I had to get health insurance. I needed a full-time job, and I got a job at Newbury Comics and Braintree, which is a record shop that also sells comics.

And when I was working there, I had all these funny nicknames. My goofy co-workers who would call me Johnny Appleseed, Johnny Come Lately, Johnny Cupcakes came out of nowhere and it sounded like a cute

mobster nickname. I was getting t-shirts made for the metal band I was in, getting merch made.

I said, I'm going to make a shirt to advertise a bakery that doesn't exist. And I always wanted

to make a clothing brand too, but I wore the shirt to work and all these slightly miserable

customers that never made eye contact with me, started laughing,

and what's Johnny Cupcakes? Is that a bakery? Is that an adult movie store? Is that a food

spot? Is it a biker bar? What's up with the crossbones? Is it a pet store? All these questions

kept coming about and they were very random and silly and sometimes awkward.

But for the most part, it made people smile.

Today's guest is Johnny Cupcakes, who turned his high school nickname into one of the most

creative T-shirt companies in America.

Johnny started by selling t-shirts from his car while he was playing in a metal band.

Now he has stores that look like bakeries, except instead of selling cupcakes, they sell t-shirts.

His unique way of doing business has created such excitement that customers camp out overnight just to buy

his latest designs. And in our conversation, we talk about growing up in a family that loves

surprises and how that shaped his approach to business and why he believes that making people smile

is just as important as making a sale. Let's dive in. Johnny Cupcakes, welcome to the podcast,

man. It's an honor to have you on, and I'm looking forward to diving into your story.

Yeah, I appreciate you having me. So I was listening to an interview. I can't remember which band it was, but it was like a well-known band.

And they were doing a reunion tour because they broke up for a little while.

And the interviewer was asking them, why are you guys breaking up?

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