A MAN who was on Universal Credit and stuck in “meaningless” jobs now has a global business after he started it in his nan’s bedroom.
David Jamie Delaney founded streetwear brand SnowyOwl in 2016 when he was still in university and worked 70 hours a week on night shifts in order to save up cash.
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The 25-year-old also spent months on Universal Credit when he was made redundant and suffered from insomnia and depression.
It took him three years to have the first sale but now customers are buying his designs across the globe including the US, Sweden, and Japan.
David, who goes by the nickname of DJ, told Manchester Evening News: “When I was ill, the brand was the only thing that would get me out of bed in the morning.
“Manchester seems to be known for fast fashion but I wanted to build myself a brand like the next Ralph Lauren.”
He said the name SnowyOwl was inspired by his love for animals and the chilling temperatures in the North.
DJ, who studied sport coaching and development at Bolton University, was raised between his nan, Rita Murphy, 82, and his dad after his mum died when he was a child.
To raise funds for his fashion brand, which he set up with business partner Madej, he worked bar and warehouse jobs while completing his degree part-time from 2017 to 2019.
After being made redundant he found himself on benefits, before finding a job working night shifts at McDonald’s.
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He said it was a very difficult time and he even “had suicidal thoughts”.
“As a student, I had no money, and I was suffering from insomnia massively, which led to really bad anxiety and depression,” he said.
“I had suicidal thoughts on a daily basis. I couldn’t physically sleep.”
He tried to get a business loan under the New Enterprise Allowance scheme but was declined due to his credit score.
“A lot of people asked me why I was still doing it [the business]. I couldn’t afford it, but when I was doing these meaningless jobs I was thinking ‘I won’t be doing this one day, I’ll be doing what I want to do’,” DJ continued. “It’s my passion and my dream.”
It wasn’t until 2019, after DJ had graduated, that he finally had enough savings to launch the brand’s first collection.
When he launched beanies a year later, sales doubled.
“In early 2020 the brand caught fire,” DJ said. “We had our best Black Friday and Christmas ever in 2021, tripling our sales.
“They have continued to slowly grow, and we have even spread our wings a little with happy customers from Ireland, USA, Germany, Australia, and Sweden.
“A customer in Japan made a TikTok of us, which was bizarre.”
When I was ill, the brand was the only thing that would get me out of bed in the morning.
David Jamie Delaney
The small business owner still works full-time in retail while managing his brand, meaning he hardly has any time for relaxing or socialising.
“I never get a day off, which is really bad. I’ve literally destroyed every friendship, relationship, it’s not even funny but you have to laugh,” he said.
“People know I’m busy all the time. It is stressful, but rewarding at the same time. I’ve just got to keep the goal in the back of my mind as it won’t last forever.”
His nan, who he lives with, has been a huge support throughout his journey.
DJ said: “My nan models for me, she’s always wearing the product. She tries flogging my beanies to the window cleaners.”
The business owner says he is constantly thinking of new products to launch and wants to be able to sell his designs in stores in the future.
“We started socks recently, so we’re dressing customers head to toe, and I think the next step for us would be to do proper parkers and get into stores,” he added.
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