Greenberry Taylor honors his father’s legacy with one pigfish at a time

By. Olivia Lockett

When you ask former Flagler College professor Greenberry Taylor where he’d like to see his business in five years, he’ll only give you one response — “Exactly where it’s supposed to be,” and that’s just what his Pops would want. 

The Bo-Hawg, an online clothing brand, has transformed from a failed charter fishing business into Taylor’s newest adventure. A pig’s head on a fish body may not be the average person’s idea of a fashion icon, but to Taylor, it represents that and so much more.

He started the company as an homage to his Pops who passed away suddenly in 2022. The namesake stems from a charter fishing boat named Bo-Hawg which was started by Taylor’s father, grandfather, and uncles. His Pops eventually sold the boat, but kept the logo. Throughout his life he wanted to revamp the Bo-Hawg brand. 

He had many ideas over the years like starting a seafood company or a fishing team. Unfortunately, marketing opportunities in the 1980’s in their small town of Fairhope, Alabama were few and far between, and he never saw his business ventures take off.

Dealing with the grief of his father’s passing, Taylor was dedicated to continuing his legacy. He bounced around a few ideas at first, creating and distributing stickers and cups with illustrations to remember him by, but none of it was long-lasting.

It was a voicemail from his Pops from April of 2018 in which he shared one of his many creative ideas for The Bo-Hawg revamp that inspired Taylor to take his turn, only this time as an online clothing company, which launched publicly in 2023. 

“The reason I did an online clothing store was because our company is located in Alabama; I’m located in New York, online makes sense. If it was just in Fairhope [Alabama], it would still just be something my dad was always trying to do,” Taylor said. “If it’s online, it’s everywhere; anyone can buy it.”

Just like his brand, Taylor’s business approach is also refreshingly unique. Through everything he plans for The Bo-Hawg, the goal of honoring his father’s memory remains. For Taylor, this means prioritizing authenticity over everything. 

“If this brand, which we have such high hopes for… were to crash and burn, I’d rather it crash and burn with me being me. I could easily communicate in a way that would push this product faster. There are so many things I could do that are strategic that brands do, which is good for them, but it’s not our mission,” Taylor said. “I honor him by being exactly what he would want instead of some fucking souped up corporate fucking version of this. People are either going to gravitate towards it or they’re not..”

Taylor lives life taking chances being unapologetically himself. He doesn’t believe in censorship or consumer manipulation. He refuses to compromise his values for the sake of corporate success, preferring instead to stay true to himself and his father’s memory, and it shows to the people around him.

“Greenberry is very original when it comes to how things are done in the business world,” Flagler student Ashley Bremer said.

She is working with The Bo-Hawg in her public relations campaigns class, and has had many opportunities to learn about Taylor’s mission.

“I’ve looked at PR in a very different way since I started working on this campaign,” she said.

It’s evident that Taylor prioritizes his Pop’s ethos within the inner workings of his business. Another way he embodies this is through the company’s partnership with Evermore, a nonprofit pushing for policy change and improved care systems in support of bereaved people.

“Our partnership with Evermore is really rooted in the idea that for my Pops, it was really important to him to give back in some way, and so, because I created this for him and because it was this extension of grief, it’s only right that if people are buying this, he would want a piece of it to go somewhere,” Taylor said.

Taylor takes a refreshing, genuine approach to running his company because that is the type of person both he and his Pops are. Despite the pressures of the corporate world, he remains grounded in his values.

“When people ask the question “Where do you think you’ll be five years from now?” The answer is exactly where it’s fucking supposed to be. You can make plans. The universe doesn’t give a fuck. If it’s laid to rest in the ground then that’s the way it is,” Taylor said.

Check out Bo-Hawg at https://bohawg.com