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Speaker 1: I'm Will Lucas in This is Black Tech, Green Money.

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Speaker 1: Randal Yarbro is a multidisciplinary designer with professional experience in

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Speaker 1: the fields of sporting equipment, apparel, and fullwear. He was

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Speaker 1: seeing your footwear designer at Easy and It's not leading

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Speaker 1: his own label joy Shit, where he serves as creative director.

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Speaker 1: Knowing what he knows about reaching some of the highest

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Speaker 1: levels in creative direction, what would he say is the

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Speaker 1: most important non design related thing to know about achieving success.

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Speaker 2: That's a great question.

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Speaker 3: I think one of the things that aren't design related

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Speaker 3: is kind of just being honest with yourself and with others.

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Speaker 2: That's probably the biggest thing.

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Speaker 3: That I can think of right at the top of

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Speaker 3: my head when it comes down to it, Like, you

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Speaker 3: can be a great designer, and you can do amazing things.

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Speaker 2: You make three beautiful.

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Speaker 3: Pictures, but at the end of the day, being very

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Speaker 3: honest and truthful about what you're doing makes it much

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Speaker 3: easier to do those things right, to portray what you're

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Speaker 3: trying to portray or or convey what you're trying to

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Speaker 3: convey that message or that design, because at the end

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Speaker 3: of the day, like you know, you can't fall back

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Speaker 3: on something that you make up. I think you know

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Speaker 3: what I mean. So, yeah, just being honest and truthful

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Speaker 3: about what you're doing at the end of the day

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Speaker 3: will kind of get you and guide you into the

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Speaker 3: right place.

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Speaker 1: And So I was having this conversation with another designer

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Speaker 1: a few episodes ago, and we were talking about, you know,

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Speaker 1: the need for the ability of storytelling and the need

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Speaker 1: for designers to be able to tell stories, because that

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Speaker 1: could potentially be just as important as having the asset.

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Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about that from your perspective.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, just the storytelling part, like being able to have

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Speaker 3: the ability to storytell.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, communicating your idea, because it's one thing to have

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Speaker 1: a dope shoot, I imagine it's another thing to be

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Speaker 1: able to translate that dope shoot to make people other

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Speaker 1: people know that it's dope.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, No, it's true.

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Speaker 3: I mean it's kind of like like stand up comedy, right.

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Speaker 3: I'm not saying that trum make people left, but just

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Speaker 3: being able to kind of like transfer everything that you

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Speaker 3: just put into that work, whether it's a building, whether

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Speaker 3: it's a chair, whether it's a shoot, and kind of

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Speaker 3: being able to share that journey. And that's also where

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Speaker 3: that truthfulness, that honestness comes back where you're like, I

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Speaker 3: worked so hard throughout the entire process. Once I get

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Speaker 3: to that point where I'm either in front of a

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Speaker 3: bunch of people, in front of the CEO, in front

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Speaker 3: of the team, sharing the journey or sharing what I

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Speaker 3: just created or put in front of them, you know,

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Speaker 3: I don't have to fall back on made up stories

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Speaker 3: or made up.

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Speaker 2: Things like the entire journey, the entire process.

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Speaker 3: You know, I was honest, I was truthful, and then

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Speaker 3: that story is just so easy to tell.

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Speaker 2: It's like, you know, not.

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Speaker 3: Everybody's able to talk about themselves, but you know, once

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Speaker 3: you do have that little rhythm, that cadence, you're able

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Speaker 3: to kind of just go back and just grab a

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Speaker 3: few things, and that storytelling becomes extremely easy.

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Speaker 2: It's not something that you have to like you have

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Speaker 2: to make it up, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 3: It makes it much easier at the end of the

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Speaker 3: day when it comes to storytelling.

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Speaker 2: But it's definitely important though. I think lucky thing for.

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Speaker 3: Me is I study architecture in undergrad and just being

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Speaker 3: able to sit there in front of like fit the

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Speaker 3: other classmates in six six architects, you know, training trained architects,

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Speaker 3: practicing architects and your professor and being able to take

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Speaker 3: what you just did for over the past you know,

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Speaker 3: a month or so and put it in you know,

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Speaker 3: being very like vulnerable and sharing that story and that

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Speaker 3: journey with people in front of you is a it

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Speaker 3: is a hard thing to do, but it makes everything

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Speaker 3: that you did before it's super exciting. It's like it's

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Speaker 3: a feel good moment.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you've said a couple of things that picked my

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Speaker 1: interest there. And I from the middlest also from Toledo,

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Speaker 1: which is like, you know, half an hour forty five

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Speaker 1: minutes from where you're from Detroit, and I remember, I

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Speaker 1: remember growing up and designing clothes and you know, tearing

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Speaker 1: apart some genes I had with some corduroys that I

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Speaker 1: had also and putting them together and making something new

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Speaker 1: out of them. And then like the places that we

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Speaker 1: grew up, so you know, it's a lot like Detroit

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Speaker 1: and like that that isn't necessarily something that's you know, amplified,

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Speaker 1: Like there's not a lot of people trying to do

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Speaker 1: that type of work where we're from. And so I'm wondering, like,

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Speaker 1: what was the fuel in the tank or the encouragement

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Speaker 1: you had or the self determination you had to fight

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Speaker 1: for those ideas so that it was like me. I

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Speaker 1: stopped doing it after I was probably like twelve or

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Speaker 1: thirteen because I'm like, Okay, nobody around me does this,

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Speaker 1: Like this is not what we do right here, right,

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Speaker 1: So I wonder like, what was it about your coming

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Speaker 1: of age that helped you fight for that idea?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm the number one thing. And I always said,

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Speaker 3: it's just like Gruffy Troit. I was there until I

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Speaker 3: was nine. But that entire time I learned so much

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Speaker 3: Like I've seen I saw. I saw a lot of stuff.

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Speaker 3: So you're just like, you know, you grow up faster there.

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Speaker 3: But the entire time I was like, man, how do

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Speaker 3: I how.

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Speaker 2: I get my mom out of this?

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Speaker 3: Like you know, typically we think, you know, playing basketball,

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Speaker 3: playing football, you might do a support activity something to

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Speaker 3: get that money because it only makes sense, or you

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Speaker 3: can go you know, a totally different route. But the

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Speaker 3: entire time I can think if I was like, I

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Speaker 3: want to build her a house.

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Speaker 2: If I build our.

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Speaker 3: House, we can get out of where we're at right now.

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Speaker 3: So in my head, that's that's what I had installed,

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Speaker 3: like building her house. I didn't know what it was

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Speaker 3: or how to do it exactly, but I knew I

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Speaker 3: loved the idea of it. You know, I love music,

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Speaker 3: I love the buildings that are around me. I love

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Speaker 3: shoes and all these things that that were Detroit. And

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Speaker 3: then when I finally left Detroit and got to South Carolina,

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Speaker 3: that's when I i I kind of learned about architecture

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Speaker 3: and I was like, Oh, that was my That's what

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Speaker 3: I want to do.

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Speaker 2: That's where I want to be. Become an architect.

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Speaker 3: And so that was kind of like the guideline of

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Speaker 3: seeing the things around me and then finally understanding what

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Speaker 3: that goal was or what I was looking to become

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Speaker 3: to then achieve the things that I saw or the

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Speaker 3: things that I was thinking about. So it started off

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Speaker 3: as a kid and just wanted to, you know, literally

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Speaker 3: just build my mama house. And then the love of

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Speaker 3: like music, architecture, footwear, sports somehow got me to that

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Speaker 3: point of like, oh, I want to do architecture. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So what's interesting to me is that you there's a

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Speaker 1: lot of us that grow up, you know, I want

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Speaker 1: to build my MoMA house or I want to buy

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Speaker 1: you know, my grandma car I want to you know,

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Speaker 1: do I want to do something for somebody that I love?

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Speaker 1: And part of the disconnect we have, like even in tech,

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Speaker 1: it's like so many of us are consumers of the

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Speaker 1: applications and software that we use, and not enough of

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Speaker 1: us think about, there's somebody on the other side build

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Speaker 1: this thing, right. And so, because you're so passionate about

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Speaker 1: mentorship and teaching and you know, leading along the next

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Speaker 1: generation of black designers, what's important to you or how

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Speaker 1: is it important to you to tackling the idea or

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Speaker 1: the concept of representation and awareness to know that there's

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Speaker 1: us out here doing this work so that more people

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Speaker 1: do desire to be this. I mean I was, I

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Speaker 1: was raised. I wanted Jordan's my whole life, you know,

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Speaker 1: but I never thought of I could be a Jordan designer,

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Speaker 1: you know what I mean?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean it's definitely true. I guess

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Speaker 3: like at a certain point I got I got pretty lucky,

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Speaker 3: and you know, just less because even living in Detroit,

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Speaker 3: there were CCS, you know, ten fifteen minutes from my house,

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Speaker 3: and you know at CCS that they study you know,

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Speaker 3: architecture design, footwear design, they industrial design, they do everything

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Speaker 3: there but I was only fifteen minutes a way.

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Speaker 2: And I knew I knew nothing about it.

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Speaker 3: You would think that I was across the country, but

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Speaker 3: I was just down the street. And so I didn't

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Speaker 3: have that you know, same as you like, I didn't

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Speaker 3: have that representation. I didn't have that understanding that I

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Speaker 3: could literally not walk down the street, but I could

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Speaker 3: go down the street and I could be at a

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Speaker 3: place where, you know, all those needs that I was

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Speaker 3: looking for could be like fulfilled.

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Speaker 2: It was. It wasn't until my last year, my.

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Speaker 3: Fourth year of architecture school, and I entered into like

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Speaker 3: this T shirt competition called Future Soul with Nike and

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Speaker 3: Jordan Brand, and I was just doing t shirts, just graphics.

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Speaker 3: But it was my first time doing graphics, and I

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Speaker 3: was like trialing it out. And that's where like I

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Speaker 3: kind of got that start in that representation. They flew

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Speaker 3: us out to Nike, so the contestants there was apparel

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Speaker 3: and footwear. They flew us out to Nike, got the

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Speaker 3: you know tour the campus and I got to meet

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Speaker 3: a lot of black designers.

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Speaker 2: The main person Dwayne Doctor, Dwayne.

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Speaker 3: Edwards who now runs Lewis Pencil College. You know, he

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Speaker 3: was the reason why people of color were in that space.

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Speaker 2: At that time, just for the future soul.

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Speaker 3: And that's that representation and like, that's that that little

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Speaker 3: drop that I needed at the time to.

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Speaker 2: Push me and continue like push me into the right direction.

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Speaker 3: Because with his guidance, you know, East Gott, Jason Maiden,

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Speaker 3: like those those guys, Wilson Smith, being able to finally

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Speaker 3: see that representation of black people not just in full

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Speaker 3: ward design, but just in in the corporate setting doing

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Speaker 3: creative things was.

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Speaker 2: It was just like it was eye opening, you know, architecture.

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Speaker 3: The entire time there was like maybe three or four

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Speaker 3: of us, uh that that were black, and then just

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Speaker 3: seeing that there were so many more in the professional space,

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Speaker 3: it was like, oh, well, now I got that drop

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Speaker 3: of guidance. And then their words and their you know,

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Speaker 3: their feedback was telling me, Hey, you get to this point.

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Speaker 3: You got to do the same thing we did. You know,

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Speaker 3: we built this bridge, you got to continue to build it.

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Speaker 3: You got to continue to give rise, You got to

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Speaker 3: you know, you got to do these things to help

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Speaker 3: pull other people up, just like you know, Hope, we

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Speaker 3: were pulling you up. And that's where that that's the

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Speaker 3: representation came from and that's the reason why I try

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Speaker 3: to do it as much as possible when I can.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. So I was talking with a friend of mine,

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Speaker 1: Darryl Brown, who you might know was me midlest Kids

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Speaker 1: and Darryl Brown Clothing company was at one point Kanye's

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Speaker 1: he was one of the stylists for Kanye. And we

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Speaker 1: were talking about his aesthetic and if you know Darryl

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Speaker 1: or even his line, it's very work where it's work

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Speaker 1: where effectively crossed the board because he used to work

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Speaker 1: on the train, you know, the railroad, and we're both

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Speaker 1: from Toledo, and we were talking about this is because

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Speaker 1: I'm interested in your design aesthetic and how much of

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Speaker 1: your upbringing in the Midwest and Detroit may speak to it.

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Speaker 1: Like some other designers might have something in their childhood

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Speaker 1: that speaks to how all they design. So is there

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Speaker 1: anything about your upbringing in in the Midwest and Detroit

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Speaker 1: that speaks to what you put to pen and paper?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I definitely think so.

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Speaker 3: Again, going back to being a kid, just like that, architecture, music,

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Speaker 3: the design, like you think about so many different things

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Speaker 3: that that kind of pop out.

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Speaker 2: Even right now I'm wearing like Carhart my T shirt.

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Speaker 3: And not even on purpose, it's just a it's a

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Speaker 3: good feeling. So yeah, I would definitely say so at

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Speaker 3: least from my my visual aesthetics.

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Speaker 2: You know. But then when it comes to like from a.

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Speaker 3: Design perspective, I would say, so it might not always

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Speaker 3: be in what I physically create, so you know, consciously,

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Speaker 3: it might be subconsciously, but even in the way that

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Speaker 3: I like appreciate certain It's like if you if you

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Speaker 3: think about like the tall brick do places that that

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Speaker 3: we have in the Midwest. You know, the way that

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Speaker 3: we dress is a little bit different, the way we

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Speaker 3: speak is different. So there's there's a lot of different

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Speaker 3: things that that pop up. And it might not be

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Speaker 3: as I'm not I might not be like very cautious

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Speaker 3: of like yeah.

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Speaker 2: Me doing it. It might just be like you know,

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Speaker 2: muscle memory not even noticing it.

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Speaker 1: M I was reading an interview where you talked about

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Speaker 1: before you got too Easy, and you said this in

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Speaker 1: the in the interview said when I went into the interview,

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Speaker 1: I was talking to them and I was like, Hey,

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Speaker 1: I'll do this technical designer role for now, but just

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Speaker 1: so you understand, after a year, I want to be

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Speaker 1: a footwear designer. I already had the tools and the knowledge.

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Speaker 1: So after a year being a technical designer, I was

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Speaker 1: a footwear designer that easy and so or Adidas maybe

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Speaker 1: even before you say, I'm not sure which was it

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Speaker 1: Adidas or Easy?

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Speaker 2: Specifically it was easy in Adidas, so it was like

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Speaker 2: it was a Dida's easy, gotcha?

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Speaker 1: Gotcha? And so I wonder what gave you the confidence

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Speaker 1: to speak up in that way, like so many of

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Speaker 1: us just want the opportunity to get into something that

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Speaker 1: could be special. But you were effectively putting it like yo,

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Speaker 1: I want, this is what I want, and that could

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Speaker 1: even put you at risk of not getting it, but

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Speaker 1: you were you had the confidence. And what I wonder

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Speaker 1: what gave you that?

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Speaker 2: Uh Man? Just I just had to do it.

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Speaker 3: To be honest, I think it's just kind of my personality.

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Speaker 3: It's like at the end of the day, like you

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Speaker 3: have nothing to lose. Grandpa told me the same thing, like,

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Speaker 3: you know, you asked for what you want, all they

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Speaker 3: can say is no, and it doesn't know it really

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Speaker 3: hurts you, and I you know, I didn't.

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Speaker 2: I didn't see anything wrong with what I was saying.

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Speaker 3: Also, I just came from Skills, which was in Carlsbad

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Speaker 3: and I was a product designer there.

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Speaker 2: So for me, I was taking a step back.

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Speaker 3: I was about to be a senior designer doing sports

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Speaker 3: performance like training equipment and stuff.

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Speaker 2: Like that, but it was gonna be a step down.

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Speaker 3: So I wanted them to understand like where my goals were,

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Speaker 3: so then I wouldn't I couldn't like say that it

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Speaker 3: was ever lost or it wasn't heard.

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Speaker 2: It was like you have to kind of you have to.

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Speaker 3: Speak up for yourself, represent yourself. Otherwise you know, they'll

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Speaker 3: just say, oh, well, you didn't tell me that you

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Speaker 3: wanted to do that. I didn't know, and that's a

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Speaker 3: great response for them to, you know, kind of cover

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Speaker 3: up your progress pretty much. So it was pretty That

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Speaker 3: was probably the reason why. And then also you know,

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Speaker 3: understanding that I was going to be one of the

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Speaker 3: only black people again in the space, especially for Easy.

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Speaker 3: I did the same thing at Skills, like for about

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Speaker 3: two years I was the only black person ad Skills.

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Speaker 3: So for me, I was like, you know, I was

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Speaker 3: gonna stick out anyway, so I might as well, you know,

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Speaker 3: make it understood and know, you know, before I even

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Speaker 3: started in the.

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Speaker 1: Brand Yeah, just so I'm clear when we talked about

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Speaker 1: you know, it was Adidas slash Yeasy. I'm curious on

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Speaker 1: how that relationship between Adidas and Easy was because I know,

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Speaker 1: sometimes it's okay Easy and the team can go do

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Speaker 1: whatever they want and they just showed they show up

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Speaker 1: at the end of the day and show Adidas what

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Speaker 1: they did. But is it more integrated that relationship between

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Speaker 1: that Adidas team and that Easy team.

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Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, especially footwear. Apparel was was separate at the beginning.

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Speaker 3: Apparel was like a part of Adidas as well as

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Speaker 3: Adidas Easy. But for footwear, it was pretty integrated.

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Speaker 2: Like you know, working with.

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Speaker 3: People like Steven Smith and and the team over over

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Speaker 3: at Easy, it was we were all one.

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Speaker 2: So it was a it was a group that we

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Speaker 2: were working together every single day. So yeah, it was

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Speaker 2: It wasn't like I was.

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Speaker 3: Working in the Adida's office. I was working in the

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Speaker 3: in the Calabasas Easy office with the team. So actually

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Speaker 3: it felt like I wasn't even Adidas. I would go

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Speaker 3: I would go to Portland to visit the campus and

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Speaker 3: stuff like that, and you felt like you were still

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Speaker 3: just Easy. You didn't really feel like you were a Beata.

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Speaker 3: So it was it was interesting. Nobody made it that way.

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Speaker 3: It was just kind of how it was set.

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Speaker 2: Up, you know.

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Speaker 1: And so further on the question about your transitioning to

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Speaker 1: a role that I'll say this was beneath you in

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Speaker 1: in your career trajectory, How did it make sense for you?

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Speaker 1: What was the thesis, what was the thought process you

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Speaker 1: went through to say, you know what, taking this step

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Speaker 1: back in my career makes sense.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean the biggest thing I wanted to get

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Speaker 2: in full wear.

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Speaker 3: My friend Sarah, Sarah Sabino, she she was a full

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Speaker 3: ward designer on the team, and she called me and

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Speaker 3: she just said, hey, you still.

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Speaker 2: Want to get in full wear? And I was. I

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Speaker 2: was four years into my time at Skills.

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Speaker 3: And I was just like, it was like a decent trajectory.

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Speaker 3: I have products out and I had patents already already out,

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Speaker 3: and on paper it looked like a step back, but

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Speaker 3: in reality, it was like, I want to get into

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Speaker 3: full wear, so I'll take this, this chance and this

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Speaker 3: opportunity to also kind of come in as like a

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Speaker 3: childlike mindset where I can just learn and learn without

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Speaker 3: trying to sit there and be like, oh, already you know,

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Speaker 3: you know, big up my chest and be like already

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Speaker 3: know what I'm doing, Like I'm good.

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Speaker 2: I was about to be a senior blah blah blah.

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Speaker 2: I didn't have to do that.

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Speaker 3: I could just come in there and be very open

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Speaker 3: to accepting knowledge and understanding without kind of having the

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Speaker 3: fault of being like thrown in as a fullward designer

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Speaker 3: and then someone telling me like, hey, this guy's not

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Speaker 3: working out.

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Speaker 2: So it was it was kind of a blessing.

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Speaker 3: Even on paper that it might look step backwards, it

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Speaker 3: felt like a major like hop leap forward for.

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Speaker 1: The people who don't myself included, understand the whole difference

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Speaker 1: between you know, a technical designer versus a junior designer

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Speaker 1: versus as a design director or a senior director senior designer.

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Speaker 1: Can you explain the differences between those particular roles in

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Speaker 1: a in the house.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it all depends on the profession and the product

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Speaker 3: that's being made. But typically, like you can see it,

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Speaker 3: you know, very similar technical designer, Like you know, you

365
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Speaker 3: come in there, you're kind of doing blueprints and.

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Speaker 2: Working on certain certain things.

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Speaker 3: And when I say blueprints is just you know, kind

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Speaker 3: of doing like the very technical drawings to then get

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Speaker 3: it communicated with the factory in China or with the

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Speaker 3: team in general. So whether that's a tooling or an

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Speaker 3: upper shell tech pattern, you're kind of doing that baseline.

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Speaker 3: So you're doing a little bit less of design and

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Speaker 3: conceptual you know, conceptualizing, and you're taking receiving those concepts

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Speaker 3: and trying to make them, you know, turn them into reality.

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Speaker 3: When it comes to the junior designer, you're you know,

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Speaker 3: you can kind of be doing both. You can be

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Speaker 3: doing the technical work and you can also be doing

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Speaker 3: a little you know, concepting. They might have you doing laces,

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Speaker 3: they might do outshold design. Just it's a few different

380
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Speaker 3: things like that. And then when you jump up to

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Speaker 3: like a forward designer, then you take on more projects

382
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Speaker 3: and you should be walking it from the content phase,

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Speaker 3: so like the sketch phase all the way through production.

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Speaker 2: So they bounced around a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah. And so when you think about there's

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Speaker 1: so many easy issues particularly that have pushed the boundary

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Speaker 1: of what we think about. When you're thinking about boots

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Speaker 1: or sneakers, they don't look like any other sneakers in

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Speaker 1: the market, or they didn't before everybody else started to

390
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Speaker 1: copy the style, I should say, when you think about that,

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Speaker 1: and you also think about driving market demand, how do

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Speaker 1: you balance creating something that doesn't look like anything else

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Speaker 1: and think about, Okay, this thing has to sell also

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Speaker 1: to be successful.

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Speaker 3: Yes, that's a super import or and that's a super

396
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Speaker 3: important part of the whole journey. And you know, honestly,

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Speaker 3: yeay is the reason why he's pushed so hard. So

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Speaker 3: you know, him being able to take that and then

399
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Speaker 3: turn it into a marketable product. You know, product is

400
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Speaker 3: a little bit different than you know, you're putting it

401
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Speaker 3: behind someone else. And we can kind of see that

402
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Speaker 3: when it comes to you know, other people that are

403
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Speaker 3: part of like Adidas or other like you know, celebrities,

404
00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:33,280
Speaker 3: how different their life trajectory were was. You know, ya

405
00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:34,960
Speaker 3: could put on a sock or you could put on

406
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Speaker 3: a shoe with a bunch of layers and people would

407
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Speaker 3: be like, oh, that's that's quality versus you know someone

408
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Speaker 3: else who might not actually have that that reach and

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Speaker 3: that convincing like manner.

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Speaker 2: So it was a little bit easier on our behalf.

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Speaker 3: But when it came to like pushing the boundaries of design,

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Speaker 3: it was very like holistic between himself and the design team,

413
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Speaker 3: like him really being specific of what he wants in

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Speaker 3: very detailed and then us making sure that we could

415
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Speaker 3: like be very like intricate in how we created and

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Speaker 3: made something to the liking of what he was looking for.

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Speaker 1: I want you to speak a little bit more on

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Speaker 1: that because I've heard stories about like, you know, he

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Speaker 1: actually does draw also, and he actually, you know, had

420
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Speaker 1: comes to the office with concepts. And I'm sure you've

421
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Speaker 1: worked with people who just say I want this thing,

422
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Speaker 1: go design it also and then't have a concept. So

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Speaker 1: talk to me about the different relationship and different working

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Speaker 1: types there is when you have somebody who actually has

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Speaker 1: some skill and they come to the office with jawings

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Speaker 1: versus just being given a task.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, at the end of the day, like a lot

428
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Speaker 3: of people do just take what's given to them when

429
00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:50,680
Speaker 3: it comes from a design perspective, or they might be

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Speaker 3: a little bit nicer, you know. I've heard stories about

431
00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,200
Speaker 3: Pharrel where he's a little bit you know, as we

432
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Speaker 3: can all see that he has like a very like

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Speaker 3: caring soul. So when it comes to sharing you know,

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Speaker 3: footwear and designs with him, it can be much different than.

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Speaker 2: When it comes to the a where he's like, you know,

436
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Speaker 2: you come in and you.

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Speaker 3: Show him something and he's liking it, but he has

438
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Speaker 3: a specific eye what he wants, so he might take

439
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,320
Speaker 3: it and sharp, be it updated, or you know, I

440
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 3: think his mind works a lot different than a lot

441
00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 3: of people's, where he has like this rolodex of designs

442
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,560
Speaker 3: and footwear and names in his head and he can

443
00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 3: like kind of call out to a specific shoe or

444
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,399
Speaker 3: a specific area with shoe and just be like, hey,

445
00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,920
Speaker 3: can we go get this and then translate it into

446
00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,560
Speaker 3: like how we would actually put it through our lens.

447
00:22:43,880 --> 00:22:47,080
Speaker 3: So it is much different working with you know, certain

448
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:49,520
Speaker 3: people like you might best way athlete.

449
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,560
Speaker 2: You might take the shoe and hand it.

450
00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 3: Directly to him, like I did that at Skills where

451
00:22:55,040 --> 00:22:57,800
Speaker 3: we worked on a product and you know, it's it's

452
00:22:57,920 --> 00:23:01,720
Speaker 3: less you know, apparel footwear focused. It was more like,

453
00:23:01,840 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 3: you know, something that they were using to make themselves

454
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 3: play better, whether it's football or basketball, and so a

455
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,080
Speaker 3: lot of times they didn't have the the burbage to

456
00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 3: be like giving great detailed feedback. They might be like, yeah,

457
00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,639
Speaker 3: that's cool and that's it, where they might just accept

458
00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,200
Speaker 3: the product as this and have no feedback. But I

459
00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:23,120
Speaker 3: think with Yay, it's more so the sense where he's

460
00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 3: very just very detailed, very like that detail orient mindset

461
00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 3: that he has is super specific and it really does

462
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:33,640
Speaker 3: push the groundary.

463
00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,440
Speaker 2: So you can like put up one hundred different.

464
00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,240
Speaker 3: Designs and only two might be the one that we

465
00:23:40,359 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 3: go forward with and in you know, concept out, prototype out,

466
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 3: sample out, and it's just a different way of working

467
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,320
Speaker 3: and that that goes through all across his products, whether

468
00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:56,639
Speaker 3: it's footwear, apparel, architecture, you know, you name it.

469
00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,080
Speaker 1: So talk to me so I want to understand the

470
00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:03,879
Speaker 1: differences in these working relationships. I was interviewing Jeff Staple

471
00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:06,280
Speaker 1: for this podcast also and he was talking about at

472
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 1: his level or his the way his business is designed.

473
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:14,000
Speaker 1: There's a bunch of designers there, obviously, but there's designs

474
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:18,159
Speaker 1: that he had nothing to do with one and some

475
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,440
Speaker 1: he's and some he said he probably wouldn't have even

476
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,879
Speaker 1: put up. He like he wouldn't even wear that, But

477
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,600
Speaker 1: he understands where he's at, like this is what you know,

478
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:29,639
Speaker 1: I guess the market is the many I'm I'm I'm

479
00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,080
Speaker 1: pairphasing that part, but talk to me about like the

480
00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:36,440
Speaker 1: different ways these fashion houses work and these labels work

481
00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 1: where you can have somebody like a Jeff Staple who's

482
00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,720
Speaker 1: got you know, these things out in the marketplace that

483
00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 1: he has ain't nothing to do with and be you know,

484
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't wear it himself because it doesn't sound like

485
00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:49,920
Speaker 1: easy would ever work that way?

486
00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:59,800
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's tough. Like outside of work with you,

487
00:25:00,240 --> 00:25:03,520
Speaker 3: I think the only thing that that I could think

488
00:25:03,560 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 3: of that would be similar to it just goes back

489
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:10,720
Speaker 3: to you know, I guess what Jeff said, where you

490
00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,200
Speaker 3: have this idea of what you want and then if

491
00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:18,240
Speaker 3: he goes into you know, Adidas or Nike whatever, and

492
00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:20,920
Speaker 3: he's putting up his idea of what he what he's

493
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 3: looking for, just meet ten filters. You know, that means

494
00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 3: ten designers creating something for him and depending on you know,

495
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:34,320
Speaker 3: the brand, the business unit, they might the marketing people

496
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,960
Speaker 3: might see a direction for the design. The way we

497
00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,520
Speaker 3: worked was a little bit different because typically the marketing

498
00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 3: people they give you like a brief, like.

499
00:25:44,280 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 2: Here's the direction of what we want for us.

500
00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:50,240
Speaker 3: It was different, like he would give us the brief,

501
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:53,679
Speaker 3: not not a paper, but just like a brief like hey,

502
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 3: I want a waterproof bood that could you know, that

503
00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,440
Speaker 3: could help me fly. So you started figuring not like,

504
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 3: this is the idea of what he wants. Now, let's

505
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,560
Speaker 3: put it through the filter of how are many designers

506
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 3: we have, and then, you know, make sure we have

507
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,320
Speaker 3: an outcome of what he's looking for. I guess for

508
00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:15,520
Speaker 3: Jeff's you know, the way that Jeff was putting it,

509
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,840
Speaker 3: it is a little bit different. It's just a different filter, right,

510
00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,760
Speaker 3: Like that's the that's the biggest difference when it comes

511
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 3: to Easy versus any other business unit or brand. You

512
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,679
Speaker 3: just have a different filter or different people that are

513
00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 3: creating the filter. And then I'll putting the products.

514
00:26:32,880 --> 00:26:35,280
Speaker 1: I want to talk about Joys shed a little bit first,

515
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,920
Speaker 1: if you can introduce us to what you're working on

516
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:40,359
Speaker 1: with Joys, I'm gonna give it to you to just

517
00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,000
Speaker 1: introduce it first. Then I have some questions.

518
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:47,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, So Joycechd started off with me just wanting to

519
00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:48,040
Speaker 3: have something to my own.

520
00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:50,280
Speaker 2: I think it's important.

521
00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 3: Like we spend so much time giving our life, designed

522
00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,080
Speaker 3: mind and our creations to a brand and you know,

523
00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:59,480
Speaker 3: to different people, and we have nothing to like have

524
00:26:59,720 --> 00:27:02,760
Speaker 3: for ourselves, right, we have nothing that we built ourselves

525
00:27:02,840 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 3: and can say that it's like one hundred percent ours.

526
00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:07,960
Speaker 3: So you know, I was thinking, like what could I

527
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,480
Speaker 3: create that would be you know, ultimately myself, what would

528
00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:13,920
Speaker 3: be me? And so I thought it was like basketball shorts.

529
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:16,560
Speaker 3: I love basketball. I play it as much as possible.

530
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,800
Speaker 3: I played growing up as a kid, and you know,

531
00:27:19,920 --> 00:27:21,760
Speaker 3: growing up, I would just buy if I have money,

532
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:23,480
Speaker 3: I would just buy every single short.

533
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:25,199
Speaker 2: I go go on e Bay and get the.

534
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:29,200
Speaker 3: Authentic or the replicas of u NC or Detroit Pistons,

535
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:31,920
Speaker 3: whatever whatever I could find, just something to be you know,

536
00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 3: tangible and just see it. And I probably I mean,

537
00:27:35,160 --> 00:27:37,320
Speaker 3: I'm not gonna lie. I probably have like a or

538
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 3: I've had over like two hundred pairs of different basketball shorts,

539
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:44,680
Speaker 3: different brands, and so I was like, what can I

540
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,560
Speaker 3: do that's gonna be real to myself? And that's where

541
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,600
Speaker 3: it came with just the idea of having basketball shorts.

542
00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,280
Speaker 3: The naming was super hard, right because you know, I

543
00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 3: was born in Detroit and left there when I was nine,

544
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,480
Speaker 3: got to South Carolina. You know, it was there for

545
00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:00,440
Speaker 3: nine years, you know, until I got to your high

546
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:01,600
Speaker 3: school eighteen.

547
00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:04,440
Speaker 2: And you know, going from.

548
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,720
Speaker 3: Detroit to South Carolina, everybody'd be like, yo, where are

549
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:08,520
Speaker 3: you from? And I'd be like, oh, Detroit. So every

550
00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:12,480
Speaker 3: single time, for about you know, five years, somewhere actually

551
00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:14,560
Speaker 3: where I'm from, and I would say Detroit because I've

552
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 3: only been in South Carolina for you know, short of

553
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:19,560
Speaker 3: my time. But then when I went to college, that's

554
00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:22,479
Speaker 3: where I started seeing people. I started getting confused myself.

555
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:23,480
Speaker 3: Where am I from?

556
00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:29,679
Speaker 2: Oh I Detroit, but I just came from South Carolina.

557
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:31,119
Speaker 2: I don't know what to really tell you.

558
00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,080
Speaker 3: So anytime I would say that, you know, the South

559
00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:37,360
Speaker 3: Carolina people be like, yo, I ain't gonna leave us out.

560
00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 3: So I had to try to find a way to

561
00:28:40,480 --> 00:28:44,240
Speaker 3: put the two together. And what I did was I

562
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 3: wanted to just represent both.

563
00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:47,040
Speaker 2: At the same time.

564
00:28:47,640 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 3: And so I grew up on joy Jeord Road in Mansfield,

565
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,120
Speaker 3: west side of Detroit. And when I got to South Carolina,

566
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,040
Speaker 3: our first house was on Holly Shit Road.

567
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:00,480
Speaker 2: So I was like, how do I how do I

568
00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:01,280
Speaker 2: make this right?

569
00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 3: So I took joy Joy Road to Holly Shd to

570
00:29:05,680 --> 00:29:09,280
Speaker 3: the first part of that joy Shed put them together

571
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:10,600
Speaker 3: and it.

572
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 2: Just sounded right.

573
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:13,320
Speaker 3: It clicked for a little bit, and I was like, Okay,

574
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 3: I can make this work, and That's how it was born,

575
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:20,480
Speaker 3: just from just from the idea, at least the naming

576
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:24,560
Speaker 3: part of it. It's like, where's my d NA? You know,

577
00:29:24,760 --> 00:29:27,480
Speaker 3: where the two places that influenced me the most? And

578
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 3: how can I represent that through a product or you know,

579
00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 3: through a look? And yeah, that's that's where it all

580
00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:35,880
Speaker 3: came from.

581
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:40,240
Speaker 1: How do you go about rapping where you're from in

582
00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:43,120
Speaker 1: a way that can translate successfully to people who have

583
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 1: no affinity towards you know, joy Road and how shed like,

584
00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:52,000
Speaker 1: how do you how do you do that? What does

585
00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:53,760
Speaker 1: it matter that they even know what it means?

586
00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:59,360
Speaker 3: I think what what what has worked or what I

587
00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,719
Speaker 3: feel that worked is people being again being honest and truthful,

588
00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 3: truthful with themselves and then that hopefully you know, comes

589
00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 3: across the right way to other people. Right, so if

590
00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 3: you can like show your your honest self and be

591
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 3: truthful to yourself, like you know, the people who Detroy,

592
00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 3: the people from Irmo, South Carolina, you know obviously right

593
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 3: off rip, they'll love it just because of the naming,

594
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:28,280
Speaker 3: just because of like, you know, who I am. But

595
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 3: when it comes to other people, that's when the design

596
00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,320
Speaker 3: pustion comes in. I think people will love the honest

597
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 3: truth about you know, why you create the brand and

598
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,840
Speaker 3: what you're trying to do with it, and then also

599
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 3: the products will then speak for yourself, so you know,

600
00:30:43,080 --> 00:30:44,880
Speaker 3: that's why it took so long to get to where

601
00:30:44,880 --> 00:30:47,800
Speaker 3: it's at right now. And and as simple and simplistic

602
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,480
Speaker 3: and clean as it looks. Again, I think that's where

603
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:55,200
Speaker 3: that detroyed I've comes from, that that very simplistic look

604
00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:59,080
Speaker 3: and not being like too loud, but also being very

605
00:31:01,360 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 3: you know, very like you're you know yourself, that Midwest

606
00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 3: like you're not We're not very I don't feel that

607
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,240
Speaker 3: we're very loud, but we do like we do know ourselves,

608
00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:14,440
Speaker 3: and you kind of like, uh, there's like a preparation

609
00:31:14,600 --> 00:31:17,760
Speaker 3: of respect in the way you carry yourself as well.

610
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:20,160
Speaker 2: So that's kind of how I see the brand.

611
00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,960
Speaker 1: You're very passionate as we discussed about mentoring the next

612
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,520
Speaker 1: generation of black designers. What piques your interest in who

613
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:31,960
Speaker 1: in selecting who you're going to work with. I mean,

614
00:31:32,000 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 1: I can imagine you get a lot of emails, a

615
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:36,840
Speaker 1: lot of d ms or you know, whatever is people

616
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:38,880
Speaker 1: reach out. You know, I want to be I would

617
00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 1: work for free, I would do whatever just to be around, Like,

618
00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,520
Speaker 1: how do you what gets you excited about somebody?

619
00:31:48,440 --> 00:31:52,680
Speaker 3: I think the consistency, right, A lot of people, and

620
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:55,120
Speaker 3: you're right, like definitely get a lot of d ms

621
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:57,720
Speaker 3: or a lot of emails and I try, I try

622
00:31:57,800 --> 00:32:00,880
Speaker 3: my best to respond to them all and it's not easy,

623
00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:03,560
Speaker 3: Like and I'm not I'm not even I don't think

624
00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 3: I'm a big time at all.

625
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 2: I'm just like a small whatever person. I'm just chilling.

626
00:32:07,800 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 3: And it's tough still, so I can't imagine being you know,

627
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:16,480
Speaker 3: even more you know, face forward to the public.

628
00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 2: But I think the biggest thing is someone being very consistent.

629
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,880
Speaker 3: And one thing I've learned from having mentors myself is

630
00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:28,560
Speaker 3: once I do get that person having a conversation, whether

631
00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 3: it's the first or second, once that person shows that

632
00:32:32,240 --> 00:32:35,440
Speaker 3: they can kind of like be very like strategic and

633
00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 3: very on top of the things that I do share

634
00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,840
Speaker 3: with them, that really helps. Like with one of my mentors,

635
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:47,040
Speaker 3: Jason Maiden, like anytime that we have a conversation and

636
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:50,600
Speaker 3: anytime that he shares his knowledge with me and then

637
00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:53,080
Speaker 3: almost gives me like a task, even if he doesn't

638
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:55,600
Speaker 3: say as a task, I take it as a task, right,

639
00:32:56,040 --> 00:32:58,959
Speaker 3: just from playing sports I try my best to make

640
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,240
Speaker 3: sure that I come back to them with results, just

641
00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:04,840
Speaker 3: so I can say, like, hey, I didn't take what

642
00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:07,720
Speaker 3: you just said and the time you gave me for granted,

643
00:33:08,280 --> 00:33:10,560
Speaker 3: I made sure that I like went through, I built

644
00:33:10,560 --> 00:33:11,880
Speaker 3: what you said, and I brought it back to you

645
00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:12,800
Speaker 3: so I can show it to you.

646
00:33:14,040 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 2: So that consistency and that person.

647
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:20,200
Speaker 3: Being under understanding of like the timing and the knowledge

648
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,960
Speaker 3: share and then appreciating it and then you know, finding

649
00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 3: a way to either share it back with me or

650
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:28,440
Speaker 3: you know, give it to the next person. That's what

651
00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:31,400
Speaker 3: really really shows me that that person cares, and it's

652
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:34,240
Speaker 3: you know, it feels good once you see them doing

653
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:34,640
Speaker 3: that too.

654
00:33:34,880 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 2: So it's the best part about it when I.

655
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:42,160
Speaker 1: Think about the industries that are being democratized in so

656
00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:44,680
Speaker 1: many ways. If I want to drive for a living,

657
00:33:44,720 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 1: I don't have to go work for a limo company

658
00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: or a bus company. I can legit, just jump on

659
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:50,720
Speaker 1: uper and do it myself. If I want to be

660
00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,800
Speaker 1: a musician, I don't have to get on death Row

661
00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:56,960
Speaker 1: or deaf Jam or whatever you know or good music.

662
00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:00,360
Speaker 1: I can put out my music by myself. From a

663
00:34:00,520 --> 00:34:06,400
Speaker 1: fashion perspective, where's the opportunity for designers to find success

664
00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:08,640
Speaker 1: without you know, getting hired by a house.

665
00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,879
Speaker 3: You know, honestly, a lot of people have been doing

666
00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:19,719
Speaker 3: amazing jobs on Instagram and social media, which is it's

667
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,279
Speaker 3: a lot different, right, Like they've been able to people

668
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,400
Speaker 3: have been able to have their almost resume from creating

669
00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:30,360
Speaker 3: things online. Now that doesn't always turn into a product

670
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:33,319
Speaker 3: or it turns into the opportunities, but I have seen

671
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:35,239
Speaker 3: it work for a lot of people where you know,

672
00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:37,400
Speaker 3: some you might see somebody on Instagram and be like, hey,

673
00:34:37,480 --> 00:34:40,359
Speaker 3: like let's go get them and have a conversation.

674
00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,760
Speaker 2: See what else they can do. Then see you know how.

675
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,839
Speaker 3: They work and how their mind. You know how their

676
00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:49,800
Speaker 3: mind works. So I don't think that they know anyone

677
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 3: needs to jump, you know to a Nike or an Adidas.

678
00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:55,120
Speaker 3: I think it's a great opportunity for people that want

679
00:34:55,160 --> 00:34:59,040
Speaker 3: to do that, but you know, nowadays we haven't and

680
00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:01,680
Speaker 3: I don't want to see easier route, but you know,

681
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:04,880
Speaker 3: multiple routes. It's not just like you know, Nike or

682
00:35:04,920 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 3: Adidas or a Reebok. You don't have to go down

683
00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:09,880
Speaker 3: those paths. There's other ways around it, Like you know,

684
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:15,080
Speaker 3: creating your own brand not you know, it's tough. It's tough,

685
00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:18,040
Speaker 3: but it's an opportunity that you kind of create for

686
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:20,799
Speaker 3: yourself and then once you get to that point, people

687
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:22,120
Speaker 3: hopefully will see it.

688
00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:23,000
Speaker 2: Uh.

689
00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:26,399
Speaker 3: And then also what's amazing now is people are able

690
00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:29,279
Speaker 3: to do like three D printing. You know, I would

691
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:32,120
Speaker 3: speak to AI, but I'd rather jump to three three

692
00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:37,280
Speaker 3: D printing because we've seen it become you know, something

693
00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:41,960
Speaker 3: major like Zellerfeld, you know, creating three D and giving

694
00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:45,000
Speaker 3: designers the opportunity to put their brand or you know,

695
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,880
Speaker 3: put their ideas out there into a physical form, because

696
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:54,600
Speaker 3: it's not always easy to create a product or even

697
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:57,320
Speaker 3: especially not a shoot. A shoe takes mold costs, it

698
00:35:57,360 --> 00:36:01,840
Speaker 3: takes upper costs, you know, and doing three D printing

699
00:36:01,960 --> 00:36:04,640
Speaker 3: it also costs, but the upfront it's not as much

700
00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:06,239
Speaker 3: as like creating you know, a.

701
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:09,759
Speaker 2: Person's own shoes. So again, I think you're right. You

702
00:36:09,800 --> 00:36:11,839
Speaker 2: don't have to go through like a house or through

703
00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:14,880
Speaker 2: a brand. You can always find other ways, and I.

704
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,399
Speaker 3: Think those ways are definitely being opened up, like three

705
00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:21,560
Speaker 3: D printing, even you know AI conceptualizing and sharing it

706
00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:25,200
Speaker 3: on Instagram or TikTok. There's just so many new ways

707
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 3: of finding finding your voice and kind of being able

708
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:29,080
Speaker 3: to share with other people.

709
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 1: Two more things I wanted to get to before I

710
00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:35,160
Speaker 1: let you go. One. I just thought this was super interesting.

711
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:38,160
Speaker 1: I was thinking about this that hip hop has had

712
00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:41,359
Speaker 1: an undeniable impact on fashion. I think we would all

713
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 1: agree with that. And now you have afrobeats, which is,

714
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,759
Speaker 1: you know, top of the charts, you know a lot

715
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:50,719
Speaker 1: of music. I was reading this tweet by a little

716
00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: duval the other day. You talk about you don't have

717
00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 1: the afrobeats take over because you know, you go to

718
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:58,279
Speaker 1: the club now all they playing is afrobeats, And I

719
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,640
Speaker 1: wonder what you think that impact may have on fashion

720
00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,120
Speaker 1: just just afrobeats in general, the culture of African the

721
00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:10,799
Speaker 1: African culture number one, but afrobeats more specifically. Yeah, I mean.

722
00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:15,480
Speaker 3: Again, we've had we've had an impact on America, on

723
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:18,960
Speaker 3: the world, ourselves, just being black people in general. Like

724
00:37:19,600 --> 00:37:22,680
Speaker 3: you know, they put us on marketing campaigns, you know,

725
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,600
Speaker 3: they don't We're not always behind the scenes creating the

726
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 3: product or creating the guidelines of the marketing plan, et cetera.

727
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:33,800
Speaker 3: But you know, we are the reason why you know,

728
00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:37,920
Speaker 3: fashion apparel. But where all these things are in the

729
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:42,759
Speaker 3: space that it's in today now add on afrobeats or

730
00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,920
Speaker 3: you know, the kind of of Africa it's just gonna

731
00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:51,160
Speaker 3: make The takeover is gonna be very interesting, just because

732
00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,120
Speaker 3: you know a lot of us, even you know, being

733
00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,520
Speaker 3: African black, you know, black Americans, we have the ability

734
00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:02,920
Speaker 3: to sit, you know, see our history here, not always right.

735
00:38:03,040 --> 00:38:04,800
Speaker 3: We don't see it in our books, we don't always

736
00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:08,120
Speaker 3: get to see it in our on TV unless it's

737
00:38:08,160 --> 00:38:08,920
Speaker 3: in a negative light.

738
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:13,760
Speaker 2: But to be able to kind of have that connection

739
00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:14,360
Speaker 2: back to.

740
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:18,560
Speaker 3: Africa and just being able to open up the doors,

741
00:38:20,400 --> 00:38:23,120
Speaker 3: it's going to be very exciting and I and I

742
00:38:23,200 --> 00:38:26,200
Speaker 3: don't and I think that it's going to be a

743
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:30,880
Speaker 3: lot different than people might think, whether it's like us

744
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:33,080
Speaker 3: going being able to go back to Africa and have

745
00:38:33,239 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 3: an experience in that experience really challenging what we do

746
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:40,000
Speaker 3: and how we see things today and also how people

747
00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,279
Speaker 3: see Africa. You know, the way that it's displayed in

748
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,560
Speaker 3: America isn't you know, it isn't always in the best light.

749
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,359
Speaker 3: But you know, they can't put us, they can't hold

750
00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:51,960
Speaker 3: us in the dark anymore when it comes to you know,

751
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:55,360
Speaker 3: how we travel there, how we communicate with our with

752
00:38:55,480 --> 00:38:56,200
Speaker 3: our own people.

753
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:57,200
Speaker 2: Uh there.

754
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:00,680
Speaker 3: So I think that it's going to make a big difference,

755
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 3: and just in apparel, like not just in a bit

756
00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,000
Speaker 3: like a visual sense, Like visually we'll be able to

757
00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:08,480
Speaker 3: see it in the way that people wear their clothing

758
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,200
Speaker 3: or their garments, the footwear that might come from it.

759
00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:16,160
Speaker 3: But also I think mentally that's where the big change

760
00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:18,560
Speaker 3: will be, not just for you know, black.

761
00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:21,360
Speaker 2: Americans, but for America, Europe, et cetera.

762
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:26,600
Speaker 3: Like how influential Africa is not just in fashion but

763
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:31,480
Speaker 3: in everything else that you know, resources, real resources, not

764
00:39:31,680 --> 00:39:37,360
Speaker 3: like paper that has been turned into currency. So I

765
00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:40,319
Speaker 3: know that was long winded, but just my mind started

766
00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,000
Speaker 3: erasing when she said that, I didn't know how to

767
00:39:42,040 --> 00:39:42,840
Speaker 3: answer that question.

768
00:39:46,040 --> 00:39:49,520
Speaker 1: It was good, though, it was really good. Lastly, I

769
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: was listening to a previous interview were you talking about,

770
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:56,279
Speaker 1: you know, not effectively creating in a vacuum, And you

771
00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:58,879
Speaker 1: talked about you know, design inspiration and where you find

772
00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,080
Speaker 1: inspiration and you said the best place to find it

773
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:06,000
Speaker 1: from your perspective was in nature and like literally go

774
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:09,240
Speaker 1: outside and be inspired by what you see, the trees,

775
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:13,680
Speaker 1: the air, the whatever. And I was I immediately thought

776
00:40:13,719 --> 00:40:15,719
Speaker 1: about Michael Jordan because I grew up as a big,

777
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:19,840
Speaker 1: humongous Michael Jordan fan. I remember almost every sneaker in

778
00:40:20,000 --> 00:40:24,040
Speaker 1: his line was designed after some sort of vehicle like Corvette.

779
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,960
Speaker 1: And I want you to talk about two things in closing,

780
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:34,680
Speaker 1: and what elements in the shapes of your work? If

781
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,800
Speaker 1: you look at your resume, what elements in nature do

782
00:40:37,920 --> 00:40:41,759
Speaker 1: you most frequently find inspiration from? Because if I think

783
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,600
Speaker 1: about it, easy, I'm thinking it probably like leaves probably

784
00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:47,000
Speaker 1: if I'm thinking about nature. So I'm gonna let you

785
00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:48,920
Speaker 1: answer that, and then I want I also want you

786
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:55,560
Speaker 1: to talk about the idea or concept of both problems

787
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,840
Speaker 1: being all around you therefore opportunities being all around you.

788
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, so when it comes to the inspiration

789
00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 3: that that I take and try to like implement in

790
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,440
Speaker 3: my design process or just in design general. Uh, you know,

791
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,000
Speaker 3: I think that the closest thing to us as humans

792
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:20,879
Speaker 3: are you know, other animals, right, so just being able

793
00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:23,520
Speaker 3: to see like how they live their lives and how

794
00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:25,759
Speaker 3: they work. Now, I'm not saying I'm going out and

795
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:29,080
Speaker 3: like messing around with rattlesnakes or anything like that, but

796
00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,360
Speaker 3: you know, even watching it on TV is very interesting

797
00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:36,880
Speaker 3: just seeing how you know, a panther might run you know,

798
00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,320
Speaker 3: same thing like you know, how a tinker use like

799
00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:42,600
Speaker 3: a black cat to to represent and create some footwear

800
00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,520
Speaker 3: for for my just seeing how you know they live

801
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:50,200
Speaker 3: their lives and how fascinating they move compared to the

802
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:50,880
Speaker 3: human body.

803
00:41:51,520 --> 00:41:55,439
Speaker 2: But how also you know, these animals are also more

804
00:41:56,760 --> 00:41:58,280
Speaker 2: connected to the ground.

805
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:01,560
Speaker 3: They're more connected to the earth versus versus how we

806
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,680
Speaker 3: are where we have now removed ourselves from the areas

807
00:42:04,719 --> 00:42:07,440
Speaker 3: a lot more so that you know, just in the

808
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:09,400
Speaker 3: design phase in general, it's.

809
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,319
Speaker 2: Trying to look at like how you know, how do.

810
00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:14,400
Speaker 3: We use environmentic cry? You know, typically environment cry can

811
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:17,080
Speaker 3: be you know, almost anything that has to do with nature.

812
00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:21,800
Speaker 3: But how can we focus on like animals and seeing

813
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 3: how they live their lives and almost either whether it's

814
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 3: stripped back or in addition to create things for ourselves

815
00:42:29,560 --> 00:42:33,759
Speaker 3: appareil foot where you know, prosthetics.

816
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:35,279
Speaker 2: You know, there's a lot of things like that.

817
00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:38,080
Speaker 3: That come off of looking and creating off animals. And

818
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:40,920
Speaker 3: I think that's that's probably where I gather most of

819
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,320
Speaker 3: my my information. But I definitely you know, in nature

820
00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:47,160
Speaker 3: in general, but when it comes to animals that keep

821
00:42:47,200 --> 00:42:48,880
Speaker 3: it on the TV as much as possible.

822
00:42:51,000 --> 00:42:55,560
Speaker 2: And and then for the second question, Uh, can you

823
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:56,080
Speaker 2: repeat that?

824
00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:59,640
Speaker 1: Yes, the second part was in the idea of the

825
00:43:00,239 --> 00:43:03,520
Speaker 1: both problems are all around you and therefore the solution.

826
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:05,960
Speaker 1: The opportunity is all around you, and just if you

827
00:43:06,040 --> 00:43:08,239
Speaker 1: open your eyes you can see opportunities all around you.

828
00:43:08,719 --> 00:43:08,919
Speaker 2: Yeah.

829
00:43:09,719 --> 00:43:12,200
Speaker 3: Okay, So for the second question, just like the problems

830
00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:15,880
Speaker 3: and opportunities, I think that's how a lot of you know,

831
00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,200
Speaker 3: design is created. That's you know, you might think that way,

832
00:43:19,280 --> 00:43:21,640
Speaker 3: but a lot of times it's you know, sometimes it's not.

833
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:27,759
Speaker 3: But for me personally, it's like having an equation, right,

834
00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:30,400
Speaker 3: and it goes back to the idea of process and

835
00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 3: progress through that process. So just understanding and seeing like

836
00:43:38,440 --> 00:43:42,000
Speaker 3: there are opportunities everywhere, how do you really take that

837
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:49,120
Speaker 3: internally and then filter through your own lens because a

838
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:52,080
Speaker 3: lot of people are I wouldn't call it like an opportunist,

839
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:56,320
Speaker 3: but instead of really finding a problem, more people just

840
00:43:56,480 --> 00:43:59,919
Speaker 3: kind of like that what they're creating is not solution based.

841
00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:03,040
Speaker 3: You know, they didn't they're not solving a problem, They're

842
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,680
Speaker 3: just creating extra two what's.

843
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:07,479
Speaker 2: Already out in the world.

844
00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:10,239
Speaker 3: And I can even say that about You know, there's

845
00:44:10,239 --> 00:44:11,640
Speaker 3: a lot of things out there that I like that.

846
00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:15,400
Speaker 3: But again, I think when it comes back to what

847
00:44:15,480 --> 00:44:19,520
Speaker 3: I said before, that honesty portion, even if you're not

848
00:44:19,719 --> 00:44:25,759
Speaker 3: necessarily solving a problem, you're creating this idea of like, hey,

849
00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:29,360
Speaker 3: there is a market for what I'm creating. There are

850
00:44:29,520 --> 00:44:33,200
Speaker 3: people that I'm looking for this specific thing, and it

851
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,640
Speaker 3: might not be a specific problem, but you might just

852
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:38,960
Speaker 3: be saying like, Okay, here's a group of people here,

853
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:40,800
Speaker 3: these are the things that I want to represent.

854
00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:43,560
Speaker 2: How do I be honest with myself and then tell

855
00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:44,400
Speaker 2: a true story?

856
00:44:44,560 --> 00:44:49,439
Speaker 3: So then that that opportunity then gains you know, real

857
00:44:49,520 --> 00:44:55,120
Speaker 3: life customers or consumers, but then also people that feel

858
00:44:56,600 --> 00:45:01,040
Speaker 3: a part of something that wasn't there before. So you know,

859
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:04,080
Speaker 3: not to be like opportunists, but you're trying to create

860
00:45:04,239 --> 00:45:06,279
Speaker 3: like a safe space for other people. You're trying to

861
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:09,600
Speaker 3: create a product that represents a certain group of people

862
00:45:09,640 --> 00:45:13,440
Speaker 3: that might feel not represented.

863
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:14,359
Speaker 2: If that makes sense.

864
00:45:36,280 --> 00:45:38,640
Speaker 1: Black Tech Green Money is a production of Blavity Afro

865
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:41,760
Speaker 1: Tech on the Black Effect podcast Network and iHeart Media.

866
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:45,360
Speaker 1: It's produced by Morgan Debonne and me Well Lucas, with

867
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:50,080
Speaker 1: additional production support by Sarah Ergan and Rose McLucas. Special

868
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:53,520
Speaker 1: thank you to Michael Davis, Vanessa Serrano, and Mayamoju. Learn

869
00:45:53,560 --> 00:45:55,320
Speaker 1: more about my guests and other tech that's us and

870
00:45:55,360 --> 00:45:59,040
Speaker 1: innovators at afrotech dot com. Enjoy your black tech, green money.

871
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:04,680
Speaker 1: Share this to somebody, Go get your money. He's some

872
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:04,960
Speaker 1: love

873
00:46:08,239 --> 00:46:11,719
Speaker 2: Mhm