We had the pleasure of getting in touch with a Minnesota native and outdoorsman, Will Jenkins about his clothing brand, Full Curl. With design inspiration from the iconic adult ram, Full Curl is fit for anyone who enjoys the adventure of seeking the unseen. It’s meant for those that have a passion for the outdoors and love all activities immersed in it. Will Jenkins takes pride in producing high quality lifestyle clothing that fits great and feels good. With eco-friendly water based dyes, itch free tags, and simple clean designs, Full Curl T’s are great for any outdoor adventure. Learn more about the creator of Full Curl and where his brand is headed in our interview below.
50 Campfires: I know you are an outdoors guy, but what drove your inspiration to start Full Curl Brand? How did this idea come about?
Will Jenkins: It really all just came from seeing a gap in the current market. Myself and a lot of my friends are very active people that enjoy several outdoor activities but many of the brands in the outdoors represent an activity more so than a lifestyle. I wanted a brand that collectively represents outdoor adventure with clean design, good quality and a fair price . I hike, backpack, camp, hunt and fish so why not have a brand that represents a collective outdoor lifestyle. So, a little over a year ago I came up with the name and concept and did the research to see if there was a market for that type of clothing and found that it was a pretty empty market. Over the last year I built and fine tuned our plan and designs and we launched the company and website mid April.
50 Campfires: How has social media and networking impacted upon the way you work, brand and promote yourself? Which medium is the most useful for you?
Will Jenkins: As a start up that has no outside funding, social media is basically all we have aside from growing word of mouth. Social media also allows us to demonstrate an authentic active lifestyle. If you look at our social media you won’t see models staging outdoor activity for a photo shoot it’s either us or our customers. It also gives us a chance to meet cool people locally and abroad as well as trade cool stories and pictures.
As far as which medium has been most useful they’re all kind of tied at the moment but Instagram has been the most fun and interactive. Another industry specific outlet we just started using and really like is the Yonder App.
50 Campfires: What is your vision with this brand moving forward?
Will Jenkins: We want to reach more people and provide solid lifestyle apparel for, as our tagline says, “Those that Seek Adventure.” But we also want to be active members of the outdoor community that inspire people to get outdoors. We plan to host some outdoor adventure film showings at a local coffee shop here in the Twin Cities. We’re also personally involved in various conservation organizations and efforts so we’d like to help with the conservation of land and wildlife by partnering with different efforts and organizations both financially and to help spread awareness.
50 Campfires: I took a look at your blog on the Full Curl Brand page and came across an awesome video that you highlighted. The film, ‘A Deliberate Life’ created by Rockhouse Motion was a pretty inspirational production. Do you hold the same view on living a “deliberate” life? If so, why do you think that is so important for ones happiness?
Will Jenkins: As you can see in that blog post I mention how it was one of the things that pushed me to really reflect on my life and think about the direction I was headed. Do I want to keep pushing into an endless corporate ladder, or do I want to live deliberately and be happy. That doesn’t mean people can’t have corporate jobs and successful careers mind you, but to make sure that it doesn’t consume you and take away what makes you happy. In the film the common factor was fly fishing but for you it might be backpacking, skiing or whatever. As long a you have that escape and you don’t let the day to day take that away from you, you’re living deliberately and that’s what I strive to do.
50 Campfires: What is it about the outdoors that fills your satisfaction? Also, why do you consider yourself and individual who loves the outdoors?
Will Jenkins: As an 80’s kid who grew up with little technology, I find what we have today as far as technology and information fascinating. It’s an immense tool for communicating, learning and sharing but it’s also immensely distracting. The outdoors is my escape from that. A deliberate departure from being flooded with information and stress. You get to the point where you don’t know how to just be alone with your thoughts, or how to have a good, honest and distraction free conversation with people.
It’s also something I kind of obsess about. I make tons of plans for cool road trips and backpacking trips. Some plans work out some don’t but the process of planning it is fun for me and when it does come together it’s a blast. I like just seeing cool sights, things that unfortunately a lot people will only ever see in photographs if at all.
