Saturday, June 29, 2013

Joshua Walker Interview


 

 

Joshua Walker

The Brand Architect
 

 

I feel so lucky meeting Joshua. I was actually trying to interview somebody else but as it worked out he is the one there…and I liked his answers a lot.

The Jarritos Summer Pop Up Shop that opened in 7020 Melrose is the brainchild of Joshua. The Pop Up Shop is only open throughout June and what is a “Unique Multipurpose Event Space” that exhibits talents from different mediums. It showcase clothing lines, artworks, music, poetry, etc. putting together creative people in one venue—what exactly I was looking for!

I met Joshua while he was cleaning up the store, mopping the floor, after a sick party event the night before. As busy as he was he didn’t hesitate to show hospitality, handing me a bottle of Mango Flavored Jarritos and making me feel comfortable. That was actually what the event is all about, he collaborated with local talents, invited them to the store and he handed out free Jarritos to all visitors who showed up—Marketing Genius!

Anyway, I was there to try meet people from CBNC, since they are celebrating their 5th year anniversary, and are showcasing their brand. I misunderstood the info from some skateboard buddies of mine, I thought it was a solely CBNC event.

Joshua, or Josh, is very easy to talk to and when I asked to interview him, since he got me so intrigued with his project, he said no problem. That’s the first of his many answers that I liked. In searching for a word to best describe him I’ve got one—cool! I am not good with describing fashion and trends, I’m such a geek when it comes to that, but I’ll try because Josh is so “Fly” that I find myself inspired to try to describe him in writing. He was wearing a Jarritos sweater, with a simple brand logo, I could see hipsters and skateboarders buying it like hot pancakes if the Jarritos company opens a clothing store. He is wearing dark blue jeans, not too baggy not too tight— and more importantly—not too low waist! He is wearing a baseball cap and he has the visor comfortably tilted a bit upwards to show his kind face and smile. I think I’m failing miserably but believe me he is “Fly”!

He went to Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, FIDM, in Los Angeles. It sounds to me a mecca for young creative people—I should pay it a visit one of these days. After school he says that he found himself broke but one day he figured to work with Jarritos, it’s a brand of soft drink in Mexico that for some reason skateboarders love, and Josh is a passionate skateboarder. He says that he loves the soft drink so much that he was willing to take a position in the lower rung of marketing—handing out flyers. This is the point of his story that Josh gave me an answer, that I not only like, but what must be one of the answers I am looking for. He says his personal motto is: “Be Humble, Be Hungry”, in fact he loves the motto so much that he once ventured to market an accessories brand about it. “Don’t think yourself so big that you are above a job” he says wisely; listen carefully to the master young grasshopper.

Anyway he went to places, with girlfriend in tow, around LA handing out flyers. He went to Melrose, Long Beach, Venice Beach, Silver Lake and made a presence in different events such as Coachella, multitudes of Color Run events, Flavor City Art Competition—to put up a stand and hand out free Jarritos! He says that he loved the experiences so much; he says the feeling brings him indescribable joy handing out drinks and see people’s smiles.

The watershed came in Jarritos’ first major crossover event, collaborating with LRG Clothing and Low Rider Magazine at Bonelli Park in San Dimas on 2013. His aim is simple, get to expose the soft drink brand to different demographics and make Jarritos “cool” and what seems to be cool to people is anything that’s got to do with novelty. And right now Jarritos is still a brand that is just surfacing and being re-discovered by people outside, well, Mexican population and the skateboarders.

There’s a lot to marketing and advertising that I do not know but Josh’s efforts are paying dividends since it appears like a Jarritos store, similar to the Pop Up one in Melrose, will open in Venice Beach sometime this year. And his answers regarding his definition of happiness and success…he says that you are successful if you are happy in what you are doing. I told you he has a good answer.
 
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