We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michel Asperas. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michel below.

Michel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

Overall, I am very happy as a small business owner. I am very grateful for everything I have experienced and look forward to continued learning and growth in the future. However, there are pros and cons to being a small business owner. At my stage as a small company, I’m rarely ever “off the clock.” I first got involved in my first “side-hustle” around 12 years old, and I’ve worked towards growing my business ever since. Often when I am working essentially non-stop every day, the thought of “what would it be like to just have a regular job?” comes to mind. The ease of clocking out at 5 PM and no longer thinking about work seems like a dream sometimes. With Archangel Authentics being an online e-commerce company, holidays can be rough. I want to join my family and friends while they sit back and relax, but most of the holiday season I’m running around making sure the business is taken care of.
Instead of a 9-5 job, I ended up essentially with a 24/7 position. But the main thing that keeps me motivated is my passion for the core of the business. Ever since I started the business back in 2013, I’ve had an intrinsic enthusiasm for sneakers, fashion, and accessories. Even as my personal taste evolved over the years, I wanted to maintain an authentic curated selection of products for Archangel Authentics. When I curate my inventory, it’s like a fun shopping spree. When I create content for social media, I’m excited to discuss topics with like-minded enthusiasts. When I come across new brands and pieces I’m unfamiliar with, I get the opportunity to learn something new. After over a decade of running the business, I am very grateful to say that I haven’t gotten bored yet. With the further expansion into luxury goods and watches, it’s created even more avenues for passion and growth.
I may work long hours, at all hours, almost every day, but a lot of the time, it doesn’t feel like “work”. I love the flexibility to work when I want, for as long as I want, to a level that makes me happy. Nothing and no one is forcing me to have the work ethic that I have. I strive to perform the best that I can because the feeling of accomplishing my goals fulfills me. Being a business owner can be tough, but I would not trade it for a regular job. I am happy in my position and forever grateful for all the experiences and opportunities it has created for me.

Michel, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Currently, Archangel Authentics offers a wide array of new and preowned footwear, apparel, accessories, and watches. But before I first started the business, it began with my sneaker-collecting journey in 2011 when I fell in love with the Nike Air Max 90. I soon turned this passion for sneakers into my first company, Archangel Kicks, in June 2013. I first focused on restoring, creating, and selling custom shoes for the first few years. I loved being able to produce a unique shoe for clients and turn ideas into reality. As time progressed, Archangel Kicks started to build up an inventory of various sneaker releases for sale. I would travel to different Sneaker Shows to share and sell my custom shoes, clothing, and sought-after sneakers. Shortly after moving from Georgia to Texas to attend the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, Michel rebranded a new company, Archangel Hype, in 2018. The new company would pivot to strictly product sales. The “Kicks” name was changed to “Hype” as inventory began to expand into popular streetwear brand apparel and accessories. Fast forward to 2024, over 10 years since the official launch of Archangel Kicks. This newest expansion and rebranding, Archangel Authentics, aims to provide a limitless future for continued growth and improvement. While the business still maintains heavy roots in the world of sneakers and streetwear, Archangel Authentics now incorporates the worlds of high fashion, vintage designer goods, luxury watches, and more.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

When I founded Archangel Kicks in 2013, it was just a side hustle. I mean I was 14 years old going to school with multiple extracurriculars. I’d often stay up late balancing both my studies and working on custom orders. Going into college, there were tons of new changes I had to adapt to. Rebuilding the business in a new city was challenging at first but proved to hold lots of potential for growth. Throughout my college years, I still mainly viewed Archangel Hype as a side hustle. I worked a normal job leasing at a student apartment building for a few years, but once my business became steady enough that I was earning more than my normal job with fewer hours put in, I decided to leave that position and begin focusing more on my own business.
As I neared my college graduation, I started to do the traditional thing and started looking for typical 9-5 jobs in marketing. I had planned to move to New York City and start a new life and career there. But then, COVID happened. Suddenly, a traditional graduation was out the window and the whole world had changed to adapt to the worldwide pandemic.
I took this as a sign to stay put in Austin and decided that it was an opportunity to go all-in on my business. I had seen success over the years, but I had always balanced it with school. Now that I had a chance to finally focus on Archangel full-time, especially with the pandemic lockdowns, I was able to discover its true potential. I started to rebuild the online presence and scale up the business with more inventory and sales volume. This priority on e-commerce really paid off as consumer habits shifted to online shopping as people were stuck at home.
As the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease up and restrictions softened, I was eager to get back to in-person interactions at trade shows. A key milestone was the company’s performance during the 2021 SneakerCon show in Dallas. The sales performance during the event proved to me that the business was here to stay as a full-time job and allowed me to have the confidence I needed to go “all-in” on Archangel.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

Archangel Authentics is an e-commerce-based business with a large majority of sales being shipped out to places across the country. Its early origins began as a simple eBay store where I would list my custom shoes and other inventory. Soon after, I started with my first website. It didn’t get any direct sales, but as a 14-year-old, I was honestly just really excited to have my own company website. When I rebranded the company to Archangel Hype in 2018, I decided to switch to WIX and build a brand new site. This was definitely an improvement from the previous one but still was limited in its reach and overall conversions to sales. Last year in 2023, I switched to Shopify and spent many hours really building it out. I implemented everything I learned while studying digital marketing at McCombs and did my best to stay up to date with the ever-evolving world of e-commerce. This new Shopify-hosted website so far has proved more successful in almost all metrics, and I am excited to continue growing traffic and conversions to build the Archangel Authentics community. While it is very important to have my own company website as a “home base” for me and my customers, I’ve always implemented a multi-channel online sales system. I have products cross-listed on the website, online marketplaces such as StockX, GOAT, and eBay, and frequently market on my social media platforms. This allows the products to have a broader audience all over the world and gives me the opportunity to build stronger relationships with customers.
The biggest pro to an e-commerce business is lower overhead costs, the ability to reach wider audiences, and the flexibility to make sales at all hours of the day. The biggest challenge with being on the internet though is building an organic audience and establishing trust with them. There are so many competing businesses online, and unfortunately, this includes both reputable and dishonest companies. Creating and maintaining a trustworthy environment for clients is paramount for my business. I strive to continue a culture of establishing an authentic and approachable experience as the company grows.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ArchangelAuthentics.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/archangelauthentics
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/archangelauthentics