Johnny Cupcakes

He's also a joker and prankster.

Last month, Johnny Earle was a guest speaker at my home community college.  His shop, Johnny Cupcakes, looks and smells like a bakery, but he sells tee shirts instead of edibles.
In 2008, he was named #1 entrepreneur 25 years and younger by BusinessWeek. Although I do not plan on running my own business or clothes line, I still found Johnny inspirational.


I will write multiple posts of Johnny Cupcakes including his advice. This post will be the longest of three or four.

His Story

Because Johnny's mother often came home upset from long hours of work and commute, Johnny decided, “I'll work at a cool company or be my own boss.” Everyone wishes for this outcome, but Johnny did more than wishing.

Johnny has been a salesman throughout his life. When he changed to a charter school, he was sad to no longer school with his friends. However, there were benefits to a small school such as easily finding the young salesman. When Johnny saw that the charter school had no yearbook, he put his scrapbook to good use. He didn't have the money for mass production, but he learned that pre-orders provided the funding.

Then Johnny learned about wholesale from buying whoopee cushions in bulk for the price of four whoopees.  Selling just four whoopees would cover the cost. 

He invested the profit into other gag products such as itching powder. Unfortunately, a student was allergic to an herb in it. When faced with expulsion, Johnny argued, “If a kid buys a pencil from a supply store and then stabs another kid, you don't blame the supply store.” Thus, he was suspended for a few weeks instead of expelled.

Because his better selection of candy sold better than the school's candy, Johnny was told to focus on the internship requirement for graduation. He looked through a phone book and chose printed shirts. At the assembly line, he was inspired him to make his own designs.

Johnny worked more internships for hands-on experience. His attitude was, “work now, play later. Put 110% into business.” As for games, Internet, and parties, Johnny said, “Don't do anything excessive.” He had to break-up with a girlfriend and one friend disappointed Johnny by not putting as much effort into a shared business. However, he still had fun with friends such as putting oral gel on their drinks so they drooled when talking to a girl.

Johnny's parents wanted him to give college a try. If he needed more time outside of school, then he could take less classes. If he took a few classes, then choose the ones he was passionate about. His parents were fine if he stopped, which Johnny did do in his first and only semester.  He was distracted by business opportunities. Johnny stated that he had Borderline ADD. He had intended to take a break from school for these ideas. 

The classic cupcake with crossbones.

His Cupcakes

Johnny randomly slapped a cupcake on a shirt. He thought a hard-core rock band member  wearing a cupcake instead of a skull would be amusing. And because people gave him Johnny-this and Johnny-that nicknames, he came up with Johnny Cupcakes.  His shirts caught the attention of coworkers and customers at a comic store. Because of all the inquires, Johnny made more shirts and sold them from the trunk of his car during work breaks.

Nickelodeon  was a dream come true
for Johnny!

His shirts became popular because there were no shirt brands focused on food. Johnny played with pop-culture by substituting characters and icons with cupcakes. Weapons were replaced with cupcakes too. The profits were invested in better supplies and equipment.

Currently, Johnny is known as not selling his product to stores, but he had done so at the beginning. He benefited in seeing store labels, tags, and packaging. Packaging alone can attract and keep customers. Johnny has spent money and time on detailing the packages he uses now to make them special. If a customer hangs onto a tag, then you get free advertising.

Johnny hard at work.

From the stores, Johnny heard about trade shows and risked his savings on a table at one. He discovered that a year's worth of networking could be done at one trade show. To stand out, he gave away cupcakes, had his team dress as chefs, and placed products on baking trays.








Johnny noticed the advantages of online shops. People buy more on the Internet than in person because they don't see each dollar leave their wallet. Customers also want to make the shipping cost worth it. In addition, items and purchases on the Internet can be shared easily. Based on a survey box, 90% of customers heard about Johnny Cupcakes from a friend. Some new customers found Johnny Cupcakes from searching “cupcakes.” Even if these people felt tricked they still spoke of the shop because the search result was different.

I got a Bobby's World vintage card.  

Because word of mouth was effective, Johnny kept people talking. Sometimes he places a random item in a purchase such as a bag of sand, a vintage sticker, batteries, or even a $20 bill. Customers share about these fun surprises and buy more shirts for more surprises. In addition, a random battery serves as free advertisement for Johnny by reminding the customer of the shirts at the sight of batteries. In his blog, he stated his excitement for when a customer finds a fake skull in their purchase. 

At the lecture, Johnny taped a little surprise under each seat. Attendees found a little bag
(like the one in the image) filled with his business card, candy wrapped with the Johnny Cupcakes logo, and a vintage trading card. One bag had $1 while another had $20. A code was also given for a 20% off discount. Johnny stated, “It's okay if you return the shirt. I just want you to see the packaging.”

This shirt that I bought had a hidden message.

Another one of Johnny's kooky strategies is a hidden message on the inside of most shirts. The shirt printers hate this extra step because most customers do not know about it. Johnny muses over a customer possibly finding the hidden message on laundry day. Johnny thinks the customer will then check other purchased shirts, call friends to check their own purchases, and buy more shirts. 


Johnny then tried a new shop location for better foot traffic. It was a risk, but over 400 dedicated customers stood in line for the grand opening. People slept 12 days on the street to buy a shirt. I will share the grand opening video in another blog post.

He got a trade dress for his shop, which means a trademark for store or product display. He won't sell cupcakes to keep his shop weird, strange, and unique. Nearby bakeries have been saved because Johnny sends the tricked, hungry customers to these shops. Another person who benefited is Johnny's mom. He hired her as CEO and she's happy now. =)

Thank you, Johnny!

I thought this real life Willy Wonka was worth standing in line three times for the lecture, shirt purchase, and face-to-face on my birthday.

Community Returns

NBC's Community returns on March 15! 

=0 Awesome :D

Here's a trailer for season 4:

It draws up many questions such as "Was that evil Abed in the beard?"


If next week isn't soon enough to see the gang again, then check out the animated shorts. Abed becomes the Dean's assistant. I'm getting the feeling that it will take a turn like the movie I, Robot.

I could not help laugh when Shirley appeared at the end. They captured her voice and personality in the expressions.

Peeta Bread Humor

There's a meme (Internet running joke) for perspectives of college majors and career fields such as this one:

The two in the middle are my favorites.

Then this "What people think I do" meme spread to interests including literature. Here's one for Peeta from The Hunger Games:

Once again I like the mom one. haha.

I found another meme with Peeta and burnt bread:

The movie is coming out in March. Read the book beforehand. The rating is PG-13 so teenagers can enjoy it. Thus, some scenes will not make it to the screen including most likely the last death in the game which I am grateful it is not. I had no problem with that scene in the book, but I am fine not facing it again through another medium.

If you find funny The Hunger Games images, then I'd like to see them. They do not have to be Peeta. I just feel that I know that character better than Gale from the first two books.

Gamer's Valentine

Here's a Valentine I thought was cute and worth sharing:

The first two lines refer to iconic game characters.

Done with Poison

This cover shows the long nose bridge
just as described in the book.

I finished Poison by Chris Wooding.

The story is about a girl named Poison who feels alienated in her town even within her family, which now includes a new mother. Her baby sister, Azalea, is one of only two people that Poison is comfortable around. Therefore, when Azalea is kidnapped by the Phaerie Lord, Poison musters courage to leave her home and find Azalea. The result is an enlightening adventure that changes her perspective of the world and her life.

Once I finished the story, I felt satisfaction and uplifted because Poison found her place. =)


WARNING: There are big spoilers towards the end of this post. I will warn you again right before that part.




Throughout the book, the narrator sets up questions for the reader such as:

• Why was Posion's sister taken away?
• What is the significance of the spider Lady's dagger and does it wield a power?
• Who is the Hypotroth?
• How will Poison's story end?

Each answer carries weight in the story.

There were some elements that I have seen before, which happens more as you read more, but the experience did not feel repeated. Now that I think about it, Wooding may have used classic Fantasy elements on purpose. After all, Poison noticed how fairy tales strongly related to her adventure and for a reason!

I agree, Ron.

One of those elements was a giant spider like in
The Incredible Shrinking Man 
(Sci-fi not Fantasy), The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter. Outsmarting the spider was still suspenseful with some fun. Poison dreaded the Lady of the spider realm more than the spiders. My only repeated experience was that I was grossed out by a giant spider.

When Poison researches the scarecrow, I remembered Pennywise (from Stephen King's IT) in an album. I reread that particular scene for thrills, but by the next two chapters I forgot the scene. Wooding wisely reminds the reader of it during the scarecrow's reappearance.

As I said before, Katniss' attitude in The Hunger Games reminded of Poison, especially when describing their homes. I felt that Poison was for a younger age range than The Hunger Games until the story took a meta twist. =) Middle schoolers will be spellbound by the concept of meta-fiction and even adults will find it intriguing. As a quick definition, metafiction is a story within a story. A new definition I heard is fiction on the process of fiction because it is a story that covers storywriting. I won't say more. Wooding explained it for you in the story.

One problem I had with the book was that some lines sounded too fantastical. I had to reread them to grasp the action and meaning plus those lines were not necessary. When Poison traveled to new places, I ignored these fantastical lines after the first attempt. Sometimes a writer feels pressured to have clever lines, but the words need to flow with the rest. Otherwise readers lose their trance. Newsweek writer Elmore Leonard has stated, "If it sounds like writing I rewrite it."


The rest of this post mentions big spoilers because the scene discussed is close to the story's end. I will not list all details though.


The day after I finished reading Poison, I remembered a scene that struck me as odd for a hero, especially for young audiences. Throughout Poison's journey, she bluffs and taunts threats. With Aelthar, she tried to tone down her attitude, realizing that it can hurt her chances. But when she was stabbed, Poison did not watch her attitude. Had she not learned? Her life was threatened the most at this moment.  Even if she had felt almighty about her new role, Poison should know that her life was still at risk. She saw what happened to Melcheron.

I questioned if Poison should be considered suicidal at this point because she provoked her stabber to strike again, "'Finish it. The last laugh will be mine.'" I understood she was helpless in this moment and hurt badly, but shouldn't she at least want to live now? She had wanted to die before, but her role is different from that point.

I did enjoy the adventure though. And after the last line, I turned the page to a blank one and felt as if I had just experienced magic because the story actually ended at that line. Haha.

What did you think of Poison? How about that odd moment I mentioned?

Troy & Abed Shirt

I have a lot to blog about including Johnny Cupcakes! But for this post, I'm going to return to Megan Lara who has done Art Nouveau style T-shirts.

"Dope Adventures" T-shirt

Today on TeeFury.com, Megan Lara has a T-shirt of Troy and Abed from Community in the styled of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes."
At first I was a little disappointed that they don't look much like Troy and Abed. But then I thought about their relationship. Troy is the boyish innocent one while Abed is the rational one. So Megan Lara matched up the personalities well.

And then I looked at the details. If you know Troy and Abed, then you will appreciate the comic title "Kick-Puncher." =) They have also like blanket forts, and they now room in one in at the end of season 3. The little mug says "Special drink,"  which I think refers to Abed's chocolate milk recipe. So Megan Lara has succeeded in putting Troy and Abed elements in the "Calvin and Hobbes" setting.

You can get the shirt HERE for $10, but only for 8.5 more hours of today. The web page has a countdown for the duration of the shirt sale. Afterwards the shirt will no longer be sold at TeeFury. You will have to find the shirt on another website, which will sell the shirt for at least $20.

Here's a picture of "Calvin and Hobbes" for those of you who need an introduction to them:

Calvin and Hobbes

You can read the comic strips in book volumes now. Some adventures, including the great ones, last more than one strip. The names were chosen from philosophers John Calvin and Thomas Hobbes. Hobbes the tiger is actually a stuffed animal that Calvin imagines as a real tiger and his best friend.

There's no fooling myself now that I'm nostalgic and sentimental. I will get the shirt!

Reading Status

I am currently in between books right now.

Last week I finished reading Poison by Chris Wooding. I will talk more about Poison on a separate blog post. For now I will say that I enjoyed the adventure and the twists, but I am unsure of the heroine's attitude near the end.

After watching the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I started reading the graphic novels by Bryan Lee O'Malley. 

Ramona looks happier
in the books than in
the movie.

From the movie, I felt that the battles with each ex represented a boy's inner struggle when dating a girl on a higher level. He feels insecure about the previous relationships of the girl and hopes she won't see him as below them. So when Scott wins a fight, it can be a victory of self-esteem. 

In both the movie and the graphic novels, I crack up on the video game aspects including the pixelated Universal Studios opening. The graphic novels cover more than Scott's current relationships. I just finished vol. 2. 

One new release that I added to the top of my reading list is I, Robot: To Protect.

From glancing at a copy at the store, I thought someone just retold the story in their own style. However, from Amazon reviews, I saw that the book is a prequel to I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. One review states Dr. Susan Calvin is shown to become as she is in I, Robot. Now I am interested. =)

The other new release I want to read is The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson.

A blogger states that she loves the author Dickerson's evil villains and sense of danger in her stories. The Merchant's Daughter is similar to "Beauty and the Beast." This book seems to be about 2 main decisions.

The first decision is to be the lusty bailiff's wife or a disfigured man's temporary servant. You don't have to think too hard on that choice.

Because the heroine is a servant instead of a prisoner or an arranged guest, I think of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. The second decision reminds me even more of Jane Eyre. The heroine has a spiritual dilemma: the path she chose for herself or God's true calling for her.







And finally, a friend recommended Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay to me for suspense.

How about you? What are you reading?