We recently connected with John Michael and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

In all honesty, I knew that I wanted to do something with design from a young age. In elementary school, I would always draw graffiti letters on my school work and constantly draw throughout class time. That then transitioned into picking up the camera and uploading photos to Instagram. I become the guy who always had the camera on him at all times, traveling all over NYC in just 11th grade. I would get snuck into concerts and clubs at 17 years old to take photos of local rappers. After taking photos for some time I wanted to be able to do more creative so I started shooting music videos and designing clothing that I could make and then wear for myself. The clothing is what really allowed me to express my true creativity because most of my pieces have some form of mental health aspect to them.

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?

My name is john but most people know me as wavylifeofjohn. I am a videographer and owner of a clothing line called Secluded Archive. I got into videography just from wanting to dive deeper into the creative aspect of using a camera. Things picked up fast for me as I quickly gained clients and recognition for my work. That then brought me to creating clothing. For a while, it was just an idea in my head because I didn’t believe in myself. Then after showing my friends what I was creating they convinced me to finally drop something. I sold out my first drop in a few hours and I instantly knew I had something special. Then it hit me, I knew that a lot of people deal with their mental health alone because they are scared to speak up and get advice. I decided that for almost every piece I created I would try to implement some form of mental health. An example would be the hoodies from my recent drop with the quotes being “My pain is my gift” or “Comparison is the thief of joy” I think this is what separates me from the rest. To me, mental health is like the elephant in the room that everyone knows about but they ignore because it’s an awkward conversation. My goal with my brand is to try and spark those conversations and also create pieces that people can relate to and take pride in wearing it. I’m most proud of having consistent customers who genuinely support my brand and the meaning behind it. Being that I’m still considered a local small brand its hard to find loyal customers but everyone who buys something tells me that they actually support my mission behind Secluded Archive.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

For me, this is a tough question to answer because it is so rewarding seeing an idea that you created come to life and be loved. Then to go even further than that, having people spend their hard-earned money on something you created just creates a feeling that is indescribable. Releasing something and then having fifty-plus people buying something and showing genuine support just honestly brings tears to my eyes every time. On the contrary, having people that actually support what you create and the meaning behind it is rewarding as well. When people message me or come up to me and say I actually relate to what you are doing and it helped them face their own issues is just beautiful alone. I am honestly just grateful to be in the position I am in.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I think the number one thing that most people have trouble understanding is why waste money on a potential investment that could or could not work out. Especially for a clothing line, there is a lot of money that has to be spent, and although people may say they will buy something nothing is guaranteed until they actually buy something. My answer to this is to imagine you have had an idea for years and you never take that risk of trying to chase your dreams. You will spend your time thinking of what could have been and regretting not trying. I would rather fail one hundred times and be able to say I tried to chase my dreams rather than saying I didn’t want to risk it. Most people don’t like change and they like to stay within their comfort zone and if that works for you then that’s fine but for me, I would rather chase my dreams than be comfortable. That one time you step out of your comfort zone could be life-changing so why not go ahead and at least attempt to chase your dreams even if its for a small period of time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://secludedarchive.com/password
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wavylifeofjohn/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wavylifeofjohn?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/WavyLifeOfJohn?app=desktop

Image Credits
@codeseis @bry,jpeg