Daymond John's success story has a big role of his mother. He started out as a waiter and now he is the co-founder and chief executive of multi-million dollar sportswear maker FUBU ("For Us By Us."). He is also a major Shark Tank investor.

In Business Insider's podcast, the Brooklyn, New York native sharedQ how his mother mortgaged her home in Hollis, Queens to raise money to start his business.

She would always push me. She led by example. She would always work twice as hard.                          

With just $100,000 in initial funding, FUBU has now gone on to sell over $6 billion in merchandise retail and continues to grow.

Young FUBU's Humble Beginnings And Ms. John's Big Contribution

Back in 1989, John was a 20-year-old waiter at Red Lobster struggling to keep his dream business FUBU standing. He even had to close it three times before picking it up again in 1992.

This is when he got along with his close friends— Keith Perrin, J. Alexander Martin, and Carl Brown, and came up with the idea to make and sell their own tie-top hats as a means of making “easy money”. The initial idea was to start a clothing line and sell it comparatively cheaper.

Daymond John with his close friends and business partners

His mom (who likes to be known as Ms. John) stepped up to help her son with the capital he needed by mortgaging her home. She also turned half of her house into a makeshift factory to accommodate the manufacturing part. But, Ms. John's hand in Daymond John's success didn't end there; she also worked alongside him as an extra hand. 

While there was not much Daymond could learn from his father since he left the family when Daymond was only 10 years old, his mother turned out to be the inspiring figure he needed. 

According to John, his mother highly valued educating herself by varied means and cultivating a broad outlook of life. 

The mindset and work ethic he adopted from his mother had him always striving to do more and by the time he was a young teenager, he had envisioned himself as a successful businessman in the future.

FUBU gets LL Cool J To Endorse and Bags a Major Distribution Deal

By 1992, this quick cash making company had flourished into a successful sportswear business. It was welcomed well in the rap community with Queens rapper LL Cool J endorsing its products. Their high number of sales and celebrity endorsement soon led the company towards distribution deals.

The one call that could be said to have changed everything was from Norman Weisfeld, president of Samsung's textile division. He came to them with what John calls a simple proposal. Samsung would provide them with large-scale distribution to retailers if FUBU could sell $5 million worth of clothes over three years.

Here, the associations with rappers proved to be even more fruitful as it helped FUBU sell $30 million in just three months. In 1998, it subsequently brought in over $350 million in revenue.

Now, according to FUBU's official site, the FUBU collection is being carried by over 5,000 stores to date and sold more than $6 billion in retail merchandise. Recently in 2018, FUBU collaborated with PUMA to release a new take on the Tsugi Jun sneakers.

Daymond has Expanded his Sights Beyond FUBU

FUBU has been going strong but what else is it's co-founder Daymond John up to these days? Throughout the years, John has shown how he has mastered in entrepreneurship.

Apart from FUBU, he also owns multiple urban brands. nd also acts as a brand consultant. He is a New York Times best-selling author, a motivational speaker, and a Shark on ABC’s Shark Tank.

Currently, John is gearing up for his appearance in the 12th season of the Shark Tank as a major investor alongside Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, and Kevin O'Leary. The hit ABC show faced multiple delays due to Covid related safety concerns. It is set to premiere on Friday, October 16 at 8 p.m. ET.