Valley native uses passion for Central California to start apparel brand

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Huron native Dorian Castro is celebrating his one-year anniversary as an apparel entrepreneur in the Central Valley.

"To me, Fresno is a big city. To me, Fresno is my LA, my San Francisco. So I felt like I had to be here and make an impact here and stay here. So, therefore, the brand is Cencr. We want to represent Central California," said Castro.

He developed his own brand called Cencr, pronounced sincere. The name uses "cen" to pay tribute to Central California and showcases his love of music and positivity on clothing.

"Cencr is a brand based on hip hop and faith. It's a lot of motivating quotes on the t-shirts, and they come from hip hop lyrics," Castro said.

Like many, the past year and a half have been challenging.

He was working for the Fresno Grizzlies when the pandemic unfolded.

"I got laid off a few months or a month after, and I just took my last check and invested it into the brand," Castro said.

He decided to take a leap of faith, and it's paid off in online orders.

"A lot of our orders come from around the Valley, but we ship out to Houston, New Jersey, New Carolina. That's the fun part to see those orders come in," Castro said.

They've also seen great support from local residents.

"I feel like Fresno is a clean canvas, where people can come and take advantage of creating and making things happen here," Castro said.

A budding entrepreneur with passion to pursue his dreams in a city that is growing.

Castro has big plans for the future. He's finalizing work on his mobile trailer so he can bring his designs to cities across the Valley.