Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Danklefs
Hi Jake, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was always intrigued by shoes and art and brought those two things together at an early age and that seemed to weave in and out of my whole life. Then somewhere around 2009 I started doing custom shoes for friends and family and for people on message boards. Shortly after I started making more money in my spare time than I was at my full time job. Then in 2012, my father diagnosed with colon cancer and I quit my job and went full time as an artist the day of his diagnosis. He passed in 2014, but in that 2 years my business quickly started gaining in popularity, all the way to the point that before he passed away he even got to see my shoes bless the cover of Sports Illustrated on non other than Lebron James’ feet.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been rough, alot of learning, struggles were staying busy enough to pay the bills and then being too buy to handle it all which then turned me into multi person business. So that was hard taking on people and knowing our performance is what puts food on their tables. The biggest hurdle has been adapting to social media changes and content creation.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Dank and Co.?
Basically, we fulfill customers’ desires to create a custom product that reflects their personal taste. From individuals to large businesses, these products mainly are sneakers but other objects as well can come into play. We do this through the use of various paints and finishes to leathers and textiles as well as now sewing and full shoe construction. From one to hundreds, paint work to fully handmade shoes, from the very basic to the wildest materials the world has to offer, if you can imagine it, it probably can be done as well as anything you can’t imagine and we can! Thousands of customers have been drawn to what we do, not only for delivering quality products, but for pushing the boundaries of customization and specifically being able to tell stories through foot wear for everyone from the average joe to famous athletes to Fortune 500 companies.
What do you like best about our city? What do you like least?
I love the diversity and calmness our city has to offer. You have the big city vibes if you want that and you have the escape not far too. We are unsung! We do alot of wild stuff but no one ever knows it comes out of San Antonio. Everyone thinks we are from LA or New York. But we love seeing people’s eyebrows when we say we are from San Antonio. Also we have the best Mexican food and NBA organization anyone could ask for!
Pricing:
- Our pricing is case by case and is such a wide spectrum.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dankandco.com
- Instagram: @jwdanklefs
- Facebook: Dank and Co.
- Youtube: Dank and Co.
