Welcome to Looksee Designs' first of many Creator Spotlights. This segment serves as a way to showcase the amazing individuals who support our brand's movement! First up is the man, the myth, the absolute legend Bryan Ware!
Let's jump right into the Q&A where you will get to know more about Bryan and his passion for sneakers and content creation!
Looksee: Tell our community a bit about yourself. (Where you are from, how old you are, and how long have you been into sneakers?)
Bryan: My name is Bryan Ware, I am a content creator / sneakerhead from Nashville Tennessee ! I’m 19 years old and have been in the sneaker game for almost 5 years now. I currently own my own sneaker business called Ware Supply & I’ve used my platforms to create and show creative / unique content that relates to sneakers and fashion. I’ve gained over 2.5 million followers on Tiktok & over 40 thousand on instagram.
Looksee: With over 2.5 million followers on TikTok, what would you say was your key to success? Do you have any advice for someone trying to get into content creation or start treating their social media more than a hobby?
Bryan: My biggest advice to someone who is starting out & trying to grow their social media presence is to do what you love and stay consistent with it. I can’t tell people enough that staying consistent is the biggest part in growing a fanbase as well as growing your platforms. When I started tiktok 3 ½ years ago, I was maybe posting 3-4 times a week. I started seeing very small growth but eventually I switched over to posting two times a day & as I kept doing that I started seeing the numbers grow and grow and I still to this day post two times a day. It’s just turned into a snowball effect!
Looksee: What is the one sneaker grail you would choose if money wasn’t a factor in purchasing them?
Bryan: Man, that’s a tough one because there’s so many grails out there. I’m going to have to go with the Jordan 1 OG Chicago (1985).
Looksee: As Looksee Designs’ first influencer, why did you choose to join the team?
Bryan: I chose to be with Looksee Designs because of the way your team does things. The work ethic & the way you treat your people is the way everyone should do business on top of how great the products are. Being a sneakerhead who's used multiple display cases, Looksee Designs’ by far surpasses any other display case i’ve used or seen.
Looksee: What’s the craziest sneaker story you have? (Campouts, nightmare transactions, trips to shows, etc.)
Bryan: I think the craziest sneaker story I have is when I started my own resell business, I had to take some risks when it came to buying shoes off of other people. Obviously with me starting out, I had no clientele or references to back my brand so I wasn’t able to ask for GUA ‘gifted upon arrival’ when buying shoes meaning that they would trust me to send the shoes before getting paid, then I would legit check them when they arrived & then I would send payment. Well on one of my first transactions, I agreed to buy a pair of Travis Scott Jordan 1s from a guy. I sent him payment, he shipped the shoes and they arrived 4 days later in the mail. I went to pick them up and unbox them and I went to open the shoe box and sure enough it's empty and he had filled the box with rocks. I was heartbroken at this point. I went to send him a message on my instagram and I couldn’t find his information because he ended up blocking me. At this point, I called my bank and luckily they were able to get my money back.
Looksee: For those reading this that may not know you outside of social media, what other hobbies do you have? Tell us a bit about Ware Supply!
Bryan: One of the hobbies I have outside of social media is I enjoy playing the drums. I’ve grown up playing in church services as well as different local & national competitions! I got my first kit when I was 8 and have continued to play since then. Also, I run my own resell business called Ware Supply. I’ve always had a love for sneakers and in the fall of 2019 I chose to turn a fun collecting hobby into a real full time business!
Looksee: What did your parents think when you first started taking social media and content creation seriously? How do they react to the following you have managed to amass now?
Bryan: At first when I started creating content & taking it seriously, they were very supportive in letting me try it out and seeing what it could potentially turn into. They didn't really understand the significance of having a big following and what could really happen with it! As I started growing to 100’s of thousands of followers as well as seeing me take pictures with people in public, they finally realized that oh, this really is turning into a big thing.
Looksee: Do you have any pointers for someone getting into sneaker reselling?
Bryan: My biggest advice for someone starting out is to buy low, sell high & move volume. What I mean by that is when you are buying from someone, make sure you leave yourself a big enough margin to where if the market were to drop on that item, you still have room to profit or if worse comes to worse, break even and get your money back. At the end of the day, this reselling game comes down to how many pairs you can move with having solid margins. The more pairs you move, the more profit you’re going to make & once you make that profit, turn right back around and re-invest over and over and over again!
Looksee: Now that Covid restrictions are beginning to lift nationwide, do you plan on attending any sneaker shows or events this year? If so, which ones are on the radar?
Bryan: I would definitely love to attend some different sneaker shows and be a vendor at them with my business. One of the shows that's on my radar is to go to the next upcoming Sneaker Con.
Looksee: Are there any other creators you look at for motivation or content ideas? Also, who are your top three creators at this time? (No particular order)
Bryan: Honestly, there's no creators in particular that I look up to just because I try to stay in my own lane, but here and there I’ll check out what people who are in the shoe/fashion game are doing and sometimes pull different ideas of what’s trending and put it altogether to create different videos with!
Looksee: Favorite sneaker in your collection?
Bryan: That’s a tough question & definitely one that I get asked multiple times a day! I can’t pick just one because there’s certain pairs that are my favorite that I don't have in my collection yet but i’ll give you my top 3. (no specific order)
- Jordan 1 Union ‘black toe'
- Jordan 1 Off-White ‘white’
- Nike SB Dunk Low ‘Strangelove’
Looksee: What can our community and the rest of the sneaker community look out for from Bryan Ware in the next couple of months?
Bryan: Definitely got some things in the works but you can expect to possibly see some collaborations with some big name brands as well as a possible store front in the near future.
Looksee: Three words to describe the current state of the sneaker industry. Go!
Bryan: It Is Booming!
