Image: The Sweet Spot on Facebook

Anthony Shareef has been golfing for 17 years. A big fan of the sport, he took his engineering degree and launched Sweet Spot in 2001. Today, he is the only African-American manufacturer of golf apparel in the U.S.

“If you could imagine, this is a $76 billion industry of which African Americans make up less than 1 percent–from the business perspective,” Shareef tells Black Enterprise. “People like Tiger Woods are the driving force of the golf industry but when it comes to providing products and services, we are not having the gains we should.”

In the time since he started Sweet Spot, the exposure to the sport of golf that he has given young African Americans has been a highlight. Though the competition to the top of the sporting goods industry is stiff, Shareef remains confident that golf will continue to grow in popularity among African Americans and that his company will grow in size and success.

“This allows me to let children and our youth know that if they put their mind to it, they can do what they like,” he says.

Read more of this interview on BlackEnterprise.com.