Starstruck.  That’s what I felt when I was interviewing the very first PBA player to guest on the Freelance Blend Podcast.

I have always said that aside being a podcast addict, I also am a basketball addict.  And I always wondered how it was to interview ballers, especially how the iconic basketball commentators like Smokin’ Joe Cantada (shows my age), Quinito “The Dean” Henson, Andy “Dr. J” Jao, do their interviews of my favorite basketball players during what I consider the golden years of Philippine basketball, the 80’s.

I never thought I would get that chance until I thought of interviewing point guard extraordinaire, Paul Artadi of the Blackwater Elite Team in the PBA, to talk about basketball and his thriving basketball shoe business, PIMP Kicks.  I wondered how a basketball player can mix professional sports with online business and how he was able to grow a business from the attic of his house into a huge brand — with over 230,000 followers on Instagram, almost 30,000 followers on Twitter and 100,000 fans on Facebook as of this writing AND celebrity endorsements from Marian Rivera, Daniel Padilla, John Lloyd Cruz and Showbiz Bro.  (By the way, thank you Showbiz Bro for facilitating this interview.  I love you pare!)  Wow, talk about slam dunking your way to success.

 

So, I hope you enjoy this interview as I did and hopefully inspire you to build your own online store.  Here are the takeaways.

Key Takeaways

* Paul’s new PBA Team, Blackwater Elite, and how he got drafted by this expansion team.

* Paul’s excitement playing and matching up against Congressman Manny Pacquiao of Kia Sorento team.

* How Paul transitioned from basketball to the shoe business.

* What PIMP Kicks stands for and why they chose that name for the company.

* How he started the business with just 10 pairs of shoes and selling first through Facebook.

* Paul’s dream business.

* PIMP Kick’s newest line of products – What The Lebron and What The Kobe.

* Paul’s favorite Jordan shoe and the greatest shoe of all time.

* Why Paul compares his game to Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics.

* How he plans to stay relevant in the saturated shoe reselling business.

* How he was able to get the big names such as Marian Rivera, John Lloyd Cruz, Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo as his endorsers and how he was able to afford their talent fee.

* The Daniel Padilla magic.

* Why he chose Showbiz Bro as his first endorser.

* His future plans to open a restaurant and a PIMP Kicks store.

* Which channel generates more sales online or offline.

* Why Instagram beats Facebook and Twitter in generating sales.

* His Instagram strategy for PIMP Kicks.

Photos of the PIMP Kicks store

Links and Resources

Jordan 6 – Paul’s favorite