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John and Mark Cronin          

Co-Founders of John’s Crazy Socks

John and Mark X. Cronin are the father-son team that created John’s Crazy Socks, a social enterprise with a mission to spread happiness. They bootstrapped their business into the world’s largest sock store earning them recognition as EY’s Entrepreneurs of the Year.

John is not only an entrepreneur, but he has also Down syndrome. Every day, John and Mark show what people with differing abilities can do – more than half their colleagues have a differing ability. They are fierce advocates for the rights of people with differing abilities, having testified twice before the U.S. Congress, spoken at the United Nations and recorded two TEDx talks. They are members of the CEO Commission on Disability Employment. Their work has been featured on national broadcasts by CBS, ABC, CNBC, PBS, the BBC and Fox News.

They have built a business based on creating customer experiences and spreading happiness. John’s Crazy Socks has 240,000 Facebook followers and over 29,000 five-star reviews. John and Mark show their gratitude through their Giving Back program that has raised nearly $500,000 for their charity partners. Most of all, they are spreading happiness one pair of socks at a time.

Speech Topics

Hiring People with Differing Abilities

Learn why hiring people with differing abilities is good business and can give you a competitive advantage. Hear how John and Mark have turned hiring people with differing abilities into a positive engine driving their business.

Overcoming Odds

Hear how John, a young man with Down syndrome, turned his inability to find meaningful work into an opportunity by teaming with his Dad to bootstrap their way to a multi-million dollar international business.

Creating a Business that Matters

Hear how John and Mark built a social enterprise with a mission to spread happiness. They match their giving back and efforts to show what people with differing abilities can achieve to rock solid business practices to make a difference in the world.

Creating Employee Engagement

Hear the five-step approach John and Mark take to create employee engagement, where their colleagues are engaged, and doing their best work. They're spreading happiness in the workspace.

Creating Customer Experiences

Stop chasing transactions and create customer experiences that wow your customers and invite them to be part of your mission. Customers will love your business, come back again and again and become your biggest advocates.

News

Entrepreneur and Self-Advocate With Down Syndrome Speaks at United Nations
John Cronin, an entrepreneur with Down syndrome, took to the world stage on March 21 as he spoke at the United Nations for World Down Syndrome Day. John brought his message of inclusion and showing what people with differing abilities can do as he and his partner and father, Mark X. Cronin, served as speakers and moderators during the event, sponsored by the United Nations and Down Syndrome International. John is the founder of John’s Crazy Socks, the world’s largest sock store.
Sock business is booming for man with Down syndrome
It’s a company with a straightforward mission: Make people happy through socks. The colorful footwear sold by John’s Crazy Socks is certainly unique not only for its designs but also for the person who came up with the company. John Cronin, 21, of Huntington, New York, has Down syndrome — and his company could make as much as a million dollars in revenue before it closes out its first year of business.
How this 22-year-old with Down syndrome built a multimillion-dollar business off his love of crazy socks
In a small warehouse in Melville, New York — a town located on Long Island — dozens of shelves of neatly organized bins hold colorful socks featuring every playful print imaginable. There are socks featuring avocados; socks with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s face; socks that look like Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting; socks with sloths.
John's Crazy Socks co-founder becomes 1st person with Down syndrome to win major entrepreneurs' award
John Cronin, 23, co-founder and "Chief Happiness Officer" of John’s Crazy Socks, just won an Entrepreneur Of The Year award and celebrated his huge achievement on "The Story with Martha MacCallum." He’s the first businessman with Down syndrome to win the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2019 New York award. “I am,” he exclaimed about his multihyphenate role: entrepreneur, philanthropist, and businessman.
John and Mark Cronin Spoke at the U.S. State Department on Issues of Entrepreneurship and Empowering People with Differing Abilities
John and Mark Cronin, co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks, spoke at the U.S. State Department today and met with economic development and human rights staff. They addressed issues of entrepreneurism and empowering people with differing abilities. The two men are now part of the speaker’s bureau in the State Department’s International Information Programs. “We want to show the world what is possible when you give someone with a differing ability an opportunity,” said John Cronin.
New York entrepreneur with Down Syndrome wants to unite Congress through socks
A New York man with special needs is using his entrepreneurial spirit to unite Congress. John Cronin, the award-winning co-founder of John's Crazy Socks, told "Fox News Primetime" he hopes to end congressional infighting with his creative footwear. Cronin, the first businessman with Down syndrome to win the Entrepreneur Of The Year: New York award, told host Rachel Campos-Duffy his goal is to gift a pair of socks to every one of the 535 members of Congress.

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