Many of the greatest athletes know that at some point, the clock times out, and the final whistle blows to indicate that the game is over for good. When that happens, they often look for new ventures. Jalen Chatman, while still a student-athlete, has created JU$T CA$H to prepare for the day the final whistle gets blown.
Jalen Chatman is more than just an athlete. He is also an entrepreneur with his clothing brand called JU$T CA$H, which was founded in May 2020. The brand was started when the pandemic forced many schools, including Portland State University, to cancel the school semester and football activities. With the free time he had, Jalen wondered about the big question many athletes encounter, “What are you going to do after football?” While he never had a certain answer, Jalen always thought about what he wanted to do.
Before he started to focus on sports, Jalen had a hat business in his early high school years, which was his side hustle. Eventually, he began to focus on football, later receiving thirteen football scholarships out of high school. Jalen decided that he would go back to his earlier side hustle, but this time, he would be going bigger.
He decided that his brand, JU$T CA$H, would go beyond hats and focus on street fashion. Jalen knew that the small business clothing brand competition would be difficult, so he decided to stand out from them with his constant innovation and resources. In order to succeed in the clothing industry, Jalen would need several key factors, including a print shop where he could have his designs printed out. Luckily, someone in the family-owned his own graphic design company, which was very convenient.
With the production concerns met, Janel’s next problem would be having to bring in customers. To answer this, Janel decided to enlist the help of some of his close friends who had a strong social media presence. When they heard about his project to build a brand, they were the first to approach and offered to help promote and create content. By utilizing all social platforms, they reached many people to invite and check out his brand. Since then, JU$T CA$H has grown in support and attracted new customers rapidly.
While the brand is still only in its early phase, Jalen Chatman hopes to see it grow out and open several stores all over the country. He is ambitious to see JU$T CA$H sign endorsement deals with several high profile athletes. Jalen targets incredible growth in the next few years as he wants to see the brand categorized with other well-known street fashion brands like Undefeated, Billionaire Boys Club, Primitive, DGK, and other popular brands.
Although he is young, Jalen Chatman wants to be an example to his peers and other upcoming student-athletes that it’s best always to have a plan to fall back on. He also wants to educate young adults about financial literacy — stocks, credit, or debt — and strive for generational wealth.
To find out more about Jalen Chatman and JU$T CA$H, you may visit his website.
