Today we’d like to introduce you to Raphael Guillen.
Hi Raphael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I was born and raised in Southern California, and grew up in the streets of La Habra, Whittier, Pico Rivera, Montebello to mention a few. These cities are well known for show cars of all types: Lowriders, HotRods, LowRods, OffRoad trucks of all sorts, and as far back as I can remember I have always been fascinated with cars of all types. By the age of 16, I had two vehicles, not much by today’s standards but at 16, funds were limited so to me they were everything! A 1989 Ford Escort and a 1969 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia and by 18 I had also purchased a 1965 Chevrolet Impala. Back then a project car was exactly that, a fixer-upper that needed work at an affordable price. Over the years I have built and customized many show vehicles and although the show circuit was fun, I was ready for a change.
Back in 2004, The company I was working for at the time relocated us to Arizona. We were a young family in an unfamiliar state with no friends or family. This move in itself was an adventure… We sold most of our belongings including my vehicles. Over the years I purchased and customized a couple of other show cars while here but it wasn’t the same for me. I remember as a kid how much fun we would have been outdoors, memorable camping trips. That’s what sparked the idea of a 4×4 truck so I can take my kids on camping trips and some easy Off-road trails. One of my first off-road rigs was a Toyota FJ. Modifying that vehicle was fun, and very capable but we started leaning towards a Jeep Wrangler. We were sold on the idea of being able to remove the doors and top as well as the off-road capability straight out of the showroom floor. 2018 is where it all changed for us. This was the year that KNUCKLES my 2018 Jeep Wrangler JKU came into our lives. Literally life-changing. Not only is it the perfect vehicle for me, but it’s also the only vehicle that I have kept the longest and I can honestly say KNUCKLES is part of the family. As you can see, I have heavily modified my Jeep and it continues to evolve over time. When I say life-changing, I’m not exaggerating. KNUCKLES has taken us to some amazing spots that only in a capable off-road vehicle can you get there. We have met some amazing people over the years through this community, people that our now long-life friends.
About three years ago I started my Jeep Instagram account @lockandcrawl, what happened next was a bit unreal for me. When I started to post and share my stories my following grew organically at a rapid pace. People were entertained and were enjoying my content, which was pretty cool. Shortly after I also opened a TikTok account and let me tell you… from a couple hundred to tens of thousands in just a couple of months – it was a bit overwhelming at first. Don’t get me wrong, It was exciting but things were happening so fast that I felt I needed to do more. Post more, build up my rig more, and be more creative. Although it was a bit much at first, it all became a huge part of our life. So much so that I started the idea of creating a business this year around LOCKANDCRAWL. Just a few months ago, LOCKANDCRAWL LLC was born. The foundation was there, I just needed to come up with some details. I started with the LOGO, I came up with some designs, I worked with a web designer to build www.LOCKANDCRAWL.com worked with a local printing company to make my apparel and started to establish relationships with other companies to make everything else I needed to successfully launch it. Today, I have a fully functional apparel company with a lot more to come in the near future.
I say it all the time… we die once and we choose to live every day. The most exciting part of it all, is that I’m creating something every day. At 44 years old my creative juices are flowing like never before! I still have a W2 job, which I also enjoy but LOCKANDCRAWL is mine and it feels good! Get out there and create something! It’s never too late, you can do it!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I believe that if you have a passion for something, working on what it is you’re passionate about is not work at all. It’s enjoyment. I’m not saying it’s all smooth sailing, you will have your moments, but those moments become teaching moments, growing pains if you will. Smoothing out the rough edges of your perfect self that are waiting to come out and shine! So in other words, not easy but everything that is worth anything requires hard work and dedication you just need to stay focused and not let the noise distract you.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I have been in the Telecommunications industry for 24 + years. I have had many positions from a project manager, client support, sales rep, provisioner to name a few. For the past 9 + years I work nights as a Network Engineer activating and testing services for large international businesses. Call me strange, but I enjoy a challenge, troubleshooting multiple networks to get services to work properly is fun to me. I’m also bilingual and fluent in Spanish, so I’m often scheduled to work with customers in LATAM. I have been recognized for my work a few times, and have received promotions, but what I’m most proud of are my kids. All three have grown to be professional responsible adults. Of course, I had something to do with that, but I give a lot of the credit to my incredible wife who has not only supported me with my crazy ideas over the years but has done an amazing job with our kids.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
It’s just the beginning for LOCKANDCRAWL, at the moment it’s an apparel and accessories company but I’m in the process of developing a roof rack for the Jeep Wrangler. It’s in the testing phase and so far so good! We’re also working closely with an expedition company which is exciting! Legally, unfortunately, I can’t speak about that at the moment, but it will be announced on our website when the time comes, and it’s going to be Awesome! I also launched LOCKANDCRAWL YouTube channel which I believe will go hand in hand with the company. I believe that it’s important to actively pursue opportunities. The off-road industry is going to continue to grow and expand in many directions. With the push on electric vehicles, and other factors we need to stay active and be flexible with the changes and I believe that I’m doing just that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lockandcrawl.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lockandcrawl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LOCKANDCRAWL
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lockandcrawl
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXqDMRh1M-e5fmOUONr_cRQ
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lockandcrawl
Image Credits
Raphael Guillen
