Success leaves clues. Finance Strategists sat down with Justin Ankus, founder of design, architecture, and art website Urban Splatter. He discussed his inspiration and path to success, as well as where he and his cousin David Sunnyside see the company headed. Finance Strategists sat down with childhood friends Justin and David of Urban Splatter. Q: Who are you and what’s your background? I am an architect, entrepreneur, and website developer currently living near Los Angeles. I grew up near Chicago and attended the Illinois Institute of Technology where I graduated in 2020 with a Professional Bachelor of Architecture degree. I have design experience in luxury residential and public buildings. I think of a website as a building with each webpage being a room with its own atmosphere. The design skills that I learned in architecture school can also be applied in web design and that is what truly excites me about this venture with my business partner and cousin David! Q: Who has been your biggest influence, and why did they have such a significant effect on you? Our biggest influence has been the “Queen of All Media” Oprah Winfrey. Her sensational way of spreading honest and meaningful information by acknowledging controversies has proven to uplift, anyone. I admire Oprah’s endless desire for success, especially coming from her upbringing in poverty, her gender, and her race. I have been inspired by her ability to use these diversities as strengths that empower others. Her influence on the LGBT community has also been incredible. Her wealth and spirituality mutually flourish hand-in-hand. Q: Knowing what you know now, what would you have told yourself when you were in your twenties? Knowing what I know now (at 24 years old) I would have told myself to not be afraid of making mistakes as it is much easier to fix a mistake in website design versus fixing a mistake in building design! I would also tell myself to embrace my hobbies and interests and not be ashamed of being nerdy or different because those traits have, in many ways, led to my current success. Q: What is Urban Splatter? Urban Splatter is a web blog dedicated to the topics of design and construction. It began as a digital space to store and showcase architecture that personally inspired me, mainly for my own recollection. The blog quickly evolved into the foundation of Urban Splatter between my business partner David and I. The direction of the blog has evolved into a platform for home, garden, and business design and construction. Q: What makes your company different from its competitors? Urban Splatter stands out from its competitors with its meticulously designed user experience carefully orchestrated by a perfectionist architect and strategic civil engineer. The content is relevant and goes through an in-depth review process. Urban Splatter is able to provide information while also providing links to external websites. In many ways, Urban Splatter is as much of a destination as it is another place on the journey for a design solution. Q: What led you to start Urban Splatter? We were inspired in many ways by the ability to socialize beginning with MySpace. I personally enjoyed reading niche-style blogs in 2003 of dollhouses that were for sale and blogged about. I remember having a mini panic attack when I accidentally clicked “add to cart” and I thought it would ship to my house and my parents would have to buy it. Q: What has the experience of building the business taught you? Networks of information are the future and the ability to share, read, explore and discover information should be easily accessible to anyone who wishes to be enlightened and discover fun and exciting things about the built environment. Q: Where do you see things headed for you in the next 5 years? Where do you see things headed for you in the next 5 years? Other future projects, the future for Urban Splatter, family, etc. In the next 5 years, I see things with Urban Splatter continuing to evolve in exciting and unexpected ways. I am excited to see how the spatial characteristics of interesting architecture can be shared virtually and accelerate design and infrastructural advancements in the physical, real world. The internet real-estate of websites is intriguing to me. Continue reading for some of the current projects I have been working on. JustinAnkus.com showcases my current portfolio of projects from my academic and professional involvement. My sister, Kristina has recently launched the cooking blog KrizzyCooks.com in collaboration with David and me. We have a diverse content creation team including my other sister Victoria. This blog really excites me because it reveals the authentic characteristics of our family and my sister’s culinary talent! David and I have also recently acquired tech-exclusive.com which is our blog that covers advancements in the realms of computers, software, smartphones, and gadgets. I have been also working on TaJuClothing.com with my close friend Tanil which is an urban streetwear e-commerce store. I also manage the Facebook page Jesus and God Quotes. For more information, see urbansplatter.com
Introduction
Childhood Best Friends: Who Are Justin and David?
What is Urban Splatter?
True Tamplin is a published author, public speaker, CEO of UpDigital, and founder of Finance Strategists.
True is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance (CEPF®), author of The Handy Financial Ratios Guide, a member of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, contributes to his financial education site, Finance Strategists, and has spoken to various financial communities such as the CFA Institute, as well as university students like his Alma mater, Biola University, where he received a bachelor of science in business and data analytics.
To learn more about True, visit his personal website or view his author profiles on Amazon, Nasdaq and Forbes.
