Focus On: John & Mark Cronin of John’s Crazy Socks

Inspiring Others and Changing Perceptions With an Entrepreneurial Dream Come True

I believe in a world where we cheer one another on and we don’t see any other entrepreneur as a competitor. (It’s why I love the Rising Tide Society so much!) I love when I see other business owners support one another and I can’t possibly count all of the times I’ve been inspired or motivated by another business owner. It can be a lonely world, sitting in a corner of your home, balancing the roles of parenthood, wife, photographer, creative and just overall human with obligations to friends and the house and hobbies and passions. It feels a lot less lonely when you celebrate all the other people who get it.

Today’s Focus On is a spotlight on John Cronin and his father Mark, the owners of John’s Crazy Socks in Long Island, NY. Enjoy this peek into their business, the balance and their dreams. Be sure to follow them, cheer them on and stay tuned for more entrepreneur spotlights every two weeks.

Focus On: John Cronin and Mark Cronin of John's Crazy Socks, Long Island sock company founded by young man with Down syndrome and father, spotlight on NY entrepreneur, special needs family, special needs business, father-son business

John’s Crazy Socks began as a father-son venture inspired by John Lee Cronin, a young man with Down syndrome, and his love of colorful and fun socks, or what he calls his “crazy socks.” We’re on a mission to spread happiness and to show the world what people with differing abilities can achieve.

John’s Crazy Socks is a social enterprise with both a social mission and a business mission. The company is built on four pillars:

Inspiration and Hope: Showing what is possible when you give a person a chance. We hire people with differing abilities, share videos to show what people can do, host school tours and school groups that come for work experience. We want the world to see what people with differing abilities can do.
Giving Back: We donate 5 percent of our earnings to the Special Olympics and raise money through our Sock of the Month Club and charity and awareness socks for our charity partners like Autism Speaks, the Autism Society of America, the National Down Syndrome Society, and the Williams Syndrome Association.
Socks You Can Love: We have over 2,000 different socks plus a Sock of the Month Club, gift boxes and gift bags. And we match the great socks with great service: we do same day shipping so most of our customers receive their socks within two days of ordering. We now offer Greeting Cards as well.
Making It Personal: Every package gets a thank you note from John and some candy.

When did you start your business? What inspired you to do this?

We started in the fall of 2016. John was in his last year of high school, unsure of what he would do after graduation. As you know, there are not many options available to people with differing abilities. Not finding anything he liked, John said, “Dad, I want to go into business with you.” John later suggested that we sell crazy socks. As he says, “They are fun, colorful, creative and always let me be me.”

About how many hours a week would you say you spend on your business? What are some of the behind-the-scenes things that your business requires that people may not realize?

We work between 40 and 60-plus hours a week depending on the time of year and what we are doing. Though it does not always feel like work. Running an e-commerce store requires a broad range of activities. John is our Chief Happiness Officer and the face of the company. He gives torus, does interviews, meets with visitors, makes speaking engagements and does home deliveries. But he does much more. He makes videos, he writes notes to customers, he designs socks and, in his free time, he pulls sock orders.

On a scale of 1-10, how balanced would you say you are between your work and family/personal life? How do you try to balance both worlds?

Being an entrepreneur is a full-time gig in part because of the demands and in part because it is a calling. Like I said earlier, much of what we do does not feel like work. Quite the opposite, we love going on the road and giving speeches and talks. John, in particular, loves the travel and meeting new people.

But, we have plenty of time for other interests and activities. John is involved in the Special Olympics and participates in three sports: soccer, basketball, snowshoe and track and field. He also attends dances with the Special Olympics and John loves to dance. Shaving those scheduled practices is a good way of making sure we leave the office in a timely manner.

John also schedules time to practice his singing and dancing and he puts time aside for song writing. He tries to knock off work – if he has nothing else scheduled – by 5 p.m. so he can dance, write songs or sing.

My wife and I schedule regular date nights and movie nights which is also a good way to step out of work.

How has the Coronavirus quarantine/self-distancing guidelines affected your business?

It has greatly affected our business. New York has required all non-essential businesses to close their offices. Curiously, we qualify as an essential business because we handle fulfilment. But we have told all of our staff to stay out of the office, so it is only John, my wife and me in the office and we are filing all the orders. It means that we do not have work hours for our colleagues and we miss them.

Much of our business depends on John and I making public appearances. This past weekend (World Down Syndrome Day), we were scheduled to participate in six events, and all were cancelled. In addition, a New York and a national TV appearance were cancelled. That cost us thousands of dollars in business.

Our major supplier has socks made in China and they are on hold because of the virus.

Everyone is affected by the virus, but we are looking for positive things we can do. We held an information and training session with the head of Infection Prevention from a local hospital that we broadcast on our social media. John and I have started doing a nightly show on Facebook (Spreading Happiness) which reaches over 25,00 people a night in an effort to spread a little joy. And we had to cancel our tours, but we will replace those with virtual tours given on line.

What new/additional offerings can people see or receive from your business while your business looks a little different now?

We will be adding more awareness socks working with new charity partners. We will also introduce new products including t-shirts, hats and other fun items.

What is the first thing you’re going to do when it’s back to “business as usual”?

We will throw open the doors and welcome the world back into John’s Crazy Socks. We will conduct in-person tours again and welcome work groups back form area high schools and social service agencies. We will once again make public appearances and take on speaking engagements. We will also be able to introduce new products, especially new awareness socks.

What would you say is the biggest challenge in owning your own business?

We are a social enterprise meaning we have a social mission and a business mission. It is a challenge to balance the two. As a small business, we face the same challenges as a big business, though we do not have the same resources as a big business. We have been advised that we need to fill out our executive team, which is a good idea, but we lack the revenues to pay for a full executive team, so it is left to John and I to fill all the roles that a team might fill.

What has been your proudest moment/greatest victory as an entrepreneur?

We have been very fortunate. We have enjoyed awesome experiences: we testified twice before Congress, spoken at the United Nations, won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year, been given honors and met celebrities and national leaders. However, the best moments come when we see our colleagues hard at work at jobs we were able to create and we hear about the impact that providing them with work has had on their lives.

What is the hardest part of being a business owner?

Making time to take care of ourselves. Getting enough exercise, eating healthy and getting enough sleep. There’s so much we want to do, and we get to travel often, so taking care of ourselves sometimes slips away.

How important is it to you to support other entrepreneurs and business owners? What are some ways that you try to do this?

We have been so fortunate and we understand the importance of Giving Back. We love to connect with other entrepreneurs so we can learn from them, celebrate what they do and share our experiences. We have done this in a number of ways:

We look to collaborate with other entrepreneurs, particularly those with a differing ability.
We highlight other entrepreneurs in our social media.
We receive inquiries from others starting out looking for advance and we make time to speak with them.
We speak to gatherings of entrepreneurs
I have joined the Entrepreneurs Organization, an international group of entrepreneurs intent on making a positive impact.
We co-sponsored a student entrepreneurship contest

We are exploring ways in which we can share more with entrepreneurs. This might include offering webinars or hosting a conference.

What are your one-year and five-year goals for your business?

First, we would like to still be standing in five years. That alone will be an accomplishment. We are intent on growing our business to reach more people, create more jobs and spread more happiness.