Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrew Zhao.
Andrew, before we jump into specific questions about your work, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I saw my first glove light show in 2009 and I immediately knew three things.
1) This was something special.
2) I want to be a part of this.
3) This will be huge someday.
In 2010 I launched an online message board for “gloving” called Throwlights. It became rapidly popular, attracting thousands of users who were active in posting and chatting. At that time, I wasn’t ready to run a business and I ended up shutting down the website in 2012. I was 19 years old and I began to dive deep into my sales career for the next four years of my life. I call this my “Navy Seal” phase because I was completely obsessed with self-improvement, discipline, and working extremely hard. However, even as I grew in my sales career, I always had the nagging idea in my mind that I wanted to do something with my passion, light shows.
In 2016 I re-launched Throwlights – this time as a brand selling gloving products. We were successful in picking up customers right away. I ran Throwlights as a side project while working in sales full-time. All along Throwlights was growing, but very slowly. In July of 2019, I was featured in a CNBC episode called Millenial Money. I used the opportunity to talk about my small business and my vision for transforming light shows from a niche into a multi-billion dollar global phenomenon.
After the episode came out, I had an angel investor from Chicago reach out to me and offer to put in enough money for me to quit my job and work on Throwlights full-time. I jumped on the opportunity. Since going full-time in September, we’ve sextupled our sales, I’ve built a very exciting small team of killer individuals, and we have some of the most insanely innovative products brewing so keep your eyes peeled!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It definitely has been struggling after struggle all along but I think everybody who is on their way to a worthy dream goes through the same thing. That’s what makes it fun!
One of the biggest struggles is the sheer amount of work there is to do. It never ends. I don’t really have a social life anymore. I live as frugally as I can. I work on my startup all day and then all night I practice my light shows. Another struggle is just learning a lot of the lessons that entrepreneurs have to go through. A lot of stuff can be taught, but a lot of stuff has to be experienced. That’s how wisdom is gained.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Throwlights story. Tell us more about your work.
Throwlights specializes in LED light shows. There are many niches within light shows, including:
– Gloving
– Orbiting
– Flow Arts
(Poi, Wands, Hoops, etc…)
What sets us apart is our philosophy of “Art First.” Virtually everybody at Throwlights is an exceptionally talented and passionate light show artist. We built this company because we believe in the artform of light shows. We’ve seen firsthand how limitless the art is. We know there is absolutely no ceiling to the mastery, sophistication, and artistic expression that can be achieved. We have absolute confidence that the art form will never stop progressing, and that gives us confidence that our business and this industry will never stop growing.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck is absolutely pervasive throughout my life and business. We are all lucky just to be born as people and not as snails. I’ve had the good fortune to be raised in a great city with loving, extremely sharp parents. Everything that has led up to this point has been a chain of events that has been profoundly fortunate. Of course, sometimes things happen that you wish they wouldn’t. It’s all about fighting during those times and letting the good times roll. That’s how you shift luck to your side.
Pricing:
- Lunar Gloveset (everything you need to get started doing lightshows) – $28
Contact Info:
- Website: Throwlights.com
- Email: admin@throwlights.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/throwlights/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/throwlights
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Throwlights
- Other: KandeKreations.com
Image Credit:
Jonelle Concepcion
Jonas Yuan
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