Me When I Hear 不可能 for the 100th Time Today. I Want to Smoke by the Fire Exit. [start a clothing brand]

(It’s 11:17 a.m. and I’m spiritually chain-smoking.)

There’s a special kind of burnout that only comes from trying to start a clothing brand and hearing “不可能”(“impossible”) on loop from the factory floor to the sample room to the guy who swore yesterday that of course 2,000 units in custom dye was doable.

Spoiler: today, it’s not.

And suddenly I’m standing near the emergency exit, mentally pacing, rethinking my MOQ strategy, and wondering why the international language of production delays always feels so… final.

Starting a clothing brand? Buckle up. You’re going to hear “impossible” a lot. Often when what you’re asking for is perfectly reasonable — or was yesterday.

Which is why I built Garment Sourcing 101. Because I spent 15+ years in this industry hearing “不可能” from people who didn’t actually mean it — they just didn’t want to figure it out. And unless you know how to push back (politely, strategically, and with leverage), your brand will live or die at the mercy of someone else’s comfort zone.

You don’t need to be fluent in Mandarin.

You need to be fluent in factory reality.

And that’s a language I can teach you.

Why You’ll Hear “Impossible” When Starting a Clothing Brand — Even When It’s Not

Let’s decode what 不可能 really means in production:

• “We don’t want to do it under your budget.”

• “It’s too much effort for the margin.”

• “You’re asking for something we don’t have SOP for.”

• “The person who can do that isn’t here today.”

• “We said yes too quickly, and now we’re backpedaling.”

It rarely means “literally impossible.”

But if you’re just starting out, you’ll take it at face value. You’ll downgrade your design. You’ll accept substitutions. You’ll water down your vision to keep production “moving.”

And by the time the product ships?

It’s not really your product anymore.

That’s why knowing how to speak sourcing is critical if you want to start a clothing brand that actually reflects your standards — and survives beyond one launch.

The Fire Exit Is a State of Mind

You don’t actually need to smoke by the fire exit.

You just need an outlet.

Because here’s the emotional truth of trying to get things made:

• You will be misunderstood.

• You will be told no — when you should be told how.

• You will be ghosted, delayed, re-quoted, and asked to “confirm again” for the fourth time.

And you will start to doubt yourself — your design, your MOQ, your whole business model.

This is where most founders give up.

They don’t fail because of lack of talent.

They fail because they don’t know how to hold their ground.

Which is something you only learn after your 100th 不可能 and your fourth trip to the fire exit.

Unless you take the shortcut I wish I had: Garment Sourcing 101. The course that teaches you how to decode this industry, deal with the pushback, and actually get what you asked for — in the specs you asked for — without losing your mind (or your margins).

You’re Not Asking Too Much. You’re Asking the Wrong Way.

Let me be clear: it’s not your expectations that are the problem.

You want:

• Consistent stitching

• On-time production

• Zippers that don’t feel like a compromise

• Fabric that doesn’t pill after 2 washes

• Custom packaging that doesn’t look like it was an afterthought

These are not diva demands. These are baseline expectations for a legit brand.

The problem is, no one teaches you how to ask for these things in factory language.

No one hands you:

• A BOM that gets respect

• A timeline that gets followed

• A QC checklist that gets taken seriously

That’s what I teach. Not how to dream it — but how to build it. From the inside out, using systems that factories understand and respect.

15 Years In, and I Still Hear “Impossible” Every Week

The difference is now I know when to push back, when to adapt, and when to walk.

You don’t have to scream or threaten. You don’t need to throw money at the problem. You just need to know how production works — so when someone says “can’t,” you can calmly say, “Actually, yes you can. And here’s how we’ll do it.”

You learn this by doing.

Or — if you’re smart — you learn it from someone who’s already done it, screwed it up, fixed it, and packaged the whole process into a course so you don’t have to stand by a fire exit chain-smoking while your order falls apart.

(That someone is me.)

If You Want to Start a Clothing Brand, You Need More Than Aesthetic

A good brand isn’t built on aesthetics. It’s built on execution.

Everyone can pick a cool font and moodboard their way to a vibe. But can you:

• Cost your collection down to the thread?

• Spot a sourcing lie in the first draft of a quotation?

• Negotiate trims without losing quality?

That’s the difference between a brand that’s scalable and a brand that gets eaten alive by its first supplier relationship.

It’s not sexy, but it’s real.

And when you’ve got your third strike from a factory and the “can’t”s are coming fast, you’ll wish you had a process to fall back on — not a Pinterest board and a hope.

Final Word from the Fire Exit

Here’s the thing about 不可能 — it’s rarely the end of the conversation. It’s just a test.

The factory wants to know:

• Do you know what you’re doing?

• Are you worth the effort?

• Will you fold at the first sign of friction?

When you show them you’ve done this before — or at least learned from someone who has — the conversation changes. Suddenly 不可能 becomes “可能… if you can adjust MOQ,” or “Let me check again,” or “We can try a new supplier.”

That’s where things get done. That’s where real production begins.

And that’s what Garment Sourcing 101 is about. Not just getting to “yes” — but getting to “yes” without having to scream or settle.

So light your imaginary cigarette.

Take a deep breath.

And know this: it’s not impossible.

It’s just manufacturing.

And you’ve got this.