Entrepreneurial Stories from My Past - Doorga Tailors
Doorga Tailors
The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in my family's genes.
The entrepreneurial spirit runs deep in my family's genes. Nobody from either side of my family owns a fortune 500 company, or a private business that blew up into a vast corporation, but the origin of my entrepreneurial spirit lies with those that came before me.
There are family members that made career moves due to changing circumstances, starting small businesses just to get them through to the next opportunity. There are those that started businesses out of necessity to support their family, and those that followed their passions.
I'll add to these stories as I learn more about them, but these posts are meant to be inspiration for me, and if it ends up helping others to look into their own past to find the origins of why they want to start their own business, then this post will have done its job.
My mother's father, David Doorga was born on the island of Trinidad and Tobago in 1928. As a young man, he was turned on to the prestigious skilled trade of Tailoring. He apprenticed under a well known tailor on the islands, learning many of the skills and tools of the trade under his training.
In his capacity as a junior tailor, he was able to work on some of the major films that were filmed on the islands during that time. He was involved in tailoring costumes for movies like:
Fire Down Below (1957), Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960).
I remember many times listening to his stories about these unique experiences, and I got the sense that he was very proud of his time working on these movies.
Maybe I bragged a little about my grandpa to everyone around me too, that could be part of why it was so memorable... Side note, that is another thing that inspired me, his stories. If I can remember some of them, I will add them to my blog posts. But back to the main theme, his entrepreneurial spirit.
I am not sure if he started his own shop before he migrated to the United States or not, I will update this once I know.
But for sure, he broke out on his own when he moved from sunny, warm and tropical Trinidad and Tobago to Minnesota in the Midwest of the US, so just the opposite of where he was from in the 1980's.
He opened Doorga Tailors on the corner of 19th Ave and Lake Street in Minneapolis, at a little corner spot that was another tailor shop before. It was close to home, and located in the heart of a vibrant and diverse neighborhood.
It has seen it's better days unfortunately though, and was the scene of unrest and rioting after the George Floyd police killing in 2020, in the middle of the Coronavirus pandemic that already ravaged the businesses in the area. It is tough to talk about the neighborhood and what it looks like now. But let's talk about the seemingly completely different world of the 80s and 90s, when Doorga Tailors was in its prime!
Everyone knew and loved David in the neighborhood, he was known to the neighbors as an honest businessman, a good Christian, and a great friend. I remember spending summers there with him, just Grandpa and I at his tailor shop, and throughout the day people would stop in and out to drop off their clothing to be altered and also to just say hi to David.
He was the original inspiration for me to start my own business. I would always try to sell random things from around the shop to his customers, and he indulged me, sometimes even up selling things to his customers for me.
I wanted to be just like him, I wanted to be a tailor too, if only for a hot minute! Then that sounded boring and I wanted to be a Firefighter, and then I settled on Superhero. I had a diverse plan for my future, what can I say!
I ended up being none of those things, but the spirit he had to go his own way and to provide such a niche service, where he could directly work with his customers and make them happy, stuck with me.
He became "Their Guy" for specific needs, and trusted no one else for that service.
I am still unpacking the lessons from this today. He semi-retired in 2005, and sold the tailor shop, leaving a hole in the heart of the Lake Street Community. He couldn't take the winter anymore, so he moved to Florida, and took his shop with him, starting a small tailor shop in his garage.
He just couldn't stop working, even in retirement, because he loved what he did, and he loved clothes. I lived near him for a time in Florida, and he left his impression there as well. He will forever be known as The Tailor wherever he went.
Eventually he returned to Minnesota, and would travel back and forth to both states. As he got older, the amazing skill honed over decades started to fade, and he eventually fully retired. One time, I had him attempt do a hem on some of my pants during this period, and let's just say, it was time for him to retire... but I still loved talking to him about his story and his career. He died in 2017 at the age of 88, at the home down the street from the legacy he built, the tailor shop where he did what he loved.
David and Enid Doorga (Doolgar)
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