It all started in a Niagara University dorm room circa 2004. Joey Huff, a kid from Buffalo, New York, had a laptop, a cheap mic, and more ambition than resources. He made do with what he had, and night after night he built songs for a life he could already see, long before anyone else could.

That pull carried him nearly 900 miles south to Atlanta, Georgia. With his group and record label, International Club (IClub), he worked his way through the city’s open mic showcases, winning several and sharing stages with Latto, Stuey Rock, and Translee. Somewhere along the way, Joey became Cav McLaren.

The stage showed him something he hadn’t expected. The song was only part of it. Everything around the music, the artwork, the videos, the clothes, the imagery, decided how people felt about it before they heard a note. Around 2010 he stopped waiting on other people to build that world and learned to build it himself, picking up the camera, directing music videos, producing records, and designing album covers and content.

In 2014 he bet on himself again and founded ICLUB USA, his independent clothing brand. Putting his own name and money behind a vision taught him what every founder learns the hard way: the idea is personal, and every decision about how it shows up matters.

In 2016 the path led him into the then-bustling Atlanta film industry, working in costume departments on productions with Tyler Perry, Donald Glover, and Ava DuVernay. There he learned how a single garment can carry a character and how small details hold a larger story together. He took that eye beyond the set, styling clients for weddings and special events so they could walk into the room as the fullest version of themselves.

Every chapter added a skill, and today they come together as one practice. As a creative director, Cav helps artists, entrepreneurs, and individuals find what makes their idea distinctive and give it a clear direction, then carries it through artwork, photography, styling, content, and web design. He is now bringing AI-assisted creation into the work as well.

The tools keep changing. The approach stays the same: understand the person behind the project, set a strong direction, and make work that gives people a reason to connect.