Meet John Olansen

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful John Olansen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with John below.

John, thanks for taking the time to share your lessons with our community today. So, let’s jump right in – one of the most essential skills for unlocking our potential is self-discipline. Where does your self-discipline come from?

I get my self-discipline from the environments that I am constantly in. By nature, I am very competitive, which has always led me to put in extra work and strive to be the best. From sports, school, and my apparel business, I’ve developed a sense of self-discipline in every aspect of my life.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

VAB is more than just an apparel brand; we represent Virginia Beach. I operate my business with a strict focus on serving you, and I will never prioritize profit over our customers. I am very interested in giving back to the community in every way possible. I am starting a movement within my company that for every clothing launch we have, we donate a percentage of profits to a non-profit organization within Virginia Beach. We will run poles before every clothing event on Instagram to decide what cause we donate to that month. If you want your voice to be heard and help us do amazing things, follow our socials and make sure to join our newsletter to stay updated on all occurring events.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

The ability to absorb information and apply it to solve problems stands out as one of the three most impactful skills that have shaped my journey. This skill has been tremendously beneficial in the past and remains invaluable today. Additionally, adapting the right mindset for various situations has been crucial. Not every challenge requires the same approach, so being able to adjust my perspective and thought process has proven invaluable countless times. Lastly, embracing failure has been essential. Accepting and learning from failures is indispensable for achieving extraordinary outcomes. To acquire these skills, you need to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. Doing that will naturally let you learn these skills and other related abilities to help you form your unique journey.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

Over the past twelve months, my website creation skills have seen the most significant growth. I’ve made remarkable progress by mastering Shopify and crafting more intuitive, streamlined websites for my apparel brand. Additionally, I’ve greatly expanded my knowledge of SEO and META functions. While I acknowledge there’s still much to learn, I’m dedicated to improving my skills every single day.

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Image Credits

Bailey Ashman
Brody Wallis
Davis Nase

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