We recently connected with Joshua Wall and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Joshua, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

So, I was at Winston-Salem State University in my final year of undergrad. I was studying Marketing and my understanding of what marketing was or what it could be was I’ll admit limited, but I saw a cubicle. I saw myself in a shirt and tie everyday and my heart couldn’t agree with that reality. I took time to reflect on the 3 things I loved/enjoyed doing at that time. Those 3 things were basketball, sneakers, and critical thinking. I’ve always been in my head a lot, overthinking every little detail so that’s where the enjoyment of thinking critically derives from. I then Google these 3 things and scrolled a little bit and eventually came across Industrial Design/Product Design. I looked into this degree for a while and found that footwear designers sometime have an Industrial Design degree and I became very curious. I eventually came across Tinker Hatfield, Jason Petrie, and Dwayne Edwards. These guys had interviews where they would describe the design process and how they approached designing signature products for signature athletes. After reading a good amount of these interviews I thought biblical characters are sort of like signature athletes for Christians. Their stories help to reveal something bigger themselves. What if I designed signature shoes for biblical characters? In hopes that the detailing/packaging/materials can somehow tell these stories of these characters and point to Jesus. I had this hype moment where the ideas just flowed. I had not been drawing up to that time so I honestly sucked. Even though that was the case I wrote down my thoughts and I drew the best I could. I applied to Industrial Design school with the worst portfolio you have ever seen and somehow I got in because they liked the way I thought. I used everything they taught me in school and worked to apply that to my business idea. After learning more and more about how to design these shoes and how to embed storytelling into product I went on a research tangent. I wanted to know if there was any feasibility to my idea. Would it work? Who was my target market? What price point are they comfortable buying shoes at? Do they want a shoe that is literally Christian or are they open to the more abstract approach? Do they want a little bit of literal tied into abstract? I wrestled with these questions. I wrestled with doubts. I wrestled with constantly being told I wasn’t good enough by peers, faculty, and myself. My research led me to talking to people and catering events to really find out if my idea could work. I found that there is a very niche market for my shoes and there is a possibility for it to work. I found a white space in the christian marketplace where most people in it were doing apparel only. There was very few people doing shoes in the christian arena. I kept looking at Christian brands that had a complete outfit of apparel that they designed, but then the shoes would be from a well known athletic brand. It just felt incomplete. It felt like I was supposed to complete the outfit with my shoes and my research showed there was a small market open to the idea. I think my unique approach of designing signature shoes for biblical characters excited people, piqued their curiosity and made them ask questions. Questions like how do you do that? With that being said I found that because they had these questions I could tell them about the biblical character and they were more open to listen because of the approach whether they believed in Jesus or not. It was dope and is still dope! I can’t wait for people to see what I’ve been working on for my first release!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am Josh Wall, small town kid from a place called Havelock, NC. One street goes through the whole thing, but when I ride down that one street it feels like home. I’m currently an entry level footwear designer for an athletic brand. It is very tough to get an opportunity in the industry so I’m grateful for where I am for now. I was able to get into this industry by grinding like a professional skateboarder. I went to NC State to study Industrial Design/Product Design and basically took every year in stride. I sketched everyday I was there. I sketched when I was home. I sketched when I was out to lunch. I sketched while I was working at my desk job. I just worked on everything NC State presented to me and found mentors while there. Shout out to Melvin Melchor and Chris Williams! Shout out to all of my other classmates that graduated with me as well! I learned from you all. I took what Melvin showed me and used it to get better. I learned from Chris’s sketching style and added to my own. I worked for those 3 years that I was at NC State. I reached out to alumni constantly looking for mentorship. I found someone that looked like me in the industry named Guy Marshall while in school and he allowed me to learn from him. He allowed me to see exactly what I would see in the industry through other types of footwear that weren’t sneakers. After learning and learning and then graduating I was able to finally get into what was then Pensole, but is now called Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design. I was able to take 3 classes with them and learn more about what I would have to do on the job as a footwear designer. I was able to meet more people that loved what I loved. It was a blessing. That’s the moral of the story I was able to get to where I am now through working for it and more so by the grace of God.

Now I am in a position where I can take on freelance gigs for companies/brands that want to do shoes. I can work in the industry if I want to and lastly, I can work on shoes for my own brand.

I am the owner of Manumit Cymbals, a product design brand that specializes in footwear. We design signature collections for biblical characters.

I offer design consulting on the side of my 9-5. I am able to sketch, communicate with factories, etc. I can help you find a factory and get your shoe made. I think in any sector where you’ve put in the hours you see differently than someone that is outside the space. You have a know-how that someone else doesn’t have and that’s where you bring value. I like to bring value where I can.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

This journey to get my shoe made has not been easy. I’ve had multiple factory issues while working on this shoe. We have had issues with communication, with factories not being able to get my shoe right and then trying to justify there mistakes by saying it wasn’t a mistake. With all this I have had to pay out way more than what I initially budgeted for with my factory cost, which has set me back alot. Being that we have had to move to a different factory that also throws my timeline off. I could have quit after the 1st factory mishap, but I went to another factory. After that factory mishap I wanted to quit, but something in me wouldn’t allow me to. I have been working too hard and too long to give up now and I don’t plan to give up anytime soon. God forbid, but if I have to deal with another factory mishap I will have to make another adjustment. I won’t quit though. I’m trying to trust God. I am trying to continue to believe in this idea. I wouldn’t be honest if I told you I wasn’t wrestling with doubt, but I’m going to keep pushing. I hope that you will support me in my endeavors when my shoe releases.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I funded my business thus far with family investment and my own money. I was intentional about wanting to do everything with this company debt free.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.manumitcymbals.com/cymbalsshop
• Instagram: manumitcymbals
• Linkedin: manumitcymbals
• Youtube: manumitcymbals

Image Credits
Slim the Creative-Photography Eric Flacko-Anime Joshua Wall-Creative Direction&Design Shout out to all those who helped us on our upcoming project!