ALBANY, NY (NEWS10) — One Albany entrepreneur is on a mission to help others achieve greatness. He wrote his first book that changed the world one page at a time.
“SWAG; He stands for success with achievable goals,” Angelo Maddox, owner of Fresh and Fly Clothing. “We don’t create SWAG, we improve it. And our job is to improve every customer that walks through the door.”
Angelo has taken his inspirational message of success far beyond his simple clothing store on South Pearl Street. He created SWAG—Success Program with Achievable Goals—in 2015. He teaches youth and adults entrepreneurial skills, everything from marketing and branding to soft skills.
To take his mission a step further, Maddox wrote a corresponding book on his methods called “Change the World by Changing Yourself.”
Maddox said he drew on his life experience to write it. He grew up in Brooklyn and overcame prison in the 1990s. Maddox went through Hudson Valley Community College and graduated from the University at Albany as a proud Great Dane.
“Their whole mantra is great, you know, Great Danes. That’s something I hold onto,” Maddox said. “I don’t want to be good; I want to excel in everything I do.”
Maddox started selling incense and clothes at school. Over the past 16 years, his business has evolved into Albany’s “Official Swag Headquarters” at 13 South Pearl Street.
Angelo had a book signing party at his boutique on July 1st. He was overwhelmed by how many members of the community showed up to support his new venture, buying his book in person and on Amazon.
“The greatest asset they’ve ever needed or have in their lives is already within themselves,” Maddox said. “If they take it and use it, they can actually start changing the world one family at a time, one person at a time, one community at a time.”
Maddox said he has plans for another SWAG program session in the near future that will be open to adults and teenagers who want to be “awesome.”
