VOA慢速英语--“约翰的疯狂袜子”背后的疯狂成功

The Crazy Success Behind 'John's Crazy Socks'

After graduating from high school, many young people are excited to go off to college. But not all. Some may want to skip college and jump right into a business.

That was the case with John Cronin from Long Island, New York. He did not dream of going to college. He dreamed of going into business with his father. But they did not know what kind of business.

John Cronin told Money magazine that he thought about starting a food truck. But, there was one problem. Neither he nor his father can cook.

After some thinking, the father-son team decided¹ to go into business making a product the younger Cronin loves: socks!

Mark, John’s father, says his son has always loved colorful, wild socks. So, they created John’s Crazy Socks Company.

The younger Cronin explains what he loves about his work.

"I want to sell crazy socks. Why socks? Because it's fun, it's colorful. I like to be creative, and I want to see wonderful things here.”

(Mark) "You're a talented guy!"

(John) "Yes, I am."

John was born with Down Syndrome², a genetic³ disorder⁴ that causes learning disabilities and developmental delays. But that has not stopped him from gaining major success in the business world.

Since launching John's Crazy Socks, father and son have been crazy busy making crazy money. But their business also helps others with disabilities.

“We've been able to create 35 jobs —18 of those are held by people with differing abilities. We've raised over $135,000 for our charity partners.”

The father and son divide the duties of the business.

John works on sock design but he is also the face of the company. This means he represents the company on its advertising⁵ used to help sell the product and on the packaging of the product. Mark takes care of the books, managing money, supplies and hiring.

John and Mark try to make each sock purchase personal. So, they hand-carry orders to customers in the Long Island area. But for those who live farther, John sends a personal note with each order he sends.

(Mark) "What's our mission?"

(John) "Our mission is to spread happiness."

(Mark) "Our customers are happy. We have over 10,000 online reviews — 96 percent of those are five-star reviews — and we've done a lot of work, a lot of business. We've shipped over 115,000 orders and earned over $4 million in revenue⁶."

Five percent of John's profits goes to the Special Olympics. The company also gives to the National Down Syndrome Society and the Association for Children with Down Syndrome.

John Cronin is living his dream; spreading happiness, one pair of crazy socks at a time.

I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

skip – v. to pass by or leave out

sock – n. a knitted⁷ or woven covering for the foot usually worn under shoes and extending above the ankle and sometimes to the knee

crazy – adj. very strange or unusual : very much : with a lot of energy and speed

talented – adj. a person or group of people with a special ability to do something well

charity – n. the act of giving money, food, or other kinds of help to people who are poor, sick, etc.

mission – n. a task that you consider to be a very important duty

review – v. an act of carefully looking at or examining the quality or condition of something or someone : examination or inspection⁸

revenue – n. money that is made by or paid to a business or an organization

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

3 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 revenue   

n.总收入，财政收入，税收；税务局

参考例句：

• The country diminished the revenue by reducing tax.这个国家通过减税而使税收减少了。
• A government's revenue and expenditure should be balanced.政府的财政收入和支出要平衡。

7 knitted   

v.（使）愈合( knit的过去式和过去分词 )；编结；（使）紧密地结合；织平针

参考例句：

• I knitted this cardigan myself. 我自己织的这件开襟毛衣。
• Our two nations are knitted together by common concerns. 共同关心的问题使我们两国团结一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。