Why He’s Interesting: Defense mechanisms take many forms when we’re young. For Aaron Sechrist, the ability to draw Tasmanian Devil and Bart Simpson deterred “getting my ass beat,” he says. These roots have paid dividends for the self-proclaimed artist in a designer’s body, whose resume of clients includes Patton Oswalt, Red Bull and the House of Blues.
Something Out of Nothing: After suffering a layoff during the 2008 financial crisis, Sechrist broke from the corporate world to work freelance full-time under his own brand: OkPants. “It was like the universe telling me we’re going to make the freelance thing work, or we’re just going to wrangle carts in a Walmart parking lot. It was time for me to jump off the cliff with this.”
Just for Laughs: When off the clock, Sechrist’s cracking jokes in open mic stand-up sets and weekly appearances on The Bill Squire Show podcast. “It’s always been a struggle to pick one or the other as a career. For lack of a better term, I sacked up and started doing open mics around town,” Sechrist says. “It’s one of those things where you step outside of yourself and have that moment of thinking, ‘Why was I not doing this forever?’”
Untapped Potential: Now co-owner and braintrust behind Detroit-Shoreway’s Old 86 bar (which features plenty of his original artwork in the space), plus a partner with Ohio Pie Co., Sechrist is focused on balancing a busy lifestyle. “I’m really trying to get more selective about the projects I’m working on. I’ve been doing this for 21 years, and it’s still wild that I’m not burnt out on it,” he says. “I’ve just accepted my fate is to dabble in any possible form of the lowest money-generating crafts I can, and somehow the bills and taxes get paid.”
Meet Cleveland's Most Interesting People of 2024.
