We were lucky to catch up with Michael Thompson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Michael thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. One of our favorite things to brainstorm about with friends who’ve built something entrepreneurial is what they would do differently if they were to start over today. Surely, there are things you’ve learned that would allow you to do it over faster, more efficiently. We’d love to hear how you would go about setting things up if you were starting over today, knowing everything that you already know.
One Word. Plan. A Concise Plan To Make The Proper Moves To Start and Scale Your Business Is Essential. When I first started it was all Ambition to change my life and make money. I have always made moves off impulse since a kid. All I Know Is Just Do It, even more reason why I’m in the industry I’m in. I stand by never letting anyone or anything stop you from accomplishing your goals. So I just started no plan, no credit, no rich family member, or inheritance. Now I understand a plan is must to acquire the proper funding for your business to grow. So for years I was bootstraping and living frugal to invest into myself. Bad plan. Now I have a business plan to map out the future for my company to help my community and create multiple jobs for the people of Philadelphia.
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 Mike Thompson Owner of Original Restorations Sneaker Restore Shop, based in Philly. I provide a premium cleaning service to everyday casual wearers, to athletes, business owners, parents, career driven professionals, and sneaker enthusiasts and collectors alike. We all have a common goal to Succeed, So we do it in style, providing my sneakerheads with a professional technician that can save them time by relying on for a quality service from my company. I’ve always loved sneakers since a kid my mom introduced me to the 80s Nike era, I was hooked! My mom and I had a different relationship from son and mom, we were more like brother and sister, but she needed me to be independent in our times of struggle and since I’m the oldest of two siblings, take care of my sister while she worked. With that idle time with my father not around I decided I can help my mom by earning money in the streets. Wrong choice I know but with no guidance and the ambition to make a living, Our environment makes wood look like gold. So I decided I needed to change my people perspective on life, I had plenty of jobs from McDonald’s to Snipes, When my daughter was born in 2015 I had to make another shift because I was responsible for another human beings life sort like how I was with my sister but She’s Mine (J Cole’s Song She’s Mine Part 2 reference) my favorite artist by the way because he is one of the few artist that show growth from adolescence of the late 90s early 00s to a mature adult. But my daughter made me change into a wealth mindset, I was no longer trying to survive life when my daughter was born, but when she was born I didn’t have nothing for her, so I started OG Restorations after discovering how to restore my Jordan 13s on YouTube University. I found a few artist most of them were Midwest and west coast artists. I knew no one I knew was aware of this because most people just go buy new sneakers if they can’t clean themselves. I thought I struck gold! Being a sneakerhead already just made me amazed that I can get old retro sneakers from the 80s and 90s and bring them back to life. My uncle at the time was sending my Gmom money for bills from down south and he said he was gonna send me money to keep. It was $200 so I bought my angelus paint kit and started practicing on all my family and friends sneakers until I got confidence to showcase my work to others online. I’m a hustla so a lot of the grind was just ambitious and impulsive moves. Now im more strategic about my business I understand I provide a service that helps people with no time to clean or restore their sneakers.
When I Frist started I was meeting clients in front of SnipesUSA now I have a partnership with Common Ground Philly a Sneaker Shop Downtown Philly, now all my clients are able to ship and drop off their sneakers here. I’m doing most of the work when it come to services, in this moment I’m in the process of building and expanding to deliver services and a staff to handle larger size of services in my one flagship store.
My instagram @og_restorations215 showcases my work with athletes like PJ Tucker when he played for the Sixers, DJ’s, Artists, business owners and everyday people in the sneaker culture. I’m a big fan of basketball so I show my skills in basketball and nba news. If I was 6 ft or more I definitely would’ve been an nba player lol. I think I’m that good lol, I love what I do it give me purpose in the world, I believe I can growth generational wealth my this vehicle. I know I need a skill that I can express myself and a service to help people. I got that and all I know now is This Is A Marathon and The Marathon Continues to grow and expand, plus make my family live better
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When my business was relying on word of mouth I decided to create an website with a system to book appointment and people can inquire by searching online for a sneaker cleaner
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
I’m a big fan of Earl Nightingale and Napoleon’s Hill Principles to Success and the Strangest secret in the world
Contact Info:
- Website: OG restorations.square.site
- Instagram: @og_restorations215
- Facebook: Original Restorations Sneaker Restore Shop
Image Credits
Sneaker Culture Event With Chase Bank as A Panelist