Soul District Athletic Club is a BIPOC- and veteran-owned outdoor and athletic apparel brand based in Northeast Portland. Founded in 2022 by former Columbia Customs Specialist Dewayne Pittman, Soul District seeks to break barriers to the outdoors by connecting communities through facilitated events, meetups, and a finely curated apparel brand.
We spoke with Pittman about his journey and his vision for the company.
Introduce us to Soul District Athletic Club.
Pittman: Soul District is based out of Northeast Portland. That’s where I founded the company. The idea behind the brand is to connect wellness and community to the outdoors and athletics through apparel.
How did your career trajectory bring you to Portland and the A&O industry?
Pittman: I joined the military right after high school. Once my enlistment ended, I came over to the West Coast and fell in love with the city of Portland. I did my undergrad at Portland State, and it introduced me to the different athletic and outdoor companies in this area. Portland is really big into the outdoors, and for me, being here was a great opportunity to do something new and explore. I came from Georgia, and the outdoors is a little bit different for us—your mom or grandma would kick you out the house for the day, and that’s it! You’re in the outdoors. (Laughs.) So I was surprised when people in Portland would go camping voluntarily. But I used Portland’s outdoor culture as an opportunity to understand that lifestyle, that connection to nature, and its relationship to wellness. I also wound up working at Columbia for a few years.
What inspired you to want to start your own brand?
Pittman: During the COVID pandemic, I was working in hospitals as part of my military service. That’s where I really started to understand how wellness and health play a key role in the community. After that, I felt like maybe I could do something, maybe I could create something that could help. And that’s how Soul District Athletic Club came to be. I envisioned it as an apparel brand that also connects customers to wellness and outdoor events.
How has Portland’s A&O culture impacted your business?
Pittman: It feels like there’s this big community or family here in Portland. Everybody’s connected. The networking opportunities are great here; there are people out there willing to help and assist. This is a great city to start something, because you have folks that will help you get to where you need to go. You just have to be willing to put your ego to the side and ask for help. That’s part of why I joined the JUMPSTART Business Growth Workshop.
Tell us a little bit about your experience in JUMPSTART.
Pittman: I’ve been in the A&O industry for a while and knew Angela Medlin (facilitator of JUMPSTART). I learned about the opportunity through the A&O newsletter. I felt like the Soul District brand was just all over the place, and I wanted to focus it a bit more. I was like, “Where’s the market? Who is this target?”
For me, the workshop was an opportunity to be vulnerable. This was an opportunity for me to sit back and learn, especially from professionals. And to really know that you can ask for help. It was a great opportunity to be a sponge and learn as much as possible, and also give back to other participants wherever I could, to provide advice and expertise from my own experiences.
“This is a great city to start something, because you have folks that will help you get to where you need to go.”
—Dewayne Pittman, Founder, Soul District Athletic Club
Can you tell us a little about the story behind the S.D.A.C. logo?
Pittman: The main feature on the logo is the Arctic tern, which is meant to inspire travel, to get folks to go out and explore. The tern is holding a scarf, which is actually the colors of Portland’s flag. And then people see the rose in the tern’s claws and say, “Oh, that’s for the Rose City.” But for me, the rose is a tribute back to my grandmother. She used to have roses in her garden. So it represents my community and family. The logo brings all of those elements together.
What’s on the horizon for Soul District?
Pittman: Building off of my work in the JUMPSTART program, the next phase of work is more branding and marketing. The apparel is going to be honed down. The goal for this winter is to have more jackets and heated products. Right now, the majority of my stuff is online, but I try to also participate in different community events, like the 8 Seconds Rodeo and the MESO Makers Market on MLK. If there are other opportunities like pop-ups or Black history events, I’ll try to do those. Ultimately, I want Soul District to be a brand that represents Portland, a brand that Portland can be proud of.
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Portland A&O powered by Prosper Portland aims to support the success of Oregon’s 800+ Athletic and Outdoor firms through community, peer-to-peer learning, events, and programming.
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