Entrepreneur

Actor Terry Crews Talks About the Exhilarating Terror of Entrepreneurship

What Terry Crews -- former NFL player, artist, actor, author and now celebrated furniture designer -- has learned about taking chances, harnessing creativity and barreling ahead.
Source: Benjo Arwas
Benjo Arwas

It goes without saying that we’re past the point where we should be surprised by anything Terry Crews does. The former NFL player and current actor (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), author and rising cultural icon is now in the design business -- both as a patron and an acclaimed furniture designer. In the process, he has learned a lot about the nature of creativity, the art of managing creative people and the exhilarating terror of entrepreneurship.

Related: 5 Traits That Distinguish Serial Entrepreneurs

How’d you wind up in the furniture business, Terry?

It’s amazing what happens when you just go for things. I have a friend who studied design. Ini Archibong. We would always bump into each other in Pasadena and talk art, talk design, the whole thing. And then we fell out of contact -- I went my way, and he went his. But once I started getting a, to see what he was up to. He was getting his master’s in luxury in Basel, Switzerland. I said, “I’ve never been to Switzerland. I’m going to come out and meet you.” And I was so impressed. I said, “Look, man, whatever you want to do, I’m going to fund it. I have a budget. Whatever you want to do within this budget, let’s do it.” 

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