Interview with Drew Deters of RumbaTime
This Monday, I got the chance to interview Drew Deters, the Co-Founder of RumbaTime. What makes RumbaTime stick out from other watch companies is its simple yet functional, affordable yet stylish products. Enough on me and my thoughts about RumbaTime. Check out the interview below!
JungleCents: What is RumbaTime and what is your role in the company?
Drew: As guys the only accessory you really have is a watch, so myself and my two best friends from college, Joe Anto and Jay Hartington, started RumbaTime out of a general love for watches. The three of us are active surfers, skiers, riders, runners, etc., but we also live in NYC and appreciate style and fashion. If you have seen most of the watches made specifically for active lifestyles, they aren’t exactly attractive. And most fashion watches aren’t very practical. We saw a gap there, and sought to create cool, affordable and comfortable watches that you can not only wear to the gym, but also out afterwards. Our roles are pretty flexible as we subscribe to a get it done mentality. With that said I focus a lot of time on our marketing and press efforts.
JC: How did you get to work with watches instead of, let’s say… sunglasses?
Drew: Ties into the answer above. Not to say we wouldn’t do sunglasses if we came up with the right design. But there’s just so much you can do with watches. We have a new design coming which I can’t talk about in full detail but as a teaser let’s just say it will literally take the wallet to your wrist. There’s a lot of exciting possibilities that we are exploring with new technologies.
JC: Other than RumbaTime, what is your favorite watch brand?
Drew: Sorry man, it’s RumbaTime always.
JC: I read about how RumbaTime gives back through charities such as the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters of NYC, and much more. What made you guys incorporate charities into your business?
Drew: It’s the right thing to do. With some of our designs it made sense to use the watch as a means to raise social awareness (via the color, logo, design) and raise money too. And we wanted to work with organizations that we felt strongly about. Since Joe has been a Big Brother for several years that was a natural fit. I think people really respect and appreciate a company that tries to make a difference.
JC: What were some of the challenges that RumbaTime went through?
Drew: There’s a new challenge everyday when you own your own business. The toughest thing at first was trying to get retailers to carry the watches. Now the challenge is to continually innovate and keep the momentum going.
JC: How do you see RumbaTime in the next 1-2 years?
Drew: We will have a lot of styles incorporating some pretty cool technology. Again, that concept of taking the wallet to the wrist and more.
JC: Anything else you want to say?
Drew: Stay tuned for the new watch I’m alluding to which will launch this fall. It’s going to be unlike anything out there and totally liberating!
Thanks to Drew and to all the folks at RumbaTime!