WEBVTT - Episode 14 - From Working at Finish Line to Facebook w/ Justin Johnson 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 What's going on? Guys. Welcome to Legit Check. Welcome to 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:06.080 another episode. I'm your host, yeasy bust, and I'm here 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:10.080 with my very good friend Justin Johnson. What's up, y'all? 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.520 Thanks for having me to really appreciate it, you know, Justin, 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:14.680 tell us a little bit about yourself, like who are you? 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.960 What do you do? Loaded question? Man, It's it's the 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.280 hardest one to answer. Yeah, I'm a I'm a Texan 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:22.880 by birth, but probably also by choice if I even 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:26.400 wasn't born there, originally from San Antonio, born and raised 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.440 so Go Spurs Go. Probably one of the biggest, most 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:31.680 loyal Spurs fan even though they have any shitty season 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.360 this year, um to stay true to them. Pretty like 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.000 interesting background in the sense that I was the first 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:43.519 generation scholar, growing up and doing things that none no 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.920 one else in my family had done or has done, 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.159 or wanted to do. U ended up at the University 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.159 of Texas at Austin, where I studied business and got 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.240 a degree in finance and information systems. And then it 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.080 was kind of crazy because uh, like taking a step, 0:00:58.480 --> 0:01:00.720 taking a few steps back and thinking of about how 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.200 I ended up at UT I was salutatory and in 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.880 my my high school class. And what that means is 0:01:05.880 --> 0:01:07.880 that your rank second in your class because I had 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:10.600 really good grades and I remember the counselors telling me, like, 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:13.199 you'r ranked second, And my only response was why wasn't 0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:15.440 I first? Because I didn't really know what that meant, 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:17.920 but it unlocked a lot of doors. I was getting 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:21.360 recruited by top tier universities, full right scholarships and whatnot. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.160 Ended up getting the Terry Foundation scholarship, which is near 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:26.600 and dear to my heart that fully funded me throughout 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.399 college and undergrad and sent me abroad to live in 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:32.399 Barcelona where I did exchange business school to SADE and 0:01:32.600 --> 0:01:35.120 just like had a blast because of them. And it's 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:38.000 kind of been amazing to come full circle present day 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:40.360 where I live now in Los Angeles and still really 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:42.920 involved with the Terry Foundation where now I get to 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.319 and have helped them um select scholars to receive the 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:48.760 same scholarship that I did, which is ultimately life changing. 0:01:48.760 --> 0:01:51.520 It was my Willy Wonka Golden ticket to go and 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.200 like see what the world held, kind of answering your 0:01:54.280 --> 0:01:56.920 question of who who am I? Right? But essentially if 0:01:56.920 --> 0:02:00.120 you ignored everything else, I'm I'm from San Antono, know, 0:02:00.400 --> 0:02:04.680 from Texas, die hard Texan, love barbecue, love breakfast, tacos. 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.440 Lived in Austin for ten years, um, sort of by force, 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:11.760 not really by choice. I was figured that I'd go 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:15.280 to u T Austin and and leave when my time 0:02:15.320 --> 0:02:19.119 was done at the university, and uh boy, I was wrong. Um, 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.320 And I stayed there for six additional years, so ten 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.120 years total, and kind of saw Austin become the city 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:27.520 that it is today, which a lot of people from 0:02:27.560 --> 0:02:29.880 California still moved there to this day. I actually made 0:02:29.880 --> 0:02:34.040 the opposite transition from Texas to California and decided I 0:02:34.040 --> 0:02:36.560 wanted to pay stay income tax and overpay for everything. 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.200 But but here I am now in l A. Very 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:44.560 well put. So what was you think the biggest transition 0:02:45.040 --> 0:02:48.760 from from Texas to l A besides the state income 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.760 tax and the six dollar gas prices? Um? Yeah, yeah, 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.200 I mean there's there's not a lot of good barbecue places, 0:02:55.240 --> 0:02:58.040 for one, in my opinion, And I've had a lot 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:01.520 of different restaurants and and some people don't agree with me, 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.359 and that's totally fine because I don't agree with them 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.160 and in their taste palette. But I would say the 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.120 biggest transition and coming out from being born and raised 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:10.960 in Texas and spending my home life there and then 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:14.040 moving to l A completely for much big actual big 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:17.080 city right second largest in the US, was the fact 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:20.399 that I had no family here. That was a conscious 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:22.760 decision I was aware of, but I didn't really realize 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:26.200 the impact of it until I got here. Right. I 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.240 can know all these people because I did some work 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.600 in the music industry and had a bunch of friends 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:34.239 out other companies, But it's a very distinct difference between 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.600 being a one hour car right away from Austin to 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.120 San Antonio versus being a three hour plane ride from 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.520 Texas to California right absolutely different time zone as well, 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.120 I'm behind two hours or you know, looking at the 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:47.040 other way, my my family is ahead of me by 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.120 two hours. And so I think the biggest transition for 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.600 me was just like figuring out who I was and 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:55.800 what I wanted out of my experience, and so moving 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.200 to l A in late July, I figured, hey, I 0:03:59.240 --> 0:04:01.000 can come do this for a year and I go 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:05.400 back to Texas because Texas is home, right and it 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:07.280 was It was interesting, I would say the first thirty 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:11.640 days were sort of an experiment to just try and 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:13.600 find a rhythm, try and find where I wanted to 0:04:13.640 --> 0:04:16.960 live longer term, and find my group of friends, because 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:19.440 all the advice I had been given prior to moving 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:21.240 to l A was just kind of watch yourself and 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.320 watch your back, right, because everyone, from what I've been 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:27.320 told that at that time have figured out in some 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:29.400 ways is that you know, people are looking for their 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:31.960 next set of shoulders to stand on to help them 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.000 get to where they want to go. It is, but 0:04:35.360 --> 0:04:37.600 it's right, but it is right, and it's not everybody. 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.320 It's not to say it's a blanket or generalized statement 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.120 that everyone I've met is trying to use or leverage 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:46.560 what I know who I know to benefit them. But 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.880 it is very different coming to a city where everyone 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:53.080 comes to try and become someone they're not, or they're 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.280 trying to be a better version of themselves, which I'm 0:04:55.320 --> 0:04:59.120 totally for right for improvement in progress, but it doesn't 0:04:59.160 --> 0:05:02.040 have Southern hospit mentality the way Texas does, right, So 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:06.320 imagine being in that environment and being brought in with 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:11.480 a history of like Southern hospitality and always thinking the 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.359 people have the best of intentions and that's not always 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:15.960 a case, right, So it's kind of a slap in 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.040 the face the route awakening what you have, like what 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:21.880 life outside of Texas is. And I learned it. I 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.920 learned it really quickly in my first thirty days here. 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:26.480 And now it's been a year and a half that 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:29.479 I've been here, and now I proudly call um l 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:31.599 a home for for now at least, because I don't 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:33.400 know how long I end up being here, but it's 0:05:33.400 --> 0:05:35.280 where I live, and it's where I spend my time 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.400 and spend my energy, um doing what I do and 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.599 having fun and learning a ton about myself and others 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:45.279 along the way. Very well put. So I know you're 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.599 into fashion, right, You're into sneakers like you were in 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:53.159 some Supreme tell wins. There we go, ye I know 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:57.400 some things about sneak you know a little bit yea, Um, 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:01.440 got some dunks on and um, so you worked at 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:06.120 Champs finish Line. There we go. Okay, Yeah, so finish 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:08.240 Line is is a crazy story. So I worked at 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.280 Finish Line. It was my first real job that um, 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:13.280 I had to pay taxes on. But would you say 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:15.280 would you say that you worked there because you were 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:17.000 into sneakers. Do you think that finished line got you 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:20.280 into stinkers? I was already into sneak into it. Yeah, 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:22.880 and my and my mom actually helped me get that job. 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:25.159 So I was sixteen years old. It was my first 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.320 real legal job before I started like working at the 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.960 age of fourteen cutting grasses for seven dollars an hour 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.279 in a hundred degree summer heat. Believe it or not. 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:37.920 Respect No, it's really stupidity, um, but I didn't know better, right, 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:39.800 and it was like I was, dude, believe this or 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.640 not I would I was with a lawn more uh 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:46.000 weed eating Your face is perplexed looking at me, like 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:48.720 what are you talking about? Like that's how naive. I 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:53.080 was cutting four five ft tall grass with the lawn more. 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:55.280 No one does that, No one should do that either, 0:06:55.880 --> 0:06:57.720 but I was doing it because I was just like, oh, 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.360 like this is the challenge. Is like I am near 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:03.280 died of heat exhaustion because I was in Texas, fourteen 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.000 years old getting paid seven dollars an hour. And I 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:10.560 remember like, over the course of m a weekend, had 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:12.720 worked Saturday and Sunday with with my neighbor at the time, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.240 who's employing me? So I had worked seven hours each day, right, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.920 so that ends up being forty each day. So it's 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.160 ninety eight bucks. And I remember this guy telling me, 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:23.600 I'm gonna give you a little bonus. Right. The dude 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.440 gave me a hundred dollars, so I made two extra 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:29.760 dollars on top of the ninety eight dollars I had 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:33.080 worked for. It was then where I said, I'm never 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:36.280 doing this again, right, But what that taught me in 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:39.920 that time frame was not to cut grass that's five 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:41.880 ft with a lawn more, not to do it in 0:07:41.960 --> 0:07:45.760 Texas in the middle of the summer, and to teach 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:48.080 me that this is not a way of life that 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.600 I want to live. But there's application of working hard 0:07:50.640 --> 0:07:53.120 and saving up money for sneakers and video games that 0:07:53.200 --> 0:07:55.520 as a fourteen year old to apply that in a 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:58.240 different capacity. And so fast forward when I was sixteen 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:00.640 years old and legal to to work in the state 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:04.000 of Texas was finish Line. And so I was going 0:08:04.040 --> 0:08:07.400 to finish Line weekly basically to buy sneakers. And this 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:09.240 was out of the fact that I was just like 0:08:09.280 --> 0:08:12.040 really into shoes and still am and have been since 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.480 I was a kid. And so I would go into 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.240 the store pick whatever the latest like quick strike or 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:20.280 general release at the time was, which this was two 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:25.080 thousand and when was this sometime during the two thousand's, right, 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.400 and I'll go with my mom and that's what I 0:08:27.400 --> 0:08:29.680 would do, get a new weekly pair of shoes. And 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:33.600 then from there was able to build rapport and relationship 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.880 with the manager store manager, and one time he then 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.280 asked me like, hey, you're always in here, like pretty often, 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.840 like why don't you work here? And I said, well, 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.520 why don't you hire me? And that was pretty much 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.800 the extent of the interview. He's like, I will because 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:49.560 you seem to like shoot, you know about it? And 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.559 so I worked for Finish with Finish Line four Finish 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.600 Line for four years and this was from ages sixteen 0:08:55.600 --> 0:08:59.120 to twenty. And the only reason two reasons I took 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:03.240 the job. One employed discount, which is thirty percent off 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:04.440 at the time, I don't know what it is anymore, 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:08.800 I finished, right, And then two was I get to 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.000 make my own money and be able to buy things 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.120 that I wanted, which ultimately was shoes and video games 0:09:13.120 --> 0:09:15.960 at the time. Yeah, it kind of just transpired based 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.800 on passion and interest. Even to this day, Um, I'm 0:09:18.840 --> 0:09:21.240 still buying and spending money on shoes just because I 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:24.920 enjoyed doing it as an expensive hobby if you will. Um. 0:09:24.960 --> 0:09:27.000 But it was kind of crazy because that experience of 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:31.240 working at Finish Line led me to work for Nice Kicks. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.079 And this was when I was in Austin, Texas in 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:35.839 college at ut I didn't even need the job, but 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.160 I had a full right scholarship that I mentioned, but 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:40.120 I just wanted to be around shoes and I had 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.000 read about this guy named Matt half Hill, So shout 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:45.360 out Matt Um who's now a really good friend and 0:09:45.559 --> 0:09:48.960 mentor of mine. Where he hired me, I came into 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:53.880 Nice Kicks and like really got into the origins of sneakers. 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.079 He had something at the time called the Vault, so 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.400 he had some of the most exclusive seekers that had 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.400 sneakers that I've ever released, but weren't available for sale, 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:04.360 so you just collected these in a two bedroom apartment 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.960 above Nice Kicks in in Austin, Texas. And so it 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.920 was just a really cool time to be around shoes 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:12.680 for me. Right this is around the time I forget 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.720 what your this is, but the Galaxy Foam posits were releasing. 0:10:15.720 --> 0:10:17.760 That is when I work for Nice Kicks, and so 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:20.920 these were just like cultural moments and sneakers in which 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.319 I had the opportunity to be around and be around Matt, 0:10:23.400 --> 0:10:26.520 who is very much like an O G sneaker head 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:29.400 if you will, uh in the space. And so a 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.200 lot of that came from the fact that I just 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:33.240 knew what I was talking about, that had worked at 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.360 Finish Line for four years and just got all that 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.760 like knowledge and experience and being around shoes day in 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:40.640 and day out. That's awesome, so that you really had 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.080 like the behind the scenes kind of look of like 0:10:43.120 --> 0:10:46.000 how the whole shoe game works. Yeah, I mean it 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:50.600 really helped me to basically launch a little like buying 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:53.520 flip thing in college to just have extra money to 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.960 do whatever I wanted. And so I would look to 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.400 see what was going to drop and then I would 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.520 just say, like, that's what I'm gonna go after and 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.199 put a little bit of markup on it, and people 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.200 were buying before it was like the stock X and 0:11:04.240 --> 0:11:07.920 go present day, you would just do like in person transactions, 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:10.040 like you would buy a shoe turn around in the 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.240 same line you had just waded in sell it to 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:14.240 the person a few back because they had already sold out, 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:15.719 but they were willing to pay a premium on it. 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:17.720 And I'd make a hundred bucks for just buying a 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.920 pair of shoes. Yeah, that's crazy. So many people have 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:25.160 had like a very very similar beginning to how they 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.679 got into shoes. Like Draf one of his friends told him, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.200 I forgot which Jordans was, but like, um, he had 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:33.200 a pair of Jordan's and somebody offered him over how 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:34.840 much he paid and He's like, what the hell? So 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:36.880 the next drop he got like four pairs and then 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.880 basically sold the three and then his end up being free. 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:43.120 So you know you said before you worked to finish 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.880 on you were into sneakers, right right? What got you 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.520 into it? Was it because it was a basketball? Was 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:52.240 it fashion? Was it? Like I would say basketball? And 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.480 then I mean for me, Michael Jordan's right, he was 0:11:54.480 --> 0:11:56.120 the hottest player in the nineties. I was a kid 0:11:56.200 --> 0:11:58.240 during the nineties, so I saw him growing up with 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.960 you know, Shock Penny and like the crazy rebox shoes 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.720 and Iverson had like the Bulldog and the insul, but 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:08.320 like specifically Michael Jordan's. I remember my first pair of 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.240 Jordan's was the Jordan's fourteen. It was the black and 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:13.000 red one. I think it's called the Ferrari or whatever 0:12:13.040 --> 0:12:15.560 the color way is. But that was my first vivid 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.280 memory that I can remember of having of name brand shoe, 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:21.720 because before that, I was very much into like the 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:25.040 Ninja Turtle. You know, you step on the ground and 0:12:25.080 --> 0:12:26.480 they like light up. I don't even know what the 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.079 brand is, but you like ten dollars shoes, twenty dollars shoes. 0:12:29.840 --> 0:12:31.920 That's what I wanted. But then as I started seeing 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:35.960 more basketball and essentially this icon and Michael Jordan's of 0:12:36.040 --> 0:12:37.959 like he's more than just a basketball player, I'm like, 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.320 I want to be like Mike right, which is catchy phrase, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:42.240 but like that's like what people wanted to do, wanted 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.079 to be. And I'm like, how can I be like him? 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:45.840 If I'm never going to play basketball like him, I 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:47.680 can at least try to dress like him or have 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:50.800 his shoes, right, And so that kind of sparked a 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.080 lot of the interest for me, and I just started 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.360 collecting even further. As a kid, I want to say 0:12:56.360 --> 0:12:59.120 I was I might have been five when I had 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.440 my first pair of Jordan's and wow, yeah, since then, 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:06.080 so you know, twenty plus years since, Um, I haven't 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:09.120 really slowed down. What's up? So and you know I've 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:11.280 seen you, You've You've come to the warehouse a few times. 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:13.200 You pick you know, you know what I mean, like 0:13:13.600 --> 0:13:16.720 you got you got the heat. Yeah, it's uh, it's 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.720 it's just a collection. Man. I try and like pay 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.640 homage to things that I enjoy, but also just like 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:25.200 moments in time that I just want to like remember, 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:27.920 and I remember that through sneakers, right, So like one 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.120 of my my my guarded pairs that I wear here 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:32.240 and there so often. It's like the Kobe Grinch, right, 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.559 So that shoes from Yeah, that that shoes from two 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:39.080 thousand ten, nine years going on ten years old this year. 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.720 And when I first saw that shoe when Kobe was 0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.520 playing on on Christmas Day and I saw George Lopez 0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:48.599 sitting courtside with it, I'm like, I need those that 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:50.960 shoe took me four years to hunt down in my 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.520 size in a condition that would not crumble when I 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:56.640 wear it. Wow, because I cared so much about that 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.559 moment and I need that association to the shoes. It's 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:01.760 more than just sneaker. Of course, for me, at least 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:04.800 and uh, yeah, you know, I mean that's that's one 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.400 of them. I still have some like O G stuff 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:08.880 that I picked up when I was at Nice Kick, 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.480 some O G stuff that I picked up when I 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.439 was working at Finish Line like years ago. Um, some 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:15.320 stuff I still have that doesn't even fit me and 0:14:15.320 --> 0:14:17.280 never did, but I just bought it anyways just to have, 0:14:17.520 --> 0:14:22.240 which is completely real. Um and like I still don't 0:14:22.280 --> 0:14:24.840 understand why I did that, but I don't disagree with 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.120 my decision, even though I know that doesn't sound logical, 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:31.360 but it's just something that it's like the journey, you know, 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.400 the chase or the hunt down of whatever it is 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:35.760 you're trying to get and you finally get it, at 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:37.520 least you have it. You can say you have it, 0:14:37.600 --> 0:14:40.040 or it's like a trophy to some extent absolutely like 0:14:40.080 --> 0:14:42.880 bro like even like the sneakers I'm wearing right now, 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:45.840 the Jedies. Man, I probably have another five weares of 0:14:45.880 --> 0:14:48.720 these and that's it because they will fall apart right 0:14:48.880 --> 0:14:50.840 because their sold I think these are two thousand four, 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.440 I want to say, so, Like, uh, you know the 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:58.080 original ray guns, So I got those pretty much brand 0:14:58.280 --> 0:15:00.840 like they were worn once and I wore them at 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.560 Art Basel three times and now like literally the soul's 0:15:03.600 --> 0:15:05.760 coming off, like that's it. Those are my three wear 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.720 It's a sad feeling, it is, but at the same time, 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:11.560 like I'll always remember those three times I wore that shoe. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.160 And also it's like it's it's almost like an art 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.960 piece now you know it is? Yeah, I mean you, 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.560 I think personally, my view is that you say a 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:23.880 lot about people. Yeah, you know, I I believe that, 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.760 and those who are fortunate to be able to to 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.240 get their own and select their own like totally. And 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:30.760 I'm not saying one way or the other that if 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.960 you don't have shoes it doesn't say much about your whatever. 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:36.280 But of course I just think that like for me, um, 0:15:36.320 --> 0:15:39.280 at least when I'm building my like outfit and whatnot, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:41.400 like I started with the shoes and then I match 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:42.920 everything else to the shoes. I don't do it the 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.520 other way around. You go from the bottom to the top. Well, 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:48.360 that's the thing about shoes is like my dad always 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:49.880 told me that your shoes are the most important thing 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.400 that you're wearing no matter what. And it's funny because 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.000 I wear sneakers and my dad was like super fancy 0:15:56.120 --> 0:16:01.320 looking loafers. Yeah, exact loafers. But I couldn't agree more. 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:05.560 And everybody has their own swag, you know what I mean, Like, 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:07.680 I wouldn't judge someone based on the fact that they're 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.080 not wearing. Like you know, our friend Xander, right, he's 0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:13.280 a big boots guy. But his boots are always from Texas, 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:15.720 you know. But but his boots are fresh and they 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:18.360 look good on him, and he rocks them, and he 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.840 probably has fifty pairs of boots. Just how me and 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:23.640 you people might think that we're stick in the head 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.840 because we have fifty pairs of sneakers or like, however 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.880 many so Yeah, but I think for whatever reason, I 0:16:28.920 --> 0:16:31.960 don't know why, like it always I was always curious, 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.120 like why the sneakers? Why why is it always the 0:16:35.160 --> 0:16:37.520 shoes have to be like the most important part of 0:16:37.520 --> 0:16:40.440 the outfit. Yeah, you know, I make shoe contact before 0:16:40.440 --> 0:16:43.400 I make I look down then look up, Isn't it 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:46.040 Isn't that interesting though, Like I swear, like at sneaker 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.360 cons and stuff, like you just see people just their 0:16:48.400 --> 0:16:50.200 first interaction. You just see their heads just going like this, 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.240 Oh dude, those are dope. You're you're basically like evaluating 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.440 people based on their feet and what they have on 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.800 them isn't that interesting? But also I feel like misconception 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:02.680 is like you look at someone's feeling like, oh, those 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:05.479 are expensive, so you're cool. Like, Nah, I don't think 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:07.720 it's about that. I think it's about how you put 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:09.919 it together more so. Is that like you could wear 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:13.280 all black pair of vans and still make it look dope. Yeah, absolutely, 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:14.879 you know, as long as it's presentable, as long as 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:17.680 they don't have sixteen thousand holes in them. But I 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.840 mean everybody, everybody has their own. Like I never judge anyone, 0:17:20.880 --> 0:17:23.120 but like, I just feel like I have friends who 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.679 have like super dope outfits, like very expensive clothes, and 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:31.080 their shoes are just trash and like it just makes 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.080 their whole outfit look whack, you know what I mean. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:35.720 And I'm like, dude, like come on, bro, let me 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.160 get you right, like you know what I mean. Um, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.520 but yeah, the shoes are so so important, you know, 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.480 so like you from a young age were always into 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:46.640 it kind of like you know, yeah, and and the 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:50.359 opportunity to be around that, um both by choice really 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:52.400 like going in weekly to purchase the Shoe and then 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.160 me working there at Finish Line, and then me being 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.600 around shoes again, working at a Nice Kicks for a 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.840 bit of time when I was at school was just 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.200 it was you know, it was just like a perfect 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:05.080 storm of everything to be around what I what I 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:08.760 really enjoyed wanting to be around, and like it's it's 0:18:08.760 --> 0:18:10.600 something I care about. So for me, it's always like 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.520 entertaining and interesting to be able to like see things 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.639 in person that I've only heard about or read about 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.920 or seen on Internet or magazine from way back when, 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.119 and to actually see it as a tangible thing in 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:27.440 front of me. It's like a special moment. After you 0:18:27.520 --> 0:18:29.760 worked in Nice Kicks, what kind of took you away 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:35.080 from working in like the sneaker industry. Yeah, opportunities, man, 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:38.600 Like I originally went to school because my goal was 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.399 to work for the FBI. Wow. And I wanted to 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.399 fight white collar crime. Wow. I basically wanted to catch 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:49.959 bad people doing bad things with money. Yeah. So originally 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:53.879 I wanted, Yeah, I wanted to be like Batman in 0:18:53.880 --> 0:18:58.720 the suit, right. And originally I wanted to study accounting 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.159