Behind the Brand with TJ Callaway, Founder and CEO of Onward Reserve
[BEHIND THE BRAND]
Meet TJ Callaway, Founder & CEO of Onward Reserve
As a native of Tallahassee, Florida and a frequent visitor to the Forgotten Coast, my love affair for Southern style and it’s relaxed simplicity is never-ending. So when I heard TJ Callaway, the Founder and CEO of Onward Reserve was available for an interview, I had to ask how he created such an approachable, luxury brand that represented the natural beauty of the Southeast most know and cherish.
TJ Callaway began his career as an investment banker, but couldn’t shake that entrepreneurial itch to make something of his own. So in 2012, TJ set out to create an apparel company that catered to the outdoor lifestyle, weekend hobbies and refined taste of a Southern gentleman. Though TJ will be the first to admit the brand has grown into something that he hadn’t quite envisioned. With the original intent to be a third-party online apparel company, Onward Reserve’s flagship store in Athens, GA created such an immersive experience that shoppers would show up to tailgate before football games. Now, their staple style is preserved and celebrated in stores across the southeast- with classic, red woven rugs and leather sofas that welcome you in and make it hard to leave.
From collegiate casual apparel to cocktail cups that pay tribute to a favorite golf beverage, the Transfusion, Onward Reserve has created a community around their brand based on common-interest. But that brand transformation took time.
“Our design usually starts with a color palette that’s inspired by a place and whatever activities that place offers.”
TJ noted that their brand ethos and identity really married when they traveled back to his hometown of Thomasville, Georgia in 2016 for a catalog shoot. Rather than models leaning against posts or posing in unmemorable locations, he wanted his brand to reflect places that his customers would know and pick out to say “hey, I’ve been there. that’s me.” Those who request the latest Onward Reserve catalog will recognize places like the Swan House in Buckhead and the Varsity in Atlanta, where the company is headquartered.
In the past nine years, Onward Reserve has become the renown brand of the South. They’ve successfully scaled from an e-commerce company to an approachable, luxury apparel brand that supplies over 100 brick & mortar stores. But while they’ve experienced immense growth, TJ has ensured that the brand stays true to their roots and motto “to live authentically.”