What is the name of your business and how did it get started initially?
It’s called Jesus First Apparel. It all started during the COVID-19 lockdown. I had so much time to think about life and what I want to do. I realized that nowadays as young people, we have so much more potential to build and create and don’t have to wait and depend on our college degrees. I’ve always been passionate about Jesus and ministry, especially reaching out to young people who struggle in their spiritual walk. Creating something relevant, trendy, and visually appealing that could also contribute to spiritual growth and missions seemed like a great idea.
How do you incorporate art and design into your business?
Although I don’t consider myself a designer and by far not a businessperson, I have had so much fun learning and incorporating these aspects. When it comes to design, I could not have asked for a better design buddy than my fiancé Esterady [Caamal D’Vicente] (senior, Spanish studies). She helps with designs and art. This has become our little ministry that we can work on together and I’m having so much fun.
Tell me about the success of this business and what does it mean to you to have your work put out there?
It’s been almost eight months since I launched the site and like with any other starting business, it’s a huge challenge to get out there. I used all the money that Andrews refunded me after the lockdown began and invested it in this project. I spent hours and days learning from YouTube tutorials trying to build a website, build “social proof,” and sell first pieces of apparel. I’m glad I started with the right mindset though and didn’t expect immediate results. There were some months where I barely sold five T-shirts but eventually, the time and money put into it started to pay off. October has been the most successful month so far where I finally started getting consistent sales and the email list started to grow. However, there’s still a lot of work ahead of us.
What is your motivation(s) for keeping up with this ministry?
The initial goal of this whole project was to help young people grow their faith and support missions. It if wasn’t for these two things, it would be meaningless. Every time a new customer purchases one item of our apparel, a portion of earnings is put aside towards missions. With every purchase, there is also an automated email sent with our free eBook called “Spiritual Reset.” Huge credit goes to my dad who spent hours writing this book specifically for this project. You can download it for free on our website. We’re also building our email list where I’m planning to start sending short encouraging videos about faith once I’m done with school this month.
Tell me about this piece/merchandise you are featuring.
This photo I’m featuring is from our last photoshoot where Esterady and Joseph [Martin] (senior, theology) are wearing our top-selling pieces.
Cincala’s story is inspiring because it shows that these creative endeavors aren’t easy nor effortless. But, if you are resilient and believe in your vision and its purpose, not only will you succeed but your abilities will expand as well. You don’t have to necessarily be artistic to do something creative.
You can shop at his business Jesus First Apparel at www.jesusfirstapparel.com and keep up with the ministry and get updates on new merchandise and deals on their Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jesusfirstapparel/?hl=en.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.