Ep. 001 - Josh Ariza - Aliens, Jazz, and T-Shirts That Suck

From "just a t-shirt idea" to building a cult-followed brand... meet Josh Ariza, founder of Chomp!
Josh has worked with Nike, Disney, Under Armour, and more — but his biggest creative success? A weird, wild, honest apparel brand called Chomp. In this episode, he spills everything: design regrets, internet trolls, how to survive as a solo creator, and why "hard work + luck" is still the real formula.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro: Creative Podcast Premiere
01:14 Meet Josh Ariza of Chomp
02:33 Aliens: Believer or Skeptic?
06:00 Childhood UFO Story & Metal Chip Mystery
11:45 The Art of Short Emails & Digital Communication
15:20 The Problem with Marketing Automation
18:05 “Our T-Shirts Suck” – Turning Trolls into Brand Fuel
21:50 Dealing with Negative Feedback Like a Pro
26:14 Why Josh Hates Most Sales Pitches
29:40 Building Trust in Apparel Sales
32:35 The Origin of Chomp and Its Growth
36:20 How Licensing & Shopify Helped Scale Chomp
40:55 Entrepreneurship Is Just Placing Bets
45:00 Influencer Marketing Failures & Lessons
47:45 Freelance vs Brand Work
50:00 Knowing When to Say “No”
53:18 Artist vs Corporation Branding
56:00 Being the Face of Your Brand
58:42 Creative Conferences & Hard Work vs Luck
01:01:55 Printables & Apparel Design Background
01:05:50 Why T-Shirts Are the Perfect Canvas
01:08:30 Collaboration Stories & Revenue Models
01:13:50 Avoiding Emotional Responses to Revisions
01:16:55 Firing a Celebrity Client
01:19:05 Real Talk: OCD, Anxiety & Meditation
01:24:10 Using the Waking Up App by Sam Harris
01:27:25 Transcendental vs Mindfulness Meditation
01:29:50 Balancing Work and Fatherhood
01:35:05 Is Entrepreneurship a Young Person’s Game?

Follow Josh Ariza:
https://joshuaariza.com/
https://chompbrand.com/
  / joshua_ariza  

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Join our community and support the podcast!
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Learn more about our co-hosts:
Dustin Lee - https://www.retrosupply.co
Brad Woodard - https://www.bravethewoods.com

Edited by Clara Wright: https://shorturl.at/76YPG

#CreativeEntrepreneur #JoshAriza #ChompApparel #DesignPodcast #ArtistLife #BrandBuilding