Jeremy Weisz 2:16
some really cool clients. Let’s talk about a few of
Ethan King 2:19
your you’re a fan. We hate to drop names here. But we do have some cool projects that come up. Like we’ve done jackets for Rick Ross. AKon we outfitted his whole record label, Tyler Perry and Tyler Perry studios. Marvel so we just recently did some work for the new Black Panther movie this coming out what kind of forever the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie. So it’s really cool to like work behind the scenes and just be even if it’s a tiny part of these multibillion dollar projects, it just gives us a lot of joy and I think my team loves it as well.
Jeremy Weisz 2:55
So walk me through so I can visualize what it is so let’s talk about Tyler Perry Rick Ross and and Black Panthers for say what what did you do with each of them?
Ethan King 3:06
So they’re all every project is different? I have an art background by the way I have no business training sometimes I’m like, What am I doing in Iraq but so each project is a little bit different like Rick Ross. He’s come to us for he had he had a music video shoot. And the theme of it was like this collegiate so he wanted this letterman jacket with all of his businesses patch a patch for each business he’s an entrepreneur too with several several brands. So we did the logo for each one going all down his arm on this jacket and he needed it turned around next day. So we were
Jeremy Weisz 3:40
the only people that custom next day don’t usually go together
Ethan King 3:44
don’t so that’s our unique value proposition right there that sweet spot of custom next day, of course you got to pay extra for next day and really advanced artistry that most of most other people in our space kind of shy away from but like with Marvel in the movie
Jeremy Weisz 4:00
so back to recross what was the color like describe the what did it look like?
Ethan King 4:05
So it was a blue and gold letterman jacket like with a leather sleeves in the wool body and then it had like the rick ross wrote logo and then on the back he had the the Triple M Maybach music logo and then all his business is going down the sleeves so Marvel yes a marvel. So with the movies it’s really cool because we get sometimes we get to do things that will actually appear in the movie like it might be uniforms, like say there’s a scene that shot at a school and all the kids need uniforms. Well, we did that for a Marvel series that was on Netflix. And then sometimes it’s for the crew, where when they wrap the movie, they want to give wrap gifts to all of the the crew so we’ll do the wrap gifts like they’ll do jackets or hoodies or some type of really nice accessory, though. It’s cool to be on both sides of the project.
Jeremy Weisz 4:56
Were there any that stick out over the years of cool gifts Is that someone gave their staff or crew or any that were out of the ordinary? Or were they more typical shirt hoodie jacket,
Ethan King 5:10
there was some there’s definitely been some that are out of the ordinary, but they they have meaning to that crew because of the experiences they went through while filming that movie. So, you know, for example, for Black Panther, they had these huge, like duffel bags, I guess, almost like ski bags, and they branded it with the Wakanda. Forever, logos. I don’t know the connection, but it’s a story that is very meaningful to the crew. Tyler Perry. Yeah. So Tyler Perry. We were actually very fortunate. I started working with Tyler Perry before, most people that ever even heard of him. So this was 20 years ago, before he ever launched his first movie. He’s from Atlanta. He’s from Atlanta. And well, he’s originally from New Orleans, but he He’s based in Atlanta. And so he started out doing stage plays. And at the time, this is my former business, I was a graphic designer, a freelance graphic designer. So he hired my firm to design all of his merchandise, and posters and flyers for his plays. And we worked together for about 10 years until he stopped doing stage plays.
Jeremy Weisz 6:12
So what kind of stuff did you end up doing with him?
Ethan King 6:16
Yeah, so every every play play bill, like the booklet you get when you go to the plays, and he went all out on his booklet, some of the magazine quality, all of the T shirts and merchandise that the people sell at the plays. And we actually, he trusted my work I’m very fortunate to I always showed up and was reliable. So when his mom passed away, unfortunately, from cancer, he reached out to me to design her funeral booklet, which was very touching. So I got that’s really touching, I got to learn a lot about him personally, and it affected him deeply, of course. So just, I’m glad that I was a part of it his life. And that in that moment,
Jeremy Weisz 6:59
I mean, there’s not much more trust to have someone, you know, represent someone’s mom or dad in that type of situation. Very deeply personal situation. Now, on the flip side, you work with a lot of different types of businesses, including best selling books.
Ethan King 7:16
Yeah, so my, my personal brand i i also outside of the clothing business, I speak to audiences about living life on your own terms, living life by design. And I recently published a book called wealth beyond money, unlocking the six dimensions of success for richness in every area of your life. And we were very fortunate that the book performed very well. We had a very successful launch and became a number one international bestseller.
Jeremy Weisz 7:45
Where can people find it?
Ethan King 7:47
You can find it on Amazon, you can go to my website, Ethanking.com and find it there. You can go just go straight to wealthbeyondmoneybook.com
Jeremy Weisz 7:57
Anything you were saying? I know you have multiple businesses just dropped some of the website names so people can check out each one. Yeah,
Ethan King 8:06
so if you’re in a fraternity or sorority or know someone in a collegiate fraternity or sorority, check out Stuff4greeks.com stuff4greeks.com. We outfit the all the frats and sororities across the country. If you need custom apparel for for anything, whether it’s personal gifts or for your business, if you want swag, check out Zeus closet.com Zeuscloset.com. Check out my website, Ethanking.com. And also have some real estate ventures but nobody wants to hear about that boring stuff.
Jeremy Weisz 8:38
My last question Ethan is, you know, we stand on the shoulders of giants. You mentioned I’m just a graphic designer business. We’re all like that, right? We all have mentors and people that help us in business, because we start out not knowing anything, right. So I’d love for you to talk about a few of your mentors so they could be in Atlanta or wherever that, you know, give you advice. It could be colleagues and mentors who have helped you.
Ethan King 9:00
Most definitely. I’ll talk about two of them. One being Tyler Perry since he brought his name up. In working with him. I got to absorb a lot of the business knowledge that he has. Most people don’t see him as a successful entrepreneur. I see him as an entertainer, but he’s actually a very, very astute entrepreneur. And one thing I learned from him is I own it. And I remember it was at a time in our business where we had outgrown working in our basement. And we were at a crossroads like do we want to lease office space? Or do we do we want to what did we want to do next to expand and we didn’t have much money, but we made a stretch to purchase an office building in West Midtown Atlanta, and then investment has paid off tremendously. It was a stretch at the time, but I’m glad I listened to Tyler’s advice because he’s all about owning it. Another one of my mentors, happens to be here at this event at EO Global Leadership Conference. His name is Mr. Warren Rustand. Warren is the dean of the leadership of education for EO Entrepreneurs Organization. And he is actually served as a an adviser to the President of the United States, Gerald Ford. And he’s an accomplished businessman with investments in over like 17 different businesses that are either publicly traded or $100 million. And He’s a family man. He is the I’ve always had this belief that you can have it all and that the traditional concepts of life balance don’t really apply if you think about things the right way. And Warren is he truly exemplifies that. And he is the only other person one of the few other people I’ve heard say you can have it all. And Warren actually wrote the foreword for my book wealth beyond money because he felt it was so fitting and a message that needed to be shared with the world
Jeremy Weisz 10:42
wealth beyond money. Thank you everyone from GLC.
