Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to John LaBreche. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
John, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
While on the Southern California beaches virtually every weekend watching Molly and Mallory play competitive beach volleyball, the idea of a beach-based business was born. With Jake studying Finance/Accounting & Entrepreneurship at USC, I wanted him to get practical hands-on business experience. The result; BeachBum Sportz, an eco-friendly store that initially focused on upcycling retired volleyballs to make stylish one-of-a-kind apparel. We have now branched into other sportz, and are proud that we are continually ‘KEEPING THE BALL IN PLAY’.
Throughout our three plus year history, we’ve learned a great deal from our customers, business partners, event operators, as well as friends. We’ve had the good fortune to work with Olympians, AVP pros, and some of the top collegiate players. We’ve recently secured a partnership with The King of The Beach, himself, Sinjin Smith.
My wife Sheri and I are so grateful that the sport of volleyball has given so much to our family; Jake is one of the Student Managers for the National Champion USC Women’s Beach Volleyball Team and is living his best life. Molly and Mallory are playing beach volleyball in college for LSU and UCLA, respectively, and played for seven years for legends Patty and Mike Dodd and their top tier club, MBsand.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Last answer provided a bit of detail, but I’ll add more here –
I graduated from the University of Michigan, with a degree in Sports Marketing and Communication. I’ve been a sports fanatic my whole life and I’m into recycling/up-cycling anything possible. I often see and am enamored with old concert shirts cut up and sewn onto the back of flannels. That, coupled with my friend, that has a company, Motoart, that repurposes retired airplanes and turns them into functional art, had got me to thinking what could I repurpose and make into art. Well, one day while I was playing beach volleyball with my daughters in our back yard court and I saw about a dozen of their volleyballs laying around and the idea of taking a panel from the ball and adhering it to a hat was born.
We have gotten traction in the marketplace and have recently branched into other sports: soccer, football and baseball with the same concept. We are most proud of our eco-conscious values and being a part of a recycling chain: repurposing worn-out/retired game balls that would otherwise go to waste are now being transformed into functional, stylish headwear our customers love. It’s fun to be at the beach and seeing people wearing our creation.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I believe that Sports NFTs can be very clever when used properly. We are in the process of creating unique/unmatched NFT’s. COMING SOON.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Having a blank canvass and seeing your products/creations get traction in marketplace. Don’t get me wrong, we’ve had our fair share of swings and misses, but staying persistent and listening to our customers has started to pay dividends.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.BeachBumSportz.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beachbumsportz/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083774634014&mibextid=wwXIfr
- Other: @LFGeaux on Instagram is another line of business in our company. May be too much to add to story, but I’ve Trademarked “LFGeaux”. Getting great traction in Louisiana as it’s an applicable term for their sports teams. I’m doing our first team NIL deal with Molly and her LSU Women’s Beach Volleyball team.
Image Credits
All taken by me.