“You have to want to succeed more than you want to breathe, that’s the mentality,” Zelaya said as he modelled his new RVNU clothing. “At this point in my life, it’s not about money; it’s about legacy. You have to fight like mad and work tirelessly. That has to be ingrained within you to succeed.”

Success, for Zelaya, a wildly accomplished former investment banker, has come with a platform and, in our increasingly divided times, isn’t afraid to use his popular TikTok account to tout his political views. According to the Bad Axe style guru, it’s not about polarization—it’s about inviting Canadians into an open discourse for surviving the times.

“There are people who will never align themselves with my viewpoints, people I work with, and that’s OK—that doesn’t mean we can’t work together or be friends,” Zelaya says, adding that his social media posts aren’t designed for monetization, but rather to encourage conversations among his sphere of influence. “I think open and transparent discussion out in the public makes for a more cohesive society. Even though we may have different viewpoints, we don’t have to hate each other. We can communicate in a respectful manner.”

Success means a lot of different things for a lot of different people, as does style, politics, personal beliefs, and swagger. Swagger, in Zelaya’s opinion, means simply holding one’s beliefs to be true and working harder than anyone else to realize a dream while building community in a fresh, bold, and original manner. Mario Zelaya is himself, unapologetically.

“Everything I do is an experiment, and new ideas, I know, will probably fail and go nowhere,” Zelaya says with a laugh. “I’m not afraid of failure. If you give a dream your all, have fun, and stay hungry, you have the mindset to live life on your terms. You’ve already won.”