We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Oli Hoskins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Oli, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My partner and I created SoftBoysClub as I was coming into my own Trans-masculine identity. We noticed an overwhelming pressure in our community to appear stoic and tough. It felt like this pressure was seeping into every aspect of life including physical appearances, expression through clothing, the roles we should take on in relationships, and the way we should and shouldn’t express our emotions. As a very soft person, this pressure had made it hard for me to come to the conclusion that I was Trans-masculine in the first place. I began to understand why Cis-men felt so stifled by their upbringings, too. I wanted to break down the toxic masculinity that was making it’s way into our community of beautifully gentle and kind-hearted trans men, non-binary people, and trans-masculine folks.

At the same time I was drawing lots of cute and cuddly characters and my art practice had started to shift towards embracing the softness within myself. I wanted to share my vulnerability with others and was excited to be an example of a masculine person who chooses and seeks out softness everyday.

After coming to the words “soft” and “boys” it still felt like something was missing. We decided to add “club” to the end of our brand name because we wanted to create a community of people who wanted to commit to wearing their softness like a badge of honor. Now, almost a year later, our “club” has become the safe space we wanted to see in our community-a place where masculine folks can live authentically, share their vulnerability, and be celebrated for it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Oli Hoskins and I’m a Trans-masculine Artist who saw the need to redefine masculinity. I run my business with my partner Charlie Dale and together we create art and accessories that help cultivate a radically soft community and celebrate vulnerability.

Our work centers Trans-masculine people, Trans men, and Non-binary people, but all are welcome! Our brand aesthetic plays with childlike wonder in combination with realistic depictions of Trans-masculine joy and identity. SoftBoysClub sits in the intersection of embracing the cute and cuddly, while recognizing the immense power in our vulnerability. When you walk into our pop-up shops or browse our site you’ll be met with cute lil’ guys as well as empowering representations of trans individuals. Some touch stones of our brand include our entirely trans-masc coloring book and calendar, our collection of gender ambiguous jewelry, and relatable stickers, prints, and greeting cards.

We believe that a well rounded business practice puts community first, which is why we’ve expanded our business to not only provide products for our customers, but also organize events, collaborate with other Queer & Trans makers, and share resources for the Queer & Trans community.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A key component of starting my business has been unlearning the “starving artist” fallacy. While it’s true that the world is increasingly not set up to prioritize and uplift creatives, I rejected my desire to create as a career because I thought it just wasn’t doable in our society. My parents were both teachers growing up and they relied on a consistent salary that they could budget out to support our family. I didn’t get to see many examples of adults having careers that provided less consistent incomes and how they managed that, so I grew up believing that art would always have to be my hobby and wasn’t a viable career option. In the year leading up to starting SoftBoysClub I actually came back to this pre-conceived notion I had about running an art business over and over again in therapy. When it really came down to it, I discovered that I also had a core belief that I didn’t have what it took to run my own business. I was afraid of taking risks and lacked the ability to believe in myself. After years of only working jobs I knew would provide me with a consistent income (whether I even liked the jobs or not), I felt defeated. It got to the point where the world felt like a sad and unlivable place for me. Breaking out of that bubble and creating a new narrative for myself was not just about pursuing a passion of mine, it was also about creating a life I could feel good about living.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I had no idea where to start with gaining the funds for my business. I knew that this business wasn’t just about a product to sell though. It felt personal to me, so I decided to grow slowly. I felt like a baby learning to walk at the same time that my business was gaining it’s own legs. I decided I needed to just start trying things and see what worked. Vending at art markets and popping up with local businesses helped me gain a community of customers and raise some initial funds. If it weren’t for the success I had popping up at events and the genuine delight that our customers expressed in our booth, I don’t know if I would have been able to keep going! Now, art markets are still a great way to boost income during the slower months and reach a wider audience in person.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://softboysclub.shop
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/softboysclub_/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/softboysclub/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oli-hoskins-b505aa218/