Fark it's my birthday and I'm old as shit. but I will say turning 37 got me thinking a bit about what it actually means to be successful. When I was younger, success was always framed to me as getting a stable job that paid well so I would always have a roof over my head. That made sense back then because after my parents divorced my mum was constantly talking about how we can't pay the mortgage this month and all these other financial stresses that probably left a mark and I think my parents just wanted what they thought was best for me. But somewhere along the line that idea stopped fitting.
I remember studying that construction degree that I had been pushed into, feeling miserable and totally out of place. Around the same time I started getting obsessed with wearing weird t-shirts I would find, and I realised those shirts were helping me connect with people. They made me feel more confident, more like myself. That tiny thing kind of cracked something open for me. I started making my own designs on MS Paint, creating pretend T-shirt brand concepts, and showing them to people. Seeing someone smile or laugh or feel seen because of something I made was what actually made me feel successful. I didn't really care that it wasn't a real project. The connection with people felt real.
These days I think success is being able to do what makes me happy and making other people happy through my ideas and creativity. Plus the community we've grown is one of my proudest achievements. Just so many legends who now connect with other legends because of the brand. Building Lonely Kids Club into what it is now, a small ethical sustainable business that tries to add a bit of good back into the world, is something I am also so proud of. We use the most ethically made tees we can find, we print everything ourselves, and we pay everyone fairly. We do not use AI because supporting real artists and real creativity matters more to me than cutting corners. That will never change.
It has not always been easy. Doing things the right way costs more. It is slower. It means we will never have the kind of slick corporate marketing budget other brands do. But the flip side is that every connection we have is real. When we raise funds for causes like bushfires or flood relief, or collaborate with people like Michael West, Purple Pingers, or Cracker Milk, it is all done from the heart because I actually love their work and want to support it in an authentic way.
Mostly though, I just feel lucky to have built a community that gets it. People who love weird tees, value kindness, and care about the same stuff I do. That's what is really important.
So yeah, not the biggest brand, or the most heavily marketed brand, but a brand with the most heart. That's what Lonely Kids Club feels like, and that's what success feels like at this point too.
Thanks for being part of it 💛
Warwick™
www.lonelykidsclub.com
P.s. if you want to give me a birthday gift, you can buy a t-shirt today. These are some of my favourites:
