Meet Michael Van Osch | Founder & Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Van Osch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, how do you think about risk?
I’ve always believed that if you’ve tried one thing already (such as a job or a place to live), then you owe it to yourself to try something different. To me, it’s a risk to not try something new. If you don’t you’ll either be bored, have regrets, or both – at least that’s my experience. I always want to be moving forward and that means taking risks, whether they be large or small.

What I think people need to remember is that without trying new things or without risking moving forward, you’re actually going backward. There is no staying the same, everything always changes. Covid-19 has taught us that. The clock is ticking and you don’t know how much time you have to make the life you want. So for me, taking on a new project, business or job is not really a risk if it’s something that interests me.

Risk, or what some perceive as risk, has played a big part in my career starting with moving from Canada to the United States right after I finished college. That didn’t fall into my lap – I saw a position I wanted and did whatever I could to get that job. The company at the time said they weren’t hiring so I politely camped out in their lobby until they created a position. The pay was low but within six months it was more than doubled for me because I was able to prove I could be an asset.

I’ve always taken the risk of reaching out and contacting people that I wanted to learn from or starting something myself that I believed in. Sure, there is failure and rejection involved but that’s just part of life. You’ll always experience pieces of this in everything you do. It’s how you react to it and use it that’s the key.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m the founder of HarkJournal.com and HarkClothingCo.com. Due to the Covid pandemic, I had to pivot from a marketing director for a theatre company to launching my own business. HarkJournal.com is a daily 2-minute email meditation based on Shakespeare’s wisdom to help people start their day on the right foot.

HarkJournal.com also highlights creators in the Shakespeare world through a series of weekly interviews. This daily e-newsletter is growing rapidly and I’ve combined it with a line of high-quality clothing for Shakespeare fans everywhere. I wanted to give Shakespeare fans a brand of their own to show the world and so HarkClothingCo.com and the HARK brand were born. Just like sports fans have Nike and Adidas, etc. now theatre fans have a brand of their own too.

Some of the key learnings from the last year have been to focus on what you do best and hire out the rest if possible, keep a continual focus on quality, and when it comes right down to it you have to trust your gut.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When friends visit from out of town, I have one place I have to take them: Daddy D’z Bar-B-Q Joynt on Memorial Drive.

Website: HarkJournal.com and HarkClothingCo.com

Instagram: @harkjournal

Twitter: @harkjournal

Facebook: @HARKclothingco

Youtube: Hark Journal