Daymond John grew up in Hollis, Queens — a neighborhood that shaped his hustle and sense of community. His father left when he was ten, and his mother worked multiple jobs to keep the lights on. Daymond watched from a young age how money moved, and when he couldn't afford the clothes he wanted, he decided to make them himself.

At 22, working as a waiter at Red Lobster to fund his dream, he and three childhood friends began screen-printing t-shirts and sewing wool hats in the living room of his family's two-story home on Farmers Boulevard. They named their label FUBU — For Us By Us — as a deliberate statement of Black ownership and Black pride in an era when hip-hop culture was exploding but Black entrepreneurs were rarely in the room.

The turning point came when Daymond convinced his neighbor LL Cool J to wear a FUBU hat in a Gap commercial, which aired nationally and put the brand on the map. With $300,000 in orders from a single Las Vegas trade show and a bank loan using the family home as collateral, Daymond took FUBU from a living room project to a global phenomenon.

The brand landed in Macy's, generated $6 billion in sales over its lifetime, and became one of the most iconic streetwear labels in history. Daymond went on to become a bestselling author and a fixture on ABC's Shark Tank, where he has invested in hundreds of businesses. Today he is worth an estimated $350 million — all built from a hand-sewn hat and a dream born in Hollis.