The other day I wrote this post about the essence of real-world experience as oppose to formal education.
Well, I just stumbled across someone who jumped right into the real-world and has had great success. His name is Johnny Earle and he started a t-shirt company in 2001 — Johnny Cupcakes (or JC for short).
He tried out college (for music) after graduating from high school, but he lasted less than a semester before dropping out. Upon dropping out he started up a pin business designing pins, buttons, and badges for bands, businesses, and a core group of kids. During this time, he also worked “once or twice a week” at a silk screen shop where he was given random nicknames on a daily basis. One of the nicknames, “Johnny Cupcakes”, inspired him to make a couple of shirts with the name on the front, just for fun.
After selling out of the first batches of shirts, he eventually created a logo which now appears on most of JC’s apparel in some form. The logo is a pair of crossbones with a cupcake above them.
As a band member at the time, he’d sell his shirts from the back of the band’s van while touring. He’d also stop in at local shops to try to convince them to sell his shirts. He was turned down a lot, but he kept pushing forward.
In 2003, he decided to quit his band to spend all of his time and energy on Johnny Cupcakes.
That decision — coupled with his decision to drop out of college — has paid off nicely for him. In 2007 he was making enough money (by then expanding into other lines of apparel) to move out of his parents house. He bought a “big old Victorian house” just down the street from his childhood home.
And in 2008, Johnny Cupcakes had revenue of $3.8 million.*
But just calling Johnny Cupcakes another “clothing company” doesn’t do the brand justice. Johnny’s really crafted an experience by focusing on design, innovation, and making it social at a grassroots level.
You can learn more about JC here.
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*Source: Inc.com article
