Today we’d like to introduce you to Lester Johnson.
Hi Lester, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I first became inspired by Fashion and Style during my 9th Grade year in High-School. Growing up in Liberty City, Florida playing sports for Miami Northwestern Sr. High-School I started obsessing with the way Fashion made me look and feel around my peers and when I went out in public. Entering into my 10th Grade year, I started to notice my influence and impression on the culture when it came to my style. That year 10th Graders were not allowed to attend any of the schools end of the year activities, but I remained persistent in my efforts to attend my High-school Prom; I wanted to wear my Versace shirt, Gator shoes and drive a foreign car like the show I grew up watching as a child, “Miami Vice.” The majority of the students that year attending the prom wore a traditional tuxedo or suit and drove a basic rental car, but the following year almost every person attending the function wore Versace shirts and Gator shoes. My senior year rolled around and I wanted to set the bar even higher that year, so I decided to have my suit tailored to match that of my prom date and if you take a closer look at the direction that the Prom Culture has transcended to over the years, you can still see my influence on the culture from coast to coast even today. But I can remember in 2003 being emotionally depressed, suffering from PTSD and a feeling of worthlessness sitting in my apartment at Tuskegee University because my athletic eligibility was coming to an end, and I was mentally and emotionally drained from all of the Coaches that thought they were going to hold my future in their hands. I was finally done with playing the sport that I grew up loving and that had afforded me the opportunity to receive scholarships to pursue my education further. I was feeling like a tremendous disappointment to my mom and family. My mom invested so much time, money, and energy into me and now I was ready to walk away from the sport that everyone assumed I would continue to pursue. At this point in my life, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. One thing that I did know was that it was going to be something legendary and that I owed it to my mom to graduate from college. I also knew that it had to be something equal to or greater than an NFL player’s career. This time around, I was going to control my own narrative and take my future out of the hands of others, and placed my future into my own hands. I thought about all of the things that I considered myself good at when I was growing up in Miami and came to the conclusion that I wanted to be a Boss like my father. I thought about the best times of my life and remembered how Fashion and Style always made me feel. The idea of owning my own Clothing Line was an exciting thought but how would I be able to achieve this task or even if this dream was attainable, is what I asked myself. “FUBU” eventually made its debut to the mainstream, and I was blown away by noticing how the founders of that brand were people that looked like me. This inspired me to the point that I realized that my dreams and goals were indeed attainable now. If they were able to do it, then so will I. I have always been a very determined, self-motivated, and ambitious person with some drawing and sketching skills from my middle school days, but I had no clue as to how I was going to make this dream become a reality. I started thinking about business names and logos for the brand because creating is exciting to me and I was starting to feel good again emotionally, mentally, and psychologically. I dove into this project headfirst sketching and drawing every single day. I would spend hours sitting at my desk trying to perfect the vision and business strategy for the brand. That was when all of the negative thoughts from my past resurfaced mocking me and encouraging me to “Stop.” I kept on drawing and sketching all the while pushing through to my goals. I created an entire 200-page catalog of drawings that I planned on utilizing once I launched the brand. I use to pitch ideas to my family, friends, and people from my neighborhood. I received curious looks from some, laughs from others, and encouragement from most that this endeavor was going to take some tremendous courage and persistence, but I informed them that I was up to the challenge and I was doing something that made me happy by creating. Fast-Forward 5yrs later as time quickly got away from me after getting shot and almost dying in the car. I had to get serious about my life and started focusing on graduating with my Social Work degree from Tuskegee University. After graduating in 08’, I started my now professional career of 13 yrs. of working with the Mental Health and giving back to the community because bills had to be paid every month. I met my wife in 2013 and I asked the Lord to come into my life as we started creating our family unit. At this point in my life, God was instructing me to start back working on my craft because after so long, I started to have doubts that I could even pull the launching of the brand off anymore. I was unaware that when God is on your side and in your corner, you can pursue any and everything. This was the message that God was trying to portray to me. I’m a perfectionist and this was the reason for me not achieving my ultimate goal of launching the brand. This situation taught me a valuable lesson in life. “There will never be the perfect scenario that will allow you to feel comfortable enough to start or launch a business, sometimes in life you have to go and perfect your craft as you go, grow and learn more about the mission of the business.” In 2016 God spoke to me and told me to go, so I went and applied for a $600.00 loan for the entire summer apparel promotion, and I haven’t looked back since that day. I have created 3 more companies within the last 6 years and have also assisted my wife with creating 3 companies of her own as well, so with that said all that I can say is now is that “My God is Faithful.”BeBlessed!
LJ
CEO/Founder
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha. Smooth! Business is never smooth. When I first started the brand, I constantly had to stay on the Guy designing my shirts because he would be a week off of my deadline after I been posted on social media a certain date; I had to fire him and went with a larger embroidery company who would design my apparel with the wrong colors and the wrong designs. I would have to wait until they reordered merch, my back would get so tight that I had sleep on the floor. My kids would be jumping over me playing, I would have to leave my job because I couldn’t stand and I was the Director of the Facility; I had to eventually step down because of the stress the Brand was causing my body. After about 4 years of dealing with that, I purchased my own 15,000 embroidery machine, I created an embroidery company to offset financed payments and started doing my own apparel. Being I was knew to embroidering, 6 months after receiving the embroidery machine, a needle from the machine went through my finger going 750 stitches per minute, and broke off. I had to drive myself to the ER while my wife stay home with kids and when I returned home because the ER couldn’t do anything but refer me to a surgeon almost a month later, I had to return home and finish embroidering some hats for a Sam’s Car Wash on 17th Ave, who had already paid me and given me a deadline, so that night I felt like I was the deadline because after a couple of hours it was hurting very bad but the next day I had to get back to embroidering with a needle broke off into my swollen and now getting infected finger. That machine looked like a 2000lb Rottweiler looking at me when I walked into my garage, but I had to overcome that and get to work. A year later and I’m doing great with that company, and I’m always reminded to keep my fingers out of the way.
Whew!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Former Mental Health Director, now I have much more freedom as an Adult Case Manager for the Mental Health. I really enjoy assisting my individuals thrive and progress in life, I am most proud of at this moment is purchasing a house 2 years ago for me and family. The things that set me apart is my morals, values, ambition, determination. I have a “I will win” attitude no matter however long it’s going to take, even if I’m not here to reap the benefits and my kids can, then I am fine with that.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I smoke and I am a very picky eater; I have never tried Mac and cheese, never tried collard greens, never tried stuffing, mash potatoes, never tried coffee, never tried a Butterfinger, Milky Way, I can go on… haha
Contact Info:
- Website: www.credentialscertified.net
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/credentials_certified?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theFINESTBRAND?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@lesterjohnson5248
- Other: https://instagram.com/certifiedembroideryanddesigns?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
