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Gurmer Chopra, 32, is the co-founder of the Youngla clothing brand.
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Just after obtaining his university degree in 2015, Gurmer Chopra, 32, won his first corporate role in an accounting firm “Big Four”. But after less than a year of work, he decided to stop.
“Four months, I [was] Like: “I hate myself here”. It was just the most boring work, and I felt like I was making a difference in the world, “said Chopra CNBC Made.
“At one point, I [started studying] For my [certified public accountant exam]… then I opened the book [and] I remember just reading the first page, and I think it is literally when I realized that I could not do that with my life, or I will simply not be a happy person, “said Chopra.
At that time, he also worked on an e -commerce company alongside his older brother Dashmeet Chopra. During their free time, the duo went to downtown Los Angeles to obtain articles such as t-shirts, jeans and shoes at wholesale prices and sold them on Ebay.
Their Hustle on the eBay side has since become Youngla, a brand of lifestyle clothing which brought back more than $ 167 million in 2024, according to documents examined by CNBC Make IT.
Memories to clothes
Originally from India, Chopra and her family immigrated to the United States in 2002 and spent their first four years in New Jersey before landing in California. Chopra said that he had obtained his father’s entrepreneurial chops,, who worked in a souvenir shop after moving to the United States
His father finally launched a wholesale memories and managed gift shops in Los Angeles. Chopra and her brother were involved in their father’s trade efforts at a young age.
Brothers Gurmer and Dashmeet Chopra with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“It was honestly the start of me to become an entrepreneur with my brother, because … I was 12 years old and helped my father to lead this business,” said Chopra.
After a while to direct these brick and mortar stores, Chopra’s father realized that he had succeeded by selling their products online. Inspired by his discovery, the two brothers decided to experience electronic commerce themselves.
At the start, my brother and I gathered $ 5,000 and that’s all we’ve ever invested in the business. And we have always been able to … reinvest.
GURMER CHOPRA
Co-founder, Youngla
In March 2014, Chopra studied economics and accounting at the University of California in Santa Barbara, when he and his brother opened their eBay account for the first time.
“At the start, my brother and I gathered $ 5,000 and that’s all we’ve ever invested in the business. And we have always been able to reinvest,” said Chopra. Both used this money to get their first products.
“We buy jeans, conversations, vans … Tupac shirts, biggie shirts … We would just buy a lot in downtown Los Angeles, and I launch a lot of things on the wall. Whatever the announcements that would start to break out, we would be [put] More time and effort on this, “he said.
In addition to selling on Ebay, Chopra and her brother also extended to Amazon and Shopify, whom they decided to appoint Youngla.com – inspired by a DJ on their local radio station called “Young California”.
From there, they paid their attention from resale items only that they bought basically to go all-in on the Youngla brand. Chopra said they had started to make their own products and add the name “Youngla.com” to the labels of their articles to create the brand’s recognition.
The company reported its first million income in 2017, said Chopra. In the end, there have been two key successes that have more catapulted the growth of the brand: the “culture of the fall” and influencer marketing – which are both still main elements of the company today.
Drop Culture is a marketing strategy where brands publish limited edition articles, or “drops”, at specific moments, to create exclusivity and buzz on social networks.
“In 2018, we started … by focusing on our website, and we wanted to create a” fall culture, “said Chopra.” So, whenever a new product came out, we would like to try to do it in advance, then drop it on the website. “”
In 2019,, Youngla signed her first major contract with an influencer, and by 2020, the company had reached more than $ 6 million in income, added Chopra. Last year, the company brought, on average, more than double this amount of monthly income.
Lessons learned
When asked if he was happy to have left his accounting work, Chopra said: “I don’t think I could be happier. [I’m] Very, very satisfied with where we were, but it’s really stressful. “”
“I think a few years in business management, you realize [that] No one could have prepared me for that … I think some of the most difficult things at first were to dismiss an employee … or simply to deal with really difficult situations, to face stress, to be pursued and things like that too, “he said.
“You learn so much when you are actually … But I think that understanding these things you teach you so much about the world, but also about yourself.”
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