“If he aint cryin’ he aint Ryan” Before you start to conceptualize the idea that Rj is a crybaby it is important to know the origin of said quote. May 9th of 2019 was nothing short of exhausting, being 14 hours on the road heading to Florida, five people jammed into a Toyota Corolla, and Rj denying his shift to drive. There was a rotation, a system rather, I had in place in order to get to Florida in a timely manner. The three in the back had to suffer the most because they were so crammed, they could barely think to themselves. The driver was to drive 3 hours and rotate to the back, meanwhile the person behind the front passenger became the front passenger and whoever was riding shotgun is now set to drive their 3 hours. Rj was not taken to the idea of my system, so when it was his turn to drive, he would deny me of rest because he didn’t want to drive in the dark. It wasn’t until my remark that caused me to finally become a passenger. Seeing him upright, manning the wheel, and even more interesting, bumping Polo G his entire shift raised an interesting thought; was it because I said he was crying or was he yanking my chain? Upon arriving to the hotel, he set me aside and clearly stated “Don’t start saying Cryin’ Ryan”.
A graphic design printing press worker us someone who produces printed material in three stages: prepress, press and binding/finishing. They review specifications, identify and fix problems with printing equipment, and execute orders from clients. Rj is more than just your average printing press worker. In fact, he is a couple of machines shy from opening his own printing press shop where he will be investing most of if not all his time. Business? Machines? Yes, Rj is a printing press worker, but only after being an entrepreneur. For more than five years Rj has been maintaining and thriving his way out of the corporate society that we live in today. You know the 9-5 routine, long hours making someone else achieve their dreams? Rj has the benefit of having resources at the tip of his fingers and he does use them to his advantage. Being that he is the shop foreman, he holds a high responsibility than the rest of the crew. One of those responsibilities is ordering and carrying out the purchase of clothing articles, help customers ideas come to reality, if there is no design, he would have to design it himself. He will purchase large quantities of clothes at wholesale and then print his brand on thus making it his own. The CRNRSTR. From a previous conversation, the meaning behind his brand was brought up. “Think about a corner store. What does it have? Necessities. Stuff people need and at a lower price than the corporate brands.
Prior to embarking on his entrepreneur path Rj did continue his education after high school At Joliet Community College. Throughout his education one class stuck with him the most, psychology. How would you make the connection with psychology and graphic design? “The mind is a powerful tool. In both instances you have to be able to think for yourself and what the other person is thinking of”.
What drives him to go day in and day out is his family, girlfriend, and close friends. The support from motivators does not go unnoticed with Rj. He is the most genuine guy you’ll come to meet, this guy will literally take the shirt off his back and give it to someone who needs it. Often Rj will wear a mask to the public but once you can get a glimpse of him in his natural setting, he can become one of the most laid-back people in the room. Passion of mind, he really enjoys printing designs, clothes and selling clothes. There is no better satisfaction than having a client wearing your clothes out in public. The ownership of your own brand, accounts, and having family/friends wear your brand was not where Rj thought he’d be at from five years ago.
Running his business from his home does not do Rj any justice because it only allows you to know what he does professionally. Allow me to introduce you to his “social life “. When Rj isn’t home working on designs or printing clothes you can catch in the streets of Chicago on his moped. Going or coming from his colleague’s studio, he has his fingers in multiple fields one of them being music production. About a month ago I pull up on Rj at his colleagues’ studio, which was a garage in a backyard. As soon as you walk in you completely forget it is a garage. I had caught them in the middle of making a beat. Now the beat was manifested from his boy, Tony, but where Rj comes in is he knows who to send this beat to in order to sell it and make money off it. No finders fee ever for those who have supported him through his journey. “I give from my heart and ask you to give from your heart when needed” When he expressed this to his boy, I couldn’t help realize how warm-hearted Rj truly is. Not even minutes later his mobile device began to rile up with responses. How can a graphic designer be well connected in the music industry? Five years of experience and long hours of hard work answers that question. With having his own brand and clothes Rj has come to meet a couple of “pretty cool rappers and skateboarders”
David, one of Rj closest friends, has been on board with Rj since before he had an idea of what he wanted to do with his life. “He[RJ]is one of the selfless people I have ever met. The way he sets certain standards and expectations for himself is quite inspiring. I support him as much as I can because he has been a form of support for me through some tough times. It makes me real excited to know when I come back from Mexico, we can begin to put on the thrusters to scaling and expanding the business.”