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Humble Sneaker Beginnings with Matthew Welty
285 Plays1 month ago
This week we are joined by Matthew Welty, you may know of his work on Complex and as one part of The Complex Sneaker Podcast. Welty sits down with me and we talk about his journey with kicks. We learned where it all clicked for him and how he decided to follow the path he is on now. How sneakers has brought him around the world and the interactions he has had with people. We also speak on how he see's the sneaker community and what he loves about it. Plus much much more!
Where to find Welty:
Socials:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/matthewjwelty/
Twitter: https://x.com/MatthewJWelty
Complex Sneaker Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aluQbVkzklU&list=PLNE967m3_UeRSS4M5-V2x7lwPJzP1pjtx
Podcast Linktree: https://linktr.ee/myfirstkicks
Intro Music by The DoppleGangaz: https://thedoppelgangaz.bandcamp.com/
Outro Music by Gordon Bombay: https://thegordonbombay.bandcamp.com/
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Transcript
Introduction and Welty's Media Presence
00:00:15
Speaker
Let's get everyone. Welcome back to my first kicks. This is a special episode I got in one of my favorite writers, current writers, current podcaster that I do enjoy listening. Some people have called me out that I don't listen to their stuff. It's fine. But I do listen to, you know, complex sneaker podcast when I get a chance to. But welcome to the podcast, Matt Welty.
00:00:34
Speaker
Wow, thanks. It's been I feel like it's been a long time coming and i finally got out of my shell a little bit and came to Brooklyn and did a podcast. Yeah, I bothered you a lot. I feel like I did. I just don't I just I don't know. It's nothing against.
00:00:50
Speaker
You or anything. I just feel like I don't do like a lot of media sometimes So it's I feel like I'm always on camera, but I rarely get interviewed myself So it's it's it's gonna be interesting because I'm not used I always I don't talk about myself often, even though I'll maybe tell tidbits on podcasts
First Sneaker Memories
00:01:11
Speaker
and stuff. But as far as like actually talking about myself, it's like sometimes I kind of like ah put up a wall sometimes. So um yeah, I'm here to open up, I guess. Yeah. ah ah you know like you Like you said, you do a lot of podcasts. And so it's hard for you know when you are the host and you don't really get... like i mean I'm pretty sure you get invited a lot to other podcasts. but like
00:01:31
Speaker
I've been in that realm where, for a whole year, nobody invited me. And then when I finally got in to like somebody being like, hey, jump on, it was like really hard to turn off the host mentality. Because you want to be like, are you going to ask questions? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I understand. I mean, look, you've had amazing guests. You've been in conversation with a lot of people. And you told their stories. But now now it's time to write you two zero but ah you know we just go. just going to jump right into the question. And that question is, what's your first kiss? What's that first-person kiss you absolutely needed to have?
00:02:01
Speaker
Um, so I would say probably the first shoes and I've told the story before that I really remember. Um, it was second grade, 1993. Uh, I remember getting two pairs of shoes that year. The first pair, um,
00:02:18
Speaker
for me that was like really impactful was OG Aqua Jordan Eights hey yeah going to, I think kids, maybe Foot Locker, kids Foot Locker at the time was when you'd walk in and they had the shoe wall, but they had like those like round tables with the shoes that were like around them as well. If you see like those like shopping at, you know, you'll see these videos of people going to Foot Locker in the 90s and the layout of the store is much smaller and much different. And I think I remember picking the shoes up off of that and I just remember like that print being like really attractive because I remember at the time it was like not that I didn't know what the shoes were really and these were like the Michael Jordan shoes I remember watching um
00:02:57
Speaker
the Bulls beat the Suns in the finals and being like, my life is changed by, by, by seeing this at the time. Um, but also like, I remember like that's Charles Barkley. Yes. Okay. Yeah. that i to get the era Dan, Dan Marley, all of them. Yeah. Um, but I think I remember seeing like the air raid as well at the time yeah when it kind of just had like that wild print yeah on the heel and just being like, wow, those shoes like really catch my eye and seeing the Aqua Eights too.
00:03:28
Speaker
that was just like, wow, I i need these sneakers. um I remember getting those, cooking them. And at that time it's like your feet grow so fast that it's like, you can't really enjoy the shoes um as much. And then I think, um I got three pairs of shoes that year, and which I guess was a big deal back then. Cause I feel like you only got like two. Shoot. I only got one. yeah So I feel like you get one, but that's sometimes your feet would grow and then like you couldn't like wear them anymore. So it was like by the time maybe like
High School and Skateboarding Influence
00:03:56
Speaker
spring came around and it's like, okay, time for a new pair of shoes. But I remember getting up for Christmas. I remember getting a pair of a Reebok like black top pumps or like the outdoor ones being so hyped. i' I'm hyped for you right now. I felt like, you know, that, uh, that video of the kid opening up the Air Max ones where he's like, ah, I remember just getting pumps. Cause like a lot of kids in school had pumps, but they were like a status symbol. right And I was like,
00:04:23
Speaker
Wow, I want, I want these. And I remember there was a lot of kids in my class. So when I was in elementary school, I was in this early on, I was in, it was weird. It was like, it was a first and second grade class. So I was like with older kids. So like an accelerated program? No, no, no. They just decided to just put it together. Yeah. For some of the students, they just thought. Or is it the half and half class where it's like you get a TA that will teach? No, it was one teacher. It was one teacher. It was one teacher. And then like maybe some of the older kids would do They would do some of their lessons and younger kids are less than they thought maybe you've learned from them. But either way, there was a few like older kids in the class, you know, and they had these fake pumps that were called jocks. Oh my God. And they were like trying to tell me that those were like, these are the real ones. These are the cool ones. Yeah.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I was like, wait, and I didn't know any better. and You know what I mean? Mom, you got me these fake sneakers. Yeah, no, like I got the real pumps. And then I was just hyped to have the real ones because they were trying to tell me that theirs were the cool ones. And then I look back and I'm like, oh, that's funny. And I think I got a pair of, like, preseason pumps, like the Reebok preseason with the turf on them. And we're getting a pair of those and being hyped. I think I remember the first time I got like flamed for shoes. I think my mom took me to this store called Ames, which is kind of like a Kaldor. I feel like I remember it. Sounds familiar. It was up in like a, in New England or like upstate New York. They had them, but ah kind of like a Kmart sort of like yeah like a department store, but like a lower budget one. And I remember getting a pair of Everlast sneakers.
00:05:57
Speaker
And people are like, those aren't, that's not a sneaker brand, that's a punching bag. And I was like, oh man, they cooked me for heaven everlast. you You went into what is called the dark side, where it's like, you're like, I couldn't couldn't get the pairs, but like, you don't know, but it's like a brand and it looks cool. You're just like, I'm just going to wear them. Yeah. And I mean, it's like, it's funny like telling these stories like for myself, because I feel like I always ask other people these stories and you always, you kind of were like, uh, after a while you kind of, you don't know what people are going to say, but all the stories kind of like melt themes yeah yeah from it. And I remember early on, my mom was kind of like,
00:06:40
Speaker
The limit is 50 bucks for a pair of shoes. Anything you want above that, you're going to have to pay for it. And I'm like, I'm in fifth grade. Where am I going to get? Where are you going to get money? $40. I know it probably wasn't that much, but it was probably like another $30 to buy a pair of shoes that had Air Max bubble on them. And you were just walking to the store into Footlocker at that time. And if you saw like Visible Tech on the shoe, you just knew already it was out of the price range. I think I remember seeing like Man, maybe like an early, like, like Barry Sanders, like the Zoom turfs. Man, you had some really good shoes. No, I didn't have those shoes. No, I'm just saying like in your area, like just being able to... Well, I feel like at that time in the 90s, it was like you just went to like a sports store and they happened to have these shoes because people actually played sports in them. Later on, it was actually like growing up originally from New Jersey, but then grew up in New Hampshire and then moved back to Jersey.
00:07:36
Speaker
It was really hard to get good shoes up there yeah because but like what part of New York, like are you like more up? I was, no, no, I was in New Hampshire and it was like, I was like 45 minutes north of Boston. So I wasn't too far out, but in that like 2000s era, like during like the peak like streetwear era, there was one SB shop.
00:07:59
Speaker
a couple of towns over called identity and I'd get like SBs from there. But as far as like act like Nike product, that wasn't
Retail Experience and Journalism Path
00:08:06
Speaker
SB. Yeah. The footlocker that I ended up working at early on, sorry, skipping around a little bit, yeah but they wouldn't really carry like the retro product because Footlocker at the time only deemed it like urban accounts, yeah could get it. So and we were a suburban account and it wasn't a big mall. So it's like even Air Force Ones, Air Max 90s, stuff like that. I couldn't buy, we didn't have retro Jordans. wow So i had I could get SBs, but if I wanted to get anything that was like semi-cool, I had to drive into Massachusetts. So I was like, I always felt like I was on like a hunt yeah early on to get shoes. yeah um You know, when SB was big for me because grew up skateboarding,
00:08:46
Speaker
early on, um one of the first shoes to me that like really meant a lot that my mom bought me where she was just kind of like, okay, she finally like gave in because I think I was like a sophomore in high school and she was like, I'll buy you like a cool pair of shoes. yeah And it was the Stevie Williams DCs, the first ones that looked like the Jordan 12s, got them in Navy with like a Carolina blue trim on them. And I just remember being like, I finally have like,
00:09:13
Speaker
Cause I had like the Jordans and stuff when I was young, but like, I didn't really like, I look back on it and it's cool. But when you're like eight years old, you kind of like, don't really like process that. Like I have cool shoes right yeah at this point, but when you're like 15, 16 years old and you're like, I have a cool pair of shoes on my, on my feet. And like, I got a chain like the Stevie Williams on, you know what I mean? Like I felt like big DC shirt.
00:09:37
Speaker
Yeah, I feel cool. You know, I had like an echo shirt with like baggy, like carpenter, like gap carpenter jeans and like the, the Stevie Williams. You're a like straight Tony ah straight out of Tony Hawk. So yeah, getting those, um,
00:09:52
Speaker
was huge for me. That's why when SB came about, I was like so about it because I had like that skateboarding yeah ah formation.
Sneaker Community and Writing Journey
00:10:00
Speaker
you know um But then early on, I remember like, cause my grandparents lived in Jersey yeah and I'd go down to visit them.
00:10:10
Speaker
In the summertime, my mom would be like, well, if you want to buy your school shoes, I'm like, I want to buy school shoes. Like when I like come down here, I do not want to buy school shoes in New Hampshire because they're getting all whack stuff, you know, but I would go down there and I remember like.
00:10:26
Speaker
This is like 2002, 2003 and like getting um the Adidas pro shells, the mid top with the strap on it, the shell toes with the strap. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I would like, this is like 2000. So I would like rock it with like baggy sweat, like the, uh, the cargo sweats ah huh and like have like the not, not strap it, like have like the strap hanging off to the side, you know, and just thought I was like with the, with the tongue kind of like puffed out a little bit. And it's just a super Chad Musker style.
00:10:53
Speaker
kind of yeah but i just i thought it was like super straight out of shorty's video yeah so like you know got um got those and that really kind of like that kind of got me like a little more into sneakers where I started like going to stores a little bit and being like, Hey, what do you have here? yeah Or what like when I go down, like what cool shoes can I get? And then I remember getting SBs and then like, Oh, so this is before SBs. Yeah, sorry. This is high school. And then like a little bit after that, I ended up like getting into SBs um like right after high school. Was there a community around that like skate shop that was like ushering
00:11:32
Speaker
Cause I felt like, I mean, yeah you know, the history of SB we, yes we share that in common of like in the beginning, how the skaters were super hesitant of being like, Oh my God is big. I remember, I remember at first, like Cause I had a subscription to Thrasher magazine and the SB ads were like always in the back. yeah Right. And I remember seeing it at first and being kind of like Nike, like really like Nike, but. So you didn't have a brand loyalist to Nike in the beginning. No, not at all. Because like most skaters, like I was into like, like DC, but not DC how people think about it when they're thinking about like,
00:12:10
Speaker
packs on metal militia guys. I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Like DC, like Josh Kalis, Love Park, Philadelphia, like hip hop DC. So I was like into that.
00:12:25
Speaker
And um so, but then when I saw SB come around, I was like, wait, but I like all these skaters. That was what got me. And I know that they said it's always like the marketing scheme, but I'm like, I love Richard Mulder. I love, yeah I love Gino. Like, yeah I love Reese, you know, or Danny Super. I loved all those guys. So it was like, okay, this is kind of cool. I'm just, it's just interesting. I didn't get the shoes early on because it was like, I couldn't even like find the early SB stuff. yeah but then just kind of dabbled in getting into like Adidas and Nike and whatnot. And then finally getting SBs. And then that's when I like found Nike talk and everything. And then that's when the world just kind of like opened up for me. It's like the 2000, like mid 2000s, Lupe, Pharrell, Kanye era of like streetwear. And I'm just like,
00:13:16
Speaker
Am I supposed to, like, I didn't know at the time cause that I was like, am I supposed to, look is this like the look I'm supposed to be into? I was like kind of like hesitant about it, you know? And I'm like, no, this like, this is cool. yeah Um, and then a lot of people around me weren't into it. You know, you went to the skate shop and people were into it, but I was like, wait, I don't think.
00:13:32
Speaker
At that point it was like, people didn't collect sneakers. No, yeah. Especially being in like the suburbs, it was like people didn't collect shoes. Right. People didn't really collect. Like it would be like figures and stuff like that here and there. yeah But there was like this weird boom that happened in the later 2000s where it became a thing, you know? But then I remember like, I think I had bought in like six pairs of shoes in like two months or something like that. And I'm like, Oh wow. Like, you know, maybe like this is like,
00:14:00
Speaker
I think for me, and then I started like traveling into Boston with like friends and going to Bodega and concepts. and what was What was it like? Bodega is such a cool spot. What was your first reaction?
00:14:14
Speaker
Well, it was cool because one of my, one of my best friends of at the time, this guy, Dave, he, I kind of like got him into shoes a little bit as well, but he was going to college in Boston at the time and I was just working it right outside of it, but like being not too far. So I could like come down for like the weekend and he knew like where everything was and he would kind of like take me around to all the spots. So it was kind of like, I didn't really discover it.
00:14:39
Speaker
where I was like, Hey, what is this? He was kind of like, Hey, we're going to go to Bodega. And I'm like, Oh, I've heard about it. You know, I i really want to go. yeah Um, and just being super hyped, super hyped on it. Um, was this, was the, they had that speakeasy element in in the beginning. yeah yeah Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It was always, yeah it was always like that. The the machine. Yeah, and we went to to go to concepts when concepts was in the back of the tannery because I was in the original store that like it was part of and it wasn't like concepts how people end up knowing it now, you know, or it was a different Iterations, but it was just like cool sneakers in the back of like an actual footwear store. Yeah, and we're like, oh wow This is like that's I mean, that's the kiff the kiff in the back of atrium. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, so
00:15:19
Speaker
But yeah, it was like, we always had to go to Massachusetts and Boston because couldn't, like I said, couldn't get retros there. And then, you know, I worked at Dick's Sporting Goods in the footwear ah department around the time that I got into all this and all those people were like,
00:15:36
Speaker
Dude, you're into sneakers. I'm like, dude, I work with you. We work in a sneaker. Like we didn't work in a sneaker store. Like I worked in the sneaker department, but like working at Dick's, just like you're working at like, it felt like you're working at like Bass Pro Shop. yeah um And people are like, they're like giving you like weird looks for like being into shoes, you know? Like this is like super like Nike shocks.
00:15:56
Speaker
era. You know, and I feel like people always laugh at me cause I like always like trash Nike shocks, but it's like, and so I get, I've always said in certain communities, Nike shocks were cool, right? If you go to here, they were pretty if you go to Harlem, Brooklyn, et cetera, Nike shocks are cool. yeah If you go to the suburbs, Nike shocks are like a bro shoe. Yeah. It's like, like, Cargo shorts for playing beer pong. Oh my god. I can't even see that for some reason in my brain. I'm picturing ah bros and martine roses, but it's the obviously the wrong no like I know the silver the silver yeah, so it was always like
00:16:35
Speaker
What if Vince Carter's yeah, but being into like sneakers made me feel like different, you know, um, I went to school ah Did you go to school for like journalism or yeah, we're doing want to be like an English major and then I was like, uh
Full Size Run and Its Evolution
00:16:49
Speaker
Super bad at high school um had to like go to a bunch of schools just to get into school. And then um went there for like, in like Western New Hampshire, near Vermont for like a year and a half. And I was like, I hate this. There was one skate shop in town that had SBs.
00:17:07
Speaker
And I remember buying one pair of the Paul Ehrlich Dunks. Yeah, Eurek's. The highs with the the yeah stripes on the back. I got those there, but then no one, people looked at me like crazy. It was only with the dudes on the basketball team kind of, they like peep my shoes and be like, okay, you know, like you're cool. But yeah everyone else on campus was like,
00:17:28
Speaker
look at this weird guy. Yeah, they they were they weren't into it. you know This is like 2007. They just looked at me like an alien for wearing like bright shoes. you know but But that was, I think in 2007, cause I was also around when I was going to college and I was i was wearing the same crazy stuff too. And people would be like, man, your shoes are so loud. And you know, you fast forward to just for just for this, like now, you know we rarely see people wearing flashy colors, but then everybody's into into sneakers.
00:17:59
Speaker
Yeah. And then I was like, I didn't, I hated that and I wanted money cause I wanted to buy shoes. You know what I mean? So I dropped out of school, went back. I had, I had summer job at footlocker and I was like, they're like, yeah, we'll like accelerate you to like assistant manager. I'm like, cool, you know, sign me up. How'd you do that? Yeah. Um, so I got that, you know, I ended up getting transferred. I ended up working in the mall near Boston. So like everything kind of like fell into place with like sneakers. But then I was like,
00:18:29
Speaker
I hate my life right now. No way. Well, like working retail, I just like hated it. You know, like some people like romanticize like working in a sneaker store. And I guess it's cool to some extent, but when you're working like 55 hours a week in a locker in a mall and most of the time you're just standing around and you're like not making a lot of money. yeah You're just like, man, I'm just like wasting away. yeah You know, so.
00:18:52
Speaker
retail is not easy, but shout out to all the people. who No, no, for sure. I mean, I've learned, so I've worked sneaker retail for like eight years, you know? Um, but more than that, like almost like a decade. I work like sneaker retail. So I mean, I work candy retail. So I work candy retail for six years. Yeah. And yeah, I was just like,
00:19:11
Speaker
I don't know if you ever been to Dylan's candy bar, but. ive heard Yeah, yeah. It's like ra Ralph Lauren's daughter. daughter yeah Yeah. Shout out Dylan. She's the homie. um But like she like bit the standing around and doing retail and, you know, super customer service and stuff like that. There is always a point where you're like, I can't do this anymore. Yeah, I just I just hated it, man. Like working like Christmas time and people just being miserable. And this was during the whole ah during the whole economy recession. I remember a lot of the Jordans were coming out and they weren't selling. This is when they had paused on a lot of Jordan retro releases because they were doing the countdown packs. I was just going to bring it up. They did the countdown packs, but then after that for almost a year, they didn't have any
00:20:00
Speaker
one-off like retro oh yeah product. or i thought Then and they streamlined it down to like four a year at one point. I forget, but it was like, I remember this was the time when they had like re-released the black and ah Carolina Blue or University Blue 12s. That was like one of the first ones that they had brought back as a yeah standalone retro. And I think they also did like the Olympic sevens, came back the for love of the game with like the oh yeah with the heart on the heel. And then they like did all the 12s. It was like the the flu games, the white and red, and then like the sixes that there weren't the infrared sixes, the black and red and the white and red.
00:20:43
Speaker
But it was like that era of like working there and like the she was like going on sale and just being in the store and like you thought retros were going to sell out. You're like, I finally work at a store that has all like the good releases and like nobody came and bought them because no one had any money. um And that's when I like was like, Hey, I'm out. And I went, moved back to New Jersey, went to Rutgers, got a journalism degree, but still worked at Foot Locker.
00:21:06
Speaker
and Yeah, and then everything kind of like got an internship at complex. Yeah, everything. kind And then everything is like now now you're here. the The way that like, I mean, I mean the transition of like, it seems like the path is like kind of just just building out, right? where Yeah. But I didn't, I never, I never thought about this a lot recently. And like, just like me and like my personal beliefs in the world, I don't really think like anything happens by coincidence, right? And it's just crazy that this was never something I ever planned for. I was just living life, doing all this sneaker stuff because it was something that I liked yeah and I needed a job. My parents would have killed me if I just sat at home and didn't have a job, you know? So I was just out there,
00:21:53
Speaker
working at sneaker stores. And I don't know, I was just reading like hype beast and high snobiety and complex and just being like, oh, blogs are cool. yeah know And people didn't really know what blogs were in like 2009 and going to like underground hip hop shows and skateboarding and doing all this stuff. And I never had like any sort of idea that partaking in all of this would kind of like actually be like my real,
00:22:19
Speaker
Um, job or no, my real, like that was like my education. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Like life, life learn yeah like experiences. All of that stuff is kind of what,
00:22:31
Speaker
taught me how to do what I'm doing now. And like, obviously I'm very thankful. I have like a journalism degree and I feel like that helped me put the pieces in, into place. yeah We're like the framework around like what I knew. Cause without that, I think I would just know all this stuff and not how to like hone the skill, yeah like hone in and put it together so that it can make one I don't know, you? yeah yeah yeah the I mean, you know, you talked about, you know, the SBs and finding Nike talk, yeah you know, back in that day, I didn't, I was an nsb dot.org person. I feel like I mentioned it to you before. And for me, Nike talk was like, I'll kind of jump on there. And then I would like, I'll read everything. I'm more of a lurker on there, but nsb dot.org, everybody knew who I was at that point. So, um, Nike Talk, right? Everybody
Balancing Life and Career
00:23:20
Speaker
fantasizes Nike Talk and be like, you you had to be there, blah, blah, blah. But like what was Nike Talk for you? like what what what is your When you look back at Nike Talk, what does it what does it look to you? well i remember Well, for me, the first thing that
00:23:35
Speaker
I went to Nike talk for was the what did you wear today um forum. To me, that was just so interesting to see like all these people at the time, I wasn't like embarrassed by my sneakers, but you know, I had like 15 or 20 like cool pairs of shoes, yeah but I didn't have any like crazy heat.
00:23:56
Speaker
You know what I mean? Like I got into SB's, but I wasn't one of those people that and I can admit. I knew what it was back then, but I wasn't like buying SB's in 2003. Like I didn't have a pair of Heineken's in Tiffany dunks just sitting in my closet. And I saw all these people who had like crazy heat, yeah just like breaking it out. And also they had like,
00:24:15
Speaker
a lot of those people early on had like the actual real like cameras and stuff. yeah And I just had like a digital camera in like my dorm room. And I'd be like, okay, ah you know? And it's like, well, no, these guys have like, sony there's so many, there's so many one shot or whatever the the pixel shot or whatever with the slide. I forget what it was. You had to like, yeah. And you had to, you know, plug it into your yeah your laptop and like, yeah, get all the photos off of it, you know? but I saw all that and I'm like, wow, I don't even wanna post on here because these dudes are like- Yeah, they're going crazy. Yeah, they're like the real the real collectors, you know? um And then there'll be people like Dom Kennedy was posting on, I know people always say, oh, Dom Kennedy's posting on Nike Talk, but I really remember like him posting his fits on um the What Did You Wear Today thread.
00:24:58
Speaker
And I remember then he drops his first mix tape 25th hour. And I just remember walking around campus in Western New Hampshire and just listening to it and thinking that like, this is everything that I'm feeling and want in my life right now. And then I look around me and then just see like bros and like cook, cook shoes and frat basements, you know, and in girls and fried uggs. And I'm just like,
00:25:25
Speaker
This is not like the life that I'm envisioning for myself. yeah So then I was like, I need to get out of here. That was kind of like the the like turn of the light bulb moment. Yeah. And I don't want to say like Nike talk convinced me to drop out of school and I'm not saying be like oh drop out of school. It's super cool, we you know, but.
00:25:41
Speaker
I guess it it worked out for me. and mean and I ended up going back to school. So it's not, no. Yeah. I mean, you, I mean, look, when I first went into school, yeah I thought I was going to be a video game designer. I worked at GameStop. It was like, yeah, this is what it is. is yeah Figure it out. You need to know math. yeah And I am terrible at math. So I was just like, Nope. So I switched to graphic design and now I'm here. I'm working in advertising. But the, the like, you never, you have to take those chances. I feel like a lot of people don't really take those chances and they get stuck.
00:26:11
Speaker
you know yeah I mean for me it was just like hey I'm gonna apply to one school you know what I mean like I'm just gonna apply to Rutgers then and that was it you know because I just want to go back to Jersey and I was like I want to go to big university so I had pride to one school and I got in and I was like wow okay I guess I'm doing this you know and then I'm hitting up the store down there and working down there and then I ended up that was that whole like menswear era because this is like 2010. Yeah. When like guys started getting into like selvage denim and, Oh man, I remember that. Shambray shirts, red wing boots. So I was kind of like into that at the time. That came back recently in 2015, 20, I feel like closer to 2020. Yeah. I feel like there was like a point where like people were like, Hey, I'm thinking about this again. You know,
00:26:56
Speaker
But I remember like I was taking a journalism class and this is why it's funny. I say like, you know, all these things lining up just the odds of these things happening. It's like, what's the, what's the the chance of this, you know? And then I'm in journalism class. Um, and I meet this one guy, uh, I had like, I was wearing like menswear or stuff, but he was, you know, into that stuff too. And he was like,
00:27:19
Speaker
Oh, hey, what's up? My name is Matt. And I'm like, hey, what's up? And he had worked at Madberry Club. Right. And he's like, oh, you know, we're thinking of bringing people on. And I was like, OK, cool. And then he was
Sneaker Culture Insights
00:27:30
Speaker
like, hey, you know, we don't actually have any like space or whatever. We're actually not bringing more people on. But there's this other blog that I know.
00:27:37
Speaker
called too much cuffs, which was like a menswear e-commerce site at the time. And he's like, um, you should check them out. And I was like, okay, cool. You know what I mean? Like I genuinely appreciate it. They just happened to be like hiring copyright, a copywriter at the time. And we launched the e-commerce, uh, site, you know, and um The stuff that the lookbooks that we did ended up getting posted on complex. Oh, right. That was funny. That was such a weird like moment. Like men's wear going to these trade shows and like we did a ah bag collab, um like a tote bag collab with um Kyle from brain dead. Oh wow. Okay. With his brand farm tactics like early on. um
00:28:22
Speaker
you know, and then we were had like, met like public school at like, uh, at a trade show and they want to do like a denim collab with us when they first started. It was so weird to like be just like this, you're like, was it in the ground, the the ground level of like when this first was like starting to bubble up? It was just weird, you know, and I was just like an intern, like just hoping to like meet someone who was giving me a job at this events, you know? Um, but then, you know, they were like, Hey, I graduated school. And then, uh,
00:28:52
Speaker
I had asked the guy Ruben who ran the website, I was like, do you know what, hook me up with someone at complex? And he's like, Oh, I know Jean, Jean de Leon, who was the style editor, um, a timer, one of them. And he was like, um, hit him up and I hit him up and he's like, Hey, yeah, we're looking for interns. And I like,
00:29:10
Speaker
Yeah, I'll give you an interview. Did you make the move immediately? Like how did you, cause you're an intern, you're not getting paid. So I was just happy. I got like a, uh, an, um, an interview, yeah you know, and I like went to the city and like, they were actually more, I told him I'd worked for two inch cuffs and I thought that that was just going to be like what got me in. yeah in Um, but they looked at my resume And they were like, wait, you've worked at like sneaker stores for like eight years. And I was like, yeah. And they were like more interested in the fact that I worked at all these sneaker stores than me doing stuff for a menswear site at the time, which I thought it was like, I thought the sneaker stuff was like in the past, yeah you know? Um, so then I'm there and I'm writing style stuff for complex, uh, just doing blog posts and whatnot.
00:29:59
Speaker
This was like during the whole like Pyrex, Givenchy, Rottweiler, and Hood by Air, ah On the War, Leather Pants, like that whole era. And then at the same time, it was Nick Engvall and Russ Benson. They were doing the sneaker stuff. Shout out, former guest. Yeah, shout out, shout out. Thanks for both to both of them for everything, obviously,
International Recognition and Career Reflections
00:30:20
Speaker
that they helped me with over my career. but um they were like, oh, you know shoes too? I'm like, yeah, i really know I really know sneakers. And they were like, oh, do you want to like write some blog posts for us on like the weekend or like in the morning? I think it was in the morning. They wanted me to just do like two blog posts at like 8 a.m. And I was like, sure. I get paid extra money. I was just like making not a lot of money, just being a, you know, a freelance intern, yeah whatever, getting paid whatever a post, you know? Right. And I'm like, sure, I'll do that. And then I started doing the sneaker stuff
00:30:51
Speaker
a lot. And I started doing more style stuff too, but I started getting like my more like, not like well-known, but you know, people started to realize or recognize my work around like the office and whatnot. and Yeah. I mean, I remember reading your work, uh, super early on cause I was a big kind of complex. i would I got, I got grandfather in through Mark echo cause I was a huge Mark and then shout out Mark. And um it's funny because I was such a diehard. I remember when he dropped getting up yeah yeah and like he answered one of my questions yeah on IGN and then that's how I was able to go to Virgin Records and get everybody to sign my my get enough limited edition. The first time I saw him, I was like, I forgot the password to get into the old complex office on 23rd street, my home depot. And he, I was like expecting someone to let me in and like in walks the Mark echo walks in the door and he looks me up and down and he's like,
00:31:46
Speaker
who you're here for, you know? And he just looks at me and he goes, don't steal any shit. Cause someone had just stolen like a cause something that's crazy. And it was the real, like, it felt like this is my like devil's where's Prada moment, you know, like you know the, more echo being mean to you. yeah Um, Now you just have Mark on the back of your head. vi like dan idea wait him moment We had him on the complex sneakers show and then I told him that, but you know, they were, like I ended up getting hired as like a sneaker editorial assistant and not style. I thought it was always going to be style and they were being sneakers. So then I'm working there. um
00:32:21
Speaker
I mean, you get fits off. Yeah. Maybe it's not really Mike. I don't really, I don't really, I like close to some extent, but I don't really worry about it too much. but Um, I ended up working with, I think Nick maybe had just left the gang while I just left and it was Russ and then Gerald Flores gets hired. And then we were just doing complex sneakers and I did complex sneakers stuff for,
00:32:43
Speaker
a handful of years yeah after that. um And then got known more as like a writer, um started doing a lot of work that people noticed, um which was cool. You know, it was a cool feeling, but it was just like just being a writer on the internet. And then I mean, yeah no, no, no, it's a, I mean, highlight like your writing style. I think that, and I mean, I think I bigged it up recently with the CrossFit.
00:33:05
Speaker
ah article or I like when you take aspects of that, of your personal interest and you put it into the actual writings. Like, oh yeah I feel like that is missing a lot currently. You know, it's always just like this shoe is out. There you go. This shoe is coming out. Here you go. Yeah. I mean, I, I, there's always a balance. Like I always have to write about,
00:33:25
Speaker
the hype stuff to some degree, because that's what's going to pay the bills. And I can't not talk about Travis Scott air Jordans and like people, even if I don't care for it, I feel like people still want to get my opinion in my co-host opinion on what's popular right now. And I feel like we kind of serve as people. Oh yeah. The, the, the balance is there. And then you still, even with the hype stuff, you still talk about, you know, the importance of the shoe instead of just being like, or the importance of the collaboration or the importance of like, you add in the extra context where it's like, you know, private selection just posts a picture and goes, Hey, this is the sneaker. Like that's what sneaker journalism has become, or that's what it is. I think a lot of sneaker journalism is just kind of like,
00:34:09
Speaker
Plug and chug like just kind of like just get the info out there and obviously that stuff's needed cause a lot of people are just like, when is the shoe coming out? They just want that. They don't really want to read. And um for me, I was like, I have a journalism degree and I'm like, I want to write long stories yeah and have people read about them.
00:34:26
Speaker
And I think I remember ended up writing a story on sneaker YouTube. And this was like, and this people still go back to this story and they get so upset about it. And like, I had interviewed like everyone who was popping at the time in sneaker. This is like bullet. i talked and I didn't talk to him. Sorry. This wasn't everyone. But I know that's not. I talk bob was just saying it was like a case. Yeah. Yeah. Jacques. Yeah. A former Simpson. Yeah.
00:34:55
Speaker
ah Hess kicks. I forget who else, but it was like a handful of like the big names of people in the space. And I was kind of like, why is sneaker YouTube obsessed with clickbait? This was the super clickbait era of like, I found Yeezys that pay less, you know, and it's like, no, you didn't. um brought um yeah And then full size run had started. It was a new like a live stream show.
00:35:19
Speaker
And it was just Brendan and Rich Lopez. And they just wanted me to come on to talk about the article that I wrote about sneaker YouTube. and you to be Like a guest segment. I'm thinking much about it. And then I think one day, this is 2017, one day,
00:35:34
Speaker
One of them was on vacation. I think maybe Brendan was on vacation. I don't remember it, but they were just like, Hey, do you want to fill in? And I was like, sure. And then I never thought I'd be one of those on camera people because early on at complex, you look at like, uh, the early like complex news yeah people. I know there's like that meme going around and just like dog, like,
00:35:59
Speaker
It was like Sean Evans, Jinx, Emily Oberg, Tamarida, Speedy. It was just yeah all dogs, right? So I never thought like looking at them being so good at what they did, that I would be like that person. And I still don't think of myself as that end up like polished.
00:36:20
Speaker
on camera person, but they were like, Hey, do you want to be a host? I mean, do you want to just step in? And someone internally was like, we just like that you have a different opinion. It made us agree with your opinion, but we like you have a different opinion. yeah And they were like, well, what if we put the three of you together and the three of you start arguing, right? And this was, I think
Career Reflections and Future Aspirations
00:36:40
Speaker
right around the time when they were launching everyday struggle, full size run came before everyday struggle, but it was right around the same time where they had just started Um, yeah, that like little, uh, YouTube series, like they were doing a bunch, like you had life life at complex. Yeah. You had everyday struggle with Joe buttons. They wanted like that, like everyday struggle dynamic of like us arguing about shoes. And then, you know, it just started off and it's like a little like back, back end studio. And then they put us in a new studio and then like, we ended up getting like,
00:37:13
Speaker
real guests, not to like disrespect anyone who was early on, but it was just kind of like, Hey, our friend, you know, you have a sneaker store, you want to come on? You know, it was like early on, it was like that. But then it was like, I think like one of the first people was like, we had conceited on and then we had John Geiger on, you know, and Emily Oberg came on as a guest and whatnot. So it was like, okay, it's starting to get like a little more steam. And then you're like, Oh crap, we did like a hundred thousand views on YouTube, you know,
00:37:40
Speaker
And then I remember I get a DM from Trinidad James and he's like, Hey chief, how do I get on this show? You know, like something like I heard you guys were popping. and How do I get on the show? Cause I think he was friends with conceited and conceited told him about the show. yeah And like someone hit me up.
00:37:59
Speaker
No. And then I had to hit up every, I had to hit up everyone and be like, Hey, um, kind of random, but like Trinidad James wants to be on the show and this is 2018. And obviously everyone knew he was a huge sneaker head. He was doing the camp, right? James stuff. And like, but at that point of his career, he was kind of like in a transition right phase of like like, of like, he was doing, he was doing a little more acting at the time. So we're like, Hey, what is he up to? We didn't really know what he was up to in his career. So they're like,
00:38:26
Speaker
Yeah, sure. I, you know, sure, you know, i'm sure. Let's have him on. give it's Yeah. And we had him on as a guest. And I remember like Joel Puma hitting me up and being like, yo, Trinidad is awesome on this. Like maybe you guys can have him on as like a recurring guest, you know, at the time. Cause we didn't think much. And then.
00:38:45
Speaker
Rich ends up leaving. He got a a job somewhere else. So we needed a new co-host. We put out like a casting call being like, Hey, we need a, we need a third host of full size run. And then Trinidad hit me up or send me a text. Actually, I remember going to lunch with him after the show the first time we did it, went to Shake Shack together. And that's right when, um,
00:39:08
Speaker
everyday struggle started to take off. yeah And you kind of saw like Joe Budden who used to be an artist, but now he was getting into the podcast lane and he, I think he kind of saw like, okay, not that he still didn't make music, but he had his music career. Like what's the next, what's the pivot? Yeah. What's the pivot? And he's like, well, maybe this might be the pivot for me. You know,
00:39:27
Speaker
um So we just talked about it and I didn't think much of it, you know, and then he hits me up and he's like, hey chief, you need to you need a ah ah third? yeah And I was like, hey, Trinidad James wants to be the co-host of the show. and And people at the company are like, oh, that's interesting. yeah And they talk about it. And like, we had to hold ah hold a whole like audition of people just to say that we had like, of course, it's like hiring seasonal workers.
00:39:50
Speaker
We had to like, we only had to interview like 10 people, you know, but we had people fly in for it and whatnot. But I think in the back of our head, we kind of knew that like Trinidad was like the right fit. You already have the proven concept. He was the right fit. You know, the name recognition, him being like a huge sneaker head, it just kind of was like, why wouldn't we? And it like diversified like the show and like where we all come from and our humor and our taste on things. So then he ended up doing it. And then,
00:40:17
Speaker
full size run was full size run for like seven years. I definitely think that show made you and Brendan revered in sneaker community. And I mean, we talked about this before air, but like, I think it brings this like status within sneaker community that people are looking for your approval or your guys approvals here and there. I mean, even with the, the, the fit, the fit, uh, the fit segment, what was it called? No, no, no. The one where people submit the... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That. So it's just like, you know, there's going to... I feel like... I mean, in sneaker culture and sneaker communities, I always feel like there's going to be infighting regardless. For sure. And I mean, it was like, it was never the intention. I mean, maybe to some extent, but like for sometimes it was a spicy show, you know, there were like spicy moments of it. So like things would go viral early on on sneaker YouTube, you know, and
00:41:13
Speaker
It was fun. You know, I got to interview a lot of big name people, have a lot of memories. Tom Segura's episode. Really? The remote one? The remote one only because of the drip flipper skip and the Katie's. He sent them two pairs. Yeah. Yeah. That shit is so funny to me.
00:41:33
Speaker
That was funny too, because it's just sort of the way, the way, the way things work. And then, cause Tom's friends would bird bird. And then we had Bert on a full size run. yeah And then I didn't realize how cool him and Trinidad were. So I walk on and I'm like, I wasn't expecting them to be like the buddy cop like show up in your head. You're like, okay, Trinidad James and Bert Kreischer are like best friends. Okay. This is cool. So I'm like in their universe, whatever. Yeah. But I remember he like,
00:41:58
Speaker
He took it takes takes his shirt off and I think he like chugged a beer out of a shoe. Yeah, he does a, what's it called? A shoey. Shoey, yeah, shoey. I'm like, that's, he's just, he's just too much. He's too much. He's very, he's a ball of charisma, that's for sure. Yeah, but I mean, really like blessed that I i got to do that, you know? You know, I've been like been able to like travel the world because of it and it's just so crazy like meeting people in Malaysia. I know, because I wanted to bring that up. like by And it's like just meeting people who are like,
00:42:26
Speaker
who know who I am. that's correct That's like really nuts to me, man. Like I'm, I've been able to like do all these experiences and like people know who I am, but I like don't think of myself as like a celebrity in any sense because I just feel like I'm a regular person. I'm not saying that to be humble. I just don't view myself that way, but to like go places internationally and that people like recognize you. I'm just like, wow, this is so,
00:42:53
Speaker
So weird. Uh, maybe the next, the complex con Hong Kong, here you're going to have like a Szechuan chicken named after you or something like that. I don't know, man. It's just, I'm just like vegetables. Yeah. Just like really like grateful that like had the opportunity through that. And it was all like doing something that we loved. It wasn't like this like manufactured thing that, you know,
00:43:17
Speaker
was fake or inauthentic, like just going back and telling the story about how it all occurred. right It's just like everything like aligned for this to happen. It wasn't like someone sat down in a boardroom and was like, how are we going to make a cool sneaker talk show? And I think that that's why it worked right because it's organic. It organically came together. Like I was never supposed to be on the show. yeah And then I came on the show. Trinidad was never supposed to be on the show. And then Trinidad comes on the show. yeah You know what I mean? so And even the times when it was like be like times where like Trinidad schedule didn't work and we had like conceited as a guest host, but we had conceited early on and he's like a friend of ours, you know, and it just kind of like all like mesh. Yeah. Do because, I mean, your career is very long and now, yeah you know, with the, the end of full size run and you know, you doing complex cons now and stuff like that. The, I'm curious, like, cause you talked about,
00:44:16
Speaker
You took a chance this past week of looking over your career and looking over where, how far you've come. yeah and Where do you ever get a chance to celebrate your own wins?
00:44:30
Speaker
it It only hits me like when we like sit down and talk about it. Sometimes, um, I really, I just, I. I like being like a regular person. I'm like a regular person and I kind of like take myself out of, I'm not like in, I feel like if you're in New York, in the sneakers and especially if like people know you on the internet, it's really easy if I wanted to like go hang out in Soho and kind of like go around Kith and flight club and kind of like,
00:45:01
Speaker
yak it up. You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I could do that. yeah Right. But I like, I'm not that person at all. Like I just stay in New Jersey. Yeah. Work out. I know. I wanted to bring up CrossFit too. Yeah. Work out. Go to church. Like I just like live my life kind of like separate from not that I'm not into sneakers, but I like, I very early on kind of had to like draw a line and be like,
00:45:28
Speaker
I love sneakers. This is my life, but this is like my career over here. And then I need a life outside of it. Cause if I don't, I'm going to go crazy. Yeah. And that's where I really had to like build out something for myself. You know? Um, that is interesting because like I've been recently, I guess reaping that like where I would go out and people are like, Oh snap, that's just two shots. but like Um, and I'm very like, cause then now I have to create three different lives, right? yeah For me, I work. And then from then it's basically this podcast and yeah the stuff outside that are my interest and to be able to like, okay, now where do I make the interest, the work part? And then I can, you know, have that like, all right, I get to work out and just not have to think about like, you know, blah, blah, blah. Yeah. You need like that, some sort of like stress relief. You know what I mean? For like me for the longest time was like going to like New York Red Bull games. And then that kind of like played into the little sneaker thing. Cause then I got like, that was like early on full size around and I was wearing all the Adidas and stone Island. yeah And then, you know, that was like a whole thing, but that was also like something like just part of my life, you know? And I had like a lot of opportunities do that as well. You know, I'm just, I don't know.
00:46:50
Speaker
I just feel like all those things just kind of like, oddly just added up, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. But I do hope you take, you know, hopefully this podcast helps you. No, trust me, I'm not. I'm not like one of those like 24 seven workaholic people.
00:47:07
Speaker
um Like I always joke, I'm like, Joe and Brendan are like, not that I take it easy, but to me, they're like way more like workaholic, like personalities to some extent. And for me, it's like, man, I don't even check work stuff till I get in the office. Yeah. I'm with you on that one. Like I do not, and like some people wake up and like check their email. No, no, no, no, no, no. I go work out, pray, eat breakfast, and then go to,
00:47:32
Speaker
go to, go to work. And then all of a sudden I'm like tapped in, but I really need that like space in between the two because I've been in the shoes for so long that it's obviously part of my life right yeah for this. But I'm like, I can't obsess about it 24 seven. And I feel like sometimes that's why I like ah you know ah people laugh about it. I get into it with people online. Cause some people like,
00:47:58
Speaker
I'm thankful that people take sneakers really seriously because if they didn't, I wouldn't have a career. Yeah. But I feel like some people take sneakers like a little too seriously in like they let sneakers dictate their emotions. And if you're getting angry about sneakers right and letting it affect your mood, then you really need to like reevaluate what you're doing. You know, we can't, we can't let sneakers,
00:48:26
Speaker
make us mad at people we don't know right on the internet to where it like wrecks our day. Cause then you go home and then like, maybe you're like a jerk to your parents or your girlfriend. And you know, just because you argued with someone on Twitter, like I feel like that's not really worth it. No, it's not. I mean, during, especially during the pandemic, when everybody's like, Oh God, I lost again on this, on this drop. I lost again. And even now with like recent drops or, you know, people were complaining about the poly lows dropping and then they closed the, the, the pre-order, uh, after five hours. And then people like, I can't believe it. And I'm just like, listen, it's fine. There's going to be another shoe. Like you just got to move on to the next one. And it,
00:49:11
Speaker
i don't I don't know where the passion like that style of passion came from because even when I was younger it wasn't the same it wasn't like but you might have been a little upset yeah but you're like hey you know what another shoes gonna come out yeah in the shoe that you're angry about not getting You're probably going to forget about it in like three months time. And like, trust me, I get that people are going to call me a hypocrite because they're like, oh, people send you shoes, et cetera, et cetera. I get it. Trust me. I also bought shoes for, you know, 10, 12 years before that and like work to a place where
00:49:46
Speaker
It's always like crazy. People tell you like, Oh, must be nice. You know what I mean? And it's like, Oh, it's not like I didn't work 20 years to get to this position. yeah And the end game was never to get people to send me shoes. It's just like a benefit of like putting in all this work within the sneaker community yeah space and trying to give back to maybe like a younger version of myself who is out there who wants to like dig into an interview with Ronnie Feig that I'm doing with him, where like now they're learning something about shoes because I can be like the messenger for it. That's kind of like my goal, I hope. Yeah. And I mean, I feel like you're, you're doing perfectly with that. Every time you guess things, I'm always like, congrats. So I think it's, it's the, it's the way that social media has painted seating. Right. I've, I've given away yeah more shoes than I own. And I'm not like trying to say that to like, that makes me a good person. No, but like, you know what? I actually get sometimes there's like some stuff that I get, of course I'm going to be like thankful for. And I want to keep right. Like,
00:50:51
Speaker
J tips. Great dude sends me his soccer knees, right? I'm not going to like give those away because I'm like thankful that like a friend of mine got to make a shoe. He gave it to me and I appreciate it on that level and clothing. They're one of the first people I interviewed when I first started working at complex when they did the burger shoe, the burger Saucony's and I had an exclusive interview on that and I have like a relationship with them throughout the years. Action Bronson got to know him throughout all the years. He sends me a shoe. I'm super thankful for it, you know? And it's like, sometimes people send you stuff and you're like thankful that you get it, but maybe it's just not for you where you're like, Hey, you know what? I have,
00:51:27
Speaker
300 pairs of shoes, I don't need everything. Hey, there's someone else in the office who doesn't get a lot of shoes, or there's homeless people outside, or there's someone at the gym, or you know someone at the gym has a son who needs shoes for back to school. I get so much more ah gratification being able to like take the things that I feel like I've been given and blessed with yeah and share them with other people than I do just being like, you know how many cool shoes I have in my collection? I don't know. That's just like, no, I feel you on that a hundred percent. I think more people need to do that.
00:52:03
Speaker
especially when your collection is so massive and you're like, we only have so many days out the year, you know, not every day is guaranteed. So like, and we only have so many days in life not to be like crazy about it, but like, as you get older, you never know. It's not even the fact that I think of like,
00:52:23
Speaker
blessed that I'm not like nothing's going to happen. But like, you just realize it's like, I'm going to be 40 soon. And it's like, I have all these shoes and it's like, you just realize I'm going through it. It's like, these shoes have been sitting here for 15 years or a closet, you know? Um, maybe it's time that I can get rid of stuff. And then when I start to get rid of stuff, I just feel better. Cause it's like, my apartment's getting like inundated with like all these shoes, you know, be like, Oh, it must be awesome. And I'm like, it is awesome to some extent, but also when your life starts to get just like,
00:52:52
Speaker
you feel like it's like a monster that's like growing yeah in your room and it's just like now it's spread out into the kitchen in your bedroom and you're like, no, no, no, no, no. so Like this stuff's gotta, yeah, we gotta, we gotta minimize this. I mean, we gotta Marie Kondo some of this stuff. i feel like people People get so hyped on collecting early on yeah because they don't realize like,
00:53:12
Speaker
what it's like to actually become a collector. And then it like borderline becomes hoarder. And then you're like, yeah, but when you, when you're amassing the collection, it's fun. I remember when I first started amassing the collection, yeah I was so hyped, but then when you have 150 pairs of sneakers, you're like, whoa, I need to like chill out, man. Yeah. That I got to that moment. And then I also remember, I think it's like, I do want to say, cause I was trying to think back.
00:53:37
Speaker
of to the moment where we were idolizing huge collections. And I don't know if it's like Mayer's collection or if it's like, was it Fran Lations collection early on or something like that? But I know, or or even the sneaker heads documentary, like it was always about just massive, massive collections. It doesn't matter if like, You had heat. It was like, you had to have, it was always like you had to had a mixture of heat and the stuff, you know, you get off of clearance. And then, so we end up on, you know, hundreds of hundreds of pairs. Yeah. i'm in it but I mean, like, it's almost like.
00:54:12
Speaker
You're like worshipping the shoes yeah at that point. And I feel like that's like really unhealthy. Like I think it's really cool to like love shoes and appreciate. I always try to tell the stories behind them. and I always love the stories. But I think that that's the cool part about it, having shoes that you love and like maybe getting your girlfriend or wife like a pair of shoes or like I get excited about like Christmas time comes and I like buy my mom a pair of like 990 V6s and she's so hyped on having like a pair of like new balances. You know, I got my dad a pair of 993s and he was like super hyped on it and like sharing the sneaker love with like other people and getting them to like love their shoes. yeah I just love that feeling, but I feel like
00:54:54
Speaker
when we make the sneaker collection, like the idol. And then even to some extent, and I've had conversations with people about this where it's like they make the collector the idol too. yeah And it's like, not that you don't want to shoe collection, but you like look up, look up to them like a little too much, like a little too much. And you're like trying to get now you're loud. Now you've created a mountain. So now you're trying to get to them. Yeah. And it's like, so I remember people, I, when I was in the Philippines recently, and that was amazing experience because I told you, I went through all that stuff with footlocker thinking that my life sucks. I'm working at footlocker and then it all kind of works out. And that's how I get the job at complex. And then people knew that I worked at footlocker. So footlocker is celebrating their 50th anniversary. yeah So they want to invite me out to the Philippines to be like a guest speaker. yeah so do And I, you know, I hit up, they had asked me about it cause they're like, You're a striper. And they're like, well, if Brendan wanted to come to, would he want to come? So I hit Brendan up and then he came with me as well. And we're on stage in a mall in Manila. Yeah. So though talking to people, and I'm like, dude, there's no way that all this stuff like randomly happened because people hit me up and asked me, they're like, how do I.
00:56:00
Speaker
get to do what you do. And I'm like, and I thought I don't have advice for people, but I'm like, I don't know. like I really don't know because I never set out to do this. It just kind of like all like lined up and happened. Like I never set out to do full size run. I never even set out to be like a complex sneaker editor. Yeah. It just kind of happened. So, you know, but we were out there and like people called me and they're like, bro, you're my idol. And I'm like, I was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And they're like, as much as I'm appreciative, you tell me that I'm not, ah I'm not an idol. I'm not someone to be like idolized or worshiped. You know what I mean? Like I'm just a man here who's made secret your content and I really appreciate you doing, uh, loving it, but don't, idolize you. Yeah. Don't idolize me. Like try to go out and do things in your own life too, you know, and like just make stuff. It's like we have Instagram now. We didn't even have Instagram when I started, you know, we're on MySpace, yeah right? Like you see Nicki Diamonds on MySpace holding the Tiffany dunks up that goes all around yeah Nike talk. And it's like, that's the stuff that I get excited about now, man, where it's like, I've been able to come friends with people like Nick Diamonds, you know, and have them on the podcast. But then also like,
00:57:22
Speaker
I never thought like in that era, like just looking up to the the Tiffany Dunk being like, this shoe is awesome. That like one day the guy who made the Tiffany Dunk would be someone that we connected with in in real life. How did the roads lead to here?
00:57:37
Speaker
I mean, I have no answers, but it's yeah it's good to look back on that. I do have one last question as we end up and round out the podcast. I want you to think back to when you were younger and you're just about to open that box with the Aqua Eights in it. What would you tell your younger self as they open that box?
00:57:57
Speaker
man, you know what? I wouldn't, I wouldn't tell myself anything because I feel like if I told myself that like, Hey, all of this stuff's going to end up happening to you, that I would probably start overthinking it too much. True. And I would be like, it wouldn't make sense to me, right? Like you're a messenger from the future. Like what can, you know, that meme where it's like the guy and the girl where it's like, yeah and he turns back they go no, they both go back in time. Oh, no, no, no. I don't know that one. Oh, it's like i dont what what would What would each sex tell their their younger self or whatever if they could? um
00:58:31
Speaker
I don't know. I just, I feel like i it would wreck it for me. If I would be like, Hey, you're going to go on to do great things and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, and just tap your, so you tap your cell phone. I probably like in my head, I'd probably like probably get full of myself. Yeah. Right. So I wouldn't want to tell myself anything. I would just probably just tell yourself to enjoy it. See where it's going to go. That's fire. Let everybody know where to find you. Oh, complex sneaker show. Uh, used to be weekly. Um, now it's maybe every like two weeks. Yeah. Uh,
00:59:02
Speaker
full size run. You can go watch the old episodes on YouTube. There's hundreds of them out there, hundreds of episodes of the complex sneakers show as well. Um, we will be, I think we've made it official an official announcement or maybe we have, I don't know, we'll be at complex con.
00:59:18
Speaker
in Las Vegas. Hopefully I am too as yes let'll see well. We'll see. But yeah, but we will be at complex con in Las Vegas doing something pretty awesome oh yeah that I'm really excited for live and direct. So excited for that. Um, yeah. And then Yeah. And you know where to find me. I am who is also going to follow the podcast on My First Kicks Pod. If you just like are listening to this, go hit up the YouTube My First Kicks on YouTube. Hit that like, subscribe, hit that bell for the notifications. um And you know what we say every week? Wear your kicks. Peace.