[4][7] When On Broken Wings signed with a record label and began touring in 2002, Earle stuffed his suitcase full of Johnny Cupcakes shirts to sell at shows, and give to other musicians on the bill.

[4] In 2005, Earle opened the first Johnny Cupcakes store in his hometown of Hull after working with his father to convert it from a boat garage into a retail space.

To build the L.A. shop, Earle says he enlisted the help of an engineering firm that designed structures for the Disneyland and Universal Studios theme parks to "bring my crazy ideas to life.

"[6] Similarly to the Boston location, the L.A. grand opening attracted hundreds of customers (including some who camped out for days beforehand) and saw the company's most successful single-day sales figures.

[12] The publication also cited Johnny Cupcakes' rising annual revenue and steadfast customer loyalty as further examples of Earle's notability as a business owner.

[8] After the company's success in Boston and the greater New England area, Earle regularly received requests from high schools and universities to speak about entrepreneurship and running a small business.

[16] The demand for Earle to speak has grown so much recently that a separate "Lectures" section was created on his company web site in late 2009 to field inquiries.

[18] On December 13th, 2024 Johnny Earle, via his Instagram account, announced that he was going to be winding down operations and eventually closing his flagship Newbury Street location [19] Citing several reasons that factored into his decision, Earle announced that he intended to pivot his professional career focus on becoming a "Fractional Chief Experience Officer"; expressing a desire to finish authoring the book he has been working on "for the past ten years"; and commencing operations on a subscription-based T-shirt sale distribution model, as well as several personal reasons that compelled him to reassess his focus and desire to continue operating the Johnny Cupcakes brand as-is going forward.