Born 2 Win is both a clothing brand and a music label based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ace's mission is to motivate from the inspirational mantra he hopes people see every time they look into the mirror wearing his apparel to the entrepreneurial spirit he's investing into the youth that participate in his summer jobs program.
Who is Ace? Ace Born 2 Win is me! I am a walking brand, walking business, and artist. I’m a person that’s pushing more of a conscious positive music movement with it. I’m not trying to be like everybody else. I definitely want to stand out with my brand, with my team, and everything we to represent...Born 2 Win is just to show everybody that we can do it as long as we put our mind to it.
Why did you name your brand Born 2 Win?
I named my brand Born 2 Win because it was a phrase I continued to use to myself after I got released from prison. It was something I told myself after many times of falling down and opportunities not going through where I felt like, “what else is thre to do?” I just kept reminding myself that I was Born 2 Win. So I did have something else out there for me. I just went after things I knew and that I always wanted and dreamed of doing, like my clothing line. It’s something I always wanted to do to have my own stuff and rock it every day. Performing - being out there on stage is something I always dreamed of doing. I just realized that’s what I always saw myself doing. So, why not go for it? You’re born 2 win!
What are some of the other things that you do as far as businesses and community work? Outside of being an artist, I have a youth lawn care project. In the summertime, we get young dudes and take them to do lawn care to earn money instead of going to rob somebody, kick in somebody’s door, or selling drugs. I been there. I done that, which I speak about in my music, but I also speak about my turnaround and how I now hustle with my shirts, my music, the clothing line, barbering, and landscaping. I just want to show there’s so many incomes you can have outside of the streets. If they can just see it for themselves, I feel like it could open their mind up to it. So, I take them out to show them different parts of the city, where we cut grass at. It’s, also, a good opportunity to reel them in to mentor them, sit them down, see what’s going on with them, and see how we could help them out. It’s been very impactful. A lot of them will keep it up and over the wintertime get other jobs to keep them going. They just got a mindset to keep working for themselves.
What’s your next project? Right now my next music project is going to be called Ace the President. I’ve been working on my quality with my music, the good engineering, producers, and DJs. I’ve been doing a lot of networking and all that. I know I got some hits on my next album that’s coming out, but I’m really pushing my singles “So Naptown” for the city. We just need more of a breakthrough. So, I’m pushing my singles to different DJs and stations, going out and performing it, just letting people know Naptown - we up next!