Meet Zak Jourdeans

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Zak Jourdeans a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Zak, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

I have always looked at the glass half full. I come from a background with a lot of challenges that I had to overcome and at times it seemed like there was nothing to be grateful for or nothing positive happen, but I always forced myself to see the bigger picture and find the positive in every situation. Over the years it is something that has become automatic and not anything I think about. I am very thankful for the life I am living and a huge reason why is because of the challenges I have faced over the years and how that developed me as a man, leader, and significant other.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My name is Zak. I am 24 and I currently live in Rochester, Minnesota with my girlfriend Eva. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin called Roberts of about 1500 people which is about 30 minutes away from St. Paul in Minnesota. I graduated from high school in 2019 and was fortunate enough to get an offer to play basketball at Viterbo University in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. I studied sports management and psychology for two years there. Things with the basketball team there began to get rough. My second year, I dealt with COVID, injuries, and coaches that pushed me away from the program. It was very tough to go through that and feel like the people who are supposed to care and look after you, want to get rid of you. Fortunately, I had the incredible opportunity to work with the men’s basketball team at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. So for the next two years I studied business and psychology there and worked as a student manager for the Huskers. I was able to work and learn under Fred Hoiberg and his staff. I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Management with a psychology minor in August of 2023. Throughout college I was a youth basketball camp leader for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx. Back home during the summers and winters I was able to contribute to their organization by coaching, doing social media, supervising, and other duties. My last summer with them was the summer of 2024 right before I moved to Rochester to support my girlfriend Eva and her new job working at Mayo Clinic as a nurse.

I never thought I would be an entrepreneur. My parents both are entrepreneurs so I guess it was a matter of time before I became one. I started Connect Sole in the fall of 2023 shortly after I graduated college. The idea came to be after I walked in a sneaker store that I never had been in before in St. Paul called Brick by Brick. I was just going in to sell some shoes that I had. I started to have a conversation with the owners and that led to them asking me if I had any ideas to help get their name out and grow their store. At the time, the only things I could tell them were to stay consistent on social media, go to events, and get referrals. That one question is how Connect Sole began. I went home and researched what events are in the area for small fashion brand businesses and sneaker sellers and I was surprised at how little I could find. There was events here and there but nothing consistent and nothing big. I knew that it was something that the area needed and wanted. So from there I started to get to work creating Connect Sole and what the event means and stands for. I have had to do all social media pages, graphic designs, advertising, community outreach, venue planning, and the list goes on and on. It has been very humbling to be going though this experience. Our mission is to get you connected to whatever it is you’re looking for whether it’s sneakers, a new clothing brand, connections, or any new business or service you might need. And that is the mission that will make us be a household name in the industry as we grow and do events around the country.

Every event we do as much for the community as we can. Our next event on July 26th we finally were able to get a food truck and get Connect Sole merch for sale which I am super excited about both. We are looking soon to have our first event outside of Minnesota. I am super excited for the future of Connect Sole and I absolutely love the grind, challenges, and tough moments that have come with it. It has only helped make Connect Sole and even better event for the community.

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?

1st skill – Creativity – Being creative was essential to help grow this business. I had little or no experience in many areas that are needed to be successful in this field. I has to use any resource I could to help with areas like designing and advertising. Furthermore, then creating something that people actually care about. If I couldn’t be creative and make Connect Sole stand out, then the business couldn’t work.

2nd skill – Work Ethic – I needed to have a crazy work ethic to create a business like this, especially because of how many areas there are that need to be done with event planning. I had no background in event planning so I also had to learn how to do all of these things in a short amount of time. I still learn and grow every day running Connect Sole. If you aren’t going to be able to commit to whatever it is you’re starting and grind to be successful, especially when you are building something from nothing, then it isn’t going to work.

3rd skill – Overcoming Obstacles – I couldn’t even tell you the amount of obstacles I have had to deal with in the time I have been running Connect Sole. From terrible weather conditions to marketing issues to lack of communication and the list goes on and on. I have had to deal with so many issues and unlike a job in an office or most other places, I can’t get help to fix it. I have to figure it out on my own which at time can be so incredibly hard but in the end, those obstacles are what make me a better leader and owner of Connect Sole.

My biggest piece of advise for people who are early in their entrepreneurial journey (And I am still early in mine as well) is if you have an idea or a dream, do not give up on it. But you need to make sure that your dream is something that other people can believe in too. Everyone believes in their own dream or their product or business, that’s why they started it. I think what you need to do before going all in on something is to do the market research and see that people need this or want this. If the market didn’t need Connect Sole, I wouldn’t have started it. There are always a million things out there that people need and want more of, it is just about finding what it is. But if you have a dream, and you know people do need it and want it, then grind to make it happen. It is going to take hours and hours and hours before you see any results, but if you keep pushing, it will pay off.

How would you describe your ideal client?

Especially at the start, it is someone who sees the vision and the benefits of what I do. One of the biggest challenges I had before my first event was getting vendors to sign up and help them see the benefits to them and the vision. A lot of businesses turned me away because they didn’t see the value. So finding.a person who sees the value from the start is the perfect client.

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