then I wasn't paying rent, so I went to work, used that money to buy supplies, and next thing you know I had a little setup in the garage. The garage is where everything happens.

How Aphase Got Its Name

Taryell Simmons: How did you come up with Aphase, the name and the concepts?

Marcus Burton: Originally the brand was going to be called Twin Star. I was in a collective, and we wanted to build a magazine called Twin Star, and I wanted to do clothes too. Then everyone fell out, and I was left with a name that didn't feel like mine because it was born through other people. I used to work pop-up markets on Saturdays for my mom's soap company, Old Town Soap Company. The vendor beside me, Dawn, sold spiritual items, and I'd always talk to her about how I think and what was going on in my life. One day I said, "I'm going through a phase," or "it's just a phase," and I stopped. That's it. The brand is Aphase. She said she liked it because as you grow and change, you're in different phases. I wasn't even thinking like that. The name started growing itself.

Growing Through the Jacobs Center Accelerator

Taryell Simmons: We met at the pitch competition for the Jacobs Center startup accelerator. What was the program like for you as a founder?

Marcus Burton: It was a really important phase of my life. I call everything a phase now. When I got in, I didn't know what I was getting into. It was my first time stepping out and learning about business. Before that it was just grinding: making things in the garage and selling them to friends, nothing steady. My mom has a business, so she walked me through some things, but I never had the education. The program taught me the steps for getting clients, financial models, and taking care of yourself and your mental health. Some instructors were really honest about how much you need your mental health. Over four months I matured, because now I know what it takes to be at a certain level.

Stick to Your Vision

Taryell Simmons: The road to entrepreneurship gets glamorized. Young people only see the good stuff online, not the grind and the phases, pun intended, you go through. What would you tell a young person who hears your story and thinks, if Marcus can do it, I can do it?

Marcus Burton: Stick to your vision. I think you even told me that. If you don't follow that initial idea, the passion can't grow, because you keep changing it based on what everyone around you is doing. I moved to San Diego to make my business grow, and I'm keeping that vision alive through the obstacles. Stay committed, and do it for yourself.

Taryell Simmons: I didn't know you moved here. Where from?

Marcus Burton: Temecula. I'm a Navy brat. I was born in Hawaii, where my parents were stationed, moved to San Diego around six or seven, lived in Japan for three years, came back to Point Loma for a year, and then lived in Temecula for about ten years. In January I moved into an apartment here, so this is my city again.

Taryell Simmons: Do all those places show up in your brand and style?

Marcus Burton: I think it's subconscious. Certain things speak to me because of my experience, and that's where my brand gets spiritual. I have a shirt with a cherry blossom tree. I wasn't thinking of Japan when I designed it, but it stuck with me because I was around it so much. Looking back, it reminds me of being a kid in Japan.

Obstacles, Creative Blocks and Resourcefulness

Taryell Simmons: What obstacles do you need to overcome to accomplish what you want?

Marcus Burton: Financial obstacles are always the obstacle for me. It's always the pocket. Ideas can't become reality unless you've got some bread.

Taryell Simmons: What would you say to someone who feels stuck, financially or mentally?

Marcus Burton: With creative blocks, your expressions come out when they need to come out. It's okay to be blocked. Let it go, and if it's yours, it'll come back to you. With finances, if you want to do it, you can figure out a way, even if it takes a while. This year I got real screen printing equipment, so I have an actual shop in my garage. That's because I was blessed: my mother helped me. I didn't have the financial tools, but I had people around me, and my mom trusts me because she knows I'm dedicated. There are other ways to get where you want to go.

Taryell Simmons: That's one of your great skills: you're resourceful. What skill should everyone have?

Marcus Burton: Being a sponge: listening and soaking up game. I listen to podcasts just to hear people's experiences. You can't be out here with your door closed and your windows tinted. How are you going to let the sun shine in? Even if you only crack the window, listen to people. When someone tells me they don't like a design, or that I'm spending too much time in one place, it's hard to hear, but I have to be open to it.

Marcus Burton: That's why it's good to have good people around you who will tell you those things. My girl tells me straight up when something isn't a good idea, and I just have to listen. And it's hard to have high vibrations when you're feeling low. You can't fake it.

Taryell Simmons: So how do you change your vibration?

Marcus Burton: A vibration goes down, and you know it's going to come back up. It's about being present in the phase you're in. You don't control it, and trying to control it keeps you low. That's why it's a phase. Just stay in the phase.

Connecting With San Diego's Art Community

Taryell Simmons: What are you most excited about this next year?

Marcus Burton: I've been taking an art class, and I want to connect with the art community in San Diego, especially the Black community, and put the arts in the spotlight. Self-expression is so important. Surviving in our society is difficult if you can't express yourself. That's my lane for my brand: helping people express themselves by seeing me express myself.

Collaboration and Handling Criticism

Taryell Simmons: Have you collaborated with anybody?

Marcus Burton: Not on a large scale. Right now I'm working on a design for a mechanic friend with Justin, a designer who used to work in the automotive industry. He knows that industry and I can design, so we're going to build the whole brand. For me, the biggest thing in a collaboration is not to be set on an end goal, because then you get fixated. If the other person wants to add something, there's probably a reason. It's like relationships: find a compromise.

Taryell Simmons: The hardest part is the critique. Why is it important to learn to handle criticism so you make the right decisions for your brand?

Marcus Burton: When I first get criticism, my guard goes straight up. But that's my ego getting in front of me. I have to step back, be the fly on the wall and see what they're trying to say. Alex was on me during the program. When I was figuring out my target audience, I kept saying "people who want this," and he kept saying no, that's too general, you need to pick a target audience. It took me so long to get through the simplest thing.

Taryell Simmons: What have you learned about yourself this past year?

Marcus Burton: How responsible I can be. I moved into my apartment and paid close to a thousand dollars in bills every month, consistently, for the first time. I'm taking care of my dog. It's my first long-term committed relationship, so I'm learning about my emotions, and staying in touch with family when you don't live with them takes real effort. And I do like jumping into things.

First Jobs and Not Barely Getting By

Taryell Simmons: What was your first job?

Marcus Burton: Carl's Jr. I worked the drive-thru as a cashier for about two months over the summer. I was playing football, which felt like a job too, so it was the easier one. Where I really learned something was as a lifeguard at Pechanga. To get the job I had to pass a test where you could miss at most seven questions. I missed seven. My dad said I should be happy I passed, but one different question would have failed me. Later I was barbecuing, the coal wasn't heating up, so I put lighter fluid on the grill, and all I saw was orange, red and yellow. My eyelashes were burned off. The first thing I thought about was that lifeguard test, because I had barely gotten by again. That's what I learned: I'm not comfortable barely getting by. I want to know I did what I needed to do to succeed.

Taryell Simmons: What steps helped make this dream more of a reality?

Marcus Burton: It's okay to work a job if you have a dream. Your job can help your dream, but find a job in the right industry. To learn screen printing, I worked at a screen printing shop. They taught me everything and gave me the confidence that I could run my own business, because I saw the business running every day.

Advice for Aspiring Screen Printers

Taryell Simmons: What advice would you give a young person who wants a career in your industry?

Marcus Burton: Learn all your questions, and find the answers as you grow. You don't need to go to school if you don't want to. In screen printing, this is where you lose money: you go to someone else to print, they tell you what everything costs, and you just say okay. I took a job that wasn't profitable because I didn't ask anyone first. Later someone told me he could have helped me get a better price.

Taryell Simmons: What are the right questions to ask?

Marcus Burton: How do you burn a screen without washing the design out? If your burn time is wrong, the screen dissolves when you wash it and your design won't be crisp. Learn how to tune your equipment. What ink do I need for this design? Will this ink work with a higher mesh count? Know your software, like when to use Illustrator instead of Photoshop, and know how to talk to customers and build client relationships. There's still a lot I don't know, but when I run into a question, I figure out the answer.

Taryell Simmons: What does the future hold for people of color in screen printing?

Marcus Burton: I've only run into two other Black screen printers in San Diego, and I've heard of another Black-owned shop. I ended up getting fired from the two I worked with because I wasn't coachable, and that hurt, because I thought we were all trying to win together. I want to be the shop that brings people in, keeps them in and helps them reach their dreams. Anyone's design can go on a shirt as long as you know the trade. That's why we have Neptune Labs, the printing service for Aphase: to help other people get their ideas onto a tee.

What's Next and Where to Find Marcus

Taryell Simmons: What projects are you working on, and where can people find you?

Marcus Burton: One of my most important clients runs a yoga business, and I design for her. Along with Aphase products, I'm working on a brown tee and brown shorts, like a little jumpsuit, maybe with "exist forever" on it. I'm always doing something, so follow the Instagram, @aphasetv. For our printing service, follow Neptune Labs at neptune.labs. Follow one and there's a link to the other.

Taryell Simmons: If you didn't catch all that, I'll put his bio and links in the show notes. Any last words of wisdom?

Marcus Burton: Support local artists. Regardless. And thank you, because I wanted to interview you, and before I could ask, you asked me. I appreciate the platform and the voice.

Taryell Simmons: Support local artists, regardless. Period. I salute you, King, for all the work you're doing and what you'll create to inspire the next generation. Until next time, keep running your life and your business. We'll see you next week with our next guest.