Meet Alex Harbart | Founder

We had the good fortune of connecting with Alex Harbart and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think risk is always a factor in the decisions you make in your personal life or career. I believe It’s always important to be able to identify the risks in any situation when making a decision, especially if the decision will affect an outcome that’s unknown. In the beginning of creating my brand, my biggest risk was to decide whether to source all my apparel production needs to a “print on demand” using a direct to garment printing method, versus traditional screen printing. These print on demand companies seemed super ideal at first. It was essentially a zero risk solution for creating custom apparel. There was zero overhead cost when creating print on demand products. These companies allowed you to create instant mock ups of your design and you were only charged for the cost of the items once you made a sale. These companies also handle all shipping and returns on your behalf! The other method of creating custom apparel was using the traditional screen printing companies. These companies required you to know exactly what you wanted. Materials, colors, and sizes were some of the initial information you needed to have in order for these vendors to complete your project. You also were required to purchase in bulk which was a larger investment up front before you could test to see if your designs would sell. There was way more risk with screen printing versus print on demand and all the research I did told me to use print on demand especially when you’re starting out. It was a no brainer. After testing a few samples for both apparel vendors, I decided to risk a larger investment and bulk purchase screen printed products. Despite the many advantages the print on demand offered, I found that you have absolutely no control over quality and production time. This was a huge factor in my decision making since I wanted to offer premium products and customer service to the community. Thus, screen printing offered me amazing quality control and I could ship my apparel to customers and have it in their hands within a few days. Also, it provided me the chance to be more hands on with the production aspect and allowed me to work with some very talented screen printers in Tucson, AZ!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

Cactus Reserve was founded in Tucson Arizona and officially began its journey in August 2021. I originally thought of creating the brand from my son Benji. He loves watching animals and showed a genuine passion to explore the outdoors. This inspired me to share his passion with the community in the form of apparel that was inspired by the beautiful environment of the desert and the unique culture that Tucson Arizona has to offer. It was also very important for me to be as echo conscious as possible and find ways to minimize our environmental impact as a brand. I wanted to leave all things better for Benji better than the way we received them. That’s why we only use 100% recycled and compostable packing and shipping solutions. We also do research in working with companies that put the earth first as well. Currently, we use 100% airlume ring spun cotton to give our garments a premium lasting feel, but we have plans to transition to %100 organic cotton.

Creating this brand that believes in the value of premium outdoor apparel while leading a sustainable path was challenging. I had no experience creating, running, or even building a website for an ecommerce business. I spent a lot of time researching and consulting others before my first design went into production. It was also important for me to start without loans. I used the savings I had to launch my brand. There were some days where I made a lot of progress and others when I felt that I should give up. However, I had to remind myself how much I enjoyed creating something for others to appreciate and turned my brand into my own personal hobby. This allowed me to take my time and enjoy the learning process of launching my own business. Being a small business owner also taught me to realize to never invest more than I was willing to lose, which reminded me it was okay to start small in order to grow.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would definitely take them to Sabino Canyon. Its very close but offers plenty of trails to experience beautiful scenery that the desert has to offer. We would then go to the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum to experience the wildlife of Arizona. Then we would have dinner at a fantastic local Mexican restaurant called Rosa’s and then finish the night with drinks and a game of pool at 60’s retro bar called The Shelter.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My wife Sarah and my Son Benji. The are the true inspirations to my designs and reason why I wanted to share their love for the outdoors with others that share the same appreciation. I would also like to thank my good friend and mentor George Shih. Without his help, I wouldn’t have pushed myself to be where I’m at today.

Website: www.cactusreserve.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/cactusreserve

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cactusreserveapparel

Image Credits
Alex Harbart