A Climber’s Grip
with Jordan Mountjoy
There’s good ideas, and then there’s ideas that take hold of you. Ideas you can’t shake loose.
It’s what first struck me when I spoke with Jordan Mountjoy. Founder of RCKMNKY and father of three, he has an Ozark twang to his voice that makes me trust him immediately. He’s a full-fledged Bryant boy, living within the same five-mile stretch he grew up on. Even still, he describes himself as “a bit of a black sheep.”
Bryant Boy
Six-foot two and oftentimes landlocked, if he’s reading the line-up, it’s to defend his quarterback not catch a wave. He isn’t the guy you expect to grow up dreaming of starting his own clothing line, definitely not one inspired by surfing brands like Hurley and Billabong. But it was that exact dissonance that would elicit his unshakeable idea.
“Most people spend their life not knowing what they want to do. I’d known what I wanted to do since I was fifteen but didn’t know how.”
Fascinated by these iconic brands and their graphics, Jordan knew they didn’t tell the story of a boy from a rural, southern town. During his sophomore year of high school, a classmate started a local skateboard brand and introduced Jordan to the wonders of Photoshop. It was then that he first heard the refrain that would come to mark the next decade of his life. What if he could design apparel for people like him? People with intricate lives and adventures — both on and off the coast.
“I didn’t even know you could do that. … I can create art without having to draw. If I can create something and someone will wear it and walk by, that’s it for me.”
Endlessly inspired, Jordan’s desire to design has always been innate. “That’s just who I am … a birds a bird.” He became enamored with the idea of someone wearing something he’d made, especially if it could merge his background with the mood of his favorite brands.
“I wanted them to not even know who I was. I wanted it to be something people wore because they liked it.”
At seventeen, he started Enabled, a line aimed at encouraging originality. Mostly it was just Jordan’s photoshop edits screen printed onto some tees. He had some sales, mostly from friends and family, but further exposure was hard to come by. He graduated high school and moved to Arkadelphia to play college football at Henderson State, putting his business on pause. Despite ample change, the idea was still there and he left HSU after only two semesters.
A New Climb
It was then that Jordan stumbled upon a passion for rock climbing. He thrived knowing that it was just him and the wall. His skill progression was a solo act, and he found relief that both success and failure were under his control. Everything about climbing was tangible — and it brought on another wave of inspiration. Redeveloping as Enabled Wear and marketing to outdoor enthusiasts and athletes, Jordan hit the pavement with a new batch of designs.
This time he was able to use Facebook to attract more sales but only by a small margin. He was all momentum and no spark, thinking to himself, I want to do this, but I don’t even know what that looks like. For anyone else, the idea might start to run cold. But for Jordan it doesn’t take much. A gift from a friend at church, a pair of TOMS shoes, pioneers a new fervor. A “One for One” company, TOMS’ charitable business model was a brand new concept to Jordan, and it changed his definition of success.
“It really was that moment for me. … People don’t need shirts. At this point, I’m not even really selling shirts. I just have a thought and two failed attempts. … It was this moment in time that I was like, I can do good things and just be in the world. I can take this clothing brand and do something good with it.”
It wasn’t until he learned that one in every ten people globally doesn’t have access to clean water that he fully imagined how he could use his passion for something bigger. Jordan had always known what he wanted his company to be, and now he knew why. The notion left him with one, final hole to fill.
“How do I use this passion for creating clothes and bring water to people in need? That’s the core foundation from where RCKMNKY starts.”
Despite fresh enthusiasm, Jordan only hit another wall.
“I didn’t have any experience in any of this. It wasn’t as simple as sticking it in your phone.”
He didn’t know how to find a place to print shirts, much less navigate printing at scale. Stuck between knowing what he wanted to do but unsure of how, Jordan circled around his idea a hundred different ways and was still coming up short. It was six years after his initial start that a close friend suggested he take a break.
Rookie Year
At twenty-four years old, Jordan shifted his attention to another dream he’d been carrying. He was thrilled to join his local firefighter company. But even still, he describes a constant chorus in the back of his mind, remembering that something as simple as the straw in his takeaway cup could remind him of his call to clothing.
It was during his rookie year with the fire department, as he tried desperately to move on, that he would lie awake knowing, “If I don’t do this, I’ll never do what I’m supposed to do.” It wasn’t something Jordan could live with — the chance it would come together one day and the risk of missing it. So, he started again. Designing a new set of shirts, he officially launched Rock Monkey Outfitters, a company that partnered with different charities to combine enthusiasm for the outdoors with doing good.
“I still didn't know what to do, but it had become more real to me than ever before. This is not a phase. I have to do this. If I don’t do this, I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life.”
Promising himself and his wife that this was his last push, Jordan threw everything he had at getting Rock Monkey Outfitters off the ground. Determined to broaden his reach, he focused on quality. Everything from marketing images to poly bags had to meet a professional standard. In the same way, he kept his line simple with only five design skews. From there he made cold calls, went to trade shows, and befriended social media. He was even able to partner with athletes from different climbing gyms. As the company grew legs, its name changed to just Rock Monkey before later dropping its vowels to the present-day RCKMNKY.
“RCKMNKY is our matured state. This was when we really wanted to create something that was iconic and could be recognized and understood as that. It was really the switch from [the brand] being product-focused to identity-focused.”
Not Another Boot on the Shelf
In its farthest reach, RCKMNKY could be found on the rack in forty-seven stores throughout seven states. With a website boasting everything from button downs to quilted pullovers, it seemed to me that Jordan had made good on his dream.
Instead he tells me another story. One where he found himself at a big-box store, lingering in front of an entire aisle of black boots — a whole row filled with the same boots, differentiated only by competing logos. Ordinary but unnerving, Jordan could only think about his designs somewhere in some other store.
Haunted by being another boot on the shelf, he pulled his apparel from all retail locations. Creating just another thing to buy isn’t what he’d dreamed of at football practice, on the rock wall, or during long shifts at the station. Now, with less inventory to manage, Jordan is focusing on recreating how RCKMNKY does business and answering the next question. How can RCKMNKY be a brand that manufactures all over the world and gives back to communities through its own non-profit, Water for 1?
A Climber’s Grip
Trained to act in the heat of a fire, Jordan turns obstacles into his catalysts. As I poured over our conversation, I realized my first impression was wrong. Jordan’s relentless pursuit doesn’t attest to the power of an idea. Instead it illustrates that great ideas rely solely on the tenacity with which they’re held. Proving unshakable ideas, ones that take hold of you, are merely good ideas yielded by firm, steady hands. Like a climber returning back to the wall, for Jordan, getting started has come with the calloused grip of repetition and perseverance.