Conversations with Mark Daguio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Daguio. 

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
Aloha, my name is Mark Daguio. Born and raised from the great town of Sta. Cruz, province of Laguna, the Philippines. my home town is 3-4 hours’ drive to Manila, still depends on the traffic and day. but with the booming economy of Philippines, I could say that there’s a lot of changes since I moved here in Hawai’i. Growing up in a very humble house, my mom (Melandra Daguio) and my dad (Florencio Daguio) Taught me and my one and only sibling (Frances Mae) everything they know about life. Life in the Philippines was so simple for us. Like any other middle-class family, my parent was doing some extra side hustle to meet our needs. My dad will wake up early in the morning while my mom will prepare everything for my dad’s lunch, clothes, and of course a hot coffee. He works at a family own security company. Started as security guard, my dad earned his spot as an operation manager working for almost 20 years now, I saw and witnessed how dedicated my dad is. 

His side hustle was to pick up the famous Filipino chorizo type of sausage or so-called “longganisa” its usually fresh or smoked sausages, typically made with varying ratios of lean meat and fat, along with garlic, black pepper, salt (usually coarse sea salt), saltpeter, muscovado or brown sugar, and vinegar. Variants may add paprika, chili, anise liqueur, and other spices. and re-sell it to the market and make profit out of it. 

My mom on the other side is a full-time housewife but always do some side hustle once in a while if she can. She always the person in the house that will manage and solve most of the problem especially when it comes to my problem in school. I was one of the most hard-headed student not only in my class my the whole school but never been a bully. 

I grew up in a very rough neighborhood surrounded by drugs, gambling, gangs, and of course prostitution. Even though it’s seems to think that it’s exaggerated to say about my surroundings, our community is full of hope and dreams that they want to pursue just like what I want to pursue in my life too. That’s why those bad habits did not influenced my entire life. And yes, for sure, I did and tried those things like any other curious teenager. 

Back in the ’90s and early 2000’s social media is nothing and all you need to have to entertain yourself was a tv, radio, a Sony Walkman player, read newspapers/magazine, outdoor stuff, and play the sports that you love. For sure kids nowadays don’t know what is Walkman stereo cassette was. 

Surviving in my neighborhood was different and difficult, sometimes you have to be unfair, you have to be the alpha and be the smartest. You have to be streetwise because we are talking about surviving in everyday life and being fair sometimes is signs of weakness. 

Basketball is part of everyday life for most of the Filipinos. It’s more than a religion for some reason. 

For a lot of people in the Philippines, playing basketball is one way of surviving to our everyday life. We play money game, whoever wins the game (5v5) get the 80-90% of your total bet. you bet $10 if you win, you’ll get $9 in return. League for some reason is a big thing. If you are good enough to play or playing for a college school or even your name is popular somewhere, team owner/manager will hire you every game and earn bigger than you do from your full-time job in a day. Minimum wage in the Philippines is at least less than $11 a day. If you got hire to a basketball league you can earn at least $30 per game and that’s for only 2 hours. Some big leagues bet thousands of dollars because they want to prove something. 

As a kid, growing up next to the park is a big advantage. I always know what’s happening at the park and I’m always one of the first five most of the time and just play. I don’t have to travel somewhere just to play. If summer and I don’t have school, I would play early in the morning, jog with my friends, play ball from 7am to 12 pm be home by 12:30 or 1 pm, take a shower, eat lunch, and nap and before 4 pm I have to be out again and play ball with my friends and do the same thing the next day. Usually, it happens every weekend. 

Moving forward while I’m already teen, I taught myself to make friends so I can go anywhere. I want to go anywhere I want to play and compete with those better player than me and learn more. One of the main purpose is to make friends. As of today, those people that I met while playing basketball, from childhood friends to classmates (grade school to college) to friends of my friend and so on. All those people that I met on and off the basketball court are still remain my friends and memories will remain the same. 

I came to Hawaii October of 2012; it was hard for me to move forward and adjust because I was away with my family. I remember that basketball was my stress reliever, to forget things if I’m sad or frustrated. It is indeed part of my life in good times and bad times. Instead of drinking alcohol beverages and be sad inside my room, I would go out and release this tension in my body till I’m tired of playing. 

While working as Nurse Aid to this private family, I know to myself that I need to get another side income on the side to provide for my kids. I mean don’t get me wrong my job is not easy to a lot of people but it is easy for me because I love what I’m doing. But it doesn’t mean I have to rely on my one source of income because even though I love what I’m doing still I have to do more for my kids and myself. 

My positivity and dedication are indeed came from my parents. 

they taught me how to be creative and showed me how to use the word sky is the limit as long as you have that motivation and urge to learn, wants to succeed, and not scared of failing. Now I’m using those experience to my own realistic life. 

How planet hoops started? 

It was way back 2018, I was playing at one of the park here in Honolulu, Hawaii it was 7-10 minutes drive from my apartment. I was waiting for my turn to play along my friends and hoop mates. While having a great conversation with them talked about life in general, there was a group of Chinese guys who pulled up and ready compete and have fun. Their faces wasn’t familiar to most of us. While they were getting warmed up, some guys, including people that I know was mocking them because of how they look (not athletic), shooting form, and dribbling skills. My reaction was, let this group of guys play, compete, and have fun. with that being said, that’s when I thought of doing something to show and tell those people that no matter who you are, where you came from, what color of your skin, your heights, your gender, your social status, we are all the same and equal fan/s of any sports that we love. WE can PLAY. COMPETE AND HAVE FUN. 

From that point, I know what I want to do. 

Days past by so fast and I kept thinking about it, but at the same, I don’t know where to start. That’s when I start my research about clothing brand. I searched every single basketball brand name even those basketball club. I was brainstorming with my kids too, plenty of times I was talking to myself about the brand that I want. I kept it secret to my friends and family until I came up with my first official name Planethoops Clothing Brand. 

Why planet hoops? It is because I want to show to the world how diverse this sports is. Everybody can play, 

I want to show and speak for the equality of this is sports. Everybody is EQUAL! PLAY YOUR OWN STORY! 

Just like Kobe said, we can be more than a basketball player. We can be a business owner, a CEO, we can be an author, artist, and so on. 

One of my favorite quotes was came from the great Kobe Bean Bryant. 

“If you really want to be great at something you have to truly care about it. If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it.” 

― Kobe Bryant, The Mamba Mentality: How I Play 

I love this quotes because I could see myself to that. I love basketball and I want to be great, even I’m 31 years old now I’m still trying challenge myself in any way that put me to the point that I’m super obsess on learning new experiences. 

I started driving Uber and Lyft first before started the planet hoops. Why? To earn extra money on the side while I’m learning about clothing brand. To talk to people and meet different kind of people, to learn and listen to their experiences, to share what I want to do and what I’m passionate about which is the Planethoops. 

I met a lot of people that super successful on what they are doing. 

The most consistent advice that I had was, go for it, do it for yourself and your kids, do it for your better future, take the risk, don’t be afraid to make a mistake, and learn from it. and don’t listen to the haters. 

Those advices that I learned will be forever stuck in my head and I will keep applying it in real life. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
There’s so many obstacles and challenges that I can remember, especially when I was at the starting point of doing this. Thinking about the name is one of it, because once you chose the name you gotta stick with it, embrace it, and love it like your own name. I experienced being mocked by my own friends and those people that I know. Am I gonna forget it? No. Was I affected by it? Yes, but it didn’t make me stop on doing it to what I love to do. To be honest, it gave me more motivation to continue planethoops. I remember that I twitted something on my twitter account about that person who mocked me, that he will buy my merchandise in the future, and guess what, he was one of the true solid supporter since day one. 

Often with this industry, the challenges is how you will sell your merchandise to the people. Just like those other story I read and heard I started selling with family and friends and surely other people that you don’t know, follows. 

For me, great relationship, being loyal to them as how they loyal to you, and be honest to them as always is one of the best secret to success. 

The recent obstacle that I experienced was this month of October 2021. It was supposed to be the biggest hit of our brand and looking forward to gain more followers and triple my profit. 

When it comes to material, I’m super strict, perfectionist, and precise. Why? Cause I want to give the best quality materials to the people and yet price is super competitive compare to other brand. 

Planning every design is not that easy, you have to think how people will connect or relate to every design that you will release. You have to be clear with your designer, you have to be precise with every details you want on your design or materials. You have to check with your distributor from time to time, you have to do a survey to those people that will be honest with you, and be sure you have the best local printing shop with great relationship with you. All in all, you have to take care of your people and they will take care of you. 

At the end of the day, if you want to have a great finished product, you have to connect all those dots and give them a true friendship not just business talk. 

Honesty for the better quality. 

When we planned the FOREVER SWINGMAN (Kobe Shorts) I was super precise on the quality information that I want. From waistband to the fabric, tackle twill embroidery to sublimation print, every detailed was on point. We thought we were so smooth and almost perfected the quality and design. I messaged all those 150 people who made the pre-order. I even got in touch with the great Phil Handy of Los Angeles Lakers. People was super hyped up when I posted the design and the finished product. They waited for it for almost 2 months. I already planned where the profits will go, some of it will go to investment and to use the money to produce more line of products. The sad part of business sometimes gets super intense. I heard A lot from small business owner that they will buy bulk merchandise and only 30% of it will be sold. Thank God that didn’t happen to me, YET. If you gonna ask me if I’m ready to face that? my honest answer is No, but I’m ready to accept the challenge anytime and make a solution. 

I didn’t expect that the quality of our FOREVER SWINGMAN will turned out to be like that. Did I blame someone, yes! It’s only me, myself to be blamed of. 

Was there a mistake and missed communication, probably YES too. 

When I received it, I was hyped up and super excited to open it. I remember telling myself LET’S F***** GO! 

When I opened the package the first glimpse to the shorts was surreal and I know this is not gonna be good. I was devastated for real. I was sweating and thinking about what went wrong. Even my kids got involved. I asked them about the quality, I asked them if they liked the design and I told them to be honest. They both said no it looks cheap and not good, Daddy. Their opinion is so important to me, that’s why I always involved them because I want them to learn and show how the importance of hard work. 

While thinking, I reached out to all the people that I trust so much. My 2 kids (KC & CASSY), my girlfriend Kayla, my adviser Coach Lawrence Joel A. Valenzuela, my mom, and my dad, and my closest friends Jc Vicenete, Jp Delos Santos, Ada Espejo, Winkle Castillo, Maria Reganit, Cj Vicente, Rj Ibera, and John Paul Ventura. Those people that I talked to and asked advice to make a solutions and move forward. 

Every advice was different approach but has a one main goal, to move forward, accept the mistake, learn from it, and make a better solution for this challenge. 

I made a statement with the help of my partner Kayla. Posted it on our page, made a video after that, and reached out to the people/supporters. 

Solving this issue was a big challenge to me and overwhelming. There’s a lot of things I learn and one of them is as a brand owner I have to be ready to take the responsibility at all times. 

I want to be transparent with them, I want them to feel that they can trust me, I want them to know that this is not all about money but more on relationship and being connected to each other and talk about the sports that we love and of course I don’t want to disappoint them AGAIN. 

Now I can tell that I experienced the BEAUTY AND UGLINESS of the clothing business. At same time I always tell myself that I’m still a student of the game and will be a student every day so I can learn every single day. 

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I studied Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2007 since 2010. 

I did not graduate because I had to go migrate to Hawai’i on 2012. 

I met my ex-wife early 2009 and got married 2010. 

I stopped going to school for a year, got some coaching job for a bit, and while preparing myself to migrate here in Hawai’i 

I came to Hawai’i on October 27, 2012, and Started to work with the Gendreau’s. A great family that embraced not only my grandparents but most of my relatives and I. From my grandparents to my uncle and aunties, now it’s me and my cousin’s turn to work for them and continue the legacy that my grandparents started. 

My grandma works for them since early 1990s and now I’ve been working for them for 9 years going to my 10th year. It’s a different atmosphere. Bailey Aka “The Poi Pounder” that his nickname. A legendary name for a lot of people especially with his love one’s and the people he knows. Bailey is a big water sports guy that every woman could’ve ask for. tall, smart, gentleman, and super athletic. He used to play baseball, go hunting, fishing, play golf, was a player of water polo, and of course, his favorite thing to do are blow glass and surfing. Sadly, He got hurt when he was turning 22 while surfing somewhere in Waikiki and he’s 33 now. 

I work for Bailey as his assistant, like nursing aid. All the things that Bailey can’t do without any help, that’s when I go and help him. From Feeding to Drinking, from administering meds to give smoothies, from stretching to any physical activities that he loves to do. 

I’m super proud of Bailey like I’m super proud of myself. We are like brothers and his family treat me and my family as their own family. That I can proudly say that my job sets apart from other job. 

Any big plans?
My plan is to continue to work my full-time job as Nursing Aid while I’m pushing forward to be more successful with clothing business that I been dreaming of. I want to be a part of Bailey’s team ’til he’s back to normal life of his own and me fulfilling those dreams that I want for planethoops. 

To give back to community by sharing my knowledge and experience about basketball. 

To meet more inspiring individual on and off the court and make friends for life. 

I know it is not easy but I won’t ever stop even I fail so many times. 

There’s only plan A, no plan B at all. 

Plan A is always been a plan to succeed, move forward, to go big, and never afraid to take risk. 

I’m looking forward to see more people and go out there, showing their talent and stories about basketball or any other sports that they love 

I’m looking forward to learn more and to go big, and be known not only all-over United States but internationally as well. 

With my team, from my 2 kids Kc and Cassy, my girlfriend Kayla, my adviser coach Lawrence Joel Valenzuela, my great and talented graphic designers, John Laurenz Ilagan and Jobel Gojit, the local printing shop, distributors, and those great positive people that surround planethoops we will go big and we will make our supporters proud. 

PLAY. COMPETE. HAVE FUN. 

PLAY YOUR OWN STORY. 

FOR THE CULTURE. FOR HAWAI’I. 

Pricing:

• OG Crossover Hoodie $35
• Basketball Over Everything $28
• EQUALITY $28
• Aloha shirt $28
• Forever Kobe $28

Contact Info:

• Email: planethoopshi@gmail.com
• Website: https://planethoopshawaii.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/planethoopshawaii/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/planethoopshawaii