We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Colin Crown. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Colin below.

Hi Colin, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is to leave this world a better place once my time is up. It’s a bit of a broad mission and at first I didn’t know where to start. Honestly, when I started taking photos and selling vintage clothing I was doing it because I thought it was the cool thing to do. I even had a friend tell me when I started 6 years ago that my zeal for these things would die out and soon be on to the next thing. However, I think that’s where many passions start.

We find something we enjoy and realize there’s something deeper within us that we wish to seek, something all the recognition and validation can’t fulfill. As time went on I realized that I could fulfill more of a purpose with photography and vintage clothing. Taking street photos became a way for me to see the world through the eyes of someone else. My hope is to show that we the people aren’t much different and that we live in a beautiful world, furthering the human connection. At the same time, collecting/selling vintage became a way for me to be more responsible in way I consume, in hopes of leaving less waste in landfills.

You can’t change the world by trying to make the biggest leap first. I truly believe you have to start by taking one step at a time, chipping away at change off little by little. I believe I will leave this world a better place.

Colin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a 29 year old photographer and vintage clothing collector. I was born from a greatly artistic/creative mom and a dad who is the sharpest dressed man around. Being the impressional kid that I was, I grew up wanting to be just like my parents. I was dressed to the nines from a young age, making a reputation quickly for being the kid who dressed well. In high school, my best friend and I created Formal Fridays, where we would dress up in suits and other formal wear for the fun of it.

I started this work while I was finishing up the last couple years of college pursuing my graphic design degree. I decided to take a photography class where I discovered how fun (and honestly how cool) the craft was! At the same time I was working for Nordstrom Rack, learning more about clothing and helping people find clothing that brought them to life.

Fast forward six years, I am working on a body of work that focuses on human connection and the beauty of this world, while also establishing my vintage clothing brand, Dakota Springs. My hope is for people to feel human connection through my photography and give people an avenue to consume/recycle beautiful pieces of clothing that last a lifetime, saving space in landfills.

Looking to the future, my goal is to have a solo show of my photography by the end of 2024 and to tour the US doing pop up shops with vintage clothing.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I wanted to be a professional baseball player. I grew up competing at a high level, playing travel baseball and playing with guys who would go on to play at the next level. Junior season of high school I got hit in the head with a baseball during a game, resulting in a concussion. Being the impatient person I am, I came back from recovery too quickly which then resulted in tearing the labrum in my right shoulder, my throwing arm. It’s critical for a pitcher to have a healthy arm. It completely derailed my senior season of baseball.

I was heart broken. How was I supposed to be recruited to play college baseball from the sidelines? My High School coach offered to get in touch with a local community college coach he knew but my arrogance and pride got the best of me. Frustrated and discouraged I decided that I would walk away from the sport after my senior season, citing my lost love for and lack of passion for the game.

In the middle of the following year, I realized just how much I loved baseball and wanted to continue playing. I quickly got back into shape and emailed the coach of the school I was going to be transferring to that fall. I was granted a try out but was made no promises for a spot. I think I had one of the worst tryouts I have ever had in my baseball career that day. As a pitcher, they gave me three outs to prove my worth. I hit one player with a pitch two times haha. I didn’t make the team.

I was crushed, all over again! My identity was swiped away and for the longest time I didn’t know who I was. My grades dropped significantly and it led me to switching from a business major to a graphic design major. This is where something clicked internally. Life started to make sense again.

There’s nothing here on earth that can fill the role of your identity, it will always leave you empty. Today I can proudly say I know who I am but that’s another story for another day. Baseball taught me a lot about life and perseverance. What other sport can you fail 70% of the time and be considered successful? I take that same mentality with me in my photography and vintage clothing business. Not everything is going to work out and that’s okay.

Going from a baseball player, to now being more known for my photography and vintage clothing love will forever be one of the best pivots I have ever experienced. I have no regrets and will continue weather whatever storm life throws my way.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Stop trying to be like every other brand out there. People don’t connect to random trends and corny giveaways. Just like those trends and giveaways, your community will disappear. What people really connect to the value you give them and seeing a little piece of themselves in your brands story, whether that be their past, present or even future self. Give them something to believe in and root for!

It won’t be the first time or last time you hear this but be yourself and your community will find you. There are no shortcuts to success and I would even argue that you should aspire to grow slow. I would rather have 1,000 people who support me like family than 100,000 people who would drop me as soon as something “cooler” comes along.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.colincrown.com/
• Instagram: colincrown
• Other: tiktok: @colin.crown

Image Credits
1st picture is of me. Taken by Garrett Ragin The rest of the photos are taken by me