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The Hustle

Name: Patrick Collins (Coast Brothers and buyitbythecase.com)

Posted By Keara McGraw

Patrick Collins and his father, Stephen, own and operate Coast Brothers, a janitorial supply company. Stephen's brother is John Collins, executive director of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance, and it was through this family connection that father and son engaged local artists Derek Donnelly and the Vitale Brothers to create distinctive, one-of-a-kind murals for Coast Brothers delivery trucks. Today, the shutdown is playing havoc with the janitoral supply business - Coast Brothers supplies schools and offices - and so the Collins' attention has shifted almost exclusively to their other venture, buyitbythecase.com.

Years in Tampa Bay

32

Hustle (job)

Vice President

What do you do?  

My e-commerce companies – CoastBrothers.com & BuyItByTheCase.Com – sell supplies. I am fortunate that the companies are doing well. Since the outset of the shutdown, I have focused a lot of my energies in charitable engagements in the community – we commissioned Derek Donnelly and the Vitale Bros to paint mobile murals on our company fleet vehicles (which, we have since donated; one to Tampa Bay Watch and two vehicles to American Stage). With the mobile murals, we created social media videos to showcase the engagement to encourage others to pay it forward. The videos contained copyright content that we did not receive permission for, so we began to dialogue with DTSP Live: Saved By Streaming and began sponsoring a weekly stream and promoted a Songwriting Competition to have artists submit their works for the videos; for which, we would pay for the winning submissions and feature them on a DTSP live stream.

Why do you do it?

I have seen firsthand the power of karma. You get what you give and I have been giving a lot during these trying times. For this, I continue to find ways to amplify the charitable engagements.

What was your Catalyst? (How did you get started?)

My father and I purchased Coast Brothers in August 2010. We since acquired two other companies, one of which we continue to operate as a sister company, BuyItByTheCase.com. Recently due to the economic outlook for our client base, we have shifted Coast Brothers business model to 100% e-commerce to match the model of the sister company.

What’s a common misconception or unknown aspect of what you do?

I have been heavily involved with charitable engagements in the community and there is a misconception of what it is I do for a living. Some folks have thought I am a music promoter.

What’s the most challenging part of your Hustle?

It’s staying grounded. We are doing a lot in the community. We are seeing the return, not necessarily as an ROI but we see the positive connection with ‘Coast Brothers’ in the community.

What’s the most valuable piece of business advice/insight that’s helped you?

I decided some time ago that my company brand would be intertwined with my company culture. We support community endeavors. Through the shutdown, we have seen a return in a business sense from the engagements, so we continue to roll up our sleeves to see how we can’t do more.

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