Students lined up in feeding frenzy fashion outside the Full Sail Live auditorium to listen to Johnny Cupcakes. He’s not a dessert chef, but rather a clothing entrepreneur and self-made millionaire.
Johnny Cupcakes (real name Johnny Earle) spoke to Full Sail University’s campus on Thursday, March 18, as part of his university lecture series across the country. More than 450 Full Sail students came to feast their eyes and ears on Johnny’s engaging discussion about how he “turned a single idea into a multi-million dollar business.”
Voted America's #1 Young Entrepreneur of 2008 by BusinessWeek magazine, Johnny has taken the time and effort to bake his personal brand and clothing line into something distinctive. His recipe for success includes “not selling out and just sticking to my guns; having fun and just keeping everything very personal and focusing on all the little things that big companies cut corners and pass.”
Throughout the lecture at Full Sail, Johnny emphasized the importance of branding, word of mouth advertising, constantly reinvesting back in your business, and utilizing the online store as the backbone of a company. He shared personal advice and stories, and provided specific business resources that helped his company flourish.
The whole idea behind making t-shirts was inspired by the nickname “Johnny Cupcakes” that was given to him by his co-workers at a music store. As a joke, he printed a shirt with his now-signature cupcake sitting on top of crossbones. Once people saw him wearing it around, they were asking Johnny about how to get their hands on his designs. This sparked his new career path.
“Guys thought [the shirts] were funny, and girls thought they were cute. One would tell ten, and ten would tell 100. Word of mouth spreads like peanut butter,” Johnny said.
Johnny doesn’t use advertising or outside investors to propel his business. All shirts are manufactured in the U.S. and are now sold in European stores. He constantly rejects buyout offers from major retail stores because he wants to control the customer’s experience with his brand.
“I’d much rather have a brand with longevity than just another short fad. I want to keep everything personal. Getting to know my customers is very important to me. I would never sell my brand for all the money in the world.”
We all want to be original and have something no one else has. So, I took the risk to turn down all those stores and just do it my way,” he said.
Fads are fleeting, but Johnny Cupcakes has been finding ways to stay fresh on the scene and utilize his creativity. He now owns three stores – two in the Boston area and one in Los Angeles, California – that are all modeled to look like a colorful bakery with his personal cutting-edge flair. His shirts are all limited editions, the merchandise is cleverly packaged in dessert-style boxes, and he places “did you know” facts on the inside of shirts.
“It’s physically impossible for more than a couple hundred people to own the same shirt, because once it’s been gone, it’s gone forever. And that’s part of the reason people camp out at my shops. It’s the reason my brand has longevity – mixed with me being personal and having my friends and family work with the company.”
*Johnny blogged about his visit to Full Sail at his site, and also posted some info about his upcoming return visit to the area. On April 2, Johnny will be hitting the road in his van on a “suitcase tour” around the country. This will give him a chance to connect with online customers and “get back to basics.” One of his stops will be the Bold Hype Gallery in Winter Park on April 9.
