We were lucky to catch up with Carolyn Brown recently and have shared our conversation below.

Carolyn, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Our educational system should allow students to explore their passions or personal interests thorugh a Passion Project. The chosen subject matter may already be a part of the academic curriculum, but would allow the student to dig deeper. On the other hand, the subject may not be offered at the student’s school, thereby affording the student the opportunity to learn beyond the packaged educational requirements.

The student would be guided through research, and required to produce a deliverable at the end of the year — whether it be a written report, a physical artifact, a visual or oral presentation, or any combination of these. When possible, the student would engage with someone in the industry of their passion — through visitation, interview, or internship — to further their knowledge.

This Passion Project would be required of the student at each of the three stages in the student’s academic career: grade school, middle school, and high school. This would allow the student to either build on a existing interest, or explore various ones.

TwiceAsHard Designs was birthed out of this very concept. It is a business conceived through the passion that Chris, my son, has for art — which was enhanced during high school study. During high school he completed an independent study in 2-D digital animation. At the end of the project he’d delivered a research paper, a visual presentation, and a 1-minute cartoon animation. As a result of completing the project, he discovered that he actually did not want to pursue a career in animation (or video game development). He did, however, realize his love of drawing even more, and decided that not only did he want to be an Illustrator, but that he wanted to sell his art.

Currently, while serving as principal artist for TwiceAsHard Designs, Chris is pursuing his degree in Art and Illustration in college. In addition to providing art for TwiceAsHard Designs while attending college, Chris actually models his art on our sneakers and matching items, as well as does free-lance modeling for other designers.

Being allowed to explore his passion during high school allowed Chris to better understand what he wanted to do. Even more, serving as principal artist for TwiceAsHard Designs while being active in the fashion industry — during his college years — has augmented his educational experience. As a result, Chris seems to be on his way to a more fulfilling life and career.

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 back background and context?

As a Senior Web Developer I’ve been writing computer programs and building websites for over 20 years. Having achieved my degree in business and information technology at the Master’s level, I’ve always kept my finger on the pulse of web technology and its advancements in the e-commerce world.

Toward the end of his high school year Chris expressed his desire to sell his digital art. Unbeknownst to me, he’d already begun researching online bsuiness opportunities, and at that point, shared them with me. Resultingly, my professional background coupled with Chris’ skill, drive and potential made it a no-brainer to build this business, and TwiceAsHard Designs was born. As a new business, we have tried different strategies. Everyone does t-shirts, or hoodies. We wanted to do something different! So, we decided to focus to design sneakers as a primary product, with deluxe shirts as a seconday focus. We also offer additional products, but they are designed to match the sneakers or deluxe shirts.

We meet our customers on two fronts: Passion & Problem-solving. From the passion perspective, we are finding a mutually rewarding experience with customes as we create designs that celebrates various cultures. People love to see themselves reflected in fashion, so we conceive designs that capture and reflect imagery that speaks to heritage, and we are just beginning.

From the problem-solving perspective we choose sneakers that are noted to be comfortable, and have a wider fit. We understand that our customers are generally older, so the fit is a priority. Applying Chris’ artwork with graphic design, we are able to offer to customers sneakers that are not only comfortable, but unique to the global market.

Every design is carefully researched before it is drafted, and strategically placed for optimal visibility.

We are coming up on the 1-year anniversary of TwiceAsHard Legacy, LLC, and the publishing of our website, TwiceAsHardDesigns.com! I am truly proud of the growth that has ensued over the past 12 months, including partnering with local stores, designing for (and Chris modeling) in fashion shows. And, we have learned how to research and run successful ad campaigns with the anticipation of further growth and expansion sooner, rather than later.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In order to be profitable, you have to perform research. I learned that I could not simply create designs and advertise to the general public. I had to learn how to perform research so that I could find my ideal customer. I learned that my friends are not a part of my target market, and that’s OK!

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I gave birth to my cofounder/business partner, Chris Ray, my son.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.twiceasharddesigns.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/twiceasharddesigns
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/twiceasharddesigns
• Twitter: twiceasharddesigns
• Other: TikTok:
  https://www.tiktok.com/@twiceasharddesigns

Image Credits

Cyrie Jackson, Photographer