Mindy Hargesheimer (00:00):
Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. I am really excited to bring on Cory Infinite and Svea Herstar to local Kansas City designers that are going to really blow you away with some of the creations that they have. Um, to be honest with you, you're gonna have to go onto their social media to see what I'm talking about or check out Cory's book, um, that we also go through in this episode. But they are visionaries in what they are creating, and they have some really cool stories to talk about how they are building their brand. So, um, if fashion is your thing, if you're looking into something creative for yourself, then this one is definitely for you. Enjoy. I am so excited to have you guys in the studio today. Thank you. It's so good to actually meet you. We were just talking before about how I basically hunted you down at the Jeremy Scott show , um, with Catherine, um, at the Nerman because I had seen, I'm trying to remember when I first learned about you. Mm-hmm . It might've been the Kansas City Magazine cover. Yep. When was that, that you were on the cover?
Cory Johnson (01:04):
I think that was back in 2023.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:07):
Okay.
Cory Johnson (01:07):
I think I'm so bad with dates and times.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:09):
Yeah, that's okay. I think well, ever since COVID we're all like lost in time too. Right. Yeah. Um, but I think that's how I had discovered you and started following along. And then of course, leading up to the podcast I was researching you guys, which I was like, bring your wife in. This will be really fun to have
both of you guys. Thank you. Um, so thank you for coming in. Do you guys wanna introduce yourselves? Um, your names and how you came up with them and what you guys do?
Svea Herstar (01:33):
Um, my name is Svea Herstar, and my parents came up with that. Um, my,
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:38):
They did,
Svea Herstar (01:38):
That's my middle name is her
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:40):
Star. That's your middle name? Yeah. Oh, I thought you just came up with that as like an Instagram name, Oh my gosh. How cool.
Svea Herstar (01:44):
Yeah, I mean, like, luckily it's a really cool name to sort of bridge off of and there's a way to brand it. And so that's kind of what I've been working on, is branding myself just like Cory has done.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:55):
And Svea.
Svea Herstar (01:56):
Svea. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (01:56):
What is that? Where does that come from?
Svea Herstar (01:58):
It's Swedish. Okay.
Svea Herstar (01:59):
Great grandparents came from there and I can, I think my dad's side just kind of stuck with the Swedish names and, um, yeah. My brothers both have Swedish names and
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:11):
Very cool. Yeah. That's so fun. And the middle name, do you know how the, where that I think
Svea Herstar (02:15):
My dad just made it up. I don't know.
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:17):
Great. I,
Svea Herstar (02:17):
I think, I think he, yeah, he is very a creative individual. Both my parents are,
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:22):
And so,
Svea Herstar (02:23):
Yeah. I'm thankful for my name
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:24):
I love it. I love it. Awesome. And what do you, what do you do?
Svea Herstar (02:28):
I, I'm also an artist. I make clothes and that's what I'm really focusing on, but also don't wanna build a box around myself. I'm like wanting to get into music and stuff too,
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:40):
So. Ooh. Yeah. That'll be fun to talk about.
Svea Herstar (02:41):
Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:42):
Sweet. All right. What about you?
Cory Johnson (02:43):
My name is Cory. Cory Infinite. My parents did not name me that
Mindy Hargesheimer (02:48):
That would be incredible if they did. And you guys both met and man, that would be fate,
Cory Johnson (02:54):
Um, but the way I created the name was just really just like simple. I just was in my friend's basement. We were kind of brainstorming words that sounded good after Cory mm-hmm . Because my name, my username on Instagram for the longest time was Cory Johnson. 1, 2, 3. That's my actual name.
Mindy Hargesheimer (03:09):
You're like pretty original. let's, yeah. Yes. Get that up.
Cory Johnson (03:13):
Yeah. So the word that just sounded the best after Cory was just core infinite, and kind of just like after that went with it and branded it around kind of what I do and just, you know, viewing art as like this thing that doesn't have a boundary or a limit and yeah.
Cory Johnson (03:29):
Potential is infinite. And so yeah, kind of just naturally like, worked itself out, um, from just like the beginning. And, uh, I just, uh, the last six years I've been hand making clothes in my house, or I originally was at my dad's house when I graduated high school. So ever since 2020 I just went the entrepreneur route and just started making clothes every single day and posting 'em on the internet just
Cory Johnson (03:55):
I knew if I didn't want to like, go to college or art school and I had to like get my voice out there somehow. And I knew the internet was that way. So.
Mindy Hargesheimer (04:03):
So were you, first of all, do you guys work together? Do you collaborate? I think there's some stuff that you guys have done. How does that work
Mindy Hargesheimer (04:09):
You too? Um,
Svea Herstar (04:10):
Well, our house is really small, so it seems like every action is a collaboration. Um, I love it. I have a picture I'll show you after this of just how crazy it gets when we're both working on something, but, um, we collaborated on the wooden hoodie and spent 210 hours together on that. Um,
Mindy Hargesheimer (04:30):
That is wild. I do like, I noticed with you that you put, and you probably do too, but you put the hours on a lot of the work that you show that you guys do, which is like, I can't even wrap my brain around like, what that even looks like that many hours. And so you're talking about the Scrabble tiles? Yep. Right? Uhhuh . How did you guys come up with that to do that? I think
Svea Herstar (04:47):
I think we were talking about just the interest in multiples of just like objects you wouldn't expect to see altogether. Like that many of it's kind of like awe inspiring. And so we were just talking about different things we could do that with, and that was just one of the things we were like, all right, we gotta see that in real life. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (05:05):
Is that today? Do you guys like, have it This is in our
Cory Johnson (05:07):
House.
Mindy Hargesheimer (05:08):
Hanging in your house? Yeah. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (05:09):
We, our house is just like a, the whole house is a closet. Yeah,
Cory Johnson (05:13):
Nook and cranny has something
Mindy Hargesheimer (05:15):
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I feel like, is it fair to say that you guys have, um, an extremely unique vision and talent? Like, have you ever come across anybody else who's doing something similar to what you're doing and people Absolutely. I mean, to get this, they have to go to your social media to go look at what you're creating, but it is like phenomenal. I mean, it's truly like, so thank you. Um, impressive what you do. And I was curious like if you, like, what were you dressing like before you created some of this stuff too?
Cory Johnson (05:45):
Um, yeah, I was just like always interested in fashion. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (05:50):
Favorite thing is like this. So my mom had a journal, I've said this so many times, but she kept a journal about me when I was like, was like, really like a baby. And on one of the pages she wrote down that when I was three years old, I was particular with the clothing that I would wear and I would change like multiple times a day. And so I've always been interested
Mindy Hargesheimer (06:08):
Early on early.
Cory Johnson (06:09):
Yeah. But I think it's just kind of evolved. I think I had an older sister and I think I was definitely like influenced by her. She would always tell me like, you should wear this and this. Like, you know, like kind of, she was kind of keeping up with the trends and like in middle school I was wearing like sperrys with like cargo shorts and like a polo tee, like a uhhuh like a fraternity, bro. a little
Mindy Hargesheimer (06:30):
Different than now.
Cory Johnson (06:32):
Yeah. It just evolved, uh, over time until I kind of just found my, my taste. Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm . Just through experimenting.
Yeah. I think I always, like, I change multiple times a day, like every day in my whole life. And I, I, my mom didn't clock that, but I mean, thinking back I can. Um, and we always, like, we, we rarely kind of shopped at, you know, outlet stores or like, like neighbor the commercial. Yeah. Yeah. We were always in thrift stores. And so from that came a lot of like experimenting with what fits and, and what we can buy. Like you bring a $10 thing to your mom and she's like, no, that's not for $10. So then you go, I don't know, put stuff together from the thrift stores and I've been doing that my whole life, so.
Mindy Hargesheimer (07:18):
Okay. Yeah. I mean, man, it is so fate that you guys came together. This is amazing.
Svea Herstar (07:22):
Yeah. , so it's crazy. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (07:24):
Someone so similar mm-hmm . It's pretty crazy to see like
Mindy Hargesheimer (07:27):
Some divine intervention there. Yeah,
Svea Herstar (07:28):
Definitely.
Mindy Hargesheimer (07:29):
So, ta Okay. So, um, for, and we've got your, this is your book mm-hmm . That you published. Um, which Thank you. I'm so excited to have this. Absolutely. Um, but ta I wanna hear, so people can, obviously, they'll go look up what you have, but can you talk about like some of your creations, maybe some of your favorite ones that you've done, or maybe some that you're most well known for? Or just whatever you really wanna, like, brag about that, that you guys have done. 'cause it's truly impressive. Um,
Cory Johnson (07:55):
I would say I, I really, my favorite, like, one of my favorite things I've been able to make is the keyboard jumpsuit, probably. Yeah. So it's the one that took the most amount of time. It, and all the like, keyboards were sourced from like a company that was throwing them away in Kansas City mm-hmm . And so it was just like a really exciting project to kind of take on, and complete. 'cause after, I don't know, when you kind of like know you're about to get into a piece that's gonna take like hundreds of hours. Yeah.
Just like this huge mountain that you're like staring at. But as you're climbing it and as you see like the pieces start to mm-hmm. You know, actually show up onto the garment over time, it's a, it's fulfilling and
Mindy Hargesheimer (08:34):
Exciting. No kidding. Yeah. Yeah. , I mean, that's, we're talking like weeks at a time mm-hmm. That, that will take to create mm-hmm . And do you make these things to sell? Do you make them ultimately for, and they're one of a kind, right?
Cory Johnson (08:46):
Uh, yeah. I've done some merchandise stuff where I'll, you know, have like a company screen, print some shirts and stuff like that, or like hoodies. But yeah, for most part, like all the handmade stuff is one of one and unique. Mm-hmm .
Mindy Hargesheimer (08:58):
Yeah. Yeah. Do you guys just wake up in the middle of the night with this vision? Are you like, okay, two in the morning, get up, go jot down? Or how do these things come to you?
Mindy Hargesheimer (09:07):
Respectively
Svea Herstar (09:08):
It's like hard to fall asleep because a lot of times we'll be like, making all day or like, you know, just really you build up a lot of momentum when you create your ideas and like from that there's like infinite ideas, like limitless amount of things that you kind of come upon Yeah. In your mind. And so I think for me, sometimes it's hard to fall asleep 'cause I'll just have an idea and have to keep on like, writing it down on my phone and then I'm on my phone and it's just Yeah. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (09:36):
Yeah. I think at nighttime that's when my brain is really working and like, thinking about things. But in the morning is when I'm like actually like, physically moving around mm-hmm . And cutting the material, sewing it together and stuff like that. But yeah, at night is definitely the time that I get my best ideas. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (09:50):
Mm-hmm
Mindy Hargesheimer (09:51):
So with some of the things that you create, um, do you wear them out in public for fun or to kind of like, get your brand out there? Or just because you love wearing them? Like, what kind of reactions do you get from people? They've gotta be so intrigued, either to work with you or just like ask like who you are.
Cory Johnson (10:06):
Definitely. Um, yeah, it's a part of just the brand and like the advertisement aspect. I think it's cool. Yeah. 'cause it's almost like you're wearing a painting or you're wearing a piece of art, you know, for people to see wherever you're at. And so yeah. It's just a really easy way to connect with people and like instantly like show them like, this is what I'm making, you know? Yeah.
Svea Herstar (10:25):
You also just have this desire to like, create these things. And so it, I think ultimately it is a part of your brain. And so like, naturally I like to wear the things that I make just because it's like showing people. Yeah. Mm-hmm
Mindy Hargesheimer (10:39):
Yeah. I would imagine you probably love most of the things that you're creating because it is your vision after all. So, yeah. Mm-hmm . What is kind of the dream of what you guys wanna do with this? Whether it's separately or together? Um, and you've done a lot, which I'll, I'll kind of get into. I was doing all my research and I'm like, oh my gosh. The places that, um, you've been mentioned or somebody has worn mm-hmm . Um, we'll have to talk about ASAP Rocky. Like, you have a really, really cool story and you can thank add in like, you know, color if you're, if you've got the similar stories as him as well. But like, this is amazing. Thank you. Where do you wanna go with it?
Cory Johnson (11:11):
Um, , I want to just take it however far it allows it to be. Like, I, I don't know. I don't have like, goals. Like, I don't have like specific like goals. I have like dreams of different things and like ideas I wanna do like a runway, like on water one day or something with
Mindy Hargesheimer (11:28):
Like a, I, I wonder there has to be some kind of show, right?
Cory Johnson (11:31):
Yeah. Like, I definitely want to do stuff like that. But I think the, the goal is to just like, be happy every day, wake up, be grateful, and, and content with where I'm at no matter what. You know, that's the ultimate goal is just to appreciate life in itself and just like, create things. 'cause we get to and just naturally like not have these like expectations or like mm-hmm. These things that we have to get done, but just allow it to kind of like, unfold and, and try to appreciate every bit of the process. 'cause you never know where it'll take you and you never know like where the process will take you when you're creating things. I think when I'm making stuff a lot of the time I don't know what it's gonna look like and that's the fun of it. Ooh,
Mindy Hargesheimer (12:10):
Interesting.
Cory Johnson (12:10):
Yeah, I think that's kind of like just relates over to like, you know, the vision of like every, like, the whole vision is just like, try to just, no matter what happens in life roadblocks, whatever, or what happens within like, the piece that you're creating, just like try to appreciate the, the process of it and, and be grateful for it. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, I don't know, I, I don't have a specific like, end all goal or
Mindy Hargesheimer (12:33):
Whatever. No, I like that. Yeah. I mean, and I'm asking that because I figured there was probably something like a fashion show, which would be really fun to do. Is that something that you wanna do in Kansas City? Oops, I turned
Svea Herstar (12:41):
My phone off. Yes. In the, and then you're like, in, sometime in the future there's no like, um, defined date or anything like that, but we wanna do a show together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (12:51):
Yeah.
Cory Johnson (12:52):
Yeah. Definitely. Definitely want to do a collab, uh, runway show.
Mindy Hargesheimer (12:55):
That'd
Cory Johnson (12:56):
Be awesome.
Mindy Hargesheimer (12:56):
And, and I was gonna say, I, I come from the corporate world and I laugh when people are like, where do you see yourself in five years? I'm like, I have no idea. You know? Right. Like, you probably didn't see yourself married a year ago and you know, here you are. So Yeah. Life can happen so fast and so many things can change. But I do, I wanted to know too, just like, um, you know, what else is it that we can kind of put out there that you guys want to accomplish? Or are there certain collaborations that you would love to make happen? Are there things in Kansas City or people in Kansas City that you would love to work with that you haven't yet or beyond? Not just Kansas City?
Cory Johnson (13:29):
Um,
Svea Herstar (13:31):
I think, I think like I'm, I'm seeing everything that Cory has done and it's quite a blessing to live so close to like, the root of all of that magic and hard work and just to have him by my side. And I would say like a lot of my dreams, you know, are similar to just like, waking up and making things that's like the ultimate like life force behind like all of the things you wanna accomplish. But, um, I wanna, you know, make things for, you know, people to wear. And, and I think like expanding my brand in that way is like the biggest, most attainable dream at this point.
Mindy Hargesheimer (14:16):
It'll be under, your name is your brand. It'll be okay. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (14:19):
Svea Herstar. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (14:20):
Awesome. Um, so I was telling you before we came on, so Need Lu Handmade is, um, a local maker. She actually, she's in Lawrence, but, um, she's done fashion week. She's gone to Paris for Fashion week and stuff. But she does these, she's got, uh, Turkish husband and they go to Turkey and she like, finds all this fabric and makes these really cool creations. You'll have to look her up if you're not familiar with her. Mm-hmm . Um, but what made me think of it, especially to like, bring it into this conversation beyond just fashion is like the sustainability aspect. Mm-hmm . And I am obsessed with, like, I've watched
so many documentaries on how much crap just gets like put out there, right? Mm-hmm . Across the world and all the fast fashion documentaries and everything. And this is something that's hugely important to you guys, right? Mm-hmm . Mm-hmm . Yeah. So how do you go about, like, did you always have an interest in that or did that come to be over the last five or six years to get into that? Like, where did your interest come from to focus on the sustainability piece of it?
Cory Johnson (15:16):
Uh, I think it definitely like unfolded naturally as I started to get more into fashion. Yeah. But I think the root of that is in just like my spirit wanting to always create, I've always liked to create ever since I was little. Same with, you know, like wearing things and stuff. I think yeah, the root of it just comes from me just needing to, to make stuff. And then just like, the easiest way to do that is using what's around you already. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and so yeah, when I started to just like sew, it was like, I'm not trying to spend a whole bunch of money on, you know, material or equipment. I used my mom's singers from like, the 1970s
Mindy Hargesheimer (15:53):
And like, still working like a charm.
Cory Johnson (15:56):
Yeah. And, you know, I made like all my like my first pieces on that and just kind of went to thrift stores and stuff. So yeah. It was just like this natural process. And, um, I think that's like what excites me too about it, is that you never know what you'll be able to work with or find mm-hmm.. When you're out looking for stuff or, and it's also too like, fun because you're, you're not, you're not putting like a specific like, framework around like a piece. It's just like, it can, you can allow it to become anything through just like the open-mindedness of looking at different materials and appreciating 'em for what they are and then seeing, you know, potential in them.
Svea Herstar (16:33):
Yeah. Mm-hmm . I feel like trash can always be treasure, you know? Mm-hmm . Like, um, you can find it's fun to create in the way that we do because you can find beauty in everything or like create it, you know, by adding more and more together and just kind of pushing what you push further than what you see.
Mindy Hargesheimer (16:52):
So what are some of the places that you go to locally that you shop at? And then can you like, walk us through how you identify the things that you wanna get? Like, does it just kinda like, boop like the idea kind of pops in your head like a bubble where you're like, oop, start to see it coming to fruition of this could be it. Mm-hmm . How does that work? I wanna get inside your heads 'cause I think it'd be so fun.
Cory Johnson (17:12):
Um, my favorite spot, one of my favorite spots is a Salvation Army thrift store off Berry Road. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (17:17):
North
Cory Johnson (17:18):
Of the River. Um, I just like that place 'cause it's so big and like, there's not a lot of people, there's just like a lot of space, but there's still so much stuff in it and it's, it's all pretty reasonably reasonably priced. And I think one time I was just like walking and I saw like this radio like, like probably 20 yards away and it was like just, it looked like a, a head just sitting on the shelf. And so I just like ran over to it, bought it, and turned it into a mask like that night. Yep. And so that's kind of how it works.
Mindy Hargesheimer (17:47):
Definitely saw that. Yeah. Yeah. so fun. Thank you. Which I guess yeah. And continue on, but I was gonna say, I think that you had that on display at the Museum of Kansas City, I think, right? Uhhuh. Yeah. So we'll get to that next, but you can keep talking about how you kind of go in and where you shop.
Cory Johnson (18:00):
Yeah. Um, that's a good spot there. I mean, I'm trying to think where else I go. There's River
Svea Herstar (18:05):
Market Antiques is pretty good. Oh
Cory Johnson (18:06):
Yeah. You gotta mention River Market. It's such an awesome place.
Mindy Hargesheimer (18:10):
I have to be honest, I haven't been there. You should. Oh my gosh. So I, I know that talked about it, so I added it to my list, my own bucket list to do. Uh, so you'll
Cory Johnson (18:17):
Yeah. It's awesome.
Cory Johnson (18:19):
So big. Yeah. Every
Mindy Hargesheimer (18:20):
Floor. What makes them so great? Do you know, do they just source differently from, or do they get donations or how do they work? Do you know?
Cory Johnson (18:26):
I think it's just, uh, there's a bunch of individual boutiques, like
Mindy Hargesheimer (18:31):
Oh, okay. And
Cory Johnson (18:31):
It's like literally like four stories, massive, just floors packed.
Mindy Hargesheimer (18:36):
Oh my gosh. To gosh, I didn't know it was that big.
Cory Johnson (18:38): Yeah. Like, just so much. They have a basement and then three floors. Yeah. Okay.
Cory Johnson (18:42):
So big packed to the every inch is just packed and every vendor is like, pretty awesome. Mm-hmm. Like they all have good just stuff.
Svea Herstar (18:51):
I think really like, just going into a place and life open-minded. And so like, just expecting nothing and finding, being able to like, pick up inspiration from anything. Like, don't let any idea be denied. You know, like Yeah. Kind of like see a radio from across the room and be like, all right, I guess that's gonna be a mask today. You
Mindy Hargesheimer (19:12):
Know? Yep. Yeah. Yeah. I love it. 'cause I think it, it's hard for people to imagine like the creativity like that, right? Like all of our different personalities. I think I'm a creative person, but on a different level than you guys. Mm-hmm . Like, and I think I had read, do you, so the word avant-garde, is that something that you guys use? Like, what does that mean to you in the world of fashion? Is it something that you guys wanna align with what you're doing? What does that look like?
Cory Johnson (19:36):
Um, I don't know. I, I sometimes use that word like, in a funny way. Yeah. Avant garde. Like, it's just like very, like, it's so taste. I don't, and
Mindy Hargesheimer (19:45):
You doesn’t even have the same meeting today as it did a hundred years ago? I have no idea. I don't know how it's used today. I truly,
Cory Johnson (19:52):
I honestly don't even know what it really means. It's like
Svea Herstar (19:54):
Boundary pushing and like unexpected or something. Mm-hmm . Um, I, that's kind of what I like feel when I hear it. I'm not sure if that's right. Mm-hmm . Like experimental
Svea Herstar (20:06):
Or something. Yeah. Very experimental, avant garde. Um, I, I think like, I don't think about that, but maybe that could be defining what we're doing. , I don't dunno
Mindy Hargesheimer (20:17):
In some way, shape, or form. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (20:18):
I think there's definitely some of that for sure in, in our art and stuff.
Mindy Hargesheimer (20:23):
Oh my gosh, I love it. Okay. So, um, we talked about Jeremy Scott, who I would love to have on the podcast as well mm-hmm . Um, he is a local fashion designer as obviously, uh, well I say obviously not everybody knows who Jeremy Scott is, but he just had this incredible exhibit, um, at the Nerman Museum, which is where of course I saw you guys, um, was he one of like the original inspirations for you? Or did that come later? And what's your relationship like with him? Because his vision and his success coming from Missouri is awesome. Mm-hmm
Cory Johnson (20:55):
Yeah. Uh, he wasn't actually an inspiration. I didn't find out about him until probably like three years into like, making stuff. Okay. So In like 2023 is probably when I like heard of him and like saw some of his art. But I never, like, when I first started making clothes, I I never really looked at like designers or like, I don't know, it just wasn't, it
Mindy Hargesheimer (21:16):
Wasn't even on your radar
Cory Johnson (21:18):
Interest me. I just like to go out to thrift stores and like break things and put 'em back together and like different ways and stuff.
Cory Johnson (21:24):
But then, yeah, he just like popped up on my radar. I was like, wow, like this is like so cool. And then I, so I found out about him and then I think I found out a little bit after that that he was like, from Kansas City. I was like, whoa, that's so cool.
Cory Johnson (21:38):
Especially with just kind of all the parallels and like similarities from my art to his and, and everything.
So Yeah. It was just like really cool. And, um, I got to meet him like a day before the event. Me and my mom were invited to like, come see it and he's so nice and generous and just like showed me and my mom around the whole exhibit and yeah.
Cory Johnson (21:58):
Then, yeah, I, I even like asked him, I was like, Hey, like, would you ever be open to like, sit down with me and have a conversation where I can just pick your brain on stuff? And Yeah, we got like a, a lunch and we just like hung out. And then we went to River Market Antiques after
Mindy Hargesheimer (22:12):
Sat Midwest. Nice. Right? Mm-hmm . Yeah. Jeremy with your, your Midwest because Yeah. He's so nice. For people who don't know, he's done like Moschino and he's had a lot of celebrities that have worn his creations. Right. He's awesome. Yeah. I know you have the, um, McDonald's thing. I saw a video of you
Cory Johnson (22:28):
That, that's just my dad got me that for Christmas, like a year ago.
Mindy Hargesheimer (22:31):
Oh my gosh. I literally went and looked it up. 'cause I was like, I need that. Our 8-year-old is so obsessed with McDonald's, so anything that I can Yeah. Which is sort of ironic for me being like, that's funny. Kansas City, local, everything, she loves McDonald's so much. That's cute that I'm like, when you grow up, I think you need to own a couple franchises, like, that's your feature. But then I saw you wearing that and I was like, oh my gosh, where can you get that? And then of course I go online, you can buy 'em on like eBay or, or whatever. But I was like, that would be perfect for her. So
Svea Herstar (22:57):
You can borrow it sometime.
Mindy Hargesheimer (22:58):
Okay. I might have to. Yeah. Maybe like her birthday, you know. Yeah. We'll just borrow it for the day. Yeah. Um, so do you guys do custom creations for people? Have people reached out to you to do an, I don't know, is it custom, is it commissioned? What does that, like, verbiage that applies?
Svea Herstar (23:14):
Uh, I think kind of both. Yeah. Um, really it, I think the most important thing is the alignment with like, the energy, uh, between people and also just kind of what you're trying to create you and the other person. And so, yeah, I think custom has to do with like, you tailoring it specifically for that person. And then commission is like the individual job.
Mindy Hargesheimer (23:38):
Yeah. Okay.
Cory Johnson (23:39):
Yeah, I think it's very specific to kind of like what I, what what feels right. You know? I don't wanna like make something that doesn't, you know, feel right with what I believe or what I stand for and stuff and whatnot. But, um, yeah, definitely, definitely open to commissions and customs just has to kind of align with what I'm doing. Mm-hmm
Mindy Hargesheimer (23:58):
Yeah. Mm-hmm . So do they, do they, are they typically coming to you with some kind of vision and then you complete it? Or are they just like, Hey, I want something
Cory Johnson (24:05):
I've had both, yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (24:06):
Yeah. Specific
Cory Johnson (24:07):
Visions or just like, you know, full trust on just, you know,
Cory Johnson (24:11):
Whatever you want kind of thing. Mm-hmm
Mindy Hargesheimer (24:12): Do you want more of that or is that more time consuming versus kind of the return? Or like, what is, where does that fall for you for people that are interested?
Cory Johnson (24:21):
I think it's just specific, you know, because like, it's specific in the way that like, I, I want to like just make what I wanna make Yeah. At the end of the day. But also if it's like, you know, like I said, if it aligns like then mm-hmm . You know, I'll take, you know, all the commissions that can come my way, you know. Yeah. That's, that's awesome. But yeah, it just has to feel right. And if it doesn't then, you
know, we just keep making stuff that we wanna make
Svea Herstar (24:43):
I think a fun part about, um, like creating a brand that's like based on you is that you can prove to people that like, I don't know, like, or you, you don't have to prove to anybody, but like, you can just show people kind of what your vision is. And then like every once in a while you get like someone that you know, fully trusts you and you can just, they're like, I want a pair of pants, and then you can do whatever to them. So,
Mindy Hargesheimer (25:08):
That makes sense. Mm-hmm . Um, okay. So let's talk about how did you, how do you go about publishing a book? Like how did did this come be? 'cause this is really cool. Thank you. I mean, not a lot of people get a book made, and this is, um, I mean this photo, let's talk about that Thank you. First and foremost, we haven't even talked about this whole thing. Is this one of like the first things that you created, or is this just somewhere in the midst of all of your creativity?
Cory Johnson (25:30):
Yeah, so it was just me and my friend Evan. Um, we just made that book by ourselves. I went over
Cory Johnson (25:36):
Yeah, that's the radio, that's it. The Radiohead. Yeah. Um, yeah, so my friend Evan, uh, he goes to Mizzou and he's, he's a photographer, a graphic design student. And, uh, he did all the photo and all of the, the design by himself. And he, oh my gosh, he knew a local book printer in Kansas City. It's called Bolt Hall. Okay. Or Bolty Hall, uh, printing. And yeah. So I would just go over to his house and in his spare bedroom, he had just get too close, a little like backdrop set up where I'd just stand in front of the backdrop and he'd snap the photo. And so yeah, it's all just self done. I don't have, it's not published anywhere. It's just, I have a literally two pallets in my garage right now. Do you, of those books just sitting? Yeah,
Mindy Hargesheimer (26:16): Let's get those out. This is like a great coffee table book for Thank
Mindy Hargesheimer (26:20):
For local. Yeah. I saw this one. Does the fan move?
Cory Johnson (26:23):
Yeah, it does. It has like a pulley system. You can like pull it and it'll, it'll open up. Oh
Mindy Hargesheimer (26:27):
My gosh. That's so fun. Thank
Cory Johnson (26:29):
You. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (26:30):
Um, when you look back, like, what did you guys wanna be when you grew up? Oh, anything related to what you're doing today? Or did that completely evolve to something different based on this is, I don't know, something that happened, like you mentioned, I, I read that you have like a t-shirt that you made mm-hmm . In high school or something that kind of like you went back to, right? Mm-hmm . If you wanna talk about that a little bit that maybe kind of like a stem. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (26:52):
I think it just kind of naturally evolved throughout my life. I think when I was younger, I had more influence from my parents. They were always telling me I'd be like an architect or something. Yeah. But then like, I figured out that I hate math and I do not like
Mindy Hargesheimer (27:03):
Join the club I
Cory Johnson (27:05):
Don't like the structure of like, school.
Cory Johnson (27:07):
Just like all that stuff. So I think it kind of just evolved naturally through my life of kind of figuring out what specifically I like to do. And what I always knew that I liked to do was make stuff and wear things, you know, and express myself through fashion. And, uh, I think what kind of opened my eyes to actually turning it into a business was just my fashion class. I took my senior year of high school. Thank you Mrs. Sylvie, my fashion teacher. She was the one that like showed me how to do like a, a sewing machine, how to use one. And so I did that and my friends started to like ask if they could buy the things I was making. And then that like sparked in my head. I was like, okay, if my friends want to like buy these, I feel like, you know, I could probably sell these to other people around the world. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so that's kind of how that went. It was just kind of, I just like knew what I liked and just ran with it. Yeah. And I knew
what I didn't like as well. I knew, you know, I didn't want to be like an architect. I love like, you know, maybe I'll get into that one day, but just like the mathematical side and like all that stuff I like, I like,
Mindy Hargesheimer (28:05):
You know, making know your strengths, right? Mm-hmm . Yeah. Math is definitely not one for me either, so mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's a good thing. We have calculators, you know, Yeah. What about you? I
Svea Herstar (28:13):
Think, uh, that kind of came along more in college. So like as a, I always was creative throughout my childhood and stuff, but kind of veered off of that in high school. Okay. And then, um, I went to run track at William Jewel College mm-hmm . Up in Liberty, and I started making clothes in my dorm room and I just started to really wear whatever I wanted around the campus. And, um, started to just kind of see that like, this can be something Yeah. You know, like people see like how I'm wearing something different or they mention how they want like my clothes Yeah. Um, outta my closet and stuff like that. And so I just started
Mindy Hargesheimer (28:53):
To, what a compliment. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (28:54):
Thank you. I just started to lean into that and then I got my, like made my way to art school and so now I go to the Art institute and
Mindy Hargesheimer (29:01):
Oh, you do now? Yeah. Awesome. Okay.
Svea Herstar (29:03):
Yeah. And so I just started by making clothes in my room too. And yeah. People started at Otis and then you get more confident and like know that it can be something more Yeah. Than just your expression.
Mindy Hargesheimer (29:15):
Do you have a word that describes your style?
Svea Herstar (29:18):
I thought you were gonna ask this And I was like, thinking about it and I,
Mindy Hargesheimer (29:21):
Not Avante garde, but maybe something different.
Cory Johnson (29:24):
I would just say infinite. I think that's kind of naturally branded itself and yeah. It's just like, there's not a right or wrong way to kind of do something or make something. And so it's just that opens up that creativity and that freedom of the limitless, you know, potential.
Mindy Hargesheimer (29:39):
That's honestly brilliant. Yeah. Back to like, like not putting yourself in a box because the world changes so much and we change so much as people. Um, I'm older than you and I can tell you that. Like, you won't necessarily be the same person that you were mm-hmm . You know, 20 years ago when you're in your forties and not necessarily like, so vastly different mm-hmm . But you do, the world changes and you have to evolve with it. Mm-hmm . And your taste changes and everything. So I think that's really smart. Mm-hmm . Yeah. Yeah. Um, when, so Faith I noticed is a big thing I wanna ask you about that. Is that important to you guys? Mm-hmm .
Cory Johnson (30:10):
No, absolutely. It's like the number one thing. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (30:12):
That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Do you wanna talk a little bit about that? Like, is that, was that part of your upbringing? How does that find its way into what you guys do day to day or with your work? Because I love how open you are on your social media, at least with it, talking about it mm-hmm . Um, as someone who agrees, you know, with that as well. I think it's hugely important and probably, um, probably guides you, I'm guessing mm-hmm . Day to day. Right.
Svea Herstar (30:35):
It guides the art too. It's like, yeah. Mm-hmm . Um, letting, letting you know the, the thing that made you the thing that's more powerful than you. Like, decide what you are to be used for in life and, and just letting that kind of take over and also rely on it in the same hand.
Cory Johnson (30:55):
Yeah. I think recently it's been like, it's always been there and important to me, but I think even especially recently as you like, go through different things and face different things and have to be kind of like challenged by life, it'll kind of test you. Yeah. Mm-hmm . And so yeah. , I think it's interesting, like, I believe that we are given situations to either, you know, to test us, to either like strengthen us for the future or they can like, it can like break us. And I think that's kind of mm-hmm . Going back to what I was talking about of just like appreciating Yeah. Every day and like being content with where I'm at. Yeah. Being happy and stuff, and just knowing that like, everything can be worked for good if you have faith. Yeah. You know, ultimately. And, um, yeah. It makes life so just so much easier. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (31:45):
Yeah. Well, okay, so I wrote down a quote that you said on your, one of your posts, um, that I really like that aligns with that, which was what's as important? What's important is how we can love others through the things that we make and experiences that we get. Mm-hmm . Which totally speaks to your tone, your outlook that you're talking about. And like that's super admirable, especially in the world that we live in today. Mm-hmm . Um, and I have no doubt you have days that are challenging and stuff, but like, you have such a great outlook Thank you. That I think can be very contagious for a lot of people.
Cory Johnson (32:12):
Thank you so much. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (32:13):
By the way, you have a lot of people following you. Mm-hmm . How did that come to be and how do you navigate that? And has it worked to your benefit in ways?
Cory Johnson (32:23):
Um, yeah. Ever since
Mindy Hargesheimer (32:25):
The beast of social media, right? Mm-hmm .
Cory Johnson (32:27):
Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, kind of going back to 2020, I graduated high school and I knew, like I said, the only way to get seen was putting my out art out there online. Yeah. And so I would post literally like five times a day every single day. I was on like, gosh, good for you. I was like, going crazy, like back then, um,
Mindy Hargesheimer (32:48):
Was this just videos of you like,
Cory Johnson (32:49):
Yeah, I would just like, throw on stuff. Like, a lot of this stuff back then was very like, makeshift and like DIY I'd just kind of like pin things together real quick. Yeah. I wanna spend a lot of time trying to make it functional mm-hmm
Cory Johnson (33:01):
And so I, I really was like focused on the advertising aspect and the marketing and like, making content Yeah.
Cory Johnson (33:07): It. And so yeah. I would just post so much and just like, get it out there and then Yeah. You know, if you do that, if you stay consistent with something you're passionate about and you show it online, like people will recognize that.
Mindy Hargesheimer (33:19):
Yeah. Yeah. 'cause you've got, what, how many followers do you have on Instagram? And then TikTok probably one, uh, 400
Cory Johnson (33:26):
Some thousand on Instagram and 300 some thousand on TikTok. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (33:29):
Yeah. And it's wild to read some of the comments, like they're very inspired mm-hmm .
Mindy Hargesheimer (33:34):
What you're doing, and you are like such a hive girl too. You're so sweet. I see your comments too. I don't know if they purposely show up because you like, somehow they know you're married, but I see your comments on her. I'm like, oh my gosh. So cute.
Svea Herstar (33:45):
Yeah. I'm really proud of him.
Mindy Hargesheimer (33:47):
Yeah. That's amazing. The other thing, um, I, so you did Creative Mornings in Kansas City. When was that? Was that in the fall?
Cory Johnson (33:55):
Um, I don't know when, I forgot when that was. Uh,
Mindy Hargesheimer (34:00):
That's okay. I just was, I, I was reading about you doing it and this is what they put online, which is just a testament to going back to like the ASAP Rocky thing. Uhhuh, I wanna hear more about this. They said Cory has been able to work with brands and artists such as Converse mm-hmm . Right. Please believe it or not, Erykaha Badu, asap Rocky UFO 360 1. Is that right? Mm-hmm . Migos, um, Teezo Touchdown, Magdalena Bay. I mean, it just goes on and on and on. Mm-hmm . And then his pieces have appeared in Vogue, Germany and have been worn on stage at Coachella, Dave Chappelle's nightclub and on Jimmy Kimmel Alive.
Mindy Hargesheimer (34:34):
Like, does that even resonate with you of like, are you just kind of like, so humble because as an outsider, I'm going Vogue, Germany, Uhhuh, like, how do you even get there? How does that happen? That's so great. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (34:46):
That was the first thing actually, the Vogue Germany was the first time that it was like, there was this moment of like, whoa, this is like reaching people across the world. And this is like a, this is like, that was like the first sign of like, things really impacting people and working. Yeah.
(35:02):
I think it was all just like this like tight group of people that were supporting me at that time. I think that was back in like 2021, so that was like really early on. Okay. And then I got like a bunch of people commenting, um, just like tagging me like, Hey, like your mask is in this video and your mask is like in this article on Vogue, Germany. And so I looked and yeah, apparently this guy's UFO 360 1 is like a German rapper and his creative stylist, uh, just like bought the mask off my website. I shipped it to him. I had no idea, and it just popped up random.
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:33):
Oh my gosh.
Cory Johnson (35:33):
Um, yeah. So that's how that came about. But yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:36):
Did you get credit in the magazine for it?
Cory Johnson (35:39):
Uh, I don't know. I got tagged on like, all their posts
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:42):
And stuff, I think, but
Cory Johnson (35:43):
I don't know if the spec the ma I don't think the magazine mentioned my name, but
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:46):
Just curious how that works. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (35:48):
Yeah. But yeah, creative Mor, I, I just remembered Creative Mornings was like, it wasn't that long ago. It was pretty, yeah,
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:54):
It was probably
Cory Johnson (35:54): Like three months ago or four months ago maybe.
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:56):
Yeah. Well, that's definitely an honor to get invited to that. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (35:59):
Absolutely. Um, not everybody knows your story about the ASAP Rocky. I know the story about how you, but do you wanna tell that and then like how you, how, how has that impacted you and like Yeah, what did you create for that team? Uhhuh.
Cory Johnson (36:12):
Yeah. So me and my friends one night, uh, just we were hanging out one summer night. It was like midnight. We just like hanging out at my friend's house and we were like, we're hungry, let's go get something to eat. And so we all get in our car and like, we're deciding where we want to eat. And I'm like, I'm the only person that wants to go to some like Mexican restaurant or something different, but
everybody else wants to go to Town Top and Hamburgers. I was
Mindy Hargesheimer (36:35):
Like, okay. A local
Cory Johnson (36:36):
Favorite though.
Cory Johnson (36:36):
Yeah. I was like, all right, we'll go. And so we go and we're just, you know, hanging out or eating outside and this guy comes up to me and he's like, Hey, where'd you get your outfit? And where'd you guys get your outfits? And we were like, we made them. He was like, oh man, these are awesome. I got this guy I am shooting a video for. I think he's, he'd really like this stuff. I was like, awesome. And, uh, he, this
Cory Johnson (36:59):
Kept avoiding saying his name. I was like, who? You know, I was just like, who are you talking about? And he goes, asap, Rocky Yeah. Like, kind of quiet. So no one here. I was like, what is ASAP Rocky doing here? And he's like, he, he's shooting a commercial for Beats by Dre and a music video. And so long story short, that was ASAP Rocky's creative director. And I got hired on to Style ASAP Rocky, and
all of his models for that shoot in the West Bottoms for his, his vid uh, music video. The Beats by Dre commercial when I got on the set was already done. Okay.
Cory Johnson (37:31):
Yeah, like I started right when they were shooting the video
Mindy Hargesheimer (37:33):
On set meaning in the West Bottoms? Yeah. Is that where they were? Uhhuh. . Okay. Yeah. And then what were you wearing at the time that got his attention?
Cory Johnson (37:39):
It wasn't anything like super out there. It was just like a pair of duck boots, green, like Adidas sweatpants. And then I actually, it's funny, I was wearing this shirt. Oh, cool. And then I, I had a purple Cory, like t shirt over it, Uhhuh, and that was it. Yeah. So it wasn't like super crazy interesting. But yeah, it got, it was enough to get his attention. So
Mindy Hargesheimer (37:59):
Did you meet ASAP Rocky?
Cory Johnson (38:01):
Yeah. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:02):
Then are you still in touch with the creative director? Like, is there, is there a way to collaborate on anything further?
Cory Johnson (38:08):
Um,
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:08):
If you even care ?
Cory Johnson (38:09):
No. Yeah. Uh, what a cool
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:11):
Opportunity
Cory Johnson (38:11): Though. I don't, I don't talk too much to them anymore, but like every once in a while I'll see like a comment or something Yeah. Here and there. But, um, yeah, no, uh, just an amazing like, experience and just like being able to, I met so many people mm-hmm . Especially like from Kansas City that are just so awesome and nice and just
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:28):
People that were just locals helping with
Cory Johnson (38:30):
That Yeah. That got hired on. Yeah. You know, like all the assistants Yeah. And everything. Yeah. It was, it was so special and it was so cool. It was like, it was a whole movie production. Like, it was just like big, huge, you know, like camera cranes and like a director shouting at people. Like, it was really cool,
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:45):
The real deal. Mm-hmm . So the lesson is go to town topic when your friends wanna go to town topic, , because you never know what's gonna happen. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (38:52):
And always dress up. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (38:55):
Put
Svea Herstar (38:55):
It on. Wear something that expresses like what you feel,
Mindy Hargesheimer (38:58):
I guess, because you never know who's walking around right around you. Yeah. Mm-hmm . I know you mentioned before like there aren't necessarily designers, um, per se that like you, uh, would follow or look up to, but like, do either of you have anyone in particular that you would want to dress or do another, you know, you know, a video or a movie? Are those things that you think about at all? Yeah. Or is it okay?
Cory Johnson (39:21):
Definitely. I think being on like a movie design or like wardrobe would be awesome. That's like a, definitely like a goal I wanna do. And I, you know, I want to, I wanna do stuff with Jeremy Scott. I wanna, I feel like that our, I don't know, it just work out so Perfect. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (39:37):
Just our alignment. Mm-hmm
Cory Johnson (39:40):
I love Converse. I wear Converse like every day. And so I want to continue our, uh, relationship there. I think there, it'd be really special. Um,
Mindy Hargesheimer (39:47):
What did you create with Converse?
Cory Johnson (39:50):
So I created two sneakers so far. The first pair was a Chuck Taylor that I redesigned with recycled keyboard membrane. Every keyboard has like a sheet called The Membrane.
Cory Johnson (40:01):
And so, yeah, I just totally reconstructed the shoe out of that. And then the second pair, um, actually heavily inspired by Jeremy Scott. 'cause he put like the little, like, um, toys on the shoes and stuff, like the stuffed animals. And so I, the poodle? Yeah. Uhhuh I made like little, I call them sneaker buddies. They're like just mini mes. No way that you can put onto the laces. It's, it's like, I made one that is wearing like the keyboard jumpsuit. Oh my gosh. And it's just like this little doll that you can put on the shoe. And
Mindy Hargesheimer (40:30):
Can you buy these to this day? Or was this like a limited time thing?
Cory Johnson (40:33):
No, so these were just one of ones that I, okay. They just commit. They just wanted me to make a video and a shoe. Okay. And that was it. Um, so I've done that twice now with them. Yeah. But I, I really, I, I want to continue that relationship for sure.
Mindy Hargesheimer (40:45):
Yeah, for sure.
Cory Johnson (40:45):
Yeah. I think we can make some awesome stuff and, and do some awesome things together.
Mindy Hargesheimer (40:49):
Are there other brands like Converse that you wanna do something with? Um, and for you too?
Cory Johnson (40:54):
I don't know. I, uh, and
Mindy Hargesheimer (40:56):
It's okay if not, I'm just curious.
Cory Johnson (40:58):
Not off the top of my head, but just, yeah, we'll keep Converse at That was the one, yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm .
Svea Herstar (41:03):
I feel like I'm just kind of stepping into my vision, you know? Yeah. Um, and I've been working on like, posting every other day at least. Um, and I think like a lot of music inspires me. And so I have a handful of music artists that I think are really, really awesome. Um,
Mindy Hargesheimer (41:21):
Can you name any of them?
Svea Herstar (41:22):
They're literally, Cory's already met, like, half the people that I love so much, but really I think, like Erica, I've listened to her since I was little. Yeah. And she's just so wonderful. I, and then like, tezo touchdown, I've been listening to a lot really resonate with like, how creative he uses his voices and his talent to like, express different things that you wouldn't expect. And then, yeah. Um, Tyler, the creators. Mm-hmm . Always been like a, a number one for me. Um, DOCI really awesome. Yeah. I have like a ton of people that I think are just so awesome. And I think just continuing to create, I'll like, uh, eventually line up with, you know, who's meant to be, gotta
Mindy Hargesheimer (42:05):
Put it out there, right? Yeah.
Svea Herstar (42:05):
Mm-hmm
Mindy Hargesheimer (42:06):
. Manifest or put it on the universe or whatever you wanna look at it as mm-hmm . Um, okay. Good. That's, um, yeah, I was curious about the ASAP Rocky thing and all that, and just like what got turned into, so, yeah. How can people interact with you guys around Kansas City? Is it, I mean, are you out and about doing things? Like, you had the, I guess you can talk about the Museum of Kansas City and what you did there, but like in what other ways can people interact with you, whether they're just like me, a local who's interested in following along with what you're doing, or shopping, or, we live hanging out ,
Svea Herstar (42:39):
We go to the grocery store like every day,
Mindy Hargesheimer (42:41):
And we always like, okay, which grocery store
Svea Herstar (42:42):
To go.
Svea Herstar (42:44):
Um, like I feel like one of the most, like, we get all of our interactions just in public wherever we go, and we, like, we aren't, you know, we're always at home, but like, kind of, you know, go to the thrift store or go to the grocery store and then Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (42:58):
Within your little corridor of Casey. Yeah. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (43:00):
We always get, like, we start up conversations with like, almost someone in every place we go. Mm-hmm . And it's super awesome. But I think eventually we wanna build something like physical mm-hmm . For people to come to and Oh, that'd be fun. Get resources and be inspired by and stuff in the city, so.
Mindy Hargesheimer (43:18):
Are you planning on staying in Kansas City or does this ever bring you to wanna live somewhere different and take this somewhere different? Or do you know?
Cory Johnson (43:27):
I, I love Kansas. We both love Kansas City.
Cory Johnson (43:29):
We just love, like, the spirit of the laid backness and not as fast paced. I think that just helps both of our creative process.
Cory Johnson (43:36):
Um, but yeah, I, I mean, I love to travel too, and so I, I definitely wanna, I wanna get somewhere like, I love the beach, so I definitely want somewhere on the beach one day or something. I think that'd be awesome.
Mindy Hargesheimer (43:46):
Cory Johnson (43:47):
I love Kansas City. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (43:48):
Well, good. That's good to hear. Glad you're not leaving soon. Yeah. Um, one thing I did wanna ask about, going back to the social media thing, is how do you go about, um, like now are you posting five times a day? Are you trying to grow it? Are you trying to, what do you, what is your strategy with social media in the space that you're in?
Cory Johnson (44:08):
Yeah. I think it's, it is a different time from, versus like five years ago when I was starting. Sure. I
Mindy Hargesheimer (44:13):
Think I'm,
Cory Johnson (44:13):
I'm definitely getting a lot more into, now that I've built up a bit of a following, I, I'm starting to really just focus in on like the craft and like making things, uh, functional and
Cory Johnson (44:23):
Like that. Yeah. And so those can take a long time. And so I'm definitely not posting five times a day , but I do wanna, you know, just, I do try to continue to stay consistent with posting mm hmm . And keeping people updated on what I'm doing and Yeah. And things like that. But yeah. Uh, the focus is definitely for me right now, just, just like making the art as special and awesome as fun and functional as possible, but also documenting that Yeah. For
Mindy Hargesheimer (44:47):
People.
Cory Johnson (44:47):
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (44:48):
Well, you may not be into home decor, but I feel like that's something you could do too, I swear. Mm hmm . With like the things that you're creating mm-hmm . Like, actually I was gonna ask you do, and maybe I read it somewhere, but like, do people ever buy your things or do you, you probably do, but do people buy your things and then hang them? Yeah. Mm-hmm
. As art. Mm-hmm . Because they would be perfect for that. And you, I mean, it's like, yeah. So
Cory Johnson (45:07): There's a guy that
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:08):
Food for thought
Cory Johnson (45:10):
Yeah. Um, there was a guy that bought the, uh, spoon jacket that I created and he hung it in his living room as a chandelier.
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:17):
No way. Yeah.
Cory Johnson (45:17):
Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:18):
Is he here locally?
Cory Johnson (45:19):
I think he's down in Florida.
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:20):
Did he send you a photo? Yeah. Of what it looks like. Uhhuh.
Cory Johnson (45:22):
He didn't How
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:23):
Did he find you? Do you know? Um,
Cory Johnson (45:25):
I don't actually, I'll have to ask. I'm not sure,
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:27):
But I was just curious like, just
Cory Johnson (45:28):
Probably on just the, on Instagram or something.
Mindy Hargesheimer (45:31):
He's searching like hashtag spoon jacket and finds you Um, okay, good. Well, I have some fun rapid fire questions that I wanna do with you guys here about Casey, but, um, what else have we not talked about with you guys? Anything that you wanna share that's part of your story or that you wanna put out there? Um, because I think that you guys are two completely like really cool inspirational people. Thank you. Doing something very different in Kansas City. Um, and I've had so much fun following along, which is why I wanted you guys to come on here. But anything else that we haven't talked about that you wanna share?
Svea Herstar (46:11):
Um, do you have anything?
Mindy Hargesheimer (46:12):
? I
Svea Herstar (46:12):
Think, um, just like emphasizing that you can find the best thing, um, if you just keep pursuing kind of what you're passionate about. Yeah. There are times when I like leaned on that as like, you know, um, life force, you know? Yeah. So, yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (46:29):
Good reminder.
Cory Johnson (46:29):
Mm-hmm . I think to branch off that is, uh, to just, yeah, to just try to find, like find the lesson within it or within the things you're going through, or just find the, you can always like find the light and
find just like the positive from experiences and stuff. And so just to remember that through every experience I think is, is really important. Um, so
Mindy Hargesheimer (46:53):
Yeah. Love it. Great sound. It's very you guys. I love it. It's so, so perfect. Okay. What is currently on your Kansas City bucket list? What do you wanna do around Casey?
Svea Herstar (47:06):
I gotta go. I feel like I haven't tried like any restaurants because I, I went, I started coming up like I lived in the city but like, kind of outside of it and so I just moved to the art institute like a year or so ago. And um, I need to definitely try like all these like, famous places that everyone talks about. What are the famous places that everyone talks about? Think like, maybe like, is there somewhere called Joe's Barbecue? ? Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (47:31):
We haven't gone there yet.
Mindy Hargesheimer (47:32):
Think so. That's kind of a big deal. , I didn't realize. Okay. Yeah. We gotta go Joe's Barbecue. You should maybe do that tonight.
Svea Herstar (47:40): I might have had town topic like once, but I wasn't even living here so I probably wouldn't hit the same. So I need to go back. Okay. Yep. That's a local, um,
Cory Johnson (47:49):
I feel like there's some museums you haven't seen. Yeah. Um, like the World War I and like, that one's incredible.
Svea Herstar (47:56):
The Jeremy Scott exhibition was the first time I heard about that Nerman out there.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:00):
Yep.
Svea Herstar (48:01):
Yeah. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:02):
The Nerman is a hidden gem. Mm-hmm . And I can't figure out why , because one, it's huge. Yeah. Um, but two people just, I'm constantly surprised how many people dunno what's there mm-hmm . And it's free, so. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. Yeah. Um, okay. Anything else? Bucket list? You,
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:21):
Get you the Z-Man at Joe's. We'll make sure that that happens.
Cory Johnson (48:24):
I don't know. Uh, maybe just to do some more in-person stuff and like bring people together more.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:31):
Okay. Um,
Cory Johnson (48:32):
Maybe I won't maybe do another like trash cleanup when the weather mm-hmm . Gets
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:35):
Warm. Is that something that you have done already?
Cory Johnson (48:37):
Yeah,
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:38):
Cory Johnson (48:38):
One in the West Bottoms. Okay.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:41):
How you made the jacket? Mm-hmm . With the plastic? Yep. The, yeah,
Cory Johnson (48:44):
The, the trash jacket.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:44):
Good for you. I love that. Okay. Um, anybody in particular that you would wanna hear on the podcast now that you've been on?
Cory Johnson (48:51):
Um hmm. Jeremy Scott would be awesome to hear. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:57):
Put that out there.
Cory Johnson (48:57):
Jeremy Scott,
Mindy Hargesheimer (48:58):
Please. Come on. Yep.
Svea Herstar (48:59):
Mean, I know Janelle Monae. Oh
Mindy Hargesheimer (49:01):
My gosh. I, yeah, I've asked people, I'm like, how do you get in touch with her? Because I absolutely want her on the podcast being from here. Yeah.
Svea Herstar (49:08): I don't know. I tagged her in my story. She didn't see it. I made something recently that she wore. I think she wore it to like, she wore it to some event and, and it was like really similar to something I had just made. Really? I was like, please look at me, but,
Mindy Hargesheimer (49:21):
Okay. Well, together we will figure this out. Okay. Somebody in Kansas City. If you're listening and you know how to get in touch with Janelle will bring her on the podcast and then you can come be my co-host. Okay. Thank you. Um, anything else that you wanted? Learn more about Kansas City. I mean, you moved from here from out of kc. Anything else that you're like intrigued by or interested in learning more about this city? And you're born and raised here, so if there's anything,
Cory Johnson (49:46):
Um, I would say the spot to do it is the Museum of Kansas City. Like that
Cory Johnson (49:51):
Is all focused on people from kc, so I definitely, like, I went through, so it was kind of crazy. Like I didn't even hear about them until like, they reached out to me.
Mindy Hargesheimer (49:59):
Oh, they did? And
Cory Johnson (50:00):
Like, yeah. And then it just worked out where I was coming out with a book. Then I, I walked through their museum like briefly, kind of like going through it, but I want to go back and actually intentionally like look at all the incredible people from Kansas City and, and
Mindy Hargesheimer (50:12):
So I don't even know if we talked too much about that. You did your book release there? Yeah. Is that what you did? Uhhuh. . Okay. Yeah. Um, and then you had like some of your, your creations on display, right? Mm-hmm . Yeah. It is a beautiful spot. Did you work with Paul over there?
Mindy Hargesheimer (50:27):
Yeah. Um, anything for you in particular?
Svea Herstar (50:31):
I think, I think just like the history maybe and, and like going to, I know that there's tons of like, museums and like mm-hmm . Places to learn more about it. So I would say just like, take a more intentional look and researching like
Mindy Hargesheimer (50:47):
I actually wanna get some historians on here. Yeah. That would be cool. I'm not even from Kansas City originally, but I wanna get some people on, I wanna know about the history of barbecue, how it came to be. I wanna know about like, the prohibition era. Like there's, there's things, so I'm also looking for some people to come on and talk about that. Okay, cool. So I'm with you there. Um, in your opinion, what makes Kansas City so great? So unique? You guys wanna stay here for a reason? Mm-hmm . Mm-hmm . When you think about Casey, what do you think about?
Svea Herstar (51:13):
I think there's like space and there's also like a certain like, energy of reuse, like kind of living throughout it almost. And I don't know much about the history and I feel like that would be cool to hear about if Yeah. There are like overlaps with like that as a history of the culture here, but I feel like just the way that the city is really speaks to the, maybe the way we make art or something like that, I don't know.
Cory Johnson (51:41):
Yeah. I think it's a, a mixture of things. I love just the overall peace and like, calmness compared to a lot of busy places. It's a lot more relaxed. Um, but I also feel like we have a lot of pride and passion for the things that we love and I think that just directly relates to like what I do and, and just like the love and passion that I have for, for creating and stuff like that. Mm-hmm
Cory Johnson (52:05):
Um, yeah, it's just like a mixture of a lot of really awesome things. Yeah.
Mindy Hargesheimer (52:09): Yeah. Do you have any certain places that you find, um, either inspiration in when you go walk through? Like, I just went to the, um, what is it? The Zubie Arts Center, I think is what it's called. Have you been there yet?
Cory Johnson (52:23):
I've heard of that. I think
Mindy Hargesheimer (52:23):
I'm probably getting the name wrong, but it's close. It's close to that and I'll make sure tag him, but that's definitely a must. Go check that out. Mm-hmm . It's over, like around, um, like 18th and Truce, kind of that area. Mm-hmm . But do you guys have certain places, like from an artist standpoint that you really
appreciate and love and feel like makes this is like, makes this an arts community in Casey?
Svea Herstar (52:43):
Um, I think for sure Scraps is really awesome. Mm-hmm
Svea Herstar (52:47):
For me, like I, I find a lot of peace and inspiration and like nature and so I go to, I, I started my like observations at my William Jewel campus, which is really beautiful.
Svea Herstar (53:02):
Yeah, it's really pretty to go like on walks or whatever, but also loose park. Yeah. And that's where he proposed to me to
Mindy Hargesheimer (53:07):
Aww, perfect. Yeah. Maybe you knew that she liked Loose Park. We had some, some picnics there. Friday.
Svea Herstar (53:13):
Literally the, we had a picnic before that day and I was like, someone literally got proposed to there and I was like, oh, that's cute.
Mindy Hargesheimer (53:21):
Maybe. Aw. Well, awesome. Okay. So where can people find and follow you?
Cory Johnson (53:28):
Uh, my main platforms are just Instagram and TikTok. It's CORY Infinite. Um, and that's my website as well. www.coryinfinite.com
Mindy Hargesheimer (53:38):
With your shop on there? Yeah. Yep.
Svea Herstar (53:40):
I'm just on Instagram right now really at her star and I am working on s her star.com. Okay. It'll
Svea Herstar (53:49):
It'll be out in the next couple months, so.
Mindy Hargesheimer (53:50):
All right. I'll, I'll look for it. Awesome. Well thank you guys so much for coming on. Thanks. It's so good to meet you and hear the backstory and like what you guys wanna do and, um, we'll figure out how to get Jeremy, Scott and Janelle on Okay. Awesome. All right. Thanks guys. Thank you. Thank you so much for tuning in and finding inspiration in these incredible stories. If you love what you hear, be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. Leave a rating and share the show to help these Kansas City voices reach even more listeners.