JKSN: A PURPOSE & A PLACE
BY GABE HART | PHOTOS BY CARI GRIFFITH
JKSN. If you know, you know.
You also probably know if you live in West Tennessee because those four letters have been seen often on t-shirts over the past year. JKSN is Jackson minus the vowels and a silent “c.” There’s no room for passivity or wasted space with this brand. There’s no need for vowels, either. Vowels are melodious and can stretch words without necessity. Consonants are sharp and strong like the letters on the shirt and the city they represent. JKSN. Jackson. If you know, you know.
The first time I saw a JKSN shirt was nearly a year ago. I’m a sucker for understated fashion. My wardrobe consists mainly of black, white, and gray t-shirts. When I saw those four white letters boldly overlaid on a black t-shirt, I knew I wanted one. I also knew I wanted to know who was designing the shirts.
A few weeks later, I had a message on an alternate Instagram account I have from the handle @thejksnco. As soon as I saw the handle, I knew I had found my source of the JKSN shirts. We struck up a quick conversation and arranged to meet at Grubb’s Grocery the following Saturday. That was the first time I met Cliff Martin (also known as Cliff JKSN) and after two hours of conversation, we realized that we had a lot in common when it came to what we hope our town would be like in the future.
Ten months after our initial meeting, Cliff and I met at Grubb’s once again so he could tell me his story.
Cliff’s story doesn't start like most Jacksonians’ stories. He was born into a military family in Colorado and then moved to Germany when he was one year old. He lived in Germany for the next five years until he was six. A short stint in Kentucky followed his stay in Germany, and then he and his mother settled in Jackson while his father continued his military career.
“Even though I lived in Jackson for most of my life, I was introduced to different cultures when my dad would bring me things from where he was stationed,” Cliff explained.
The influence of culture plays a vital role in many people’s lives. Formation of culture is generally left to the community where a person lives most of their life, but Cliff’s introduction to another culture came at a very early age, and it helped open his mind to ideas beyond the borders of West Tennessee.
Like most kids growing up in midtown Jackson, Cliff attended Andrew Jackson Elementary School, Tigrett Middle School, and Jackson Central-Merry High School. Upon his graduation from JCM, Cliff ventured to Middle Tennessee State University and began his education both inside and outside of the classroom.
Cliff, like many students leaving high school, didn’t realize the opportunities for certain college scholarships and student loans. As a student, he was struggling to pay for school and buy the necessities for everyday living. The lack of money also was a source of insecurity for Cliff when he attended his classes.
“There were times I wouldn’t go to class because I didn’t want to wear the same stuff over and over again. It was embarrassing. That’s what led to the hunger for what I saw could change my life, which was money at the time,” Cliff said.
For most college students, money is more of an idea than a reality — a hope that’s just out of reach, but close enough to keep pursuing.
Cliff started working for a taxi cab company in Middle Tennessee, but that soon evolved into his first taste of true entrepreneurship. Initially, Cliff simply drove his taxi route picking up customers who had called the taxi service. Soon, however, Cliff began to give customers his number and told them to call him directly and he would take care of them.
“I created my own business out of nowhere,” Ciff says. “I felt the impact of Uber and Lyft. It was right when that was taking off. Cab drivers would be the only people in downtown Nashville and then you’d slowly start to see these Uber cars and Lyft cars. There was one time I drove downtown and saw the group I was supposed to pick up get into an Uber.”
With the taxi business starting to fade, Cliff realized that money was about to get even tighter.
As he explored other ways to support himself, Cliff began to stand out by branding, marketing, and packaging products differently than his peers. It was the first step towards the creation of something that was truly his.
He began to take classes under the umbrella of his major, Marketing. Many times in class, however, Cliff felt out of place or hesitant to speak up.
“In school, my confidence was really low. I’d go to class with guys who wore suits and had confidence, but then I realized they didn’t know much. I would start raising my hand and asking questions and I realized they had the same questions I did. I wouldn’t have known that had I not tried,” he explained. “I started speaking up, sitting in front of the class. Classes became more of a conversation between me and the professor and not a lecture.”
A conversation is a two way form of communication. It requires a give and take and the trust to be willing to be wrong about something in order to learn more about it. Like many students, Cliff found this way of learning to be ideal when trying to piece together important truths about marketing and brand building. The more questions he asked, the more answers he received. The more answers he received, the more his confidence grew. He began to think about what his next steps would be because he knew he wanted to create something that was solely his own.
“I wanted to obtain things that nobody could take from me. It made me really want to create something that was mine,” he explained.
His decision came down to two of his passions: music or fashion. Either avenue promised the potential of influence and income, but one was much cheaper to pursue on the front end.
“The cost of admission for clothing was way cheaper than music,” Cliff explained.
“Plus, I’ve always liked clothes. In high school, we all had to wear collared shirts, but I started wearing a sweater vest on top of my collared shirt. I’d match my shoes…my creative recreations. I’d see hip-hop artists wearing something, and I’d put my spin on it. I’ve always wanted my own style.”
The question then became, “What can people connect with?”
For several years, Cliff and his friend, Dee Sanders, had included four capital letters and a phrase on their Twitter bios. The four letters were JKSN followed by the quote “If you know, you know.” People would ask them about it and they would tell them about their hometown. It seemed to connect with people from Jackson and even beyond. Regardless of where someone may end up, everyone has a hometown.
Cliff began to discuss his vision of JKSN with his friends, Jeremiah Ferguson and Wesley Echoles.
“Those guys have been with me every step of the way. Jeremiah was living in Augusta, Georgia and Wesley was living in Memphis, Tennessee, and we would constantly talk about what we thought JKSN could be,” Cliff said.
Combined with knowledge from his marketing classes at MTSU, his love of fashion, and an innate creativity, things began to fall into place for turning his passion into a reality.
Through a serendipitous connection through a mutual friend, Cliff was introduced to Ernest Fields, who owns Millionaire Grind in Memphis, Tennessee. Millionaire Grind is a screen printing business that not only prints graphics on t-shirts, but also does embroidery and photography.
With the recommendation from Cliff’s friend, Cliff began driving to Memphis everyday to work for Millionaire Grind. There was a caveat, though — Cliff wasn’t going to be paid for his work.
“I sold my first shirt to my mom. I have a video of it. After that, it was on and poppin’. I think what really separated me was that my brand had a purpose. It has to be tied to an emotion. People identify with Jackson. I gave away a bunch of shirts and started taking pictures of people wearing them at different places in the city. I took cool pictures and put them out there and people started seeing them,” Cliff said.
“I think what really separated me was that my brand had a purpose. It has to be tied to an emotion. People identify with Jackson.”
Things weren’t always easy. Many times, entrepreneurship can have a bumpy beginning. Cliff had business cards made and would pass them out at every opportunity.
“There was a tournament at the Oman Arena, and I left a game at halftime and went outside and put my business cards on every car in the parking lot. The next day I went back and saw plenty of business cards on the ground. I just picked them up and used them again,” Cliff recalled.
After the initial bumps smoothed themselves out, Cliff found that his brand was becoming very popular in Jackson. Each time he would deliver a shirt to a buyer, he found three more orders waiting for him. The success of JKSN shirts, though, was only the beginning of a much larger vision that Cliff had in mind:
“After the first year, I thought I could expand my brand. Along with the JKSN brand, I have the 731 brand. The 731 brand will be caps and leisure wear. The logo will be stitched. Only stitched. The next step would be JKSNFIT, all workout gear. I want to create a culture here. I want to provide positive content to the community. I want Jackson to be recognized because of its culture.”
“I want to create a culture here. I want to provide positive content to the community. I want Jackson to be recognized because of its culture.”
Cliff’s vision for his brand and for Jackson doesn’t stop with clothing material. It doesn’t stop with impermanence. Cliff’s vision is one that is intangible and a vision that can evolve and equip young people in Jackson with skills that can provide a creative outlet and a possible opportunity.
“I want to have my own shop like Ernest has his in Memphis. I want to introduce kids to options and skills. I want to put a tool in their hand. I want kids to create a design and see the process of it being made. It’s a creative process, man,” he said.
“I want to introduce kids to options and skills. I want to put a tool in their hand. I want kids to create a design and see the process of it being made.”
As Cliff Martin’s process is just beginning to unfold, it seems to be running parallel with Jackson’s own transformation. Our town has a young mayor who is only one year into his term. Jackson has several small businesses that are just beginning to bud. There is a creative community that is bubbling. Cliff grew up on West Deaderick and has seen the change in Jackson firsthand.
“My grandma lives on West Deaderick. My great grandma, my grandma — the first three houses on that street my family owned. Then the roundabout came, and now the parade doesn’t come in front and the older folks would have a fish fry, and now that stuff doesn’t go on. I get it, though. The roundabout makes the city nicer. There’s a thin line between developmental growth and community growth. Everything is not gonna feel good to everybody. I love Jackson, though. My whole family has been here.”
Growth is painful. It creates change and change can be a difficult process to navigate. While Jackson must continue to grow and evolve, it’s important to remember why Cliff Martin chose this city to be his brand.
“People see the logo and it looks simple, but so much thought has gone into it. I wanted something that people would recognize and remember. I wanted it burned into their brain.”
Some of us were born in Jackson. Some of us moved here from another city or state. Like Cliff, a few people moved here from another country. But we’re all here now. Jackson is a place that has a way of imprinting itself on our lives like those four letters on a shirt — strong and impactful.
JKSN. If you know, you know.
JKSN apparel can be purchased at www.jksnco.com. Follow JKSN&Co on Instagram and Facebook.
Gabe Hart is an English and Language Arts teacher at Northeast Middle School. He was born and raised in Jackson, graduating from Jackson Central-Merry in 1997 and Union University in 2001. Gabe enjoys spending time and traveling with his daughter, Jordan. His hobbies include reading, writing, and playing sports . . . even though he’s getting too old for the last one. Gabe lives in Midtown Jackson and has a desire to see all of Jackson grow together.
Cari Griffith is a photographer by trade who loves storytelling of all kinds. After a couple of years away in Nashville, she and her husband Rob decided Jackson was calling them home, and they moved back to their beloved Lambuth area neighborhood. Cari's other loves include gardening, cooking, sharing meals with her friends, and trying to talk Rob into getting a dog.
Photography by Cari Griffith.