February 18, 2025 • 19 mins
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Christian Johnson and Northland High School student Caden Gadjigo share how they turned their passions into thriving entrepreneurial ventures. Christian reveals her evolution from crafting greeting cards to becoming a business co-founder of ABC Black Iconic Figures, driven by a thirst for autonomy and a deep commitment to education. Meanwhile, Columbus Northland high school senior Caden shares how a simple sketch set him on a journey to fashion entrepreneurship and creation of his Creatively Guided Attire clothing brand . Together, they offer a wealth of insight and inspiration for anyone on a similar entrepreneurial quest.
In this engaging episode, we also discover how Christian's initiative, ABC Black Iconic Figures, born from the challenges of 2020, aims to empower black and brown students through representation and diverse role models. We explore the vital role of business connections and mentorship in shaping careers, as Christian and Caden recount their experiences with organizations like MBK and Columbus Fashion Alliance. Through their stories, listeners will find valuable lessons on the importance of authenticity, hard work, and perseverance in building a lasting legacy in the creative design world.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Be A Baller where we're building a
lifelong legacy for our families, communities and the world.
Your host, coach Tim Brown, isexcited for you to join him on
this journey.
On each episode, we'll betalking about how to be
intentional about building alasting legacy.
We'll be exploring what itmeans to leave a mark that goes
(00:22):
beyond just our lives but has apositive impact on those around
us and even generations to come.
So if you're looking forinspiration, guidance and
practical tips on how to build alasting legacy that makes a
difference, then you're in theright place.
So grab your earbuds, getcomfortable and let's dive in.
It's time to be a baller.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
We are live from the Be A Baller Ballers Edge event.
All right, I like that.
Okay, y'all ready?
All right, let's roll, let'sroll, let's roll.
All right, hello everybody, andI am Chris Stevens, and I am
(01:07):
the guest host for the Be aBaller podcast, where we teach
and talk about building alifelong legacy.
I'm live at the Ballers Edgeevent and I have the absolute
honor of interviewing twopowerhouses of both creative
(01:29):
design and entrepreneurship.
Our first guest, our first guesttoday.
I am so excited about doingthis today and I hope they're
excited to do this.
Our first guest ChristianJohnson.
Christian is a project managerand creative designer with
experience in business andlogistics.
She is the co-founder of ABCBlack Iconic Figures.
(01:51):
She, a Christian, possesses astrong background in education
projects for women, girls andmarginalized and
underrepresented communitiesaround Columbus.
(02:12):
She is also the CEO and founderof C Noel Designs and business
manager for Broken English 101.
Please give a hand for our firstguest, kristen Johnson.
Our second guest hails fromNorthland High School.
Caden is a creative, a graphicdesigner, a scholar, as well as
(02:37):
a myriad of other titles.
He has interned at variouscompanies, including NBBJ,
columbus Fashion Alliance andWarhol on White Wall Street,
acquiring skills such aspersonal branding, architectural
principles and trend andanalytic research.
Man Music.
Again, just a reminder he is acurrent and soon-to-be graduate
(03:01):
of the Northland High School,where he is a part of the STEM
club.
There's a few other things he'sdoing, so much, he's so busy,
and he also attends ColumbusState and Fort Hayes Career
Center.
He's also a proud member of theNational Honor Society and
Technical Honor Society, andhere's a thing we should really
(03:22):
celebrate he's been on honorroll all four years, all four
years.
Give it up everybody for kateand gejigo.
How you folks doing today.
Everybody.
Good, hopefully those mics areon and not muted.
Team here, switch me.
I got you.
Yeah, I got you.
I'll do that one.
Thank you alright.
(03:43):
So I'm so glad you guys arehere.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Happy to be here happy to be on stage.
You're a celebrity out here,apparently let me find out.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
There's a few vikings in the room.
I hear y'all over there, okayalright.
Um, first question for this isfor both of you.
This is for both of you becauseyou both are in both creative
design and you both areentrepreneurs as well.
Um, the first question I wantto give give to both of you, or
want to ask you, is tell yourstory about how you got into
creative design andentrepreneurship for those who
(04:13):
are like in hopes to do the samething, sure.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Well, you can go first, Cause my story is super
long.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I have a long story as well, but I'll make it short.
First of all, good afternooneveryone.
I am honored to be here withall of you.
Thank you to Mr Brown for theinvitation.
So my pathway into creativityand entrepreneurship probably
started in high school.
I am far removed from highschool, so it's been many, many
(04:43):
moons ago, but I started makinggreeting cards.
I wanted to be the nexthallmark.
When I was in high school itwas really just a passion of
mine to make greeting cards.
It didn't go anywherewhatsoever, but you got to start
somewhere.
I had family friends justbuying greeting cards from me.
(05:06):
They were terrible looking back, but I did.
That's kind of where it started.
But I always had this passionto create.
Moving forward, I went to schoolfor education, so I got my
teaching degree.
Then I decided that I didn'twant to be a teacher for the
rest of my life because no?
And then so, once I decidedthat I didn't want to be in the
(05:28):
educational space anymore, Istill had the passion to educate
.
So I went back to college andgot my master's degree in
business administration, andthat's where my passion for
entrepreneurship lied.
I realized that I was notdesigned to work a nine to five.
But I did not know what thatlooked like.
My passions lied in variousdifferent areas, from event
(05:49):
planning to mentoring to justbeing in the space where I could
curate an exciting environmentfor the folks who decided to
share space with me.
And when I realized that I nolonger wanted to work for the
man, if you will, I said let megive this business thing a try.
You know, I just I knew nothingabout owning a business.
(06:11):
No one in my family owned abusiness.
I didn't have mentors that wereable to educate me on learning
business.
It just sounded cool.
And I'll stop there to say Ihave learned a lot about earning
owning a business just by trialand error.
I'm sure there'll be morequestions after that.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
I'd love to hear that .
Well, I started my businessmainly, like I would say, about
freshman year of high school.
I was in in English class andwe were doing everything but
English work.
I was sketching in my notebooklike a character in my like
sketchbook.
(06:49):
It was about like it's mymascot now, essentially.
And my friend was like, well,why don't you put that like on a
shirt and start like a wholelike brand off of that?
And he was joking at the time.
But I was like, why not?
Like I was interested infashion already so I was like,
let me start a brand.
So the same day we ended upgetting like it was like me, a
couple of my friends we cameinto the library at lunch and we
started like having a meetingabout like what this brand
(07:13):
should be and everything, whatthe name is.
So just from likeconceptualizing, getting
together.
And then I learned from thatthat I just don't really like
doing the design process mainlywith like a group of people.
There's just too many cooks inthe kitchen.
Not that that's a bad thing oranything, but it's just not how
I like to do it.
So I just kept working on it bymyself for just about a couple
(07:33):
of years and then, moving overto like my junior year, I got
introduced to the graphic designprogram at Fort Hayes and my
teacher was a I think he waslike a retired, like millionaire
with his business, essentially.
So he was telling us about likeall these things that we can do
, so that just like shot up inme.
So I applied, got in there andthen I just started working on
(07:54):
my brand from there, startcoming up with the values and
everything.
I noticed like growing up that Inever really had like that
community around being acreative.
So I realized like what if Imade that my brand's mission to
be able to provide likecreatives that are also in my
shoes, that have all these greatideas but don't have like that
community of people that canthey can come workshop with or
(08:16):
like even just be able to justlike talk to about their work on
like an artistic standpoint.
So that's why I started my coldclothing brand and everything
and, moving from that, I've donea lot of great work with my
brand.
My brand has hit about one yearin the making right now.
So we're doing about threepop-up shops, a couple fashion
(08:36):
shows I've been.
I've also been to a coupleconventions and spoke about it
as well, and currently we'redoing a Valentine's drop on
February 7th as well.
It's the sweater I got on rightnow Just got done with the photo
shoot, but it's just been a lotHappened to juggle
entrepreneurism, college schoolsports Not sports, but like club
(09:01):
stuff as well.
So, yeah, it's been a journey,honestly, but I'm very grateful
to be here and I'm grateful thatyou all came here to come
support our vision and everybodywho's been out here.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
This question is also for both of you, because we all
have something that reallyignites us to to do, um, whether
it's to play a sport, whetherit's to create a song, whether
it's to draw a picture, what isthat one thing that ignites your
passion for entrepreneurship?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
well, I do know mine.
Um, what ignites my like drivefor entrepreneurship is just to
be that change for the nextgeneration.
I always try to think of thingslike five, ten years ahead and
think how I can make an impacton the next group of people who
want to do what I'm doing.
So I want to be thatinspiration that I had when I
(09:56):
saw other people doing clothing,brand spaces and doing
entrepreneurism.
I want to be that change.
That's what gets me up everymorning.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
My drive for entrepreneurship is very basic.
I'm not even going to hold you.
I have a lot of passions inlife and maybe we'll get to
talking about that, but,honestly, my drive to be an
entrepreneur is because I don'tlike people telling me what to
do.
I'm being very honest.
I don't like someone to tell methat I have to be somewhere by
(10:34):
a certain time to do this thing.
I can only make this amount ofmoney.
I don't.
I don't like that.
So and that's just how I'mhardwired.
I don't believe everyone isbuilt to be an entrepreneur,
because I need people to workfor me, um, but me personally, I
don't.
I don't like people telling mewhat to do so entrepreneurship
is what drives me.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I definitely understand that Absolutely
Christian.
This question is for you.
I want you to talk just brieflyabout ABC Black Iconic Figures.
How did it come to be and howhas it been an impact?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Yeah, so I love our story.
So, really quickly, just aquick show of hands.
I do have a teacher background,so I'm gonna try and reel that
in for.
But just honestly, if you willentertain me for just a moment,
with all of you being highschoolers, if you think back
from kindergarten to where youare now, just by a show of hands
(11:32):
, besides our greats right,besides our martin luther kings,
besides our rosa parks, besidesour possibly mal right, besides
our Martin Luther Kings,besides our Rosa Parks, besides
our possibly Malcolm X, how manyof you all can honestly say
there's been a great deal or anequal amount of representation
of black people in youreducational experience?
Okay, look around.
(11:53):
This is why I do what I do,right?
So, essentially, my co-founderand I, delana Green she is my
best friend.
We've known each other since wewere nine.
She essentially was.
She decided.
We both graduated with ourteaching degree.
She kept going.
I did not.
But she realized in 2020, whenthe world shut down, and most
(12:16):
specifically at the time she wasworking for Columbus City
Schools she realized that therewas a lack of resources, most
specifically for black and brownstudents.
So not only was there the lackof internet access, because
everything went virtual, butthere was nothing that was tying
them to or holding themaccountable, or even
entertaining enough for them tocontinue to want to learn while
(12:40):
they weren't in school.
So she said I have to createsomething for my babies, right,
like I want to create somethingfor black and brown students.
What happened was she decidedto create something that did not
look like anything close towhat we have now, but the
essence was we want to make surethat, as our students are
learning to read and write, theyhave something that looks like
(13:01):
them and inspires them to bewhatever they want to be.
So, 2020, black Iconic Figureswas birth.
Right 2020, 2021, we startedgetting with an illustrator
friend of ours who does all ofour illustrations.
She came to me at that pointand says Christian, I know that
you've created many things.
Can you make this happen?
2022, abc, black Iconic Figureswas birthed.
(13:22):
We got our first line ofproducts in 2023.
And last year was the firstyear we were in full production.
But what drives us is the factthat we want black and brown
students to know, from two yearsold two to three years old that
you can literally be anythingthat you want to be, but it has
(13:45):
to first start with beingexposed to people who look like
you to understand that you havethe ability to do what you want
to be.
Do what you want to do and dowhat you want to be.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Do what you want to do and be what you want to be.
All right, Caden Caden, thisnext question is for you.
How did you get connected withcompanies and organizations like
MBBJ and Columbus FashionAlliance?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
And how has that experience propelled you into
what you're striving to becomeor what you're doing now with
your business?
Now, well, with MBBJ.
I got partnered with MBBJbecause I was working with ACE
Mentorship Program through mySTEM club and they didn't have
an internship for me that waslined up, so my STEM advisor had
to pull a couple strings to seeif I can get an internship for
the summer.
And I actually got connectedwith the project manager.
Her name is Monica Wengler andshe was mainly just showing me
(14:39):
around about, like, all the insand outs of architecture, from
design landscaping.
Like there's a lot of thingsthat you that actually go into
making a building that I didn'teven know.
Like, for instance, there's awhole team that just does like
the greenery and everything.
Like I didn't even know thatwhen it comes to buildings and
everything.
But with that that's how I gotconnected.
And then, with Columbus FashionAlliance, I went to a job fair.
(15:01):
My um, like freshman year, itwas freshman year and they, they
were there and they weretelling me about like oh, you
can start your home brand andyou can learn how the ins and
outs of creating your ownfashion brand, which I was
already interested in.
So I was like, okay, I'm gonnasign up for it.
And I just got connectedthrough there and we started a,
did a brand called it's calledCentral Ave, and we did a pop-up
(15:24):
show and gave up all of ourpieces to the community, to
people in need for that don'thave clothing and students that
are going back to school withthat there's still some people
that actually come around andwear it as well and how it's
basically helped my brand.
Now, at least with MBBJ, itshowed me that I don't want to
be in that like corporate space,like I enjoy like being in the
(15:45):
like professional space.
But I just realized I don'treally like the nine to five
aspect of it, like how you weresaying, like having someone tell
you what to do.
So I just learned from that.
Like that that's not really forme.
And then with Columbus FashionAlliance, I'd say that they gave
me the foundation of buildingmy brand, because my brand at
when I came, before I came toCFA, was more of an idea, but
(16:05):
with them being able to teach usabout like store storytelling,
marketing, production, design,even visual merchandising, which
I didn't even know went intocreating a brand.
But it's one of the key pillarsof of like how, why our stores
look like this now, like whenyou walk into hollister, like it
has like a certain vibecompared to like h&m, like
that's all visual merchandising.
(16:26):
So with that, I would say thatcfa mainly gave me like the
foundation to build my brand upand create something that will
last and not something that willfade away in six months.
That's good.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
This question is for both of you.
What advice were you givenalong your journeys that carry
you on today or that you carryin your heart today?
That's a deep one isn't it?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That's a head scratcher right there.
I would probably say the adviceI got from my teacher his name
is Zachary Traxler.
He told me to always eat thecake before the icing.
Now I know y'all probablythinking, like the cake before
the icing, like both of them isgood.
But what he really means bythat is like do the hard work
before you can accept like thebenefits of it.
Like, for instance, like wakingup and not like scrolling on
(17:19):
your phone or something, andthat lines like just being able
to do the work first and thenjust be able to enjoy the
benefits.
And I've carried thatthroughout like my work ethic a
lot, because there's been a lotof times where I've been like I
don't really feel like doingthis right now, I'll do this
later.
And then, and then I justremember that and I'm like, well
, if I do the hard work now,I'll be able to enjoy the
benefits later.
So I just carry that mainly.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
For me, I'd have to say they're kind of twofold One
is trust the process and two isbe authentic to who you are, no
matter what spaces you're in.
Um, so, trusting the process.
Business is hard work.
It looks fun, it looks easy, um, but it's it is hard work.
It is a slow grind.
Um, you do not see immediateresults.
(18:09):
I know that social media makesyou think that it's glamorous
and everyone is just making allof the money the minute they
decide to own a business.
That is far from the truth.
Um, so it is.
It is hard work and you have toensure that this is what you
want to do, day in, day out,long hours, no money, all the
things.
(18:29):
You have to be willing.
You have to be willing to putin the hard work to start seeing
a payoff and then be authenticto yourself.
We are a black brand period.
We tried to teeter the line ofsaying we were for all people
and, yes, absolutely Anybody ofany race can use our products.
But we had to stand 10 toesdown on why we created our brand
(18:51):
, and that was it was originallyfor black students, because
there is a lack of resourcesthat our students specifically
need, and we weren't willing toto negotiate on that.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's good Listen.
Thank you for joining me on thepodcast.
Can we give one more hand forChristian Johnson and Caden
Gajigo?
As always, thank you forjoining the Be A Baller podcast.
Make sure to follow us onInstagram at Be A Baller podcast
.
Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it
with family and friends.
The Be A Baller podcast isavailable on all major podcast
platforms.
This podcast was created byCoach Tim Brown and recorded and
edited by the video productionclass of Worthington Christian
High School.
Be sure to come back next weekas we continue to discuss on how
(19:43):
to build a lifelong legacy.
Until then, don't forget to bea baller.
Welcome to Be A Baller where we're building a
lifelong legacy for our families, communities and the world.
Your host, coach Tim Brown, isexcited for you to join him on
this journey.
On each episode, we'll betalking about how to be
intentional about building alasting legacy.
We'll be exploring what itmeans to leave a mark that goes
(00:22):
beyond just our lives but has apositive impact on those around
us and even generations to come.
So if you're looking forinspiration, guidance and
practical tips on how to build alasting legacy that makes a
difference, then you're in theright place.
So grab your earbuds, getcomfortable and let's dive in.
It's time to be a baller.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
We are live from the Be A Baller Ballers Edge event.
All right, I like that.
Okay, y'all ready?
All right, let's roll, let'sroll, let's roll.
All right, hello everybody, andI am Chris Stevens, and I am
(01:07):
the guest host for the Be aBaller podcast, where we teach
and talk about building alifelong legacy.
I'm live at the Ballers Edgeevent and I have the absolute
honor of interviewing twopowerhouses of both creative
(01:29):
design and entrepreneurship.
Our first guest, our first guesttoday.
I am so excited about doingthis today and I hope they're
excited to do this.
Our first guest ChristianJohnson.
Christian is a project managerand creative designer with
experience in business andlogistics.
She is the co-founder of ABCBlack Iconic Figures.
(01:51):
She, a Christian, possesses astrong background in education
projects for women, girls andmarginalized and
underrepresented communitiesaround Columbus.
(02:12):
She is also the CEO and founderof C Noel Designs and business
manager for Broken English 101.
Please give a hand for our firstguest, kristen Johnson.
Our second guest hails fromNorthland High School.
Caden is a creative, a graphicdesigner, a scholar, as well as
(02:37):
a myriad of other titles.
He has interned at variouscompanies, including NBBJ,
columbus Fashion Alliance andWarhol on White Wall Street,
acquiring skills such aspersonal branding, architectural
principles and trend andanalytic research.
Man Music.
Again, just a reminder he is acurrent and soon-to-be graduate
(03:01):
of the Northland High School,where he is a part of the STEM
club.
There's a few other things he'sdoing, so much, he's so busy,
and he also attends ColumbusState and Fort Hayes Career
Center.
He's also a proud member of theNational Honor Society and
Technical Honor Society, andhere's a thing we should really
(03:22):
celebrate he's been on honorroll all four years, all four
years.
Give it up everybody for kateand gejigo.
How you folks doing today.
Everybody.
Good, hopefully those mics areon and not muted.
Team here, switch me.
I got you.
Yeah, I got you.
I'll do that one.
Thank you alright.
(03:43):
So I'm so glad you guys arehere.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
Happy to be here happy to be on stage.
You're a celebrity out here,apparently let me find out.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
There's a few vikings in the room.
I hear y'all over there, okayalright.
Um, first question for this isfor both of you.
This is for both of you becauseyou both are in both creative
design and you both areentrepreneurs as well.
Um, the first question I wantto give give to both of you, or
want to ask you, is tell yourstory about how you got into
creative design andentrepreneurship for those who
(04:13):
are like in hopes to do the samething, sure.
Speaker 4 (04:17):
Well, you can go first, Cause my story is super
long.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
I have a long story as well, but I'll make it short.
First of all, good afternooneveryone.
I am honored to be here withall of you.
Thank you to Mr Brown for theinvitation.
So my pathway into creativityand entrepreneurship probably
started in high school.
I am far removed from highschool, so it's been many, many
(04:43):
moons ago, but I started makinggreeting cards.
I wanted to be the nexthallmark.
When I was in high school itwas really just a passion of
mine to make greeting cards.
It didn't go anywherewhatsoever, but you got to start
somewhere.
I had family friends justbuying greeting cards from me.
(05:06):
They were terrible looking back, but I did.
That's kind of where it started.
But I always had this passionto create.
Moving forward, I went to schoolfor education, so I got my
teaching degree.
Then I decided that I didn'twant to be a teacher for the
rest of my life because no?
And then so, once I decidedthat I didn't want to be in the
(05:28):
educational space anymore, Istill had the passion to educate
.
So I went back to college andgot my master's degree in
business administration, andthat's where my passion for
entrepreneurship lied.
I realized that I was notdesigned to work a nine to five.
But I did not know what thatlooked like.
My passions lied in variousdifferent areas, from event
(05:49):
planning to mentoring to justbeing in the space where I could
curate an exciting environmentfor the folks who decided to
share space with me.
And when I realized that I nolonger wanted to work for the
man, if you will, I said let megive this business thing a try.
You know, I just I knew nothingabout owning a business.
(06:11):
No one in my family owned abusiness.
I didn't have mentors that wereable to educate me on learning
business.
It just sounded cool.
And I'll stop there to say Ihave learned a lot about earning
owning a business just by trialand error.
I'm sure there'll be morequestions after that.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
I'd love to hear that .
Well, I started my businessmainly, like I would say, about
freshman year of high school.
I was in in English class andwe were doing everything but
English work.
I was sketching in my notebooklike a character in my like
sketchbook.
(06:49):
It was about like it's mymascot now, essentially.
And my friend was like, well,why don't you put that like on a
shirt and start like a wholelike brand off of that?
And he was joking at the time.
But I was like, why not?
Like I was interested infashion already so I was like,
let me start a brand.
So the same day we ended upgetting like it was like me, a
couple of my friends we cameinto the library at lunch and we
started like having a meetingabout like what this brand
(07:13):
should be and everything, whatthe name is.
So just from likeconceptualizing, getting
together.
And then I learned from thatthat I just don't really like
doing the design process mainlywith like a group of people.
There's just too many cooks inthe kitchen.
Not that that's a bad thing oranything, but it's just not how
I like to do it.
So I just kept working on it bymyself for just about a couple
(07:33):
of years and then, moving overto like my junior year, I got
introduced to the graphic designprogram at Fort Hayes and my
teacher was a I think he waslike a retired, like millionaire
with his business, essentially.
So he was telling us about likeall these things that we can do
, so that just like shot up inme.
So I applied, got in there andthen I just started working on
(07:54):
my brand from there, startcoming up with the values and
everything.
I noticed like growing up that Inever really had like that
community around being acreative.
So I realized like what if Imade that my brand's mission to
be able to provide likecreatives that are also in my
shoes, that have all these greatideas but don't have like that
community of people that canthey can come workshop with or
(08:16):
like even just be able to justlike talk to about their work on
like an artistic standpoint.
So that's why I started my coldclothing brand and everything
and, moving from that, I've donea lot of great work with my
brand.
My brand has hit about one yearin the making right now.
So we're doing about threepop-up shops, a couple fashion
(08:36):
shows I've been.
I've also been to a coupleconventions and spoke about it
as well, and currently we'redoing a Valentine's drop on
February 7th as well.
It's the sweater I got on rightnow Just got done with the photo
shoot, but it's just been a lotHappened to juggle
entrepreneurism, college schoolsports Not sports, but like club
(09:01):
stuff as well.
So, yeah, it's been a journey,honestly, but I'm very grateful
to be here and I'm grateful thatyou all came here to come
support our vision and everybodywho's been out here.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
This question is also for both of you, because we all
have something that reallyignites us to to do, um, whether
it's to play a sport, whetherit's to create a song, whether
it's to draw a picture, what isthat one thing that ignites your
passion for entrepreneurship?
Speaker 4 (09:35):
well, I do know mine.
Um, what ignites my like drivefor entrepreneurship is just to
be that change for the nextgeneration.
I always try to think of thingslike five, ten years ahead and
think how I can make an impacton the next group of people who
want to do what I'm doing.
So I want to be thatinspiration that I had when I
(09:56):
saw other people doing clothing,brand spaces and doing
entrepreneurism.
I want to be that change.
That's what gets me up everymorning.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
My drive for entrepreneurship is very basic.
I'm not even going to hold you.
I have a lot of passions inlife and maybe we'll get to
talking about that, but,honestly, my drive to be an
entrepreneur is because I don'tlike people telling me what to
do.
I'm being very honest.
I don't like someone to tell methat I have to be somewhere by
(10:34):
a certain time to do this thing.
I can only make this amount ofmoney.
I don't.
I don't like that.
So and that's just how I'mhardwired.
I don't believe everyone isbuilt to be an entrepreneur,
because I need people to workfor me, um, but me personally, I
don't.
I don't like people telling mewhat to do so entrepreneurship
is what drives me.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I definitely understand that Absolutely
Christian.
This question is for you.
I want you to talk just brieflyabout ABC Black Iconic Figures.
How did it come to be and howhas it been an impact?
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Yeah, so I love our story.
So, really quickly, just aquick show of hands.
I do have a teacher background,so I'm gonna try and reel that
in for.
But just honestly, if you willentertain me for just a moment,
with all of you being highschoolers, if you think back
from kindergarten to where youare now, just by a show of hands
(11:32):
, besides our greats right,besides our martin luther kings,
besides our rosa parks, besidesour possibly mal right, besides
our Martin Luther Kings,besides our Rosa Parks, besides
our possibly Malcolm X, how manyof you all can honestly say
there's been a great deal or anequal amount of representation
of black people in youreducational experience?
Okay, look around.
(11:53):
This is why I do what I do,right?
So, essentially, my co-founderand I, delana Green she is my
best friend.
We've known each other since wewere nine.
She essentially was.
She decided.
We both graduated with ourteaching degree.
She kept going.
I did not.
But she realized in 2020, whenthe world shut down, and most
(12:16):
specifically at the time she wasworking for Columbus City
Schools she realized that therewas a lack of resources, most
specifically for black and brownstudents.
So not only was there the lackof internet access, because
everything went virtual, butthere was nothing that was tying
them to or holding themaccountable, or even
entertaining enough for them tocontinue to want to learn while
(12:40):
they weren't in school.
So she said I have to createsomething for my babies, right,
like I want to create somethingfor black and brown students.
What happened was she decidedto create something that did not
look like anything close towhat we have now, but the
essence was we want to make surethat, as our students are
learning to read and write, theyhave something that looks like
(13:01):
them and inspires them to bewhatever they want to be.
So, 2020, black Iconic Figureswas birth.
Right 2020, 2021, we startedgetting with an illustrator
friend of ours who does all ofour illustrations.
She came to me at that pointand says Christian, I know that
you've created many things.
Can you make this happen?
2022, abc, black Iconic Figureswas birthed.
(13:22):
We got our first line ofproducts in 2023.
And last year was the firstyear we were in full production.
But what drives us is the factthat we want black and brown
students to know, from two yearsold two to three years old that
you can literally be anythingthat you want to be, but it has
(13:45):
to first start with beingexposed to people who look like
you to understand that you havethe ability to do what you want
to be.
Do what you want to do and dowhat you want to be.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Do what you want to do and be what you want to be.
All right, Caden Caden, thisnext question is for you.
How did you get connected withcompanies and organizations like
MBBJ and Columbus FashionAlliance?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
And how has that experience propelled you into
what you're striving to becomeor what you're doing now with
your business?
Now, well, with MBBJ.
I got partnered with MBBJbecause I was working with ACE
Mentorship Program through mySTEM club and they didn't have
an internship for me that waslined up, so my STEM advisor had
to pull a couple strings to seeif I can get an internship for
the summer.
And I actually got connectedwith the project manager.
Her name is Monica Wengler andshe was mainly just showing me
(14:39):
around about, like, all the insand outs of architecture, from
design landscaping.
Like there's a lot of thingsthat you that actually go into
making a building that I didn'teven know.
Like, for instance, there's awhole team that just does like
the greenery and everything.
Like I didn't even know thatwhen it comes to buildings and
everything.
But with that that's how I gotconnected.
And then, with Columbus FashionAlliance, I went to a job fair.
(15:01):
My um, like freshman year, itwas freshman year and they, they
were there and they weretelling me about like oh, you
can start your home brand andyou can learn how the ins and
outs of creating your ownfashion brand, which I was
already interested in.
So I was like, okay, I'm gonnasign up for it.
And I just got connectedthrough there and we started a,
did a brand called it's calledCentral Ave, and we did a pop-up
(15:24):
show and gave up all of ourpieces to the community, to
people in need for that don'thave clothing and students that
are going back to school withthat there's still some people
that actually come around andwear it as well and how it's
basically helped my brand.
Now, at least with MBBJ, itshowed me that I don't want to
be in that like corporate space,like I enjoy like being in the
(15:45):
like professional space.
But I just realized I don'treally like the nine to five
aspect of it, like how you weresaying, like having someone tell
you what to do.
So I just learned from that.
Like that that's not really forme.
And then with Columbus FashionAlliance, I'd say that they gave
me the foundation of buildingmy brand, because my brand at
when I came, before I came toCFA, was more of an idea, but
(16:05):
with them being able to teach usabout like store storytelling,
marketing, production, design,even visual merchandising, which
I didn't even know went intocreating a brand.
But it's one of the key pillarsof of like how, why our stores
look like this now, like whenyou walk into hollister, like it
has like a certain vibecompared to like h&m, like
that's all visual merchandising.
(16:26):
So with that, I would say thatcfa mainly gave me like the
foundation to build my brand upand create something that will
last and not something that willfade away in six months.
That's good.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
This question is for both of you.
What advice were you givenalong your journeys that carry
you on today or that you carryin your heart today?
That's a deep one isn't it?
Speaker 4 (16:56):
That's a head scratcher right there.
I would probably say the adviceI got from my teacher his name
is Zachary Traxler.
He told me to always eat thecake before the icing.
Now I know y'all probablythinking, like the cake before
the icing, like both of them isgood.
But what he really means bythat is like do the hard work
before you can accept like thebenefits of it.
Like, for instance, like wakingup and not like scrolling on
(17:19):
your phone or something, andthat lines like just being able
to do the work first and thenjust be able to enjoy the
benefits.
And I've carried thatthroughout like my work ethic a
lot, because there's been a lotof times where I've been like I
don't really feel like doingthis right now, I'll do this
later.
And then, and then I justremember that and I'm like, well
, if I do the hard work now,I'll be able to enjoy the
benefits later.
So I just carry that mainly.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
For me, I'd have to say they're kind of twofold One
is trust the process and two isbe authentic to who you are, no
matter what spaces you're in.
Um, so, trusting the process.
Business is hard work.
It looks fun, it looks easy, um, but it's it is hard work.
It is a slow grind.
Um, you do not see immediateresults.
(18:09):
I know that social media makesyou think that it's glamorous
and everyone is just making allof the money the minute they
decide to own a business.
That is far from the truth.
Um, so it is.
It is hard work and you have toensure that this is what you
want to do, day in, day out,long hours, no money, all the
things.
(18:29):
You have to be willing.
You have to be willing to putin the hard work to start seeing
a payoff and then be authenticto yourself.
We are a black brand period.
We tried to teeter the line ofsaying we were for all people
and, yes, absolutely Anybody ofany race can use our products.
But we had to stand 10 toesdown on why we created our brand
(18:51):
, and that was it was originallyfor black students, because
there is a lack of resourcesthat our students specifically
need, and we weren't willing toto negotiate on that.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
It's good Listen.
Thank you for joining me on thepodcast.
Can we give one more hand forChristian Johnson and Caden
Gajigo?
As always, thank you forjoining the Be A Baller podcast.
Make sure to follow us onInstagram at Be A Baller podcast
.
Thanks for joining us today.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
If you've enjoyed this episode, please share it
with family and friends.
The Be A Baller podcast isavailable on all major podcast
platforms.
This podcast was created byCoach Tim Brown and recorded and
edited by the video productionclass of Worthington Christian
High School.
Be sure to come back next weekas we continue to discuss on how
(19:43):
to build a lifelong legacy.
Until then, don't forget to bea baller.
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