Jordan Green and James Toppin both spent their twenties learning how to use social media content to build a customer base for their businesses.
Green, 30, started Soldsoles, an online trainer store, ten years ago and Toppin, 31, set up a clothing line called Tax3 in 2016. Green also started sharing what he had learnt about running a business and saving money and became a money influencer with tens of thousands of followers.
They first worked together when Green did a pop-up shop for Soldsoles and wanted to offer a clothing brand as well as shoes. Mutual contacts put him in touch with Toppin and the pop-up was a success. They became friends and started sharing office space together in east London.
In 2022, while researching Tik Tok and Instagram trends for opportunities for their own businesses, the pair came across videos of a highly athletic style of street dance called Sturdy. It had an established following in New York where it started, but at that point had had very little attention in the UK or the rest of the world.
They were convinced the dance would make social media content with wide appeal, said Toppin, and the pair also saw an opportunity to promote their own brands and to attract sponsorship from the big sportswear labels.
“We thought it would go naturally hand in hand with our brands, and we had in mind companies including Nike and Adidas for the future,” Toppin said.
Through their social media channels they announced open auditions in London for dancers to take part in competitive clashes, which they called Sturdy Off. Far more young dancers turned up to take part than they expected and they filmed the event with a good feeling about its potential.
They edited the film into a series of short videos then opened a Tik Tok account and started to upload them. Toppin recalled: “As soon as we posted them, they went viral straight away. We had 10,000 followers in the first week and we knew we had something special. The audience kept growing as we put out more content.”
Now, the Sturdy Off competition has more than two million TikTok followers around the world and “multi six-figure revenues” said Green, from a range of sources.
YouTube and TikTok pay for views but Instagram doesn’t. However, the duo have been paid by brands to make promotional content for the platform. As well as the sportswear brands that Green and Toppin hoped to attract, Sturdy Off’s popularity also came to the attention of record labels including Universal Music and Sony, who paid for songs by their artists to be used in the videos.
Both income streams can be lucrative, said Green: “A YouTube video can still be paying you two years later, whereas with a brand collaboration you get a lump sum.”
This month Sturdy Off starts a joint venture with JD Sports. The sportswear retailer has leased a studio space in Finsbury Park, north London, where Sturdy Off will hold rehearsals and make dance content for JD Sports and other clients.
“They’re trying to reach a subculture and it’s hard for them to do it organically themselves, so it makes sense for them to work with an established brand within the dance world,” said Green of the high street retailer.
Sturdy Off plans to start creating content featuring more styles of street dance, to keep expanding the audience, said Toppin.
Green and Toppin now manage a roster of 22 dancers many of whom came to the first Sturdy Off audition. Building up trust with the dancers and their families has been an important part of the working relationship given that most were in their mid-to-late teens when they first started working together two years ago.
They are free to make content for other companies that are unrelated to Sturdy Off, Green adds, and the aim is to make sure the dancers get the financial reward they deserve to reflect the popularity of the content they’re making.
“There are so many kids at this time that are doing really well with their content but they don’t have the right guidance about how to manage that success,” said Toppin. “In terms of managing, we’re professional, their parents respect us and trust us. We’ve been able to pass on our knowledge of running your own business, how to carry yourself and the values you should have, even at a young age.”
As well as working with dancers, Sturdy Off is also taking on apprentices in content creation, who will learn videography, photography and copyright law, among other elements, at college in London, and work in the studio on brand campaigns.
Toppin and Green do not take part in Sturdy competitions themselves. Toppin said he had tried it but his knees couldn’t take it. However, he added: “If we get one million subscribers on YouTube I’ll do it.”