Everyone loves
a rag to riches story this one is
different no riches here yet just a
dreamer with a heart of gold.
Not many people inspire me these
days; I have found one that really
does.
Here are some questions I asked and
his story ...
What were your dreams when you were
younger?
"I was very much a hustler. I used
to buy clothes and resell them
adding my touch to everything; I was
always inspired by the hip-hop
culture.
When did you fall in love with
hip-hop?
I feel in love with hip-hop when I
was 14; hop-hop was my first love. I
even used to skip classes to watch
hip-hop on TV, but I wouldn’t
recommend that. It was my drug."
Born in Morocco a placed called
Agadir his name is Mehdi (aka)
Morocco Yankee, he came to the USA
when he was 16yrs old with his
mother after 1 month his mother left
to Morocco .. he setteld in to the
big city of New York. He attended
Calhoun High School graduated class
of 2004.
Hadi is his father’s name his mom’s
name is Jamiaa he has two siblings
named Youness his brother and his
sister named Najia they are both
studying in Spain.
When he was 18 he decided to move to
Fort Myers FL. After a while he
moved to Atlanta for about 3yrs.
L.Mehdi was his first clothing line.
He sold t-shirts out of truck of a
car; most of his clients were from
Decatur, the Bankhead projects in
Atlanta.
Homeless he decided to take a bus to
Orlando but he didn't have enough
money. So with the few dollars he
had he bought a carton of cigarettes
a sold them to get enough money for
his ticket to Orlando FL.
When he arrived to Orlando FL, he
worked at a grocery store, cleaning
and as a dishwasher anything to make
honest money to get his clothing
line afloat.
He lives in one room with his best
friend Nehdi ironically the same
name and also from Morocco they
share a bond like brothers, they did
this to save money.
When Yankee worked at the grocery
store, he meet a guy known as Spin
he knew about the industry and gave
his knowledge to Yankee about it,
they became good friends.
In 2006 he was married but because
of lack of time he committed to the
relationship it sadly ended.
He opened a clothing store in 2006
in Semoran blvd in Orlando and he
also worked as a pizza delivery boy
just to make ends meet.
After about 2months the store was
broken into, he was just getting the
money for his insurance, a little
too late so he lost everything. He
had gotten into a car accident and
also lost his car.
Talk about a streak of bad luck!!
This didn't keep the man down.
Yankee so what did you do next?
"I picked up the pieces and got a
job working as a stock boy at a
local retail store, working up to
60hrs a week to be able to save
money, see my mind was still headed
for greater things".
"Shortly after that my friend Spin
introduced me to a guy named Mike
Deco. He started designing with me.
I couldn’t afford to pay him so I
gave him clothes that i used to sell
difrent brands such as miskeen af1
jordans bape ....this was my hustle
every weekend u will catch me on the
street selling clothing out of my
trucnk or maybe just walkin in the
mall grab couple dude and bring them
to my car to chek out what i got to
sell .... i had to do this to keep
me eating and paying my bills and
helping my parents in Morocco .
He kept himself motivated. He then
was working two full time jobs to be
able to make his dreams come true
for his clothing line, as a bell
hoper and a valet. All the money he
made went into his clothing line,
and to his family in Morocco.
In February 2008 after 8yrs not
seeing his family he went to see
them.
Seeing the way people lived over in
Morocco especially the elderly,
being the type of human being he is
he decided to make a charity called
Keez Clothing Charity feeding the
senior citizens of Morocco.
Besides having his clothing line he
also created a fragrance named after
his mother Jamiaa. For women and
Block 11 for men, named after the
street he grew up in Morocco
Sadly he hasn’t been able to do
everything he would like to do he
needs more sponsors; he has no
financial help right now from no
one.
He believes in being focus, positive
and being the best human being he
can be.
"I believe in the American dream".
"I am a fearful man of God".
What do you advice other people that
want to be entrepreneurs?
"Stay positive no matter all the
odds you face keep in mind from
nothing to something, believe in
yourself you can make your own
destiny".
This is a short biography on an
individual I really admire; he has
not let all the tribulations get him
down. I see him doing great things
whatever he wants to pursue, he has
heart of gold, the little he has he
shares without thinking twice, and
we need more people in this world
like him.
