March 24, 2024 • 36 mins
When you meet Mark and John Cronin, it's impossible not to be swept up by their infectious enthusiasm and love for what they do. Their business, John's Crazy Socks, isn't just a success story; it's a beacon of joy and a testament to the power of inclusivity. In our heartwarming exchange, we traverse the remarkable path they've taken to build the world's largest sock store, where happiness is packaged with every pair and diversity is celebrated and integral to their operation. Their advocacy work, which includes addressing Congress and the United Nations, is as captivating as their entrepreneurial spirit.
Takeaways
- Entrepreneurship can provide individuals with different abilities the opportunity to create their own meaningful careers.
- A mission-driven business that focuses on spreading happiness and making a positive impact can attract customers and create a loyal following.
- Creating a positive workplace culture that values and supports employees leads to a more engaged and productive workforce.
- Advocacy and speaking engagements can help raise awareness and promote the rights of individuals with disabilities.
These are our friends. These are your friends AND they are living the extraordinary.
For a transcript of this episode, go to www.behindthedreamers.com.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jennifer (00:26):
Welcome to another episode of Behind the Dreamers.
I'm your host, JenniferLoehding, and we are talking to
the achievers, the creators, themagic makers and the dreamers.
These are our friends, theseare your friends and they are
living the extraordinary Well.
I am so excited about my guesttoday.
This is going to be so much fun.
I have been waiting to chatwith them since the first time I
met them.
(00:46):
I love what they're doing.
I love their story, theirmission, all of it.
They are a father-son team thatcreated a social enterprise
with a mission to spreadhappiness makes my heart happy
hearing this.
They bootstrapped theirbusiness into the world's
largest sock store, withmulti-million dollar revenues,
and they've been named EI'sEntrepreneur of the Year.
(01:08):
I think what I love about thisstory even more is what they're
doing, but one of theentrepreneurs in this journey is
a 27-year-old entrepreneur withDown syndrome.
I love their mission.
I love what they're doing.
We're going to welcome them onin just a minute, but we got to
do a quick shout-out to oursponsor.
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your content shine All right.
So now that we've done that,I'm so excited to get them here.
John and Mark Cronin are thecreators of John's Crazy Socks.
Together, they are showing whatpeople with differing abilities
(02:15):
can do, because more than halfof their colleagues have a
differing ability, which I thinkis so amazing what they're
doing.
They're fierce advocates forinclusion, having testified
twice before the US Congress andspoken at the United Nations.
They're sought after keynotespeakers and they've recorded
two TEDx talks and are frequentguests on network television.
They say they create a uniquecustomer experience and develop
(02:38):
a workplace culture that leadsto an engaged workforce and,
additionally, they show theirgratitude through their Giving
Back program, which has raisednow over 650,000 for charity
partners.
So, Mark and John, welcome toBehind the Dreamers.
I'm so excited to have you bothhere today.
John (02:55):
Thank you very much.
I'm really pleased to hearThank you.
Mark (02:58):
We are excited to be here.
Thank you for having us on,though.
Jennifer (03:07):
John has been aging, so he's now 28.
Mark (03:11):
Well, happy birthday, john .
Jennifer (03:12):
We messed that up, didn't?
Mark (03:13):
we Thank you very much, but you are a dreamer.
John (03:19):
I am dreaming how I can be .
You're living the dream.
Jennifer (03:26):
I'm so excited and unfortunately, yes, that age
thing does catch us every time.
It doesn't wait on us, does it?
We wake up and it's a new yearEvery time I turn around, I feel
at least.
Mark (03:36):
Well, it's better than the alternative of not having
birthdays.
Jennifer (03:39):
I agree, I agree.
All right, so let's talk aboutthis, because you guys are
dreamers and that's what thisshow is about and we have so
much to talk about.
But I want to start off.
Tell us a little bit aboutJohn's Crazy Socks.
Tell us how this came about foryou both.
Mark (03:54):
Well, we'll tell the story .
Yeah, dad, go back to the fallof 2016.
And our story starts in a smalllog cabin in the woods.
No, no, it starts on suburbanLong Island, outside New York
City, in a town calledHuntington.
(04:15):
And where were you?
John (04:17):
I was at a hunting house.
It could be my last school.
Mark (04:22):
So you mentioned that John has Down syndrome.
Yes, I am.
If you have a disability, youcan say in the school system
until you are the graduate orturn 21.
And then you go over what'sknown as the 21 year old cliff,
because when you're in school,everything is right there in
(04:44):
front of you All your classes,therapies.
For many, that's where they gettheir food, it's daycare, but
once you're done, you're on yourown.
So John was getting ready toleave school, yes, and you were
trying to figure out, likeeverybody else, what comes next,
what were you looking at?
John (05:03):
I looked at jobs programs school.
I can't find programs that Idon't like.
Mark (05:10):
Didn't find anything that I liked.
And this, jennifer, is anunfortunate reality.
Yeah, that you're startingenough opportunities for people
with different abilities, butJohn, here he's a natural
entrepreneur.
You didn't see a job you wanted.
What did you?
John (05:25):
say?
I said I want a career, I wantto make one.
I told my dad I would gobusiness with him A nice father
and son being together.
Mark (05:34):
I love it.
It's pretty cool.
I've got three boys.
John (05:37):
Yeah, you are.
I'm a lucky man, right, yeah,yeah.
Mark (05:41):
Three boys, and this is one I could work with.
John (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mark (05:46):
So then we had to figure out what were we going to do,
and you have a lot of ideasright you can do how we can tell
that John is thinking hard.
John (05:57):
I smoke in my ears.
Mark (05:58):
Smoke comes out of his ears.
So what was one of your ideas?
John (06:05):
One of it a fun store.
Mark (06:08):
Fun store.
I kept asking him what would wesell in a fun store?
Yeah, he said I don't know.
It would be fun.
What was another idea you had?
John (06:18):
Yes, I thought A food truck, an idea for a movie
called Chef and one of theactors, john Farrow.
It's neat really about fatherand son bonding a food truck.
Mark (06:36):
So you know everybody out there, you've eaten at food
trucks.
Yeah, we really love foodtrucks.
We're thinking what could wemake?
Where would we put the foodtruck?
But we ran into a problem.
We can't cook, yeah, we can'tcook.
So, yes, but then right beforeThanksgiving the US Thanksgiving
(06:57):
in November, john, you had yourweek of moments.
John (07:02):
Yes, I was so crazy socks.
Why socks?
It's fun, it's colorful, it'screative, it always let me be me
.
I want crazy socks my wholelife.
Mark (07:17):
So we figured this, jennifer.
If he loved them that much,surely other people would too.
Yeah, we could find thosepeople, so you already had the
name, I can name it.
John (07:27):
I told him I'm sorry, can I use?
Mark (07:30):
We went the lean startup route.
We said let's just getsomething up and going, let's
take action.
So we built a website, got alittle bit of inventory.
The only marketing we did wasto set up a Facebook page and I
would take out my cell phone andwe made videos.
And who do you think was inthose videos?
John (07:50):
I am.
I talk about socks, Socks,socks and more socks.
I love it.
Mark (07:56):
But we noticed people started sharing those videos.
Yes, and we opened inmid-December not knowing what to
expect, and on the very firstday we got a flood of orders.
We got 42 orders Wow, but mostof them were local.
We lived in Huntington.
He's in high school.
(08:17):
We had temporary office spacethere, so we decided to do home
deliveries.
We got red boxes, put the socksin the box and what did you add
to that?
John (08:29):
A second note for me and candy.
A thank you note and candy.
Mark (08:33):
Oh, Loaded up, the car drove around and you knocked on
door's delivering socks.
Yes, I did.
How did customers?
John (08:41):
respond.
They loved the socks.
I took a picture with me, acustomer and the box of socks
and shared on the street overhere.
We had a good experience.
Mark (08:54):
We had customers ordering again, just to get John to come
back to their door.
Jennifer (08:58):
To get him to come to the door.
Love it.
Mark (09:00):
And there were some funny moments right.
Just the two of us doing allthis.
So it's after 10 o'clock atnight and John's not going on
doors.
Just John with your socks,Excuse me.
Jennifer (09:14):
I'm just bringing the socks.
Oh my God.
Mark (09:17):
So by the end of that month really two weeks we had
shipped 452 orders Wow, and weknew we had something.
Yeah, we didn't know how fastit would grow, we didn't know
how big it would grow, but weknew we could grow a business.
Today, how many socks do wehave?
John (09:35):
We have 4,000 different kinds of socks.
Mark (09:40):
That means John owns the world's largest socks store.
Jennifer (09:43):
Yeah, they are Wow Wow .
Mark (09:45):
We've been able to create 34 jobs.
22 are held by people withdifferent abilities.
We've shipped 450,000 packagesto 88 different countries and
we're now over $700,000 in themoney raised for our charity
partners.
John (10:03):
And you like to say I just say sickest diet Just gets
sickest yes.
Jennifer (10:09):
I love it.
This is such a good, warm,fuzzy story.
I love it.
These are the stories I love.
I think this is so amazing and,you know, that's what I think
makes the world go around, orstories like this and I love
what I really.
I love that you guys took thisdream, and John kudos to you for
making your own dream, figuringit out yourself, right, like,
if you can't find a job, youjust create your own job.
(10:30):
That's what it's about.
That's the entrepreneur spirit.
I love it.
And then not only that takingthis company and growing it from
the ground up Grassroots effort, you know and understanding the
value of customer service andthen creating this culture
within your organization.
You know, I love all of thepieces to this story.
Mark (10:51):
We've been very fortunate.
You know, and it's interestingyou talk about you know the
dreamers we remind ourselves andour colleagues all the time.
We get to live a dream, we getto run an organization the way
you would dream about doing, andwe have no excuses.
(11:14):
We can't blame it onheadquarters, we can't blame it
on the board.
It's just us, and if we want todo something we can do it, you
know, and you wind up having anobligation to those dreams.
Jennifer (11:31):
I agree, yeah, good stuff, good business.
So I love to know, john, what'sbeen the best part of this for
you.
What have you loved about this?
What's been what's been mostfun in all this?
John (11:45):
The most fun of this business is that I speak up and
I speak up other people and Itry to find what color can do.
I like having more people withour different abilities.
(12:09):
It's fun about it.
I think it's fun about itbecause I have a job created.
Mark (12:21):
Right, create the jobs that then show in the world,
right, yes, yeah.
Jennifer (12:27):
Well, you created.
When you go back to the story,when you were talking about
create the fun job, you createdthe fun job.
You just had to figure out whatthe fun was going to be and you
guys kind of created that right.
So you brought that wholeelement into what you're doing
now.
Mark (12:41):
Well, people often ask, John, what's the favorite thing
you do on the job?
Jennifer (12:47):
Yeah.
Mark (12:48):
And then he just lists everything he does.
Jennifer (12:51):
Probably I could see that.
Yeah Well, I think this is soawesome, what a great story.
I mean, I think it's hard tostart a business right.
It's always hard to go in thosebeginning grounds and get into
that.
But then once you find it andyou guys found that thing, those
socks I love it.
Mark (13:10):
In many ways, the easiest part is getting started.
Yeah, once you start growing,then in lots of ways it becomes
more challenging and you havemore obligations to more people.
But getting started it's.
You know, our biggest enemy isourselves.
(13:31):
Our biggest problem is betweenour ears.
That's where I'm incrediblyfortunate to have a partner like
John who's just okay, we'll godo this.
There are always folks thatwill look at a situation and
tell you why it's too hard andit can't work, and it's too
(13:56):
expensive and we're not ready.
And then there are those peoplethat roll up their sleeves and
say, okay, what do we do?
Yeah, how do we get this done?
Jennifer (14:06):
And.
Mark (14:06):
I see John being in that person.
I'll give you an anecdote of astory that I think exemplifies
this.
So we go back to January of2017 and we were learning
firsthand nobody buys anythingin January because they spent
all their money at the AlvedasRight and we're trying to figure
(14:26):
out how can we sell socks,which is getting started, and
that's when we learned thatpeople wear crazy socks to
celebrate World Down SyndromeDay.
When's World Down Syndrome Day?
John (14:40):
World Down Syndrome Day is March 21st.
Mark (14:43):
Okay, because you get Down Syndrome by having an extra
21st chromosome.
I've heard the audience thatall of us humans have 23 pairs
of chromosomes.
People with Down Syndrome havean extra have a third 21st
chromosome.
Okay, so the third month, 21stday, is World Down Syndrome Day.
(15:04):
All right, and it turns outpeople wear crazy socks to
celebrate that.
You would have thought we knewthat in advance, but we weren't
that smart, so at that time wewere only selling socks made by
other people.
So we go looking for a DownSyndrome themed sock that we
could sell.
Nobody made one.
(15:24):
But what does my partner say?
Let's make it.
If nobody makes one, what doyou say?
John (15:31):
I said I want to clean one , I want to make one.
Mark (15:34):
And he designed the world's first Down Syndrome
awareness sock because, okay,we'll go do it.
And for John it was so obviousand simple.
And here's the neat thing.
So now we have a whole line ofDown Syndrome themed products,
(15:57):
but this year we made theofficial sock of World Down
Syndrome Day, working with theNational Down Syndrome Society
and Down Syndrome International.
It's a pair of socks designedby a young woman with Down
Syndrome and made a companyowned by a man with Down
(16:18):
Syndrome.
So it's pretty cool and fundsfrom that are going to go to
Down Syndrome International andthe National Down Syndrome
Society.
Jennifer (16:28):
That's a great story, yes, and you know everybody
needs a cheerleader, mark right,and you guys are a great duo
team.
I think that you know, inbusiness, it's great when you
can have you guys have such adynamic force here, because it's
so great when you can have, youknow, the pragmatic and the
dreamer come together to createa business that works, and so I
think it's great that you bothare dreamers, I know, but I
(16:51):
think it's fun when you have agreat motivator back there to
keep you moving.
Mark (16:56):
It is, and you know we we have different approaches, john.
John carries the bail money andkeeps me out of trouble.
John is the one who likes tofollow rules.
John (17:09):
Thank, you father.
Mark (17:12):
Mark's like no rules we we've been fortunate to return
to some of the schools that Johnattended and in fact we're on
advisory board for the techschool and we go back and the
teachers and the principal inparticular, they're also glad to
see John.
Yes, and and then he says to meso, dad, when you were in
(17:35):
school, were the principalshappy to see you?
And I'm like, well, there usedto be this chair outside their
office and it would be okay, mrCrown, and what you do today.
Jennifer (17:53):
They're not quite as happy, john, right, they want to
see you.
I love it.
This is such a good story.
I love it.
So you guys done some TEDxtalks.
You're speaking all over theplace, right?
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Mark (19:09):
Well, part of our mission and John was talking about it we
want to show the world whatpeople with different abilities
can do.
Yes, and that gets mademanifests in everything we do.
So we start with John.
Mm-hmm, you up down syndrome.
John (19:25):
Yeah, I have downed room down.
It's wrong and never put meback.
Mark (19:31):
No, awesome we don't put John in the back.
John (19:34):
I could be in the front.
Mark (19:36):
I'll be a fit at the company it's the face of the
business and then we hire peoplewith different abilities and we
could dive into that if youwant, you know.
But you know, just just know wedon't give out jobs.
Yeah, everybody works.
Hairs earn that job.
If you get to know us, you'llfind that John here is a very
(19:57):
nice guy.
Yeah, yeah, I am not.
If you're gonna work here, yougot to produce.
So, is that?
But that's not enough.
We want the world to see, so wecreate content all the time for
our social media platform.
Okay, you're always makingvideos.
I do you like making thosetiktok videos?
Yeah, I think he's got like 6570,000 followers.
Jennifer (20:21):
I'm good for you.
A million on facebook yeahthat's awesome.
Mark (20:26):
We host tours.
Okay, so we've had more than2000 People come through here on
a tour, mostly High schoolstudents and clients from social
service agencies.
We host work groups.
In fact, right before we camein here, john was welcoming a
work group this afternoon.
Okay, it's group of studentsthat will come once a week spend
(20:49):
an hour or two here.
You just get some experience Ofworking.
But they get to come and seepeople like them who are working
or starting a business, andthat's very important.
It gets to be encouraging.
We take on speaking engagements.
Look at this, jennifer, youhave us on your podcast.
How fortunate are we To tellthe stories, to show don't tell
(21:16):
as to why it's good business tohire people with different
abilities.
Yeah, and yes, we do a lot ofspeaking engagements.
You like that right?
You like to travel?
Yeah, and I think every timeJohn Stands up in front of an
audience, he helps changepeople's minds.
People's minds yeah, and wealso do advocacy work.
(21:36):
Um, we're fortunate, because ofthe business, people will
listen to us.
Yeah, and that creates anobligation to speak up.
So, yes, we're testified twicebefore congress, given the way
things are.
We have to add we were notsubpoenaed, we went willingly.
(22:00):
Hey um, we meet with electedofficials To push on legislation
to advance the rights of peoplewith different abilities.
I mean, I'll give you anexample, another fun story.
We were down on Capitol Hillone day, yeah, and a customer
from Houston called the officeand said you know, my mother
(22:23):
works on Capitol Hill and she'sa big fan of John's.
Do you think she can meet John?
And our colleagues said sure,here's mark cell number.
Have your mother text herinformation.
Well, who was mine?
John (22:39):
Nancy Pelosi.
Mark (22:40):
Nancy Pelosi.
John (22:41):
Oh.
Mark (22:42):
So now we go get to meet with Nancy Pelosi and and we're
in a bad way in this country,yeah, too often If we disagree
with you, we vilify you, we tearyou down, we lose the sense of
humanity.
So I don't care where you arein the political spectrum.
Nancy Pelosi at her art Is an80 year old Italian grandmother.
(23:07):
We go in.
She greets John so warmly andit's so nice and you know how it
is.
You watch how people treat yourchildren.
Yeah, you know, and she takesout pictures of socks that she
had given former president bushbush the elder, because john you
(23:29):
and president bush had become,somewhat famously, sock buddies.
Right, they exchanged lettersand socks, and all this is warm
and wonderful.
But you see, we now have thisopportunity, so then it's.
But, miss Pelosi, we do have totalk to you about repealing
Section 14c of the fair laborstandard act that allows
(23:52):
employers to pay people withtheir disability as little as
five cents an hour.
So we get that opportunity.
We have to speak up about that,gotcha, and you roll all that
together and you get John'scrazy socks yes, absolutely.
Jennifer (24:10):
I love it.
Wow, such a yeah, lee.
Thanks for sharing all of that.
So, yeah, I can see how this iskeeping you busy too, trying to
do all these things and and getthe message out there and the
traveling and keeping up withthe business and well.
Mark (24:26):
Was it two weeks ago, two, three weeks ago?
We're driving to an earlymorning talk.
Yeah, I'm going to speak to abusiness group and john who's
not really a morning person,okay, but but he's sitting in
the car next to me and youlooked over and what do you say?
Do you remember?
Yes, what?
No, not that, not that.
(24:46):
I thought.
If you say that sometimes, yousaid I love being an
entrepreneur, you did you.
Oh, I'm sorry, right, you saidI love being an entrepreneur.
And he looked at, he waslooking at his calendar.
John's very organized.
And you said I have importantthings to do from 8 o'clock this
morning till 9 o'clock tonight.
That's right, how fortunate arewe to?
(25:09):
have things to do that matter I?
John (25:12):
love it, the people, and you love it, right, I do.
Jennifer (25:16):
This is so awesome.
Yeah, so, and I love like youmentioned you we've talked about
this several times this yourculture, that you created within
your company, and I love thatyou said you were not that
John's the nice one when you metand you're not with people that
work there.
So tell us what limit aboutthis culture there?
What's it like working atJohn's crazy socks?
Mark (25:36):
Well, we are a mission-driven organization.
What's our mission?
Sprit happiness, and thatdrives everything we do.
And what do you say?
The keys to happen.
Try to into follows gratitudeto for others, and we built it
on five pillars inspiration andhope it's been and hope.
John (25:58):
Give it back.
Find products you can love,make it personal, make it
complete to us make it a greatplace to work.
Mark (26:06):
So let's take that make it a great place to work.
John (26:09):
Yeah.
Mark (26:10):
We have five kind of pieces to that one.
Or for people, a mission worthyof their commitment, something
bigger than ourselves, yeah,something that matters,
something you can feel proudabout, and it can't just be
we're gonna make money.
Right, and don't get me wrong,we want to make money.
(26:33):
It turns out we like to liveindoors.
You got to pay that rent rightand then to Make sure everybody
knows why his or her job matters.
There is no cog in themachinery.
There is no make-work job.
Everybody's job is important,everybody's contributing to that
(26:58):
mission.
I've had friends who own otherbusinesses a come on mark.
That's a lot of malarkey.
How could everybody's job be?
And I look at them, say, well,if the job's not important, if
it doesn't matter, why are theyon your payroll?
Jennifer (27:12):
Yeah.
Mark (27:14):
Right.
People need to know that.
They need to understand thatconnection.
Three Put people in a positionto succeed.
Don't ask someone to do whatthey can't do.
John does many things, but wedon't ask him to manage our
finances.
Yeah, and Give people thesupport they need so they can do
(27:36):
great work.
All right.
If Kenny, our lead packer,needs a particular chair, why
don't we get him that chair?
Yeah, if Nick, our webmaster,needs a tool for the website,
why don't we get it from it's?
We can't do everything.
We're a small business.
We don't have endless resourcesbut give people what they need
to work for.
(27:59):
Say thank you.
I think we're going to be ableto recognize the work people do.
Don't you like it, jennifer,when someone looks at you and
says you know I was listening atpodcast, you do a great job
getting guests and prepping andasking questions?
We would like to be recognized.
Just, it's part of thatgratitude.
We are fortunate to have thepeople that we you know on our
(28:24):
team to get to work with them.
They're the ones that makeeverything possible.
And then five Stay the hell outof the way.
I like it that people do theirjobs, yeah, right.
So if you do all of thosethings and just if you believe
in that, you'll create aworkplace that people want to be
(28:47):
here and they thrive.
Jennifer (28:49):
Those are good, good lessons.
Thank you for sharing, and youand I agree with all of them.
I do think it's important and Ithink a lot of companies Miss
the mark on that because they'retoo busy micromanaging and
putting people in the wrongplaces.
You know, I love all thosepoints that you brought up.
Do you guys have thoseplastered up on your wall
somewhere?
Just you, just all know them.
Mark (29:09):
We, we, we share those.
We talk about them all the time.
Yeah, you know the spreadinghappiness.
That's the criteria we use todetermine our budgets.
It's allocation of resources,how we're going to approach
things.
The idea of gratitude Is builtinto so much of what we do.
(29:30):
You have to keep repeating it.
You got to keep getting infront of people.
You'll know.
You'll know, you believe.
When you're willing to spendmoney over or give up money over
, you give up revenue.
Jennifer (29:48):
Well, this is such a you know it's interesting.
This is such a um.
I had this conversation withsomebody earlier that I was
talking about and we weretalking about what creates
successful Entrepreneurs as awhole and we were talking about
and you're gonna love, I thinkyou guys are gonna love this,
because we talked about Findingyour talents, finding where
you're good, pairing that withyour, your values, right, and
(30:10):
then connecting with people.
We talked that was like thesummation of what we came up
through in our point ofconversation and that's what I
feel like when I talk to peopleall the time.
These are like the overarching,you know, the overarching
values.
The things that come up arekind of similar, but I love it.
You guys touched upon all theimportant things and I love the
spreading happiness because Ithink in environments when
(30:30):
people are happy and they feelvalued and they feel important,
they feel heard, they do betterwork, they show up differently.
Mark (30:42):
They do, and if you take care of people, they'll take
care of you.
I I shared something yesterdayyes, sir, I know, linked in
we're.
We're a long island outside NewYork City and we got six
entries of snow or somethingcity, and it had me thinking of
a snow day.
Oh, a couple of decades ago.
(31:04):
I'm old, so I go back ways, um,and at the time I was leading a
healthcare management firm,okay, and we provided management
services for each of Moe's andand managed care plans around
the country, though it was basedon long island, you know,
customer service, claimsprocessing and provider
(31:26):
supported things.
So we had a snow day and and,um, you know our client plans
and they're in all these doctors.
They didn't care if it wassnowing on long island, they're
just one of their services.
So I knew the snow was comingand I got up real early to get
in there and start laying outcontingency plans when we
(31:49):
started missing a lot of people.
Well, we had over a hundredemployees and all but one showed
up at work and that was a daywhen, you know, their kids were
gonna be home, where they couldhave rolled over and gone back
to sleep.
They would have been paid, butEverybody cared enough about the
(32:14):
work they were doing and theywere treated well enough.
Then everybody showed up.
Wow, I was ready to weep, youknow, because this is what you
dream about.
Yeah, and you know what couldwe do?
Well, we ordered Chinese foodand brought it in and had a big
lunch together and, and at theend of the day, I've got some
(32:36):
cakes and we celebrate it.
And you could just feel howproud people were.
Yeah, no snow was gonna stop us.
Yeah, look what we can do.
But you, to get there, you gota, you got to get by it, you got
to treat people well enoughthat they're willing to do that.
Jennifer (32:56):
Yeah, that is so incredible.
Oh, it's.
It's a good story.
It is, and I love what you guysare doing.
I just think it's amazing.
I could say that a hundredtimes.
I think it's a great story andit's evident by the success.
You know what you guys aredoing out putting out into the
community and the success of thebusiness, that you're doing the
right thing You're doing.
You're bleeding in the rightway and with the right mission
and passion.
So I say kudos to both of youand John.
(33:18):
You are remarkable.
I love it, thank you.
I would like to know, out ofall your tons of socks that you
have, what's the favorite sockLike?
What's the one that everybodyloves?
John (33:30):
I, everybody loves, I Down these move Superheroes sock
with a cape, the back and myface on the socks.
Mark (33:42):
We designed it and his face is on it.
Yes To a superhero.
Jennifer (33:47):
Yes, I'm gonna have to get some of them.
Socks.
It's so awesome.
I love it.
Good for you.
It's such a great story.
It's such a great story.
Well, this has been incredible.
I'd like to know, because I'mguessing that after people hear
this and we get this thing up,he would be like where do we
find these crazy socks?
I want to get a pair.
Maybe they want to follow youguys and watch your story and
what you're doing.
(34:08):
Where do we want to send them?
John (34:11):
And and where do they find us?
I go at John's crazy socks calm.
Mark (34:18):
John's crazy socks, calm and and here's the deal, you're
gonna get socks that let youexpress yourself.
Right, you like to say they,let me be me.
Yes, you're gonna get greatsocks.
We have over 30,000 five-starreviews.
But it's more than that.
When you buy from us, you helpus employ people with different
(34:41):
abilities, you help us give backright, we start with 5% going
to a special Olympic specialOlympics but most of all, help
us spread happiness.
You put those socks on.
They're gonna make you feelgood gonna be happy.
Jennifer (34:57):
I love it.
Yeah, it's such a good story.
I can talk to you guys forever.
This is such a great story.
I can't wait to get this out.
I'm excited.
It's so much fun.
John, keep doing your thing,keep spreading happiness and
keep cheering on your friendsand colleagues and encouraging
people to do great things,because that's what this is all
about.
John (35:14):
Thank you so much, it's been fun.
Jennifer (35:17):
It's been fun, okay.
And what we'll do when thisgets ready to go out, we get all
our little bells and whistleson there.
We'll make sure we get you guystagged and everybody knows
where to find in.
Make sure our audience knows togo pick out some socks I'm
gonna get on there.
I want to go see your stuff Ilooked at some of.
I want to get back in there soI can follow you guys and keep
up with all your.
Your good happiness.
Mark (35:38):
Let us know when you publish it.
We'll share it on our websiteand on our social media too.
Absolutely and if there's eversomething we can do for you,
jennifer, let us know.
Jennifer (35:47):
We'll do, we'll do all right.
Well, it's been great.
I'm so excited for you guys andI think it's.
This is such a good story, sodo with that.
I do want to say to heraudience if you enjoy the show,
head on over to Apple, give us areview over there, hit that,
subscribe on YouTube so we cankeep sharing all these
incredible, amazing stories.
They're fun, and with that, Ialways say in order to live the
extraordinary, you must start,and every start begins with a
(36:09):
decision.
You guys, take care, be safe,be kind to one another and we
will see you next time.
Welcome to another episode of Behind the Dreamers.
I'm your host, JenniferLoehding, and we are talking to
the achievers, the creators, themagic makers and the dreamers.
These are our friends, theseare your friends and they are
living the extraordinary Well.
I am so excited about my guesttoday.
This is going to be so much fun.
I have been waiting to chatwith them since the first time I
met them.
(00:46):
I love what they're doing.
I love their story, theirmission, all of it.
They are a father-son team thatcreated a social enterprise
with a mission to spreadhappiness makes my heart happy
hearing this.
They bootstrapped theirbusiness into the world's
largest sock store, withmulti-million dollar revenues,
and they've been named EI'sEntrepreneur of the Year.
(01:08):
I think what I love about thisstory even more is what they're
doing, but one of theentrepreneurs in this journey is
a 27-year-old entrepreneur withDown syndrome.
I love their mission.
I love what they're doing.
We're going to welcome them onin just a minute, but we got to
do a quick shout-out to oursponsor.
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your content shine All right.
So now that we've done that,I'm so excited to get them here.
John and Mark Cronin are thecreators of John's Crazy Socks.
Together, they are showing whatpeople with differing abilities
(02:15):
can do, because more than halfof their colleagues have a
differing ability, which I thinkis so amazing what they're
doing.
They're fierce advocates forinclusion, having testified
twice before the US Congress andspoken at the United Nations.
They're sought after keynotespeakers and they've recorded
two TEDx talks and are frequentguests on network television.
They say they create a uniquecustomer experience and develop
(02:38):
a workplace culture that leadsto an engaged workforce and,
additionally, they show theirgratitude through their Giving
Back program, which has raisednow over 650,000 for charity
partners.
So, Mark and John, welcome toBehind the Dreamers.
I'm so excited to have you bothhere today.
John (02:55):
Thank you very much.
I'm really pleased to hearThank you.
Mark (02:58):
We are excited to be here.
Thank you for having us on,though.
Jennifer (03:07):
John has been aging, so he's now 28.
Mark (03:11):
Well, happy birthday, john .
Jennifer (03:12):
We messed that up, didn't?
Mark (03:13):
we Thank you very much, but you are a dreamer.
John (03:19):
I am dreaming how I can be .
You're living the dream.
Jennifer (03:26):
I'm so excited and unfortunately, yes, that age
thing does catch us every time.
It doesn't wait on us, does it?
We wake up and it's a new yearEvery time I turn around, I feel
at least.
Mark (03:36):
Well, it's better than the alternative of not having
birthdays.
Jennifer (03:39):
I agree, I agree.
All right, so let's talk aboutthis, because you guys are
dreamers and that's what thisshow is about and we have so
much to talk about.
But I want to start off.
Tell us a little bit aboutJohn's Crazy Socks.
Tell us how this came about foryou both.
Mark (03:54):
Well, we'll tell the story .
Yeah, dad, go back to the fallof 2016.
And our story starts in a smalllog cabin in the woods.
No, no, it starts on suburbanLong Island, outside New York
City, in a town calledHuntington.
(04:15):
And where were you?
John (04:17):
I was at a hunting house.
It could be my last school.
Mark (04:22):
So you mentioned that John has Down syndrome.
Yes, I am.
If you have a disability, youcan say in the school system
until you are the graduate orturn 21.
And then you go over what'sknown as the 21 year old cliff,
because when you're in school,everything is right there in
(04:44):
front of you All your classes,therapies.
For many, that's where they gettheir food, it's daycare, but
once you're done, you're on yourown.
So John was getting ready toleave school, yes, and you were
trying to figure out, likeeverybody else, what comes next,
what were you looking at?
John (05:03):
I looked at jobs programs school.
I can't find programs that Idon't like.
Mark (05:10):
Didn't find anything that I liked.
And this, jennifer, is anunfortunate reality.
Yeah, that you're startingenough opportunities for people
with different abilities, butJohn, here he's a natural
entrepreneur.
You didn't see a job you wanted.
What did you?
John (05:25):
say?
I said I want a career, I wantto make one.
I told my dad I would gobusiness with him A nice father
and son being together.
Mark (05:34):
I love it.
It's pretty cool.
I've got three boys.
John (05:37):
Yeah, you are.
I'm a lucky man, right, yeah,yeah.
Mark (05:41):
Three boys, and this is one I could work with.
John (05:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Mark (05:46):
So then we had to figure out what were we going to do,
and you have a lot of ideasright you can do how we can tell
that John is thinking hard.
John (05:57):
I smoke in my ears.
Mark (05:58):
Smoke comes out of his ears.
So what was one of your ideas?
John (06:05):
One of it a fun store.
Mark (06:08):
Fun store.
I kept asking him what would wesell in a fun store?
Yeah, he said I don't know.
It would be fun.
What was another idea you had?
John (06:18):
Yes, I thought A food truck, an idea for a movie
called Chef and one of theactors, john Farrow.
It's neat really about fatherand son bonding a food truck.
Mark (06:36):
So you know everybody out there, you've eaten at food
trucks.
Yeah, we really love foodtrucks.
We're thinking what could wemake?
Where would we put the foodtruck?
But we ran into a problem.
We can't cook, yeah, we can'tcook.
So, yes, but then right beforeThanksgiving the US Thanksgiving
(06:57):
in November, john, you had yourweek of moments.
John (07:02):
Yes, I was so crazy socks.
Why socks?
It's fun, it's colorful, it'screative, it always let me be me
.
I want crazy socks my wholelife.
Mark (07:17):
So we figured this, jennifer.
If he loved them that much,surely other people would too.
Yeah, we could find thosepeople, so you already had the
name, I can name it.
John (07:27):
I told him I'm sorry, can I use?
Mark (07:30):
We went the lean startup route.
We said let's just getsomething up and going, let's
take action.
So we built a website, got alittle bit of inventory.
The only marketing we did wasto set up a Facebook page and I
would take out my cell phone andwe made videos.
And who do you think was inthose videos?
John (07:50):
I am.
I talk about socks, Socks,socks and more socks.
I love it.
Mark (07:56):
But we noticed people started sharing those videos.
Yes, and we opened inmid-December not knowing what to
expect, and on the very firstday we got a flood of orders.
We got 42 orders Wow, but mostof them were local.
We lived in Huntington.
He's in high school.
(08:17):
We had temporary office spacethere, so we decided to do home
deliveries.
We got red boxes, put the socksin the box and what did you add
to that?
John (08:29):
A second note for me and candy.
A thank you note and candy.
Mark (08:33):
Oh, Loaded up, the car drove around and you knocked on
door's delivering socks.
Yes, I did.
How did customers?
John (08:41):
respond.
They loved the socks.
I took a picture with me, acustomer and the box of socks
and shared on the street overhere.
We had a good experience.
Mark (08:54):
We had customers ordering again, just to get John to come
back to their door.
Jennifer (08:58):
To get him to come to the door.
Love it.
Mark (09:00):
And there were some funny moments right.
Just the two of us doing allthis.
So it's after 10 o'clock atnight and John's not going on
doors.
Just John with your socks,Excuse me.
Jennifer (09:14):
I'm just bringing the socks.
Oh my God.
Mark (09:17):
So by the end of that month really two weeks we had
shipped 452 orders Wow, and weknew we had something.
Yeah, we didn't know how fastit would grow, we didn't know
how big it would grow, but weknew we could grow a business.
Today, how many socks do wehave?
John (09:35):
We have 4,000 different kinds of socks.
Mark (09:40):
That means John owns the world's largest socks store.
Jennifer (09:43):
Yeah, they are Wow Wow .
Mark (09:45):
We've been able to create 34 jobs.
22 are held by people withdifferent abilities.
We've shipped 450,000 packagesto 88 different countries and
we're now over $700,000 in themoney raised for our charity
partners.
John (10:03):
And you like to say I just say sickest diet Just gets
sickest yes.
Jennifer (10:09):
I love it.
This is such a good, warm,fuzzy story.
I love it.
These are the stories I love.
I think this is so amazing and,you know, that's what I think
makes the world go around, orstories like this and I love
what I really.
I love that you guys took thisdream, and John kudos to you for
making your own dream, figuringit out yourself, right, like,
if you can't find a job, youjust create your own job.
(10:30):
That's what it's about.
That's the entrepreneur spirit.
I love it.
And then not only that takingthis company and growing it from
the ground up Grassroots effort, you know and understanding the
value of customer service andthen creating this culture
within your organization.
You know, I love all of thepieces to this story.
Mark (10:51):
We've been very fortunate.
You know, and it's interestingyou talk about you know the
dreamers we remind ourselves andour colleagues all the time.
We get to live a dream, we getto run an organization the way
you would dream about doing, andwe have no excuses.
(11:14):
We can't blame it onheadquarters, we can't blame it
on the board.
It's just us, and if we want todo something we can do it, you
know, and you wind up having anobligation to those dreams.
Jennifer (11:31):
I agree, yeah, good stuff, good business.
So I love to know, john, what'sbeen the best part of this for
you.
What have you loved about this?
What's been what's been mostfun in all this?
John (11:45):
The most fun of this business is that I speak up and
I speak up other people and Itry to find what color can do.
I like having more people withour different abilities.
(12:09):
It's fun about it.
I think it's fun about itbecause I have a job created.
Mark (12:21):
Right, create the jobs that then show in the world,
right, yes, yeah.
Jennifer (12:27):
Well, you created.
When you go back to the story,when you were talking about
create the fun job, you createdthe fun job.
You just had to figure out whatthe fun was going to be and you
guys kind of created that right.
So you brought that wholeelement into what you're doing
now.
Mark (12:41):
Well, people often ask, John, what's the favorite thing
you do on the job?
Jennifer (12:47):
Yeah.
Mark (12:48):
And then he just lists everything he does.
Jennifer (12:51):
Probably I could see that.
Yeah Well, I think this is soawesome, what a great story.
I mean, I think it's hard tostart a business right.
It's always hard to go in thosebeginning grounds and get into
that.
But then once you find it andyou guys found that thing, those
socks I love it.
Mark (13:10):
In many ways, the easiest part is getting started.
Yeah, once you start growing,then in lots of ways it becomes
more challenging and you havemore obligations to more people.
But getting started it's.
You know, our biggest enemy isourselves.
(13:31):
Our biggest problem is betweenour ears.
That's where I'm incrediblyfortunate to have a partner like
John who's just okay, we'll godo this.
There are always folks thatwill look at a situation and
tell you why it's too hard andit can't work, and it's too
(13:56):
expensive and we're not ready.
And then there are those peoplethat roll up their sleeves and
say, okay, what do we do?
Yeah, how do we get this done?
Jennifer (14:06):
And.
Mark (14:06):
I see John being in that person.
I'll give you an anecdote of astory that I think exemplifies
this.
So we go back to January of2017 and we were learning
firsthand nobody buys anythingin January because they spent
all their money at the AlvedasRight and we're trying to figure
(14:26):
out how can we sell socks,which is getting started, and
that's when we learned thatpeople wear crazy socks to
celebrate World Down SyndromeDay.
When's World Down Syndrome Day?
John (14:40):
World Down Syndrome Day is March 21st.
Mark (14:43):
Okay, because you get Down Syndrome by having an extra
21st chromosome.
I've heard the audience thatall of us humans have 23 pairs
of chromosomes.
People with Down Syndrome havean extra have a third 21st
chromosome.
Okay, so the third month, 21stday, is World Down Syndrome Day.
(15:04):
All right, and it turns outpeople wear crazy socks to
celebrate that.
You would have thought we knewthat in advance, but we weren't
that smart, so at that time wewere only selling socks made by
other people.
So we go looking for a DownSyndrome themed sock that we
could sell.
Nobody made one.
(15:24):
But what does my partner say?
Let's make it.
If nobody makes one, what doyou say?
John (15:31):
I said I want to clean one , I want to make one.
Mark (15:34):
And he designed the world's first Down Syndrome
awareness sock because, okay,we'll go do it.
And for John it was so obviousand simple.
And here's the neat thing.
So now we have a whole line ofDown Syndrome themed products,
(15:57):
but this year we made theofficial sock of World Down
Syndrome Day, working with theNational Down Syndrome Society
and Down Syndrome International.
It's a pair of socks designedby a young woman with Down
Syndrome and made a companyowned by a man with Down
(16:18):
Syndrome.
So it's pretty cool and fundsfrom that are going to go to
Down Syndrome International andthe National Down Syndrome
Society.
Jennifer (16:28):
That's a great story, yes, and you know everybody
needs a cheerleader, mark right,and you guys are a great duo
team.
I think that you know, inbusiness, it's great when you
can have you guys have such adynamic force here, because it's
so great when you can have, youknow, the pragmatic and the
dreamer come together to createa business that works, and so I
think it's great that you bothare dreamers, I know, but I
(16:51):
think it's fun when you have agreat motivator back there to
keep you moving.
Mark (16:56):
It is, and you know we we have different approaches, john.
John carries the bail money andkeeps me out of trouble.
John is the one who likes tofollow rules.
John (17:09):
Thank, you father.
Mark (17:12):
Mark's like no rules we we've been fortunate to return
to some of the schools that Johnattended and in fact we're on
advisory board for the techschool and we go back and the
teachers and the principal inparticular, they're also glad to
see John.
Yes, and and then he says to meso, dad, when you were in
(17:35):
school, were the principalshappy to see you?
And I'm like, well, there usedto be this chair outside their
office and it would be okay, mrCrown, and what you do today.
Jennifer (17:53):
They're not quite as happy, john, right, they want to
see you.
I love it.
This is such a good story.
I love it.
So you guys done some TEDxtalks.
You're speaking all over theplace, right?
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Mark (19:09):
Well, part of our mission and John was talking about it we
want to show the world whatpeople with different abilities
can do.
Yes, and that gets mademanifests in everything we do.
So we start with John.
Mm-hmm, you up down syndrome.
John (19:25):
Yeah, I have downed room down.
It's wrong and never put meback.
Mark (19:31):
No, awesome we don't put John in the back.
John (19:34):
I could be in the front.
Mark (19:36):
I'll be a fit at the company it's the face of the
business and then we hire peoplewith different abilities and we
could dive into that if youwant, you know.
But you know, just just know wedon't give out jobs.
Yeah, everybody works.
Hairs earn that job.
If you get to know us, you'llfind that John here is a very
(19:57):
nice guy.
Yeah, yeah, I am not.
If you're gonna work here, yougot to produce.
So, is that?
But that's not enough.
We want the world to see, so wecreate content all the time for
our social media platform.
Okay, you're always makingvideos.
I do you like making thosetiktok videos?
Yeah, I think he's got like 6570,000 followers.
Jennifer (20:21):
I'm good for you.
A million on facebook yeahthat's awesome.
Mark (20:26):
We host tours.
Okay, so we've had more than2000 People come through here on
a tour, mostly High schoolstudents and clients from social
service agencies.
We host work groups.
In fact, right before we camein here, john was welcoming a
work group this afternoon.
Okay, it's group of studentsthat will come once a week spend
(20:49):
an hour or two here.
You just get some experience Ofworking.
But they get to come and seepeople like them who are working
or starting a business, andthat's very important.
It gets to be encouraging.
We take on speaking engagements.
Look at this, jennifer, youhave us on your podcast.
How fortunate are we To tellthe stories, to show don't tell
(21:16):
as to why it's good business tohire people with different
abilities.
Yeah, and yes, we do a lot ofspeaking engagements.
You like that right?
You like to travel?
Yeah, and I think every timeJohn Stands up in front of an
audience, he helps changepeople's minds.
People's minds yeah, and wealso do advocacy work.
(21:36):
Um, we're fortunate, because ofthe business, people will
listen to us.
Yeah, and that creates anobligation to speak up.
So, yes, we're testified twicebefore congress, given the way
things are.
We have to add we were notsubpoenaed, we went willingly.
(22:00):
Hey um, we meet with electedofficials To push on legislation
to advance the rights of peoplewith different abilities.
I mean, I'll give you anexample, another fun story.
We were down on Capitol Hillone day, yeah, and a customer
from Houston called the officeand said you know, my mother
(22:23):
works on Capitol Hill and she'sa big fan of John's.
Do you think she can meet John?
And our colleagues said sure,here's mark cell number.
Have your mother text herinformation.
Well, who was mine?
John (22:39):
Nancy Pelosi.
Mark (22:40):
Nancy Pelosi.
John (22:41):
Oh.
Mark (22:42):
So now we go get to meet with Nancy Pelosi and and we're
in a bad way in this country,yeah, too often If we disagree
with you, we vilify you, we tearyou down, we lose the sense of
humanity.
So I don't care where you arein the political spectrum.
Nancy Pelosi at her art Is an80 year old Italian grandmother.
(23:07):
We go in.
She greets John so warmly andit's so nice and you know how it
is.
You watch how people treat yourchildren.
Yeah, you know, and she takesout pictures of socks that she
had given former president bushbush the elder, because john you
(23:29):
and president bush had become,somewhat famously, sock buddies.
Right, they exchanged lettersand socks, and all this is warm
and wonderful.
But you see, we now have thisopportunity, so then it's.
But, miss Pelosi, we do have totalk to you about repealing
Section 14c of the fair laborstandard act that allows
(23:52):
employers to pay people withtheir disability as little as
five cents an hour.
So we get that opportunity.
We have to speak up about that,gotcha, and you roll all that
together and you get John'scrazy socks yes, absolutely.
Jennifer (24:10):
I love it.
Wow, such a yeah, lee.
Thanks for sharing all of that.
So, yeah, I can see how this iskeeping you busy too, trying to
do all these things and and getthe message out there and the
traveling and keeping up withthe business and well.
Mark (24:26):
Was it two weeks ago, two, three weeks ago?
We're driving to an earlymorning talk.
Yeah, I'm going to speak to abusiness group and john who's
not really a morning person,okay, but but he's sitting in
the car next to me and youlooked over and what do you say?
Do you remember?
Yes, what?
No, not that, not that.
(24:46):
I thought.
If you say that sometimes, yousaid I love being an
entrepreneur, you did you.
Oh, I'm sorry, right, you saidI love being an entrepreneur.
And he looked at, he waslooking at his calendar.
John's very organized.
And you said I have importantthings to do from 8 o'clock this
morning till 9 o'clock tonight.
That's right, how fortunate arewe to?
(25:09):
have things to do that matter I?
John (25:12):
love it, the people, and you love it, right, I do.
Jennifer (25:16):
This is so awesome.
Yeah, so, and I love like youmentioned you we've talked about
this several times this yourculture, that you created within
your company, and I love thatyou said you were not that
John's the nice one when you metand you're not with people that
work there.
So tell us what limit aboutthis culture there?
What's it like working atJohn's crazy socks?
Mark (25:36):
Well, we are a mission-driven organization.
What's our mission?
Sprit happiness, and thatdrives everything we do.
And what do you say?
The keys to happen.
Try to into follows gratitudeto for others, and we built it
on five pillars inspiration andhope it's been and hope.
John (25:58):
Give it back.
Find products you can love,make it personal, make it
complete to us make it a greatplace to work.
Mark (26:06):
So let's take that make it a great place to work.
John (26:09):
Yeah.
Mark (26:10):
We have five kind of pieces to that one.
Or for people, a mission worthyof their commitment, something
bigger than ourselves, yeah,something that matters,
something you can feel proudabout, and it can't just be
we're gonna make money.
Right, and don't get me wrong,we want to make money.
(26:33):
It turns out we like to liveindoors.
You got to pay that rent rightand then to Make sure everybody
knows why his or her job matters.
There is no cog in themachinery.
There is no make-work job.
Everybody's job is important,everybody's contributing to that
(26:58):
mission.
I've had friends who own otherbusinesses a come on mark.
That's a lot of malarkey.
How could everybody's job be?
And I look at them, say, well,if the job's not important, if
it doesn't matter, why are theyon your payroll?
Jennifer (27:12):
Yeah.
Mark (27:14):
Right.
People need to know that.
They need to understand thatconnection.
Three Put people in a positionto succeed.
Don't ask someone to do whatthey can't do.
John does many things, but wedon't ask him to manage our
finances.
Yeah, and Give people thesupport they need so they can do
(27:36):
great work.
All right.
If Kenny, our lead packer,needs a particular chair, why
don't we get him that chair?
Yeah, if Nick, our webmaster,needs a tool for the website,
why don't we get it from it's?
We can't do everything.
We're a small business.
We don't have endless resourcesbut give people what they need
to work for.
(27:59):
Say thank you.
I think we're going to be ableto recognize the work people do.
Don't you like it, jennifer,when someone looks at you and
says you know I was listening atpodcast, you do a great job
getting guests and prepping andasking questions?
We would like to be recognized.
Just, it's part of thatgratitude.
We are fortunate to have thepeople that we you know on our
(28:24):
team to get to work with them.
They're the ones that makeeverything possible.
And then five Stay the hell outof the way.
I like it that people do theirjobs, yeah, right.
So if you do all of thosethings and just if you believe
in that, you'll create aworkplace that people want to be
(28:47):
here and they thrive.
Jennifer (28:49):
Those are good, good lessons.
Thank you for sharing, and youand I agree with all of them.
I do think it's important and Ithink a lot of companies Miss
the mark on that because they'retoo busy micromanaging and
putting people in the wrongplaces.
You know, I love all thosepoints that you brought up.
Do you guys have thoseplastered up on your wall
somewhere?
Just you, just all know them.
Mark (29:09):
We, we, we share those.
We talk about them all the time.
Yeah, you know the spreadinghappiness.
That's the criteria we use todetermine our budgets.
It's allocation of resources,how we're going to approach
things.
The idea of gratitude Is builtinto so much of what we do.
(29:30):
You have to keep repeating it.
You got to keep getting infront of people.
You'll know.
You'll know, you believe.
When you're willing to spendmoney over or give up money over
, you give up revenue.
Jennifer (29:48):
Well, this is such a you know it's interesting.
This is such a um.
I had this conversation withsomebody earlier that I was
talking about and we weretalking about what creates
successful Entrepreneurs as awhole and we were talking about
and you're gonna love, I thinkyou guys are gonna love this,
because we talked about Findingyour talents, finding where
you're good, pairing that withyour, your values, right, and
(30:10):
then connecting with people.
We talked that was like thesummation of what we came up
through in our point ofconversation and that's what I
feel like when I talk to peopleall the time.
These are like the overarching,you know, the overarching
values.
The things that come up arekind of similar, but I love it.
You guys touched upon all theimportant things and I love the
spreading happiness because Ithink in environments when
(30:30):
people are happy and they feelvalued and they feel important,
they feel heard, they do betterwork, they show up differently.
Mark (30:42):
They do, and if you take care of people, they'll take
care of you.
I I shared something yesterdayyes, sir, I know, linked in
we're.
We're a long island outside NewYork City and we got six
entries of snow or somethingcity, and it had me thinking of
a snow day.
Oh, a couple of decades ago.
(31:04):
I'm old, so I go back ways, um,and at the time I was leading a
healthcare management firm,okay, and we provided management
services for each of Moe's andand managed care plans around
the country, though it was basedon long island, you know,
customer service, claimsprocessing and provider
(31:26):
supported things.
So we had a snow day and and,um, you know our client plans
and they're in all these doctors.
They didn't care if it wassnowing on long island, they're
just one of their services.
So I knew the snow was comingand I got up real early to get
in there and start laying outcontingency plans when we
(31:49):
started missing a lot of people.
Well, we had over a hundredemployees and all but one showed
up at work and that was a daywhen, you know, their kids were
gonna be home, where they couldhave rolled over and gone back
to sleep.
They would have been paid, butEverybody cared enough about the
(32:14):
work they were doing and theywere treated well enough.
Then everybody showed up.
Wow, I was ready to weep, youknow, because this is what you
dream about.
Yeah, and you know what couldwe do?
Well, we ordered Chinese foodand brought it in and had a big
lunch together and, and at theend of the day, I've got some
(32:36):
cakes and we celebrate it.
And you could just feel howproud people were.
Yeah, no snow was gonna stop us.
Yeah, look what we can do.
But you, to get there, you gota, you got to get by it, you got
to treat people well enoughthat they're willing to do that.
Jennifer (32:56):
Yeah, that is so incredible.
Oh, it's.
It's a good story.
It is, and I love what you guysare doing.
I just think it's amazing.
I could say that a hundredtimes.
I think it's a great story andit's evident by the success.
You know what you guys aredoing out putting out into the
community and the success of thebusiness, that you're doing the
right thing You're doing.
You're bleeding in the rightway and with the right mission
and passion.
So I say kudos to both of youand John.
(33:18):
You are remarkable.
I love it, thank you.
I would like to know, out ofall your tons of socks that you
have, what's the favorite sockLike?
What's the one that everybodyloves?
John (33:30):
I, everybody loves, I Down these move Superheroes sock
with a cape, the back and myface on the socks.
Mark (33:42):
We designed it and his face is on it.
Yes To a superhero.
Jennifer (33:47):
Yes, I'm gonna have to get some of them.
Socks.
It's so awesome.
I love it.
Good for you.
It's such a great story.
It's such a great story.
Well, this has been incredible.
I'd like to know, because I'mguessing that after people hear
this and we get this thing up,he would be like where do we
find these crazy socks?
I want to get a pair.
Maybe they want to follow youguys and watch your story and
what you're doing.
(34:08):
Where do we want to send them?
John (34:11):
And and where do they find us?
I go at John's crazy socks calm.
Mark (34:18):
John's crazy socks, calm and and here's the deal, you're
gonna get socks that let youexpress yourself.
Right, you like to say they,let me be me.
Yes, you're gonna get greatsocks.
We have over 30,000 five-starreviews.
But it's more than that.
When you buy from us, you helpus employ people with different
(34:41):
abilities, you help us give backright, we start with 5% going
to a special Olympic specialOlympics but most of all, help
us spread happiness.
You put those socks on.
They're gonna make you feelgood gonna be happy.
Jennifer (34:57):
I love it.
Yeah, it's such a good story.
I can talk to you guys forever.
This is such a great story.
I can't wait to get this out.
I'm excited.
It's so much fun.
John, keep doing your thing,keep spreading happiness and
keep cheering on your friendsand colleagues and encouraging
people to do great things,because that's what this is all
about.
John (35:14):
Thank you so much, it's been fun.
Jennifer (35:17):
It's been fun, okay.
And what we'll do when thisgets ready to go out, we get all
our little bells and whistleson there.
We'll make sure we get you guystagged and everybody knows
where to find in.
Make sure our audience knows togo pick out some socks I'm
gonna get on there.
I want to go see your stuff Ilooked at some of.
I want to get back in there soI can follow you guys and keep
up with all your.
Your good happiness.
Mark (35:38):
Let us know when you publish it.
We'll share it on our websiteand on our social media too.
Absolutely and if there's eversomething we can do for you,
jennifer, let us know.
Jennifer (35:47):
We'll do, we'll do all right.
Well, it's been great.
I'm so excited for you guys andI think it's.
This is such a good story, sodo with that.
I do want to say to heraudience if you enjoy the show,
head on over to Apple, give us areview over there, hit that,
subscribe on YouTube so we cankeep sharing all these
incredible, amazing stories.
They're fun, and with that, Ialways say in order to live the
extraordinary, you must start,and every start begins with a
(36:09):
decision.
You guys, take care, be safe,be kind to one another and we
will see you next time.
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