Johnny Cupcakes CAL State East Bay Lecture 2011

It's not often that I post or talk about other clothing companies on here. Actually, it's something that I never do to be quite honest. Though, the other day I did have the opportunity to meet the one and only Johnny Earle of Johnny Cupcakes fame. I can honestly say guys like him are part of what inspire me to do Crazy Go Lucky. He's just a guy doing what he loves and has fun doing and it just became such a successful thing for him. I mean he's got stores in Boston, Los Angeles, and is opening up one in London. He is a true example of if you have the drive and the passion for something, any regular Joe can accomplish great things.

So I did I get the opportunity to meet him? Well, I sort of heard from Facebook that he was doing a lecture at CAL State East Bay this past Wednesday. However, it wasn't until my friend Ame pointed it out to me that this lecture was open to the public, that I made the conscious decision to go. It has been 4 four years since I've been to the alma mater. So I was a bit surprised about all the changes that had happened to the campus since I had last been there. The lecture took place at the Union and was a pretty packed crowd. Ame, her cousin, and I weren't able to get seats, so we ended up sitting off to the side of the stage.







The lecture was great. Johnny definitely gave some good insight and reaffirmed some beliefs and ideas I have for Crazy Go Lucky. I would tell you what some of those things are but I think I would lose the element surprise if you guys and girls knew about some of these things. Though it does relate to the Crazy Go Lucky theme of randomness. Another thing to point out is that the man has a great sense of humor for a business man of that level of notoriety. I don't really understand what "Old Navy butt" is, but it just sounds funny. Also, the orajel on people's drinks sounds like an instant classic.

So towards the Q&A section of his lecture, Ame and her cousin had to leave and since they were my ride I had to go. Though they gave me their parking permit and I drove back to the event from South Hayward Bart. So I got back and the lecture was over and all his shirts they were selling in the hallway were sold out. However, Johnny was still around and there was a line of people waiting to get his autograph and get a picture with him. It wasn't quite the line you see at his openings, but it still was quite a line.





Ok that wasn't the line, you can find a picture of the indoor line at the Johnny Cupcakes blog. Though since the line was so long and people were taking all sorts of crazy pics with him, the Union closed before he got to the end of the line. So we had to relocate this to outside the Union.



So to lighten up some of the mood, Johnny did a magic trick or two to keep us enthused in the cold.



So here we get to the part where I can tell people of my own "Johnny Cupcakes story". So once I got to the front of line, I looked at Johnny and introduced myself and asked if he could sign the Cupcake Chronicle I got from inside the Union. While he was getting the Cupcake Chronicles from my hand, I think he tried another magic trick, but I wasn't sure how to react. So I kinda stood there and looked awkward. Ok the order of this part of the story I don't remember too well but either it was cuz he complimented my shirt(I know he made some kind of comment about it) or something about or due to the cold and nervousness I mumbled incoherently that he was an inspiration. Which I then paused drew a blank and then out loud questioned why I was getting nervous(which is probably due to the fact that sometimes you can imagine how you would react if you met your heroes, but sometimes in reality you caught up in the emotions of being in there presence and you don't know what to do.) Which I will admit is kind of weird because Johnny really does come off as some regular guy that you can imagine hanging out with and talking about cartoons and movies with.

So after that weird little moment, I was able to tell him that I also had a shirt company and gave him a Crazy Go Lucky business card. Which he said he liked the layout. Which is when I started to mention that I was in the process of updating it, but my laptop had started its non boot up issue during the day. So I wasn't sure when a new card would get made. He then took out his wallet and put the card in there and said he would check it out. I don't really know if he actually is going to check it out or not. Though, just knowing that at that moment in time he had some good things to say about what I was trying to do made my day. After he put his wallet back in his pocket, I asked to get a photo with him.



So after the photo, we said see you around to each other and I made my way back to my car. Which was surprisingly still there and not ticketed because of the expiration time written on the permit. Although, I didn't buy any shirts from the event. I did mange to take home some free give aways so I still have some mementos of this day, aside from the story of meeting him. This evening is definitely a memory that I do not want to block repress.