Ep. 221: Blu Dot’s John Christakos on Combining Artistic Vision and Business Acumen

John Christakos, co-founder and CEO of Blu Dot, grew up taking road trips with his father to textile mills, skipping school in favor of real-world experiences. He went on to double major in economics and studio art, a combination of creativity and business which proved itself invaluable later in life. After a life-changing year traveling the world with his closest friends, John eventually co-founded Blu Dot alongside them in 1997. In the decades since, under John’s leadership, Blu Dot has grown into an overwhelming success with a dynamic retail presence (online and IRL), prestigious design awards, a devoted following, and a reputation for responding to their customers and world events, with empathy, curiosity, and humanity. Special thanks to our sponsor: Wix Studio: Web designers, Wix Studio lets you deliver your vision with less friction. Built for agencies and enterprises, you get total creative control over every last pixel, with no-code animations, tons of AI tools, reusable design assets, and advanced layout tools.  Check out Wix Studio for your next project: https://www.wix.com/studio. Head to cleverpodcast.com for a transcript (with links!) of this episode, images, resources, and over 200+ more episodes!  Please help us out by completing a short LISTENER SURVEY Subscribe to our free substack for updates, bonus content, and new episode alerts. Please say Hi on social! X, Instagram, Linkedin and Facebook - @CleverPodcast, @amydevers If you enjoy Clever we could use your support! Please consider leaving a review, making a donation, becoming a sponsor, or introducing us to your friends! We love and appreciate you! Clever is hosted & produced by Amy Devers, with editing by Mark Zurawinski, production assistance from Ilana Nevins and Anouchka Stephan, and music by El Ten Eleven. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.