Meet Our Founder: Who Is Samuel Choi?
Share
My name is Samuel Choi and I am the founder of Child Worldwide. I want to start this off with my story.
My career has taken many different turns and so has my relationship with God. I started in retail and worked my way up to entertainment marketing. I was working and signing contracts for influencers and tastemakers. I was “that guy”, The guy that I always thought I wanted to be. During this time I became interested in scaling my own audience and becoming an influencer.
That's when I decided to start Child because there wasn't something out there of mine that represented my identity as a child of God. When I was growing up I had a nickname “Splash” that I was given when I used to play basketball. Later on, it became who I was known as instead of who I truly was. When I first started this brand I was still walking in as “Splash”, thinking that I needed to gain notoriety from this brand, fame, and the approval from others. Our first launch was in collaboration with a local church to raise funds for their mission. We sold out. My PR kits were ready and I was ready to fly. It wasn't until one of my mentors from my church in Detroit, Ryan asked, “Who's Splash? You say you wanted to be the real deal, but who is Splash? You're Samuel. Are you running away from something?"
I needed to reflect. Questions started to unfold. Was I running away? “Who am I?…”Why do I do what I do?” I needed to be honest. Retiring “Splash” / @splash was bigger than just a name or a highly coveted IG handle to flip in the secondary market. It was a brand I built for 10+ years, a career resume, a tool that has helped me navigate in the industry but ultimately, Splash was my alter ego I created. Then I was reminded of the passage Ryan shared with me. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” - James 1:1. I fell to my knees and God painted this picture of closed fists. When I started my journey, my palms were wide open however the further I grew in my life and career, little by little those open palms turned into clenched fists. I was self-righteous with my accomplishments and claimed myself as my own when it was God who provided everything.
The more I couldn’t let go of Splash, the more I knew I needed to let go. I repented. I prayed. Tears started to run down my face, tears of acknowledging how blind I was. At that moment I decided to pause Child. Then in 2020 when my mother passed away from lung cancer, I decided to really reflect. I began to ask myself "What do I want to do with Child, and why did I truly start it? After taking the time to sit with these questions I relaunched Child in 2022. Child wasn't about me. It surely wasn't just a clothing brand. It was a movement. A mission. To gather children of God. Empower communities. Share the Gospel. Since then we have had three pop-ups in LA, one in New York for New York Fashion Week, and one in San Diego.
Child Worldwide started out as an idea and with the grace of God, it is turning into a family, a community, an invitation, and a mission greater than myself.
Thank you for taking the time to join me on the next part of this journey.
Sincerely,
Samuel Choi
My career has taken many different turns and so has my relationship with God. I started in retail and worked my way up to entertainment marketing. I was working and signing contracts for influencers and tastemakers. I was “that guy”, The guy that I always thought I wanted to be. During this time I became interested in scaling my own audience and becoming an influencer.
That's when I decided to start Child because there wasn't something out there of mine that represented my identity as a child of God. When I was growing up I had a nickname “Splash” that I was given when I used to play basketball. Later on, it became who I was known as instead of who I truly was. When I first started this brand I was still walking in as “Splash”, thinking that I needed to gain notoriety from this brand, fame, and the approval from others. Our first launch was in collaboration with a local church to raise funds for their mission. We sold out. My PR kits were ready and I was ready to fly. It wasn't until one of my mentors from my church in Detroit, Ryan asked, “Who's Splash? You say you wanted to be the real deal, but who is Splash? You're Samuel. Are you running away from something?"
I needed to reflect. Questions started to unfold. Was I running away? “Who am I?…”Why do I do what I do?” I needed to be honest. Retiring “Splash” / @splash was bigger than just a name or a highly coveted IG handle to flip in the secondary market. It was a brand I built for 10+ years, a career resume, a tool that has helped me navigate in the industry but ultimately, Splash was my alter ego I created. Then I was reminded of the passage Ryan shared with me. “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” - James 1:1. I fell to my knees and God painted this picture of closed fists. When I started my journey, my palms were wide open however the further I grew in my life and career, little by little those open palms turned into clenched fists. I was self-righteous with my accomplishments and claimed myself as my own when it was God who provided everything.
The more I couldn’t let go of Splash, the more I knew I needed to let go. I repented. I prayed. Tears started to run down my face, tears of acknowledging how blind I was. At that moment I decided to pause Child. Then in 2020 when my mother passed away from lung cancer, I decided to really reflect. I began to ask myself "What do I want to do with Child, and why did I truly start it? After taking the time to sit with these questions I relaunched Child in 2022. Child wasn't about me. It surely wasn't just a clothing brand. It was a movement. A mission. To gather children of God. Empower communities. Share the Gospel. Since then we have had three pop-ups in LA, one in New York for New York Fashion Week, and one in San Diego.
Child Worldwide started out as an idea and with the grace of God, it is turning into a family, a community, an invitation, and a mission greater than myself.
Thank you for taking the time to join me on the next part of this journey.
Sincerely,
Samuel Choi