Roots Large Banff Bag in Cervino Leather. The ultimate weekender bag, with brass feet to avoid scuffing and interior zippered passport pocket. Roots, Birmingham; roots.com.
Quiver Pen Holder and Moleskine Classic Notebook. Crafted from best-grade full-grain leather and handstitched with marine-grade thread, these pen holders are designed to slide easily over the spin of your notebook. Quiverpenholders.com.
Apple iPad Pro, displaying Flemings’ eBook, The Future of Intelligence.
Four Sigmatic Mushroom Coffee Mix lets you get your focus without the jitters. Whole Foods, Birmingham; foursigmatic.com.
Why Bars in Cherry Chia. Created by Detroit Chef Jay Kinney, Why Bars are organic superfoods that fuel greatness. Whybars.com.
Saint Martin Scalp Remedy Oil. In pursuit of a “new era of wellness for black men,” Saint Martin was founded by Sebastian and Gabrielle Jackson, the husband-and-wife duo behind the Detroit-based barber shop The Social Club. The Scalp Remedy Old helps strengthen hair at the root, starting with healthy skin. Wearesaintmartin.com.
Panerai Submersible Quaranta Quattro Watch. Stunning wrist jewelry, this watch has a white dial with luminous hour markers and dots; the case is protected by a trademarked device. Panerai.com.
Bang & Olufsen Headphones (beoplay h4). Bang-olufsen.com
Burberry Scarf. Burberry.com.
Boka Refresh Mint Whitening n-Ha Toothpaste. Peroxide-free and pepperminty, Boka Whitening Toothpaste fights stain with dissolving baking soda while moisturing gums with coconut oil. Boka.com.
Detroitorant in Lemon Eucalyptus. Detroit-based handcrafted small-batch deodorant is “organically crafted to protect pits everywhere.” Detroitorant.com.
Drought Juice Green No. 1, with green apple, kale, celery and lemon. Founded by the four James sisters from Plymouth, who’ve perfected organic cold-pressed juice in their Berkley headquarters. 2941 Mediterranean Street Food, Bloomfield Hills; droughtjuice.com.
LV Shark Clog. Louis Vuitton’s fashion-forward slip-on is molded from extremely lightweight EVA rubber. Louis Vuitton, the Somerset Collection, Troy; us.louisvuitton.com.
See Eyewear 6875 Sunglasses in grey with brown radiant lens. Beveled eye rims, chunky temples, rectangular rivets — super cool. See Eyewear, Birmingham; seeeyewear.com.
5 - Panel Hat Nylon Hat. Modern Athlete; modernathlete.com.
To learn more about Flemings, turn the page.
ON FLEMINGS:
Modern Athlete Long-Sleeve Full-Button Shirt
Fear of God Viscose Tricot Slim Pant
See Eyewear Glasses
Louis Vuitton Shark Clogs
Panerai Submersible Quaranta Quattro Watch
DISRUPTION BY DESIGN
Birmingham polypreneur Hajj Flemings is changing the way we look at code, culture and couture. He’s a global brand technologist, international keynote speaker and founder of multiple businesses. Flemings (hajjflemins.com) also co-hosts the CBS News Detroit Tech Talk segment. He represented the U.S. on an AI trade mission to Portugal with the U.S. Department of State, and played a pivotal role in a fashion trade mission to Florence, Italy, with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. His client list includes Walt Disney, Pfizer, the Detroit Lions, the U.S. Department of Defense and University of Michigan – Ross School of Business. He’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, on CNN Tech Money — and now, Birmingham City Lifestyle.
BIRMINGHAM CITY LIFESTYLE: Where do you live?
HAJJ FLEMINGS: I live in Birmingham with my wife, Kasandra, and daughter, Kennedy. I grew up in Roseville. I’ve got offices in Detroit and Miami, but I’ve built a model that allows me to work — from anywhere in the world.
BCL: What did you study?
HF: I have a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Michigan Technological University and an MBA from Lawrence Technological University.
BCL: What do you do?
HF: I grew up as an early adopter of technology, starting with an Apple IIc personal computer and a Sony TCM-27 Walkman. In high school, I wrote letters to every footwear company in the continental United States, chasing my dreams. That relentless pursuit led me to design a sneaker that made it to market for Detroit-based Mavade Footwear, and to become New Balance’s first out-of-state intern in their product development department.
While engineering and design were part of my early formal education, fashion and business quickly became part of my DNA through real-world experience. I originally intended to be an engineer, but my heart was always drawn to creativity, storytelling, branding and entrepreneurship — blending disciplines to build the future I wanted to see.
BCL: So you became a serial entrepreneur?
HF: I was consistently spotting gaps in the market and creating businesses to fill them — from founding Brand Camp University, one of the first personal branding conferences, to launching Rebrand Cities, a global initiative to bring small businesses online, to building REBRANDX, my future-of-intelligence company, and creating Modern Athlete, a luxury fashion brand.
Entrepreneurship became my way of building at the intersection of culture, technology and design — and the platform that allowed me to fully express the range of my talents and vision for the future.
BCL: Tell us about your different projects.
HF: I’m CEO of REBRANDX, a technology and intelligence company. We work with SMBs in cities globally to help make them AI-ready through our accelerator and workshop training model.
I’m the founder of Modern Athlete [modernathlete.com], a luxury high-performance apparel brand redefining freedom, excellence and high-performance living, and developed a direct-to-consumer business model.
I’m the author of The Future of Intelligence, an upcoming book about AI, culture and human potential.
I do training and speaking experiences for clients, professionals, brands and the next generation.
Other projects include CXOMPLEX, Michigan’s most diverse AI where we are helping to make artificial intelligence more accessible; Prompt Camp, a training initiative teaching AI-driven creativity and skills for the future economy; and RAPVS.AI, an AI-powered experience where we teach culture through technology.
I’m a Futurist and Global Keynote Speaker, focused on AI, innovation and culture. I’ve spoken at the White House, Instagram HQ, Harvard University and SXSW.
BCL: What is a brand technologist?
A: A brand technologist is someone who combines branding, culture, technology and human behavior to shape how individuals, companies and cities position themselves for the future.
BCL: How did Modern Athlete come about?
HF: The brand is dedicated to redefining the essentials. Rooted in craftsmanship and timeless design, it merges utility and innovation to blur the lines between work and play — reimagining the modern uniform of the future. Modern Athlete’s philosophy, "The New Luxury is Freedom," is woven into every collection.
The brand was also shaped by my personal wellness journey — overcoming cancer through faith, a plant-based lifestyle, daily discipline and a deep commitment to holistic health.
BCL: Tell us about the experience of being selected for CNN's Black in America.
HF: My story was featured in CNN’s documentary Black in America 4: The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley, hosted by Soledad O’Brien, which became a tipping point for black startup founders — in the U.S., less than one percent of black startup founders are venture-capital backed. It was viewed by more than 2.5 million people.
It was a pivotal moment in my own journey. It gave me a national platform to talk about innovation, representation and the future of entrepreneurship, which validated the work I was doing. But more importantly, it fueled my mission to create ecosystems where underrepresented voices could lead, build and define the future.
BCL: Do you have a personal philosophy?
HF: My philosophy is simple: to architect human potential — and to make work feel like play. I’m on a mission to make AI accessible to one billion people, helping them unlock new opportunities, elevate their creativity and design lives rooted in freedom, purpose and possibility.
At the core of everything I do is a commitment to helping people tap into their human genius — their innate ability to imagine, build and lead in a world where technology enhances, rather than replaces, who we are.