My Story
Daricus Releford is a young entrepreneur who has founded businesses over the last 15 years. His first entrepreneurial venture was in Bellevue, NE at only 12 years old when he realized how problematic his dad’s recurring drug addiction was. Daricus returned from school one day to learn that his father once again stole most of the items from the family home to support his drug addiction. Daricus’ military mom was on a business trip over 1,000 miles away when Daricus and his twin brother decided to help their mom financially by starting a lawn mowing service. He raked in $3,200 his first two months of summer vacation and $4,600 the following summer. When he returned from summer vacation with money and name-brand clothes , teachers assumed the money did not come from honest work.
At age 14, Daricus used his remaining lawn mowing earnings to pay for a hot dog cart. He expanded it into a concession stand for events that over the years generated $4,000-6,000 per event.
At 17, having a mom in the military, he started his 14th school in Harrisburg, PA at Bishop McDevitt where he met his friend NFL Running Back Lesean McCoy who gave Daricus and his twin brother the nickname "Twigedies,” which he later named his next business venture after. While many other high schoolers gave into peer pressure, Daricus feared having the same addictive genes as his dad so at 17 years old, he and his brother vowed to never drink or smoke, which they still stand by today.
In college, lack of money for dorms left Daricus to sleep in his car his entire freshman year. Meanwhile, he took 8+ courses per semester to graduate sooner and mentored local kids at CAPPA. Daricus felt confident in his experience and knowledge about business, so instead of studying business management, he decided to learn a trade too. He earned two associates degrees in Applied Science Engineering and a B.S in Management of Science Engineering - Construction Technologies.
The beginning of Tberries' Journey
After college, his mom worked in Afghanistan to earn the $25,000 that Daricus used to design and create the website, design and purchase custom packaging, and launch his new business Twigedies Berries/tberries.com.
Confident that he could market the business for free, Daricus found a creative strategy and drove 4 hours to TLC headquarters to pitch a reality show in order to stand out amongst thousands of other professional pitchers. He got the attention of the CEO of Discovery and TLC as well as producers who admired his technique. Daricus used that traction to film a segment on the Steve Harvey show by driving 10 hours to Chicago with boxes of his product and personal letters to executives. He even got signed with a TV production company, shot a sizzle reel, featured in Kiplinger Magazine, amongst several newspaper articles, radio shows and TV news segments in just 6 months.
Twigedies Berries received a lot of business with all the media attention. Daricus drove across the country from Pennsylvania to Silicon Valley to gain first-hand knowledge of the funding process. His family helped run the business while he was away. He got the quickest jobs he could in tech at the biggest companies including Apple, Google, and Facebook to network and get an inside look, while spending time in the tech hub.
Six months later, he opened his first store location on Fort Meade, Maryland military base under the name Tberries & Floral, remotely running the business from Silicon Valley and ultimately doubling the previous flower company's sales during its first year. The success of the first store lead to the military requesting that Tberries & Floral take over 76 of its gift store locations nationwide. Daricus returned to the East Coast to open stores in the Washington, D.C. area, and transformed the business to a franchise so he could focus on the initial goal of a social gifting app.
At age 14, Daricus used his remaining lawn mowing earnings to pay for a hot dog cart. He expanded it into a concession stand for events that over the years generated $4,000-6,000 per event.
At 17, having a mom in the military, he started his 14th school in Harrisburg, PA at Bishop McDevitt where he met his friend NFL Running Back Lesean McCoy who gave Daricus and his twin brother the nickname "Twigedies,” which he later named his next business venture after. While many other high schoolers gave into peer pressure, Daricus feared having the same addictive genes as his dad so at 17 years old, he and his brother vowed to never drink or smoke, which they still stand by today.
In college, lack of money for dorms left Daricus to sleep in his car his entire freshman year. Meanwhile, he took 8+ courses per semester to graduate sooner and mentored local kids at CAPPA. Daricus felt confident in his experience and knowledge about business, so instead of studying business management, he decided to learn a trade too. He earned two associates degrees in Applied Science Engineering and a B.S in Management of Science Engineering - Construction Technologies.
The beginning of Tberries' Journey
After college, his mom worked in Afghanistan to earn the $25,000 that Daricus used to design and create the website, design and purchase custom packaging, and launch his new business Twigedies Berries/tberries.com.
Confident that he could market the business for free, Daricus found a creative strategy and drove 4 hours to TLC headquarters to pitch a reality show in order to stand out amongst thousands of other professional pitchers. He got the attention of the CEO of Discovery and TLC as well as producers who admired his technique. Daricus used that traction to film a segment on the Steve Harvey show by driving 10 hours to Chicago with boxes of his product and personal letters to executives. He even got signed with a TV production company, shot a sizzle reel, featured in Kiplinger Magazine, amongst several newspaper articles, radio shows and TV news segments in just 6 months.
Twigedies Berries received a lot of business with all the media attention. Daricus drove across the country from Pennsylvania to Silicon Valley to gain first-hand knowledge of the funding process. His family helped run the business while he was away. He got the quickest jobs he could in tech at the biggest companies including Apple, Google, and Facebook to network and get an inside look, while spending time in the tech hub.
Six months later, he opened his first store location on Fort Meade, Maryland military base under the name Tberries & Floral, remotely running the business from Silicon Valley and ultimately doubling the previous flower company's sales during its first year. The success of the first store lead to the military requesting that Tberries & Floral take over 76 of its gift store locations nationwide. Daricus returned to the East Coast to open stores in the Washington, D.C. area, and transformed the business to a franchise so he could focus on the initial goal of a social gifting app.