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Meet Jaron Jones of WILD THING$ BRAND in Dunwoody

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaron Jones.

Jaron, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Jaron Jones, CEO of WILD THING$ BRAND (WILD THING$ crəate™ the (woЯld), it’s so WəiЯd when we’re being normal.). How did I start? I would say, I started as a kid. Growing up all I cared about was sports and anything that had to do with clothes, music, and shoes. Even though I loved hoops as a youngin, I loved getting dressed more. An outfit could make or break my day, that’s how serious it was for me. I used to watch music videos, fresh prince of bel-air, and MTV interviews to see what trends were out there. All those childhood memories have shaped who I am today and the identity of my brand.

I started this brand 4 years ago after quitting professional basketball overseas, had some mental issues that made me lose my love for the game but I locked in and made this my plan A. My dream has also been to own a clothing line and to open up my store one day.

This whole life process has shaped who I am today, I went from being a star D-1 basketball player to rupturing my achilles my rookie season overseas to rehabbing back and struggling with going team to team to working at a car lot thinking my life had so much more to offer to own my brand and being featured in global magazines and getting my brand placed in two stores over in Japan (Shout out to my partners too because without my team/and the people in my circle none of this would be possible). I got to where I’m at today by believing, even when I had reason to doubt. I believe in the law of attention, everything that has come my way I have spoken it into existence whether it was good or bad. You can have to the world if you are crazy enough to ask for it and go out here and work for it. I’m still on first base with it and only getting better day by day.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Nothing about the road has been smooth (ha) even when you think it’s going smooth something always comes up that smacks you out of nowhere. I did not go to school for this so I had to teach myself everything. Even tho I have a very small team now, I still come up with most of the concepts, run the website, do the marketing, and whatever else needs to get done. I don’t complain because this is my dream and no one is supposed to go harder than me about my dream. Rule number 1: You have to help yourself before anyone else is willing to help. I’m just grateful that I have the help that I do now because I couldn’t have expanded my brand without the people I have in my corner now. I can’t thank them enough.

The biggest smack to me was when I got featured in XXL Magazine for a hat I created and only had 60 hats to sell, I had just launched the brand like three months before they released the magazine. I was not ready for my moment and had missed a big opportunity. That was the biggest challenge for me. I also finding manufacturing to fulfill orders because I was going to this store in the middle of the mall and they were going crazy on. me with the pricing because I didn’t know any better and no one was telling me the right information until I researched it myself. They were charging me $50 to print my design on a hoodie and I had to sell it for $75 to $80, which almost killed my business because my price points were too high. You have to love this because the first couple of years are a struggle.

Tell us about your company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
Brand Name: WILD THING$ BRAND. The name for the brand came from the book Where the wild things are. In that book, mad max went to a place where he felt most loved and used his imagination to build creators that would do what he wanted. He built a world that made him King, where he felt special. I think as kids we all have that place but we lose it once life becomes real. My whole purpose for this brand was to use my imagination and tell a story that would help others get back to the WILD THING inside of them. It’s important to me that people live their truth whatever that may be. We have a lot of people that live by the system because they feel stuck. I would like for our brand to be that the goal is to be more than just a clothing brand but we have to start somewhere. My passion is clothes, I love the way clothes make me feel, that’s why I started here.

Brand Logo: A Bear with Crown. The number one gift for a child is a stuffed animal, for me it was my first friend as a kid. That’s why I went with a bear logo, but the meaning for my brand’s logo is: The (Bear) represents life, no matter how much you get beat down, stitch yourself back up, stay consistent, and remain king/queen of your world. I think it was a dope concept and the bear matches the brand name/and meaning. I know some people may not care about the meaning but I know many that can relate to the meaning. And that’s all I want.

Our Mission Statement: We are all great, though sometimes misunderstood. When we realize our greatness, our inner Wild Thing, we face challenges. We are challenged by society. We are beaten down, scoffed at, laughed at, and excluded. We must conform or be outcast. Anything that isn’t “normal” is “impossible.” “They are wrong.”

It is the Wild Thing inside of us that allows us to break free, from the restraints of conformity, so that we may reach our maximum potential. The journey tests us and exposes us to the elements, but we remain steadfast in our efforts. We are in control of our happiness and our destiny. We are strong. We are Wild. We are King. Thank You for your inspiration. “What you imagine shall become your reality.”

Most Proud/Set us Apart: I’m not that brand owner that goes into that rant on how I’m so different from other brands because I’m not. I think a lot of brands are dope and I look up to a lot of designers and concept designers. My only goal is to better my quality as a brand owner for my customers because I want them to feel good about the money that they are spending with me to help my brand grow. I would say I’m proud of the message behind the brand, I love to see people win and I want everyone to find happiness and success but I think we have to get to a place where we feel most loved so we can be our authentic self. Self love is the best love and I can tell you this brand was created off of the pain I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. So I try to make it a goal of mine to stay true to that message of self love and being a WILD THING. Just have fun.

What is “success” or “successful” for you?
I define success by being happy. Taking care of the people you love and making sure you give help to others. Success can be defined in so many ways because it’s a day to day process of feelings. I wake up every morning and tell my self I’m successful but I’m not where I need to be because some of my family members are still struggling, my mom still lives in the same house we grow up in. I want to take care of my mom because she took care of me. So when I can take care of my mom, I’m successful.

I want the brand to be everywhere (global), I want people to look into the meaning of the brand so they can connect to it because we are soo much more than just a bear logo. Look at our delivery and message, we have fun.

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