a 2025 recap in March? why not.
things i loved
okka trip to china. golf trip with the boys. seeing randoms in public wearing okka. my memes going parabolic. learned a metric fuck tonne on the business back end of okka. had a few reels absolutely pop like this, this, and this. going full send. moved to a permanent okka space (my own garage lol). the collab with mackem. surviving the year.
the memes. holy moley they were a curveball. i legit remember being in Lombok and had a meme post pop off and thinking “ghee whiz, where’s this come from”. followed by “am i onto something here?”. memes drove all my crazy growth on IG last year. yet didn’t dilute the brand in my opinion. i’m lucky that they legit are just a reflection of myself. i don’t have to pretend to be someone i not with these. them and the associated music for them are 110% me.
overall was a fucking great year.
things that i didnt love
my drop preparation. negative cunts. my own stupidity and poor decisions. suppliers giving me the fuckaround. slow rounds of golf. inaction and indecision in the suit of perfection. running outta moolah.
running outta money sounds a lot more dramatic than it really is. I just wish i had $100k in the kitty as a buffer.
spend half of it for the upcoming drops. due to cashflow constraints im averaging like 1-2 drops ahead at best.
a couple thousand on a quick return trip to Guangzhou to properly utilise the first trips learnings. first time round i had no fucking clue what i was doing. a firehose of information. the next trip i want to be ultra targeted. be extremely sure of what and where i need to go. know who or what i want to see and why i need to see it. speed up OKKA’s production timelines by going to the source to get the exact fabrics and designs done. i’d have sample techpacks ready, only needing to find the right fabric to start production for them.
i’d also love to try outsource a few little things here and there. test the waters with a video editor on some longer form content. see what some designers much smarter and more creative than me can cook up. hire someone who can use a camera and get some people who know how to stand in front of one. i got NFI what i’m doing in that space.
anyway thats how id spend $100k
thanks for coming to my ted talk
timeline management and drop planning is the other elephant in the room. i suck at it. i take full responsibility. it’s a skill i’m working on though. i’m hoping if i can do weekly schedule meetings with the missus, it might keep me on the straight and narrow. i go down some rabbit holes and at least by having a weekly explainer-update, i can zoom out and see the forrest from the trees every once in a while and know exactly where the fuck i’m at.
okka’s china trip
pure insanity. 72 hours of madness. a glorious assault on my senses.
not my first trip to china. so i had a small idea of what to expect.
but if i’m being honest, i didnt particularly enjoy my first experience to china in 2019.
this couldn’t have been any different. i didn’t want to leave. i’m unsure if it’s china’s rapid progress in the 6 years (it’s insane how different it is), or me maturing and appreciating different things, or maybe me having prior experience so i could tailor my expectations.
china is fucking full on. there’s no escaping that. and on my first trip that got to me. i was so fucking over it.
this time was a fucking blast from start to finish.
imagine surfing.
big waves as a beginner are fucking terrifying. they literally chew you up and spit you out upside down.
but with experience, big waves are a blessing. a mass of power you’re able to harness, ride, and cruise through.
maybe this metaphor only makes sense to me in my peanut brain, but i’m unsure of any other way to describe it.
china is a massive wave and i can’t fucking wait to return.
stats
started the year with i want to say around 3,000-4,000 followers?
finished the year at 8,800 followers.
sales were higher again. despite my best efforts to cock it all up. 50% up from last year. truth be told i will be mildly disappointed if i’m not smart/hard working enough to double revenue in 2026.
5 drops in 2025. also had 5 drops in 2024 for reference. so pretty piss poor effort from me there if i’m honest. dare i aim for double digits in 2026.
2026 preview
prior preparation prevents piss poor performance
i want to do plenty more collabs (mackem 2.0 anyone?!?)
manifesting an okka warehouse by end of 2026. and if i’m being super fucking crazy i’d rather fucking buy a space than rent. i hate the idea of having to chop and change and move. besides, i’m in this for the long run anyway.
more new ideas. more testing. more experiments. less rigidity.
if i aren’t getting super funky and having the occasional flop, i’m playing it too safe.