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

Hi Cesar, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I am very much an act first and think later. I operate more on instinct than rationale thought, which for the most part has been beneficial throughout my professional life. Because of that, I feel comfortable failing fast, and moving on. I don’t tend to hold a lot of weight in “what ifs”, I think about life as one direction, forward. Which I can’t think of a better way to think about risk when starting a business, because it is 100% the unknown, you must be comfortable being uncomfortable, and that is my favorite part of the journey, not knowing what is next, but believing you will figure it out.

What should our readers know about your business?
Growing up in a Puerto Rican family in Colorado, I grew up in a non diverse neighborhood. Never had any issues growing up and still have an amazing group of core friends there. But I learned to appreciate diversity when I joined the Coast Guard after high school, where I met people from Alaska to Florida. There, I discovered the value of being around people from different backgrounds, learning new cultures, personalities, and styles. This experience influenced my journey into golf years later in New York City, where the diverse styles of my friends inspired me to create something unique in the golf world.

Enter VivanTee, the first designer golf glove that’s more than just an accessory—it’s a fashion statement. Our name, inspired by the Italian “Vivante,” meaning “alive,” reflects our mission: to bring designer quality and style to golf gloves, blending performance with high-end fashion. When we were thinking through our brand and the ethos of the entity, we fell on injecting NYC into the brand and owning being one of the very few golf companies HQed in NYC. A city that is known for being unapologetically itself, the melting pot of the world, known for fashion, individualism, and quite literally being alive.

That is what we are striving to build with VivanTee, open more people to the sport, build a community, and dismantle traditional stereotypes of golfers. So everyone can enjoy this beautiful sport and people can all gather around from all walks of life, with one common thing, their love for golf!

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?
Well I know this is for Phoenix, but I’d be lying if I said I knew the best places to go. Although, I have been to that Rum Bar in Pheonix, and really enjoyed that. However, for NYC, I would say my top 3 things I would take them to do are: 1. Comedy Cellar – See some of the best comedians out right now
2. WinSon in Brooklyn – Taiwanese American restaurant, my favorite in NYC
3. Golfing of course – The local Brooklyn Muni at the exclusive and luxurious Dyker Beach

If you’ve ever swung your clubs at Dyker, you’re picking up what I’m putting down!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My older sister, Lesley. She has been my side kick my entire life. She is 8 years older than me, and has coached and mentored me throughout my younger and adult life, and is the strongest woman I know. Was buying me booze when I wasn’t old enough to drink yet, and to this day we are very close. My only knock on her is she doesn’t golf.

Website: www.vivanteegolf.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/vivanteegolf?utm_source

Facebook: https://facebook.com/vivanteegolf

Other: https://pinterest.com/vivanteegolf

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