Today we’d like to introduce you to Casey Shultis.
Casey, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
A lot of our story as a brand and company comes from my journey as a follower of Jesus. I grew up in the church and my faith was never really a question. When I went to college, I was challenged with a lot of questions from existential to philosophical to moral. My faith had to become real to me and not an obligation. I came to God with a lot of baggage and things one would assume needed “fixing,” and he encountered me with life-changing love that rewired my perception of who He really is.
Fast forward to college and I was passionate about showing people God’s true nature of his kindness leading to repentance. I was wearing a W.W.J, D. bracelet and a friend of mine asked me what it stood for. When I told him it stood for “What would Jesus do?” he looked confused. I knew that his only idea of “what Jesus would do” came from hate preachers that yelled horrible things at him on his way to class.
I thought he was going to ask me, “well, what would Jesus do?”. I started to scramble in my head and I didn’t know what my answer was going to be. He didn’t ask me but I left that conversation stunned that I didn’t have an answer for a question I have heard my whole life. I started to realize that even growing up in the church, I didn’t really know what Jesus would do. I used the think God was mad at me or just wanted me to fix myself, but that mindset had changed since I encountered His love. I simply asked God, “what would Jesus do?” and I felt like he put “He would love first” on my heart.
After sitting on the idea for about eight months, I finally told some people and they affirmed that it would actually be a cool idea! So some friends and I had a small batch of the bracelets made with no intention of building a business or developing some go-to-market strategy. We just wanted the people around of to know What Jesus was really like. After the word started to spread, we posted about it on Instagram, the feedback was incredible and we knew we had something God wanted to use. With no real clue on how to start a business, we took one step at a time. Made one mistake at a time, learned one lesson at a time. And now, four years later, we are living proof that God can use absolutely anyone!
Great, 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?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road! When we first started, it was three of us. I was playing college soccer with my roommate and co-founder, Lukas Joyner, and the third founder was my cousin, Caleb Guinn, who had a full-time job at the time. So to say we were busy would be an understatement! We couldn’t put everything we wanted into HWLF in that season, so we gave everything we could. We knew we had something that God’s hand was on. We also started up solely on cash flow with zero outside investment, so we knew we had to grow slow and steady whether we liked it or not. Even still, we were willing to wait to see the fruit down the road.
Since then, as we have grown and gone full time with it, there seems to be something new to figure out and improve everyday! We have been able to add another partner to help us grow in our good friend Jared Chapple. From logistics to overcoming supply chain brake downs due to Covid-19, to expanding to match our growth. We have found that the name of the game is being able to adapt, learn and pivot when necessary!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
He Would Love First is a movement answering the question “What Would Jesus Do.” Our mission is to unmask Jesus to the world and to cultivate a culture of His expressed love all over the world. We started with just bracelets that mirrored the famous WWJD bracelets as we aimed at catching people’s eye and starting a conversation. Since we have expanded into clothing and other message centered things such as outreaches, devotionals and speaking into our audience every chance we get. Our prayer is that these bracelets and clothing pieces start conversations and help represent Jesus to the world.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I instantly think back on playing soccer with my sisters in the front yard. Simple summer days playing soccer barefoot is a real fond one for me!
Contact Info:
- Address: 505 Cody Lane Mcdonough GA 30252
- Website: hewouldlovefirst.com
- Phone: 404-695-8496
- Email: casey@hewouldlovefirst.com
- Instagram: @hewouldlovefirst, @caseyshultis14
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hewouldlovefirst/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hewouldlove1st
Image Credit:
Chris House
Chris Chinchilla
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