John’s Crazy Socks is a father-son business partnership that has two missions–sell crazy socks and give back to the Down Syndrome community.
John Lee Cronin is a young man with Down syndrome who has a passion for fun socks and making people happy. This love is what pushed him and his father to start a company that is committed to making great and joy bringing socks–there are many examples of this, just browsing their website. There is, first and foremost, socks that are covered in brilliant patterns, others with funky patterns and unicorns, and even more with adorable puppies. There is pretty much a design or pattern of sock for everyone with any interest, and so many to chose from.
John’s Crazy Socks not only upholds a business model, a central part of its mission is to give back. John’s Crazy Socks donates a percentage of the earnings to the Special Olympics, an organization that John and his father attribute as having a major impact on John’s growth. For those who are not familiar, the Special Olympics is a nonprofit organization modeled on the Olympic Games. It allows mentally and physically handicapped athletes to compete in a wide range of events and games while receiving the additional support and accommodation that they may need. It also gives them a space to form a community of similar individuals while engaging in physical activity.
John’s Crazy Socks began when Mark, John’s Dad started building a few online businesses near to the time John was graduating high school. John decided that he wanted to go into business, as well, alongside his father Mark, and the two began brainstorming ideas. This is when they started to intertwine John’s personal interest with business–if crazy socks brought John such joy, why wouldn’t they have the same impact on others? The business building began.
They started with a website on Shopify and marketed primarily on a Facebook page. They shot a couple videos of John talking, and developed the catchphrase “socks, socks and more socks.” They didn’t need to wait very long before business took off. From there, the rest was history. John’s Crazy Socks built up a loyal customer base and continues to grow and collect new customers, all of which are very happy with the product, service, and mission of the company.
