We were lucky to catch up with Joshua Crew recently and have shared our conversation below.
Joshua, appreciate you joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.
In 2020 I was diagnosed with a heart condition that left me unable to work. I was unable to even leave my room for most of the day. I had years of graphic designing skill and in 2021 I decided to take a risk and put those skills to use. I started my own business called Designed for athletes! I had no prior knowledge on how a business works, how to start one, or how to even get it going. I just knew I was destined for more than just being in my room with an illness all day. I self taught myself on how a business works through YouTube, self trial and error, and online. After months of learning I launched my business! The business did a lot better than I even anticipated. In the first year we worked with over 200 college and professional athletes and over 30 colleges!
I’d say another risk would be me taking a chance on my design skills this past year. In 2023 I had an idea to try a new style that was unique I would digitally paint all my work and then get the designs printed on a poster! This was a huge hit! Not only did I have professional athletes wanting my work hung in there home I had NFL team and D1 colleges asking for my work! It’s truly a blessing! Just off this digital style designs this past year I’ve managed to accumulate over 500,000 profile visits and worked with over 146 athletes! I’m so Thankful for my beautiful fiancé Hannah Blakely for believing in me and supporting me throughout this whole journey. Her unwavering support to me has been a huge blessing!
Joshua, 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?
My business Designed for Athletes we manage and represent athletes! We want to show the world there’s more to the athlete than what they do on the field! We focus on building their brand off of this field! We help them get partnerships with other businesses, we make merchandise, and we help them give back to their respective communities!
For my graphic design business! I use adobe photoshop to digitally paint and design all of my work! I then get it printed off on a poster size depending on what the client wants to order and shipped!! The design process can take me anywhere from 4 hours to 4 days!! All depends on the complexity of it! I truly love what I do!
Can you share one of your favorite marketing or sales stories?
A risk I took when I started doing the designs in 2023 I would do them for free and ask the athlete to collaborate with me. I thought if I worked with a few NFL and D1 athletes and collaborate with them on a post it’ll reach tons of people and I’ll gain clients from this! It worked out in my favor!
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I post all of my work on all of my social media platforms!! I still ensure that all athletes collaborate on my post even after payments to ensure I grow and continue to build my audience! I’m thankful for my Loving parents who built a foundation for me to have the mindset of being a hard worker and nothing is given. Watching them my whole life work hard instilled in me at a young age what success looks like. I’m extremely grateful for their support!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://crewjoshua77.myportfolio.com/?fbclid=IwAR07N6LmgcSfETUf4_b7s3IqgpAGNbVWMAqb-BF9-Cu0CROWtAnrg7I5h2o_aem_AfvQvPh7mWy6JXc2XDEi3v69P5B1OYTwyyp-esOyISnalzkx8JvfJ1-Z3q3WGsCtmWU
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshua.crew?igsh=MTl6ZnRkNGkyc21nZg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
