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.
All photos and article are copyrighted.
COPYRIGHT 2013 RG Los Angeles Stories
