Meet Tariq Flowers

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tariq Flowers.

Hi Tariq, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My story starts off a little dark but of course, with constant prayers, God did what he always does and shined light over my darkness. January 2019, I lost my best friend to gun violence, my hair page with over 100k followers got hacked, and my yorkie was sick needing surgery. This all happened in the same week, which led to me constantly crying to my dad, T.D Mattox – who’s in prison, asking him for answers. As any parent would, he gave me the answers that I needed, he told me, “you got all my drawings I keep sending, you need to get out and sell them”. At that time that was the last thing I felt like doing, my best friend had just passed away. I shut myself from the world for the entire month. Luckily, Google helped me find a remedy to get my dog back into good health! February of that year, all my bills were behind, rent was passed due and my dad sat down to discuss the details of selling his artwork.

At this time, Super Bowl 53 was happening with over 100,000 people expected to be in downtown Atlanta. My dad found a sports magazine in prison and drew a portrait of Tom Brady and mailed it to me saying that the New England Patriots will win the Súper bowl this year. Now that he had done his part it was my turn to do my part, I need investors and a sales team. I called one of my entrepreneur brothers, Aj Dewberry and he connected me with a vendor to get the best quality paper at a very cheap price, and he also paid for 1,000 prints of the Tom Brady drawings that we split half and half. Then I went to purchase 500 picture frames and called a couple of friends from high school and college to help me sell them. At the end of Super Bowl weekend, we sold out and made $5,000. My dad called me to ask how it’s going. I told him how much we made and how excited I was and of course his response was “I’ve been telling you to do this for years!”. Now that I see the artwork can sell, and I’m a believer in his art, we sat down and talked about turning it into a business. I came up with the name “Art By Mattox” and reached out to a friend to create the logo, and I registered the business. I have my bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Atlanta Metropolitan and I have owned multiple businesses, so starting the business and getting it up and running was pretty easy.

Now the selling part – who’d be selling the artwork because my pride is too big to sell the artwork. I had a friend from college help sell the work until my mom mentioned letting my little brother, Rakim help us. Once my dad hears his other son is going to be joining the business, he’s excited and gives him a pep talk. My brother’s first day on the job, he makes $500. I then added my cousin Bang, and eventually my daughter Kylee. Fast forward to 2023, we are in our biggest expansion ever, we have over 20 consignment contracts to sell our art in different smoke shops and businesses, we have 5 different teams that’s setting up at different festivals and events. We have completed a successful tour to all the nearby states such as Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and are now gearing up for another tour that’s further out! We have worked with multiple celebrities such as Anthony Hamilton, Dutchess of Ink, Frank Ski, Lil Boosie, Fantasía, HitMan Holla, Desi Banks, Anthony Morrow, Philly Freeway, Cassidy, Sunshine Anderson, Numeral 3, Trey Taylor, Senia Marie, Mr. Hotspot, Aj Dewberry, MPR Richie, Sleepy Brown, and many more! Next year’s article will be explaining how we turned this small business into a million-dollar company and how we’re selling our art as NFT’s in the Meta-World.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not been a smooth road at all. One challenge is my dad trying to send so many drawings out and network from inside prison; he gets caught with cell phones and has to be put in confinement for 30+ days and that hurts the business. My biggest struggle was having a business that’s dependent ONLY on kids and teenagers. During the week they had school so we could only work after 5pm for merely 3 hours. Saturday was our only good workday because Sunday, they had to be back home for school the next day. Not only that, but they also had their own life outside of business, my cousin Bang does football and track, and my daughter Kylee has cheer and tumbling. That left my brother Rakim out by himself selling drawings which left more pressure on him and making him feel like he’s only obligated to work all day every day.

After he expressed how he felt, I cut down to us only working the weekends, which made the business less functional because we were only working for 2 days. As Rakim and Bang got older, they started wanting to hang out with their friends on the weekends, so that led to both of them walking away from the business completely. When they left, it had me and my father speechless, clueless and asking each other, “is the business over?”. I decided to put my pride to the side and chose to get out there. If I want to be an inspiration and show my daughter that she has a hard-working father, I need to put this business on my back and get out there and work! Once I started working, I have been on a 7-day work schedule, and the business has knocked down every barrier that was in our way. Me and my dad are on the phone at least 5 times a day brainstorming something new for the business.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Art By Mattox is based on three principles: Charity, Art Prints, and Community. We are the blueprint for turning a positive into a negative! My dad is in prison and he never let that stop him from showing the world his talent. Both my brother and I have a father in prison, and we didn’t let that break us or lead us into the system. Since my dad wasn’t here to help raise me, my mother, Takishia Flowers’ side of the family, became a village and raised me. Though she was a strong, black mother of four, she couldn’t do it alone. I have lived with my Grandparents, Ma and Dada in Atlanta, my uncle Lane in Forest Park, and spent summers in South Carolina with my great grandma Ruby and aunts and uncles Pepper, Pam, Joe and Oscar. I beat every statistic that was thrown my way. And we all know art lives forever, my daughter can pass the business down to her kids, we all created a family business that will produce generational wealth. That is what I am most proud of.

What were you like growing up?
I had a great childhood. I was always very silly, athletic, and family oriented. From hanging with my favorite aunt Muffin to playing with my favorite cousin’s Jaron, Oj, Tía, Candace, Nyah, Deedee, Jaylyn, Mister, Lil Lane, Doosa, Dada, Devin, Domonick, Dezzy and my little brothers Bubba and Koy. When I was younger, playing outside was still a fun thing to do. Riding bikes, playing basketball, football, making jokes, laughing and playing video and board games. I always loved money. I would babysit my little cousins Kayla, Cookie, and Kyra for my aunt Quiana, cut grass for my uncle Lane, borrow money from aunt Cherrie, cousin Asia, aunt Sunshine and stepdad Will, which I never paid them back. I would get shoes sent in the mail from my cousin Shun and words of wisdom from my cousin Nikki, Lil Joe, Romeo, Christmas, Tarsha, uncle Chip, uncle Gordon uncle Ted and aunt Shaunte. Like I said before, I was a family-raised kid.

As I got into my teen years, I started branching out and hanging with my friends more. Which was fun, but almost got me into a lot of trouble. Me and my friends started a rap group called “Paid N Full” which reached over a million+ views on YouTube. We were a group of young teenagers who thought we were celebrities and felt we were entitled to the world. That got some of the members in legal trouble, some of the members got killed from the outside jealousy of our local fame and it led to me experimenting with sexual activities at a young age and having a daughter. Once my reality sunk in my head that I have a daughter, I knew this isn’t the life for me. I decided to move into a nice secluded city that has the top school district, one of the safest, nicest cities in Georgia. I joined their church, found my mentor there, Mr. Gene. I  started coaching recreational league basketball and football and now I live my best life here with my daughter Kylee, goddaughter Amiyah, my brothers Rakim, Ameer and my cousin Bang.

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1 Comment

1. 

   Cedria

   April 7, 2023 at 1:09 pm

   This is so inspirational! I love it

   Reply