Our Story
Sometime in 2019 thru July 30 2020
The Idea
When we decided to work on creating our own brand that would have a brand message to not just motivate but to empower you as well. We wanted something that would last eternally which is why we wanted the word eternal to be somewhere in our name. While listening to a motivational video on youtube, it said that god identifies with two animals both being leaders the Lion and the Eagle. Two animals which are considered kings in their respective habitats being the king of the jungle and king of the birds. The eternal true kings came to mind, being a computer engineer I replaced true with 1 which is what we have today E1K. After months designing our logo our artist sold that logo to another company and we couldn't fight it because we hadn't even filed our LLC. So we were back to Square 1.
April 28, 2021
Founded
In March of 2021 we finalized a new logo we were proud would showcase our message of keeping a Lion's Attitude but having an Eagle's Wisdom. So we filed our LLC which finalized April 28 2021 and immediately started the process to trademark our logo this time. This marked the birth of E1K LLC doing business as E1K Limited.
July 3, 2021
1st Launch
After all the legal stuff we realized we didn't have much capital so we partnered with a print on demand company that would make the garments as the orders came in. It allowed us to market and get the company off the ground and build capital for our 2nd drop.
Huge thanks to Lauren for shooting and editing our very first promotional video. Watch it here First Youtube Video
October 30, 2021
1st Ambassador Professional Shoot
Our first official ambassador which who had been with us since the beginning just was not on paper an ambassador was Juliana and to announce her sponsorship we scheduled a 3 day video shoot.
Huge thanks to Landon from Everlasting Productions from Memphis, TN who shot and edited the entire video. The video can be watched here Juliana's Youtube Video
November 26, 2021
1st Black Friday Sale & 2nd Drop
For our 2nd drop any profits from our first drop went to designing and bulk ordering our items from a manufacturer. One design element on this drop that stuck out was the word Taigen. It was a word we started using due to it meaning embodiment in japanese but it changed the course of our business as everyone started referring to us as Taigen and not E1K.
April 4, 2022
Name Change
As we were already looking at adding to our name having ideas like E1K Dominion or E1K Valiath. the blessing of the community liking Taigen was a well received one so as our first birthday was approaching we decided to officially make the name change.
E1K TAIGEN ATHLETICS was born
April 28, 2022
1st Birthday & 3rd Drop
For our 1st birthday we launched our 3rd drop and with this one we created way more designs but what was special is our team grew as well. This drop brought us our models Jose and Cynthia which still model to this day but since they are not on social media they are not official ambassadors but they will always be considered part of the family. This was also the drop that introduced our best seller ever the insignia dress for our ladies.
Founder & CEO
Erik Salguero
Chief knucklehead in charge (erik don't get mad when you read that!) when he's not designing clothes or coming up with weird marketing ideas he is at his day job of being an Industrial Engineer......... that or he's watching anime. Probably the latter.
Useless facts or I guess PRs:
- Leg press 1,184lbs x 5 reps
- Bench 255 x 2 reps
- Deadlift 335 x 2 reps
- Squat 315 x 5reps
FAQ To Erik
Why did you start E1K Taigen?
I wanted to create a community to empower each other but not just in fitness. I'm actually ok with the size of the company now. it allows me to interact with our customers on a more personal level then if we were on a bigger scale. Like we had someone reach out to us about the brand message helping her push herself through college and graduate. Honestly if she would of told me that before her graduation I would of flown to her city and personally congratulated her with a box of free stuff from Taigen.
Why are your drops so scarce?
I sincerely apologize about that, I am so thankful to those that have supported us. I wish I could release more stuff more frequently but it takes capital so it takes us a while to build that.
Do you plan on releasing leggings?
Yes! Similar situation to why the drops are scarce is it takes capital to make a bulk order. While it sucks I rather wait and create something good than buy some cheap items to sell just cause.
Do you have a background in clothing or design?
Not in clothing but in design ehhh kinda lol, my day job that I actually still work as of the writing of this is I'm an engineer for a global manufacturer and distribution company. Always been a creative person so designing clothes is just an extension of that creativity so now I can design you a shirt or draw you a building lol.
How do I become an affiliate?
Be a good human! In all seriousness have to be posting regularly so that we have an ROI (return on investment) but its about your personal brand. How do you interact with your followers and the message that you put out there. I don't expect you to be positive all the time because that's not real; but, never ever put anyone else down. If you think we haven't seen you online you can always apply through affiliate.e1ktaigen.com and add your social media and we'll check it out then.
Perks of being an affiliate?
Honestly right now it's just free clothes to you and 10% commission on all sales made using your link or discount code. After a probationary period we can discuss salary as an exclusive Taigen athlete/ambassador. Once we are in a better place financially I want to periodically plan team trips so everyone can interact with each other.