Check Out Michael Havens’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Havens. 

Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I was born in Torrington Connecticut in 1980 to an average middle-class family. My older brother passed down his Star Wars toys once he grew out of them and I got hooked, so I’ve collected Star Wars toys since I was a little kid. I would used to put the money I would get from mowing lawns directly into my Star Wars collection. 18 years ago, I moved down to Nashville for a job opportunity with Dell with my girlfriend at the time, Andrea Havens, who is now my wife! I remember when we first moved down here splitting one Ford Taurus with a busted transmission that Hercules would have trouble getting into gear, living in a $650 a month apartment in Antioch. We kept moving forward. She got a job at the zoo as a cashier in the giftshop and I worked at Bass pro until I got the job with Dell 8 months later. Fast forward 2 years and my wife is the office manager at Pontiac of Franklin and I started a job in logistics brokering. We started building up enough for a down payment on a house and really focused on our careers. Andrea excelled and eventually held the job of controller at Mercedes in Franklin and GM of Murfreesboro for over 10 years. I started my own trucking company and logistics brokerage that specializes in containerized freight out of the ports and distributes throughout the United States, and it also grew very quickly. That is when we started to have enough disposable income to start buying toys that we always wanted when we were little but could never afford. We have grown a massive collection between the two of us over the years. In August of 2021, Andrea decided to leave her career and open her very own toy store in Berry Hill and it is already grown so much she is looking for a larger location! I also opened art galleries in Connecticut Germany and Mexico selling contemporary art from Africa and Latin America. We were at a convention with over $1,500 worth of badges around our next eating a $37 plate of orange chicken I wouldn’t feed my worst enemy and holding on to a $9 Coke this was way back in 2015. That is when I decided to start throwing a Sci-Fi convention right here in Nashville! Something where a family of four could attend and not have to skip a mortgage payment to afford the tickets but something that was still just as good as the big conventions on the coasts. 

The creator of The Imperial Commissary and ICCCon. I am a big collector of Vintage Star Wars toys and I love conventions. There weren’t any conventions in Nashville where I live, so I took a huge leap of faith and started one myself. The ICCC is an annual sci-fi fan and collecting convention where families, collectors, fans, cosplayers, creators, and celebrities from all over the world come to celebrate what they love! The first ICCC event launched in 2018 and, since then, it has become Tennessee’s premier sci-fi collecting and fan convention! ICCC is 100% locally owned and produced by collectors who love this hobby and community. Personally, I started collecting when I was young, but when I got older, I boxed it all up and traded collecting toys for football and college. But then, in 2012, my wife bought me a vintage Star Wars Luke Stormtrooper for Christmas. That was the spark that reignited my love for collecting. I quickly got my items back from Mom’s house and started collecting tons. Now I run 28 Facebook groups involving collecting, I have a podcast, and I am the proud creator of the premier sci-fi convention in Nashville! ICCC 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
No road is smooth but I am thankful for every bump I have hit because it has brought me to where I am today. When we were driving that Ford Taurus with the busted transmission around digging for change to buy our 5th ramen noodle dinner that week, I won’t say it was enjoyable and there were many other times where it was practically impossible to make ends meet but we kept working hard and pushing forward. The first two years of the trucking company were pretty thin too but that’s what happens when you start from scratch you just need to keep pushing forward. When I first started ICCC I spent more money than I spent on my first house and lost most of it, so I kept pushing forward. You’re two I lost about half that, and so on and so forth but we don’t do this for money. We do this because Nashville Tennessee is wonderful and for some reason, sci-Fi conventions just do not come here anymore and with my massive network with social media, we can make the best and most cost-effective convention in the world right here in our where we live. 

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
No road is smooth but I am thankful for every bump I have hit because it has brought me to where I am today. When we were driving that Ford Taurus with the busted transmission around digging for change to buy our 5th ramen noodle dinner that week, I won’t say it was enjoyable and there were many other times where it was practically impossible to make ends meet but we kept working hard and pushing forward. The first two years of the trucking company were pretty thin too but that’s what happens when you start from scratch you just need to keep pushing forward. When I first started ICCC I spent more money than I spent on my first house and lost most of it, so I kept pushing forward. You’re two I lost about half that, and so on and so forth but we don’t do this for money. We do this because Nashville Tennessee is wonderful and for some reason, sci-Fi conventions just do not come here anymore and with my massive network with social media, we can make the best and most cost-effective convention in the world right here in our where we live. 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am extremely optimistic and I keep pushing forward. 

Pricing:

• GA Sunday $35
• GA Saturday $65
• VIP (Fri, Sat, Sun) $500
• GA all weekend $100
• Kids $10

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.icNashville.com
• Instagram: @icccNashville
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/icccNashville
• Twitter: @icccNashville
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/c/icccon
• Other: www.imperialcommissary.com