B Scar TV Podcast
Hi-Quality conversations with your favorite creators, thought leaders, and cultural tastemakers - hosted by Brennan Scarlett.
B Scar TV Podcast
S3E1: Ian Williams
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Founder of Deadstock Coffee, Ian Williams shares how passion, sneakers, and coffee brewed a cultural hub in Portland. From Nike janitor to designer to entrepreneur, his story is about building community through creativity.
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’Til next time... Peace ✌️
Ian's Story: From Janitor to Entrepreneur
Speaker 1I would go to work and the sun would come up and I'll watch it go back down in the skylights . Damn , you know , and and , but I just was like I got to get there .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1One day I was just like sitting there on the computer . I was like let me see what these Nike jobs are talking about . And I saw a job for a janitor , um , and I was just like at the world headquarters and I was like I've been having to do housework my whole life . I think I could clean the little buildings here and there . You know what I'm saying . I had to do housework before I could leave the house before I could do anything . I could clean a little building . Yeah , you know , ain't nobody meaner than my mom , right , or more strict , I guess I should say , than my mom ? They're going to pay you more than they pay you , and they're going to pay what ? Yeah , pick a shirt . Yeah , for real . So you know , I just and that's how I got in , that's how I really got into Nike was that janitor job Wow .
Speaker 2Yeah , what if coffee was a vessel for caffeine and community ? What if the mochas had Air Maxes and Jordan 1s cinnamon sprinkled atop the foam ? The phone ? Ian Williams has made dead stock coffee about much more than just espresso shots and cold brew laced with alternative milk . He's made it about the people . Why , you might ask ? Because coffee should be dope .
Speaker 2I hope you enjoy this episode of Beast Guard TV with our very special guest , ian Williams . Welcome , I appreciate it , man . Welcome to Beast Guard TV . I want to start by saying thank you . Yeah , of course , thank you . Thank you for being here .
Speaker 2We took a little bit of a hiatus from season two to season three . Season two wrapped up somewhere in like january , february ish , and then a lot changed in my life . You know coming back home to portland officially and trying to figure out you know what's next and all these things , and what does b-scar tv become ? We're talking about like , do we rebrand it ? You know who's coming on as guests , et cetera , et cetera , and we finally were like fuck it , man , let's just go and do it . Let's start having some really high quality conversations . And we know that the conversations are all meant to . The intention is to help , to inspire people who listen or watch , and so when we made the decision like , all right , let's get it started , start reaching out to people , you were the first text I sent off . Oh , for real , yeah , that's great . You were the first text I was like , okay , immediately . Yeah , cool Sounds good yeah .
Speaker 1So I appreciate you , man , I appreciate you having me man .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's . It's good to be able to actually get the process started , and so , since the show really is about inspiring , our slogan is inspiration for lifestyle innovation through high quality conversation .
Speaker 1My bad , I know you was out here TIing . Yeah , man , my bad , I didn't know you was out here TI-ing yeah , sabar , sabar .
Speaker 2So I want to just the first question what inspires you or ? Just thinking about recently , or maybe timelessly , what ?
Speaker 1has been a source of inspiration for you . Yeah Well , first of of all , thank you for having me on here , man . Uh , thank you for sending the stuff that you had done in the past . I didn't realize that you were doing this for so long . Yeah , you know , with players and stuff like that , that's really cool . So it's uh for me . It's cool to I was gonna do it anyway , but it's even cooler to to know that , uh , that I get to be a part of the lineage that you've already created . So I appreciate that . Thank you , um , uh , what inspires me , honestly , it's it's it's people and people potential . It sounds like super corny , okay , but but it really is . Just like I really want people to understand that they can do great things , whether it be actually like grandiose great things or just like things that make them happy , right , like whatever .
Speaker 1Whenever we do events and stuff like that , or just in the past , just like talking about whatever events or parties or , you know , brand stuff or whatever , when you , when you want , when you talk about success , like you actually mentioned it , I believe maybe I'm assuming this is what I heard , but I feel like you mentioned it in your speech when we were at your retirement party and it was a conversation about success and what did success mean ? And maybe I'm alluding to what I think I heard , but is it that you did it ? Is it that you won ? Is it that you did it ? Is it that you won ? Is it that you accomplished great things ? Like to you ? What is success ? How do you define ? How do you define it ? Right and so and so , as long as you're able to say for yourself that you were successful and whatever it is that you're doing , if you throw a party and you have five people there and you wanted three , you it's booming . If you threw a party and you had 500 , you know , and you wanted a thousand , you're going to be like this party sucks Right . So like what ? What is it ? What does success mean for you ? And so I think you know , just helping people understand and reach their full potential so that they can figure out what success is for them .
Speaker 2Right , helping them define their success , yeah , and then is that something that you've kind of like integrated into your process from a day to day ? You know cause I think about like things for me that give me inspiration . You know , like sometimes I realize that I've gone for too long without you know going to like dip into that well of inspiration . Like I get inspiration from watching docu-series , like when I'm on the plane is really when I'll like sit down and just watch , you know Notorious Conor McGregor or the Defiant Ones Okay , right , with Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine , and then , but sometimes if I don't fly for three months , four months , I'm like damn , that's not like in my process to download inspiration . Yeah , so I'm curious for you like where do you , how do you , how have you like integrated the that working with people and helping them define their success ? How have you integrated that into your process ?
Speaker 1I think it's just part of what I was going to do anyway , right , so it's not necessarily that I . There are times where I have to go out and seek it , like you were just talking about . Excuse me , but the but there is the , the times where I'm just sitting there and it happens in front of me . Yeah , right , and I and I didn't even mean it . But we're opening second location soon , deadstock . Yeah , beaverton right , beaverton man Out here . Congratulations , man , thank you , I appreciate that . And we're hiring new people right , and as we hire , we have to be strategic , right , we're sneakers and coffee , so we need some sneaker people , but we also need some coffee people in order to be functional and to be able to hit the ground running . Right , like , I know that I'm going to be there a lot . I don't really want to be working a lot . Yeah , you know . So do we have a good enough core ? How do we also take care of our old core and make sure that they don't have to just be chilling in Old Town ? Yeah , right , because , like Old Town out here is , it's a drag sometimes , right , right , but we also need the new people to go there sometimes , right , right , um , but we also need the new people to go there . So I'm like thinking of , like , what is success for the old team ? What is success for the new team ? Right , what is success for me ? What does it look like for you know , our leadership ? What does money look like ? We got to make money , right , right , like , so , what does all those kind of things look like ?
Speaker 1But while we were sitting there and we decided our icebreaker for the for the new , one question that we asked everybody in the interview was what is your favorite cookie ? So we asked about what your clothes are , what song are you going to play on your first day if you get the job ? You know that kind of stuff . That's the interview , yeah , so we're like what's your favorite cookie ? You know , and you know people are . It kind of it gets personal , right , if I , if you tell me about your fit , you're going to think I'm judging you because that's what we do . Right , if you tell me , if I ask you what song you're going to play , you're going to think I'm judging you because atmosphere is what we do . Right , the cookie ain't got nothing to do with us , right , right , it has everything to do with you . And so , um , we had everybody go around when we did our , when we were going through our training that was yesterday or monday and tuesday , um , a couple days ago and we had everybody explain their cookie . Yeah , like you all had to answer it , now , everybody , now you tell everybody else .
Speaker 1But the other thing we did was we played uno , played uno , yeah , and it was like I want to see , yeah , like it gets very personal right , and so like I want to see who's yelling personal , right , and so like I want to see who's yelling who's riot , who's , who's teaming up on who ? Right , I want to know , and and so like . But while that was happening , I'm looking at the team and I'm like you are going to mentor this person . You are going to be great at this thing . We need you over here , wow . And so like , even while we're playing , I'm like , okay , oh , that's okay , okay , right , and even , and so like it doesn't .
Speaker 1It didn't . I didn't mean for that to happen , but while it was happening , like my goal was to get the personality out of people and to get everybody to see each other's personality in the room , right , um . But while that was all going on , I was like , oh , there's , I can see , yeah , already how this needs to play . I need you in Chinatown . You kind
Welcome to Beast Guard TV
Speaker 1of you down to fight a little bit , right , right , I need you over here . You're soft spoken , but you're going to get the work done , you know , and so it was . It's been pretty cool . That's a long-winded answer to your question .
Speaker 2No , no , I think that hit it on the nose , bro , because it's like you know , you get inspiration from working with people and helping people define their success . But actually , if you're working with those people , if you can help them define their success , it actually leads to success for Deadstock and for Ian Williams , right ? Which then that's part of your like North Star , how you've defined it , and so actually the whole piece is like a complete , like circle of inspiration . For you . It sounds like because you're building around and through people . Yeah , a hundred percent . Yeah , it's been 10 years , man . I did my digging . Yeah , it's been 10 years , man .
Speaker 1Yeah , you said that I was like , yeah , you're the first person to bring it up . Actually , yeah , man , yeah . Yeah , you said that I was like , yeah , you're the first person to bring it up actually .
Speaker 2Yeah , well , and I don't know , like I had loosely understand , you left nike , which I want to have get into that story , but you left nike in like 2014 yep , ask , yep , deadstock officially came into life , was born in 2015 . So we're looking at , like , either that 10 year anniversary officially is coming up , yeah , february , february .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , it's coming up , man . Wow , well , I guess technically March for 10 years , because I started inside compound in March of 2015 . And then we , yeah , and then we opened in the cafe , uh , february 2016 . So if we're talking about 10 years , it's technically March . Yeah , technically March .
Speaker 2Yeah Damn . So 10 years in business , in business for yourself , building your dream , can you describe ?
Speaker 1how it feels . Man , it's the coolest , tightest , dopest , most brokest , loneliest thing you could get , bro .
Speaker 2It's a lot .
Speaker 1It's a lot packaged into one man . Your success is yours , and then sometimes you look at it you're like , man , this is only me , right , and so it's really great . I'm fortunate that I had the opportunity to have a corporate career . Yeah , right , so I got to do some corporate stuff enough to understand that I actually , my whole life I wanted to be my own boss . Yeah , I learned . Later on in life , I think I was like 33 . I started that when I was 27 . Later on in life , I think I was like 33 . I started Deadstock when I was 27 .
Speaker 1I learned later on that my dad passed when I was really young , that he also was an entrepreneur , had restaurants . I just thought that my dad was a chef . I didn't know . And so one day my brother just to me , my brother's , 11 years older than me and one day my brother was like , man , you just like your dad . And I was like , oh , okay , how ? And he was like , oh , you didn't know the restaurants and stuff he owned all those . And I was like , what , bro , when did you find this out ? I was 33 . And so you know it was . Uh , you know my mom and dad weren't together when I was growing up , and so you know there's dynamics there , right , and so I only got to see him every once in a while , um , but just to .
Speaker 1From when I was younger , I would go with my brother . I looked at my brother like my dad . I would go with him , he would . He loved to skate , so I'll go with him to skate shops , to skate park , whatever underground hip-hop shows him and his friends were doing or throwing or digging in crates for records or whatever , and so much of it . I just like my whole life I've always been like I want to open a record store , I want to open up a skate shop . I want to open and because I saw what , what was happening to people in these places , right , like , how in the world , when I'm eight years old , 10 years old , whatever , I don't want to be in the record shop , but I'm like , why do they like the record shop so much ? What is this record shop even mean ? Yeah , right , right . And so after a while I just learned to just like , hey , just sit back and observe , right . And so from there , I just always had the feeling to do something myself .
Speaker 1But then I was a sneaker head , right , and I , and I want to get paid to do shoe stuff . So I look for opportunity in the industry . I was able to land one or a few um so that I could like get paid to do sneaker stuff , but then , even the whole time I was there , I was like I think I got to get out of here , though , you know , and and so it was like a means to an end , but I don't even know what the end is yet , you know . But I know that the end is out there and , to be honest , even right now I'm like I'm still not at the end . Yeah , you know , I could easily go back to corporate world tomorrow .
Speaker 1I have a different appreciation for it now . Right , steady paychecks , you know what I'm saying . Like health insurance , somebody else's responsibility , right , like it . Saying like health insurance , somebody else's responsibility , right , like it's that kind of stuff that you just take for granted . When you show up to work and you're like this place suck . Yeah , I'm like man , I'd love to go back to work and something happened . Boss say something like bros or whatever .
Speaker 2Right , you're not gonna mess up my joy right now , you know , and so it's just , it's different yeah , and when you stepped into to corporate that was at nike correct like was that your arrival to portland or to oregon was to come for that . That job man , my phone was buzzing , buzzing .
Speaker 1Oh , come on this . How do you know you get it like silence . If you got to take that , yeah , let me catch it real quick . You're the boss . Yeah , oh , I'm over here taking screenshots in my pocket . We back baby .
Speaker 2So before we uh cut to that commercial record , yeah , yeah talking about the responsibility of an entrepreneur . Yeah , yeah , and somebody was calling . You had to take the call man . Yeah , that's the entrepreneur , yeah but uh , no , so you got to oregon by way of coming to nike .
Speaker 1No , no , we moved to oregon when was 10 years old oh , 96 . Yeah , gotcha , my brother , who's older , like I was saying , got a job at Intel out of college and when my brother , my brother , moved to Oregon , he moved to Aloha , specifically Back when Intel had like two campuses now they got like eight or 10 or something like that . He moved when he was , I believe , 19 years old out of tech school . Is he an engineer ? Um , he does a lot of engineering , so he's , yeah , uh , he's , he's like a . I mean , in his mind and in his abilities he's 100% an engineer .
Speaker 2Yeah , 25 years ago he was a man of engineering at Intel .
Speaker 1He was one of a very few , yeah , and he was in the fab , fab , right , so he was like putting the pieces together and yeah , oh , wow bro , and so , uh , he got that job at intel . He moved here in 95 . My dad passed the beginning of 96 , uh , and I and if I , you know , just looking at it mathematically , that was probably the one thing that was really keeping us there was that my mom and dad had joint custody . When my dad passed , my mom just decided that we would all move . So he moved , follow your brother . So we all moved out here and I moved first . So at first it was just me and my brother , uh , because I had to go to school , um , so my dad passed that february . Uh , we moved and I was , we were here by . I was here in august , and then my mom and I have a sister who's older than my our sister is the oldest , okay , my mom and my sister and my sister had two kids then drove all the stuff to Portland .
Speaker 1Oh wow , yeah , okay , like a U-Haul .
Speaker 2Damn yeah From all the way over to East Coast Newport News .
Speaker 1Yep , yeah , wow .
Speaker 2Yep , yep , yeah , wow , yeah , crazy man . Yeah , so you get here in 96 and then you're when you stepped into corporate , and when you stepped into the workplace , you started at nike , right , but how did that ? How did that happen ?
Speaker 1yeah , so before all that , you know , I was working uh , I think I just early on . I'm heavily inspired by alan Iverson . Okay , so he's from , I'm from Newport News . He's from a city called Hampton , right next to it . The answer yeah , the answer . And then my family . My mom's side of the family is from Philly .
Speaker 1He went and played for the Sixers , right , so everything for me was just like that whole , like family dynamic . But he was , you know , I was , I saw , I remember watching him on the news or whatever , playing when he was playing football and basketball in high school . So , wow , so my mom , my mom , hates my mom's drug and alcohol counselor . He had a lot of stuff going on back then when he was younger and even , like , through his career , yeah , so mom was always like that's a , that's a terrible role model , right , you know . But I'm just like here's a person who is doing everything that he loves , the way that he wants to do it , and he's very good at it . Yeah , Right .
Speaker 1And so Swag was crazy , right , insane . So so , like , from that I'm starting to love basketball . I'm like eight , nine , 10 years old , I'm starting to understand that , like , I really like basketball a lot . Also , like . I see these people in the city with these sneakers on . We're not going to talk about how they maybe got them , but I see people with shoes on . I see his swag . I see what's going on
Finding Inspiration Through People's Potential
Speaker 1around me . I just was into sneakers .
Speaker 2This time is like the record store and being with your brother .
Speaker 1That was all eight , nine , ten years old . We moved to Portland , we moved out here Portland Hillsborough area , and then hanging out with my brother really starts to get deeper because it's just he and I and , looking back , my brother's 20 , 21 years old , taking care of his 10-year-old brother . My brother was responsible for me going to school , he was responsible for me being in the right district , and so that's a lot , and he district right , and so that's a lot . And he works nights , right , so like that's a lot of stuff going on . So anyway , all that to say , like I just understood that I my inspiration . It was always like I want to do whatever makes me happy for work . Yeah , um , so I used to teach go-kart racing . I used to teach kids how to race go-karts . I worked at the Nike employee store . Well , I worked at Best Buy because I like to sell things and I thought that cameras and car stereos were cool , so I worked at Best Buy while I was in high school playing basketball , so I could afford my basketball shoes . I wanted a pair of Nike ID custom shocks , so I got to get my money .
Speaker 1Do you have your initials on them ? Man , listen , I have my little number . I have my Back . Then I was really . I was a big Iverson fan , but this is like 2001 . So this is like peak Sixers going to the playoffs , about to play the Lakers , and I was a I'm the shortest guy on the team , one of the shortest guys on the team , but I'm the biggest . So they had me play a post .
Speaker 1Yeah , so I'm in there , you know , knocking around with the big dudes . Yeah , exactly , dog and and . So you know , all the homies started calling me . That was . That was the era when matumbo went to the sixers . Okay , so all the homies calling me e-tumbo . So you know what I'm saying . And like when you and when you're , when you're , you know , when you're playing at that level , the jersey number you get the smallest is the low number . I can't have a three right , right , that's iverson , give me bro . So I got the 55 , that's matumbo . You know what I'm saying . So I'm in there , just you know . So you know , just , my whole life , just basketball's always in my life , right In some sort of way , and I'm really enjoying like I just realized I'm like I just want to do shoe stuff .
Speaker 1So my little jobs I was doing here and there , answering phones , detailing cars , I like cars , I love Escalade . So I worked at the Cadillac dealership so I could drive them all day . I was a lot attendant . Then I sold cars . I detailed cars , bro . Everything I did I was like I like an element of this , so I want to go do that , damn Right . And then I found that job .
Speaker 1I was lucky Ended a position at the employee store . Got let go after the season was over because I got into one of the managers Because he was doing some weird shady you too old to be hanging around these young girls thing and I called him out on it and I got let go . Wow , you say a position at the employee store . Like what do you mean ? I was like a sales associate , you know , just like At the counter , know register shelves , you know that kind of stuff . So it was like seasonal hire , okay for uh , 05 and 05 for the uh , you know , just like christmas . And then , uh , god , let go . They told me I was gonna be there full time . They , let me go , um , for all that stuff I was just talking about . But then I was like then I was like oh , this is where I need to be . People are coming in .
Speaker 1I met the guy who flies the Nike Jets . I'm meeting athletes . I got to meet Mutombo . Rest in peace . I got to meet him there and tell him , man , you inspired me in basketball but also my mom is in love with you . And he's like , oh , I'm very flattered .
Speaker 1And I meet him . He's looking through . He had twin daughters and so he's looking for little girl dresses , holding the dresses up , and I'm like this is insane . His hands are bigger , his hand is this big . Did you tell him your name ? I think I did . I think I told him I played post , post , I wore 55 and he was like , oh , you know , I was like my life is complete , you know , um , and so I just you know , for , like from , from all that , uh , I just was like I gotta get inside , I gotta get further . Yeah , right , like there was a my homie , keith kunis . He's actually from portland , big . He was a customizer for a long time , a sneaky customizer . But keith was one of the first people I met .
Speaker 1Like I knew everything that was in east bay , yeah , and at foot action , because foot action was the urban store , so they carried the iverson . So , uh , like I knew everything from then . But when I got into the employee store I met Keith and Keith was like oh , there's so much more Right . And I and I knew about skate shops too . I knew that there were SBs , but I didn't understand that SBs were rare . I just knew about SBs because I go to the skate shop with my brother , gotcha Right . So so from there I just was like yo , I gotta , I gotta make it , yeah , um , got , let go worked at IHM , that's the place where they make the airbags , next to the employee store .
Speaker 1okay , I was there for a couple months and was like ain't nobody gonna discover me here . The airbags like in the air max , yeah , yeah , yeah . So , uh , majority of them had been made for many , many years , like decades . Uh , to protect intellectual property , okay , uh , in America , and then they get shipped to Asia . Okay , so , yeah , uh , so they get made here , they get shipped to asia , the shoes get assembled and sit back here to wilsonville for distribution . Yeah , um , but I did that for , uh , I was there for like three , four months . You know , 5 30 am , 5 30 pm .
Speaker 1Uh , like that was my shift set three days a week , three on four off , four on three off during the nfl NFL season . So I'm a big Eagles fan . I miss all the Eagles games . I get to watch like 20 minutes on my lunch break . So I'm missing all the games . I'm just like I would go to work and the sun would come up and I'll watch it go back down in the skylights . But I just was like I got to get there One day . I was just like sitting there on the computer .
Speaker 1I was like , let me see what these Nike jobs are talking about , and I saw a job for a janitor and I was just like at the world headquarters and I was like I've been having to do housework my whole life . I think I could clean the little buildings here and there . You know what I'm saying . I had to do housework before I could leave the house , before I could do anything . I could clean a little building . You know , ain't nobody meaner than my mom , or more strict , I guess I should say , than my mom ? They're going to pay you more than they pay you and they're going to pay man . Every one time I asked for allowance , my mom said what ? What ? Yeah , pick a shirt , yeah for . And that's how I got in , that's how I really got into Nike . Was that janitor job ? Wow ?
Speaker 2Yeah , so you got on campus as a janitor . That was the way you stepped into campus . Yeah , when you say janitor , when you say janitor like bopping the floor .
Speaker 1Well , I literally called it my doo-doo days Like those are all I did . I was cleaning up . Well , there was a person in the women's restroom that used to come in every day . I had that job for three years and at this point I had cleaned this area . They call them neighborhoods . I cleaned this neighborhood for probably nine months , maybe a year , and there was a person who used to come in every day , and it must have been .
Speaker 1I cleaned the bathroom at seven . I would go to my lunch break , which I started work at in the evening . So I'll go to my break , would go in and like , start to like , spray and like disinfect the bathrooms , mainly the men's , and there's a men's and women's and then I'll clean that one , about 830 . I'll be there to clean the clean the women's one . Every day , somebody I don't know if they stood on the toilet or whatever , but it was dookie splatter all over the wall , bro , every day , every day In the women's restroom , same stall Every day , like clockwork , bro , and it was just dry enough to where some of it was still wet . Bro , I'm telling you every day , did you ever ?
Speaker 2catch the cold .
Speaker 1Yes , bro , I did the other time . I , bro , I'm telling you every day Did you ever catch the cold ?
Speaker 2Yes , bro , I did .
Speaker 1I did . I did . Yes , Well , I could tell what she like . When it was not , I would go in the bathroom and there was nothing on the wall . I was like , oh , she's traveling . She got out of town Right Like bro , I'm telling you every day , that's great , I , I bro every day . I hope that it's stressing enough that it was every day .
Speaker 2Right .
Speaker 1It's crazy , bro . Yeah , and one day . So I do the men's bathroom first , right , you prop the door open , I put the cart in the bathroom door so nobody would be able to go in . So I'm cleaning the men's and then , right before I mop the men's restroom , I can hear that nothing is happening in the women's . It's just like across the way . So then I'll prop the women's bathroom door open , put the cart in the door , go in , spray everything down yeah , right . So this day I went in to spray everything down , yeah , nothing on the wall . I'm like , oh , she's traveling , she's traveling , right .
Speaker 1So I'm like , and , bro , I'm telling you that I mean , this is when we really learn as men that a lot of times , like you know , every month , ladies go do some stuff . We don't ever have to worry about that . So as men , we should be very thankful . But , like , when you work together , they really do , that really does sync up . When you work together , that really does sync up . Wow . So the little garbage things in the women's restroom , they'll be empty , empty , empty , and then for like a week and a half straight , all full . Oh , wow , bro , I'm telling you , yeah , it's like I learned so much in this job , bro .
Speaker 1And so , and I go in , right , and every once in a while somebody will move the cart out of the way to go to the bathroom . Okay , will move the cart out of the way to go to the bathroom , okay . So , like , the person pushes the cart out the way , it's whatever , right , and I get ready to go back in . This person walks out the bathroom like hey , sorry , I'm like , oh , it's all good , don't worry about it , I go in . But you don't know . At that , I don't know . At that point , right , I don't know . At that point the person goes there like they leave , you know , it's like it's kind of embarrassing anytime . You're like , oh , my bad , I had to go to the bathroom real quick , you know , and somebody's like standing there looking at you waiting to clean it , whatever I go in , fresh juicy splattered on the wall , dookie , bro , I was like you know the no , like on the knees , rain , bro , anything , everything that you could think of , bro , anything , everything that you could think of .
Speaker 1And I think I want to say that that day I texted one of my mentors and was like he was he , he knew I was trying to get in the Nike full wear designer , full wear design legend guy named E Scott Morris and he mentored me for a long time . I would probably say he still mentors me , yeah , even if I don't talk to him . You
10 Years of Deadstock Coffee
Speaker 1know , like I see something he's doing , I'm like man , they go , he's got again . Man , he's gotten , you know . And I think I text E that day and was like get me out of here . Because he was like , if you ever want to get out of here , just let me know . I'll reach out to some people at some other brands and see what they got .
Speaker 1And I text Ian . I was like bro , remove me from this satanic space . And I think his response back to me was like just be patient . You know he's like , if you really want to , I will . But you know , just be patient , give it a couple more weeks . And I didn't know that behind the scenes some people were actually working to put me into , to help me fill in or to have me fill in for a position , um , while somebody went out of town for the holiday . But he knew because he was on that team , but I didn't know that right . But man , I think I quit three times and like just never left . But I , but I , for real managers , told the manager straight up yo I'm out , I just got to put my two weeks in . I just didn't . But man , I quit like three times bro , I mean that's just tough bro yeah .
Speaker 1How many times did you quit , quit ? What Football Were you like I'm done , was there ever ? Did that ever happen ? Because you always were working hard ? Yeah , like . Because you always were working hard , yeah , like , even when I would see you after I met you . I would see you and be like bro , I'm getting ready , I'm getting ready , I'm getting ready and I'm like man , this man is , he works hard . But you know , like , did you ever just be like there was ?
Speaker 2never a time where I was like no , I'm done with the game , like no , like fuck the game . You know , yeah , even when I was going through like the tough shit , the adversity and all of that , there always be times where I question , you know , I would get hurt . Like I heard a ton through high school and through college too . Question , just like why ? Me , you know , I mean . But I never thought about like oh , this game keeps taking that from me . I I enjoyed the game so much that I was like you know , I wanted to come back to it . And I understood this is what I understood .
Speaker 2I understood that the game of football takes a lot of your blood , sweat and tears . It takes a lot from you like energy , wise , and your body too , like you're sacrificing a lot , especially when I was playing college football and we weren't getting paid , you know . But it was a conversation about , like you know , these kids making a million dollars . We were making nothing and just trying to , you know , pay for rent down in the Bay Area , trying to eat . So my whole thing was like I'm going to pull from the game just as much as it's pulling from me , gotcha . So that was the closest that I got to like . It was nowhere near like quitting , but it was like okay , I see that this system might be fucked up if I allow it to be , but actually it could empower me if I look at it the right way . Yeah .
Speaker 1I also wasn't cleaning that lady off the walls , bro , I was cleaning up DJ Antoine , bro . The time it took , bro , that was insane .
Speaker 2Yeah bro , humble beginnings , bro Damn . Yeah bro , humble beginnings , bro Damn . So you go from being a janitor and then you step into a role temporarily , yep . But then you ended up designing your first , designing a shoe alongside yeah Right , that was a .
Speaker 1That actually happened before I had stepped into that . That happens if you were still a janitor .
Speaker 2You did like a collab design . Yeah , how did that come ?
Speaker 1to be , uh , the guys who worked in the skate department Nike , sb . So , remember I was talking about SB's , yeah . So now I'm , you know , cleaning the area of the dudes who work in SB and I'm like yo , my brother skates blah , blah , blah . And I'm talking about like , oh , these are fire . I remember these from this year , right , and I didn't know then that sb wasn't that old , so this is like 2007 . Okay , sb had really started to . It started in like 0203 . Um , uh , and it was like in the first couple years it just was like not good . Uh , the shoes weren't really resonating with people . Yeah , they tried to do the nike thing where they went like super technical and skaters were like I'm just trying to look good , yeah , you know . And uh , so like oh four , oh five , which is when I was like really getting in the sneaker stuff . I was about to graduate high school , you know , that's when I really was paying attention of end of 05 .
Speaker 1I'm working at the employee store . I meet keith . I'm starting to really understand what's going on with sb , right , so okay , and so now I'm like thinking about the life , like maybe I want to be a reseller , but like I also hate all this work of like reselling and all that . So I meet the dudes in sb . We're talking , I meet them . Actually I took some extra work uh , work on one of the custodial days . They were like hey , we need somebody for this weekend for sales meetings . I was like sales meetings , I can meet so many people , I'll do it . So I'm taking the trash out . I walk into one of the rooms and take the trash out . There's a wall of SBs on it and I was like bro , who are you ? Damn right , they're like what are you ? Even ? And but they're cool , right , they're skateboarders . So they're like bro , that's kind of like who are you ? But like , why are you taking trash out ?
Speaker 2you know , and I'm all from downloading information , just being part of the sneaker culture , being part of sneaker culture , growing up at the skate park right being a being , a sneaker kid loving basketball .
Speaker 1So just like everything that I have done in my life , just like all coming into this moment and me being like this is cool , yeah , right .
Speaker 1And like this room is cool , there's people who make these decisions , that's cool , right . And so you know they were like , hey , come by the office sometime . I go by the office , realize it's on the other side of the floor from the dookie , from the bathroom , it's on the other side of the floor in the Mia Hamm building . And I started getting to know the guys who work in skate over the course of time . They just were like hey , you kind of know what you talk . I was like , hey , I know what I'm talking about , let me do a shoe . And they were like OK , and so then I went myself , uh , illustrator photoshop , like a 30-day trial , and uh presented the custodian pack and it was a vacuum shoe . The custodian , yeah , yeah . So it was a vacuum shoe , it was a windex shoe and a wet floor shoe .
Speaker 1Oh , that's fire yeah , by this time , I understand that , like , I understand that you have to have a pitch deck , right , I'm going to , I'm around my friends who ? I'm around these people at night who are working while I'm the janitor I'm asking questions , right , you see their computers ? Yeah , right , and I'm like , oh , what you doing . They're like , oh , I got to work on this deck . I'm like , what's a deck ? Right , and they're like , okay , by this point , I'm like I have to build a deck , I have to put my inspiration in on the deck and then I have to give them the completed thing , and things sell better as a pack . So I'm like , now I need to think of two other shoes , but the wet floor shoe was the one that I had in my head . I needed to make two others . How'd you get the ? How'd you know it was the wet floor shoe ? I just cause I was mopping , like I'm just looking at this colorway , I'm looking at the yellow , black , red and I'm like I like that , I think it would be cool . And like SB's already doing crazy stuff like that , yeah , right , they're already doing shoes inspired by , like chocolate skateboards , but like Heineken , by you know , by you know , events by places , by materials , colors , right , like so they're already kind of doing that kind of stuff . So , like so , they're already kind of doing that kind of stuff . So I'm like this idea is perfect for this place . What did you say ? The colors were Yellow , black and red , like the wet floor sign . So , like , I put that onto . I know that's the colors of Deadstock , right , that's what I missed . That's what is the colors of Deadstock . You know that , right ? Yeah , that's exactly why it's like gray , blue , orange , extension cord , so that's what the shoe looks like . Yeah , um , the windex one . They're like we're probably gonna get sued for this , uh . But then the wet floor they were like kind of cool and they put it into , they pitched it . Uh , I later found out that there was a shoe that was like a crazy colorway that they had to drop and they just like snuck it in . Wow , yeah . And so , uh , yeah , I found that out . Like four or five years later I was like , oh , that's how that happened . Thankful it happened , you know . Yeah , uh , but around that time is when people started to realize that like , oh , this dude not just a janitor like he's really trying to do some stuff . So , uh , yeah , damn , so what ? So like to fast forward .
Speaker 1When I first started deadstock , I didn't really know what the colors were . We're doing a lot of nike color orange , you know the like nike shoe box and like some adidas equipment , like the brown and teal but we didn't have our own color and you know that that question of how did you get there , or like you had a shoe , that question comes up all the time and so for me , people know me because of the shoe most of the time . So if you know me because of that story , that's part of my story . Deadstock is my story . Yep , so in order for us to have our own brand , this is what we needed . Our own colors yeah Right , and so that was really how that happened was like I need to think of what the colors of the shop should actually be wow bro , yeah , that's a hell of a history .
Speaker 2Let's say , yeah , I couldn't that like . I see you walk in with the dead stock jacket , so that's why the jacket is yeah . And then you're talking about the wet floor shoe yeah , and even the light bulb .
Speaker 1Go on my head like oh , yeah , I get it . Yeah , and even the car right like the . The shop used to be like brown and like milk , like coffee colors , because I didn't want it to be an all-white shop with like stale walls . I felt like that's what all coffee shops are like sterile , like the third wave , like specialty coffee . I didn't want that . And so the walls were like brown and this and that . And then when I decided back in like 2018 or 2019 , to really like lean into the colors , yeah , okay , I think it's 2019 . We like painted the shop white . Yeah , counter went black . Yep , yellow red accents all over the place Right , and in basketball not so much anymore , but the light or white jersey is always home . So when we built , when we were working on the car , the drip whip , the car was black because it's away . Because it's away .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1So , like it's always , there's like stuff in there . This is actually what inspires me , right ? I have to find moments for me to get excited .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Every day is just like like work , work , work , work , work , right . But there's like things that I'm sitting there thinking and I'm like what if I just like made a car , yeah , that drove around , you know , and served coffee ? I think that's when I met you . That's why I was in houston that's right . Yeah , yeah , it was I was on tour yeah , yeah , david tipping , yeah , the man that's exactly the reason why I was in houston . That's right , but I had known about you before that .
Speaker 2Well , man , obviously you know , I mean like deadstock coffee I was very aware of . I appreciate that . But it's funny because the story , like I've heard roughly that story in the past when it's like , oh yeah , ian williams , he used to work at nike and he started his own coffee shop , you know , that's like the tagline , yeah , that's right . It's like , oh , he used to work at Nike . And then maybe someone's like , yeah , he started as a janitor and then he was a designer and then he left .
Speaker 1Oh , he started to get like pieces .
Speaker 2Yeah , just pieces of it , bro , and you know it's like in passing and somebody maybe mentions that Like , oh , let me double click . Like he was a janitor , how did he get the footwear designer position and then how did he leave
Nike Journey: Starting as a Campus Janitor
Speaker 2and go to Deadstock and then the colors of Deadstock , you know . So now you're like connecting all of these things for me , which is was tough to do , even in like research , because doing my research about you I was obviously I'd known you now for years , but I mean it's cool to hear the arc of your story , obviously , but I mean it's cool to hear the arc of your story . Obviously it's not over , but up to this point , what's inspiring to me is the way that at every moment , you've decided to pursue a passion , and even when that passion maybe you had to put your ego to the side , you rather was no ego involved and like you know what , I want to get deeper into the nike world headquarters , so I'm going to go and be a janitor because I want to get in there and I then I have the confidence that I'll figure it out .
Speaker 2You know , figure something out , yeah . Um , when you were working at the car dealership , I like cadillac escalades , so I'm gonna go and like sell it . You know , yeah , and I think that's uh , it's a , it's a beautiful thing and it's a courageous thing to take steps , to be like I'm passionate about this and I'm going to actually go and do it Right , because it's easy to be passionate about something Much harder , to orient your life , to go and pursue that thing , which then obviously you end up leaving Nike at a point and doing the same thing at Deadstock . Yeah , fast forward 10 years sitting here now and you're still pursuing those passions .
Speaker 1Yeah , Yep , still , you know , still , same OG man . Yeah , there are people who I met when I was a janitor who I'm still friends with to this day . There are people who I met when I was , uh , I was a developer , so I was like an engineer . The people who I met when I was a developer , who , if I saw them at the grocery store , I might just pass them by , and people who I talked to daily , you know , at work . Um , because you know , when I was in , when I was a janitor , you had to decide to talk to me , you had to decide to be cool with me . You had to decide that I was worthy of conversation , right . But when I was in footwear , I was a peer , right .
Speaker 1So I always say , like I would jokingly say , you know , people are like oh yeah , nike is like a like high school , you know , like a like the high school , blah , blah , blah . No , it's like college . There's people , when you're in high school , it's people be like oh , I don't like him , right , I don't like her , I don't like this person , whatever . But in college you're like listen , I need this A . So I'm work with you , but I don't like you . But I'm a work with you because I got to get this stuff done . I paid for this , I paid for the school , you know . So so to me , like it is a lot like I'm a work with you because I have to , but not because I want to , right .
Speaker 1So , yeah , there's people who , yeah , I would , and there's definitely people I worked with when I was in footwear who I'm like super close with . You know , I could , I could call if I was like yo , my car broke down , like I need to be picked up from the airport , whatever , and they could call me , you know . But a lot of people , a lot of the people who I'm the closest with are who I met when I was in in custodial . Yeah , I got a lot of stories and a lot of theories . My bad , please . No , I stay dipped , bro . Come on , I got the AI swing man under here right now . Always , come on , I wear a lot . I wear a lot of Irish jerseys , bro .
Speaker 2I respect it , and it's just the bottom of it hanging out . It's mainly for me . It's for me . You know what right ? It's mainly for me . Yeah right , it's for you , it's for me you know what I'm saying .
Speaker 1It's for me , but yeah , yeah , it's mainly . And actually I've only worn this one like three times . I bought it for the TED Talk , so I actually was wearing it on the TED stage . Oh , you were , yeah Nice . And then another time I wore it for another I can't remember what it was another video . And then today Damn yeah , I was like man , let me put my . I was like this man about to pull up with the fit .
Speaker 2So I know , I had to come correct , Bro . You're putting the jersey on when it's time to go ball .
Speaker 1You know what I mean ? Yeah , bro , like a performance , type of space .
Speaker 1It's like how michael they said michael jordan always wore his uh , there's um unc the tights , yeah , under his uh game shorts . Oh , is that right ? Yeah , they'll say he always . He always had him on and it was just like his . Yeah , exactly so for me , this , this is my lucky draws right here , just like an iverson and an ai element . That just always . It's usually like with me somewhere . Yeah , I'm on there one . I'm going to meet that man Bro . So the way I'm also afraid to meet him .
Speaker 2I've been thinking about it lately is how I'm dressing , like when I wear a vest . It's like this is my work vest . It's like my uniform . You know , like on game day or at practice , we always put on our pads and our helmet and jersey or whatever and , like you know , it's time to go . You lace up the cleats . You got your uniform , so now it's like what does that look like in my next life , my next chapter ? And so whenever I put the vest on , like all right , it's time to go .
Speaker 2Okay , you know what I mean ? Yeah , and so when you're talking about Amir and he makes vests , I was like , huh , that gave me an idea , because I have been thinking about I should customize and personalize my vest in a way , since I wear it for those occasions . Yeah , so this is like a Ben Davis vest , which is super simple and I got it for like 25 bucks , but I was thinking about replacing this little tag right here with , like , my personal logo . Yeah , or then maybe like doing an embroidery or something . Yeah , I'm like , shoot , it'd be cool to do something from scratch . Yeah , I've been thinking about Deon is one brand that I really like . Who do they do ? Like really high quality vests like handmade stuff . It's like maybe I could do something with them . But Amir would be a cool one to do with .
Speaker 1I think the you know , when you have like an element that is part of your identity , you , you know , when you have like an element that is part of your identity , you know , and I used to jokingly , I used to joke on Amir all the time . I'd be like bro , you always dressed up , you always dressed up . And Amir just said , you know , he has something that he says about . You know , his dad just told him to always be prepared . You know , so for him , like , no matter what , if he's going to a basketball game , a dinner , a you know kid's birthday party , he's always . He's like if I'm wearing , this is what I wear , if I'm always prepared , then I'm , then I'm good , you know . But then there's also , you know , I would joke on Bima all the time and be like bro , you like a cartoon character , you know . And uh , a friend of mine , uh , johnny , uh , johnny , cool local rapper , uh producer .
Speaker 1Uh , one time he had a line and one of his joints that was like something like that means I never changed my cartoon clothes , you know , and I was like , and I was like , oh , they don't change yeah , yeah immediately I'm like k arnold , yeah , jerald on Well , bro , and then there was even an episode of Doug where he opened the closet and it was all the same fit , and I remember that when I was a kid , being like you know , he wore the same thing all the time . But like just the fact that like cartoons don't change , you know , and and and then . So I would like jokingly call being my cartoon character , but like now , you know , right . So you look at , you know Drake and that album , and he would have a different haircut . He would use that haircut , would be his cut until the next album . Right , yeah , right , and like and so like that , and like Tyler does that too , like the style that's on the album cover and so like there's the . It really is like an identifier .
Speaker 1So for me , I've always liked camo and even when I was trying to figure out what to wear for Ted , I was like I have to wear camo and so loving camo , which is more of an East Coast thing for me or to me , but then growing up in the , in the burbs , in hillsborough , and that at that time it was the country , yeah , so like loving camo , growing up in hillsborough , people hunting and whatnot .
Speaker 1For me , tree camo makes a lot of sense , yep , and so what I from my ted fit , it really was like I need some camo , but I need some like authentic camo , real tree . I need this . So , like , for me it's always been like putting these pieces together . So I don't know how many people have noticed , but , like , since Ted , I've worn aside from like in the summer I was wearing shorts , but like I've worn , so now you're rocking with that's what I do , okay , but this is like my season , I like you know . So , like this , I like that . I don't know what's next but that , but it like I have to wear camo and I have to wear a dead stock article of clothing so that people associate all their sins together .
Speaker 2Yeah , no , that's good . I've always had these like style evolutions throughout my life , I think everybody does yeah .
Speaker 2You know what I mean . There's like , at some point in time , I just have this inkling like I got to change it up and so I'll like it . Typically , sometimes it'll come from some inspiration . My most recent one I was watching Bad Boys and Lil Smith , you know , and Bad Boys was , was fitted up bro in the 90s . He had the vest but he had like the quarter neck shirts . He had maybe like the quarter zip , that's like more formal . But you know , mike Lowry was swag , had the toe . He had maybe like the the a quarter zip , that's like more formal . But you know , uh , mike Lowry was swag , bro had the toe .
Speaker 2And so my , my most recent style evolution has been toned down the colors a little bit . Uh , focus on the details and get really high quality like black pieces . I'm , I'm in , I'm into black right now . And also I took that trip to uh . I took a trip to japan over the summertime too , and they do it the best . It's like place bro , silhouettes . It's like the details in in the fit , whether it's the shoes or the bag or the accessory , the ring or the jewelry or whatever it is , or maybe it's the socks , like . I don't know if you know this , but I got the scarlet socks , you know what I mean .
Speaker 1You know what good one . I didn't even , I didn't even brother , I don't even know , today you know what man ?
Speaker 2that's what I'm talking about .
Speaker 1Hey , bro , and listen , it's what it's for me , right ? Like , like you said , bro , it's for you , you know exactly . So , yeah , I like that . I didn't even think , bro , yes my brother , no , but .
Speaker 2but I also think that , uh , it's interesting with the , with the albums for artists . They do , they have these very specific milestones , right ? Okay , so for this album I'm going to whether it's subconsciously or consciously be and look and feel in my music is going to be a certain way , and then , okay , album drops and then it's like , intentionally , okay , well , the next thing I drop has to be a little something different , can't be the same , right ? So then how do I change ? How does my music change , etc .
Speaker 2Right , with artists it's more defined than when you're not an artist , and so I feel like , for for us , it's finding , like , what is those ? What are those milestones that we can create for ourselves , our internal , like life milestones ? You know whether that's for you know , season to season , right , or maybe that's like semi-annual or that's year by year , Like , what are those ? You know , and I haven't quite figured it out for myself because they kind of just come sporadically for me . Um , but I liked the idea of like , giving myself some type of like destination , quote , unquote . Yeah , you , I want to . I want to talk about the , this idea of the way that you've associated two completely different ideas and put them into one . It's okay , took sneakers and you took coffee and then death dead , stop . Yeah , I think it's fascinating and I think a lot of the the really cool things that are created in the world come from like a convergence of two totally separate things , and so one . I'm curious , like , what was the insight that you had to bring coffee and sneakers together ? Uh , number one .
Speaker 1and I'm curious of how you've like , uh , promoted both in within deadstock yeah , you know , at the end of the day , coffee people and sneaker people are nerds , right , we're just people who are . We're all just people who get really , who can nerd out . Everybody can nerd out over something . Some people , like I was saying earlier about my brother and his homies like skateboarding vinyl . You know that was like what they were really into and so I just understood that . You know , in working in the forward industry and looking at what the coffee industry was going to be for me because I actually wasn't even a coffee drinker I still don't drink coffee Just understanding that there are groups of people who just really enjoy a thing , right , and who really enjoyed . You know the community that is around , whatever that thing is .
Designing the Wet Floor Sneakers
Speaker 1And so you know , if you like really expensive cups of coffee , you're like I'll spend five , six , seven bucks on my coffee for the day , including tip or whatever . And then you have this person who's like I'll buy a pair of shoes every month for 300 bucks , right , the coffee person might look at the sneaker person and be like you're crazy , right , like I can't believe you spend that much money . And so , at person , might look at the sneaker person and be like you're crazy , right , like , I can't believe you spend that much money and so what , the end of the , at the end of the month , if we add it up , we spent the same amount of money on this thing that we enjoy . Yeah , I always jokingly say , but at the end of the day also , I get to keep mine and you don't , right , like so . So like mine , can create mine , can appreciate mine , has you know , meaning to me , right , or whatever . So it's always been just like the passion for the product .
Speaker 1When I was a lot attendant , I was driving the cadillacs , like I was moving them around , even though I didn't own one , even though I didn't have anything to do with , like at that point I wasn't selling , I just wanted to be around the thing . Yeah , right , it's always . For me it's just being around the the thing , or to be in that atmosphere or in that environment , and so that's what it is , is like you want to . If you love coffee , like that , you're going to go to the shops that create that environment for you to enjoy it . Yeah , for you to experience it . If you love sneakers , you're going to go to the shops that create the environment and that have what you want . Yeah , right , same thing with the coffee that have what you want . So it's all about like getting what you want .
Speaker 1You know , and and I don't know how many I feel like people don't don't spend as much time focusing on the beauty of getting what you want and and more on the uh and like the way that you like it , and not so much the the fact that you like showing off that you have it , but more that you got to experience it , what you mean . You've been around the world , right , you have . You probably understand . Like , when you're in Miami and you go to an event or whatever , a lot of times it's like what you have , right , like you got the cars , the money , the drinks , the bottle service right . Like you can't possibly go to the club and not be having a good time if you don't got a table Right , right , right . But like what if you went to the club and you had a good time and you didn't have a table ? Yeah , right . And so I feel like , but like , in a way , in those kind of atmospheres it's not OK . It doesn't mean that that means you're not balling , you're not having a good time , you're not doing it right , but out here it's more like I want to be at the club with the people that I want to be with Right the people that I care , that I want that . You want the feeling that you want .
Speaker 1Like , people talk about retail being dead , but I think retail is dead is like soulless it's not necessarily dead . Yeah , people are still going to buy things . Covid told us that people love to buy things . People love experiences basketball cards and all the cards and stuff like that . People buying VHS tapes and , like you know , if you were a camera person , you were into cameras before , but now all of a sudden , you in all these different cameras and Polaroids and like all this stuff . Right , covid just showed that people love stuff , people love the experience with stuff . Yeah , you know and I'm not saying , of course , you know we talk about all that other , everything else that happened during that time but like it just showed that you know , people would get dressed to go out to the coffee shop because it was the time when they got , the one time when they got to leave the house for maybe even the week yeah because they got to go out and actually express themselves .
Speaker 1This place means enough for me to go risk my life , and a lot of people really thought that they were going to die if they went to these places . So I'm down to get dressed , get out of the house and I hope that somebody sees my fit . I'm going to go get what I want and then I'm going to be in the number ends , hopefully see some friends and and like even during COVID , it was important for me to never close the door . I never wanted to serve people on the other side of the door . I always wanted people to be able to come in because it was about being together . Yeah , even if it was just me and a customer , or the customers who met outside , who walked from here and here and met you know . So it's to me retail . All that stuff is about the experience . It's less . Even if it's a quick interaction , it should be about the experience , yeah I like that .
Speaker 2That's interesting , I think . Uh , I get passionate about that kind of stuff . No for sure . Yeah , I like the juxtaposition between portland and miami . Right , like miami , maybe , is a lot about what you have and being able to show off what you have . It's also maybe there's some instance of like what you want , but actually what you want has a lot to do with what you have and what you're able to show off .
Speaker 2Yeah , versus in Portland , it's not as much about what you have . It's about expressing what you want to express and , for a retailer or entrepreneur or a business or whatever , being able to create the space where you can serve what people want , and what they want is actually just enough , right , and what they want is actually just enough right . And getting to the core , to the fundamental essence of what they want which community , some good coffee , the opportunity to get outside . I think Portland has done a good job of that in my mind , because we focus on the little things . We want the coffee to be good , we want the beer to be high quality , we're down to go thrift through some pieces and find a piece of vintage clothing that we like , and so you see thrift stores popping all over . It's not about like oh , this thing cost a thousand bucks , or whatever . It's about like , oh , this is something that I want , and now , that's enough . Yeah , it's about wearing the Allen Iverson jersey underneath the crew deck sweater . Nobody's going to see it , but that's what I want . That's what .
Speaker 1I want it's like it's a whole energy .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , I mean , I will also . I will also say that's the beauty of Portland , you know , all the things that we just explained is to be able to do that and like , merge communities and merge cultures and for people to understand and appreciate that what you love , or what you do , is what you love and do . I think we also do that to a fault as well , and there are a lot of things , a lot of times , that we won't listen to people , we won't understand where somebody's coming from , because we feel like we ride so much for this community over here . You know , and this is the movement I feel like we , we subscribe to brands a lot the brand of , you know , injustice , the brand of and I'm not saying that these things are wrong or anything like that , I'm just saying that it's not always exactly what we think it is . I feel like we get so stuck on fighting that we don't know what we're actually fighting for Right and , and . So you know I don't really want to tie it to any specific thing , because I think both sides do it yeah , right and , and . So there's not enough . We like we're doing a great job , we're doing it , we're doing a great job , doing the work .
Speaker 1Now we have to , like you said , like you did your research right . Like a great speaker once told me a long time ago , I sat in his office , the person I wanted to sit in front of and talk . For a long time I sat in his office and , like , I sat down and he was like I already know everything about you . He went down you're from Newport News , virginia , blah , blah , blah , blah , blah , blah and I'm like man , this dude is here in career . Why does he know everything about me ? And he was like you always got to know your audience . You know whether it's one or 10,000 . And so , like , we are doing the research , but are we , are we looking under the pages of the stuff that we also wouldn't usually look at ? Right , you got to look everywhere . Even if you don't agree with this , you need to understand it right . You need to understand why somebody does feel the way that they feel or think the way that they think , and then you make your decision right , you know , yeah 100 .
Speaker 1I mean as a city and as a country as a city , as a country , as people , as a world , right like there's so much yeah , there's a lot of layers to it , bro .
Speaker 2It's like , once you start to , once you start to believe a certain type of way or think something , uh , we have now all of these mechanisms and devices that actually start to like , stamp that belief and tell you , like , you're right , yeah , and nothing else is wrong . Yes , right . So the tv channel you begin to watch the algorithm that starts to build up in your instagram , on your tiktok , on your twitter yeah , you only see people that subscribe to the same beliefs that you just subscribe to , and so you get stuck in this bubble of like oh , I'm right , we're all right here together . Whoever's outside this bubble , they got to be crazy . But on the other side , they in their own bubble with the same thing .
Speaker 1We literally just saw that 50% of the people out here think more than 55% of the people out here think this . And there's , you know , 45 percent over here who are like I can't believe , blah , blah , blah , right . And these people here , I can't believe , we just saw that , right . So when you're looking at something and you're like there's no way that somebody could think that , no , they literally just told you that they've been thinking about that . You just don't listen . You know , and so you know .
Speaker 1I think that happens so much and it happens a lot in this city . You know , even , like , just get outside of Portland and you get to like the outskirts a little bit . You know , now , portland Metro is kind of all feeling the same , but like we got a lot of country . We Now Portland Metro is kind of all feeling the same , but like we got a lot of country , we got a lot of farmers , we got a lot right . Like they got different views than we got . Yeah , it doesn't mean their view is right or wrong , right , it doesn't mean ours is right or wrong , right , yeah man yeah .
Speaker 1I could go on forever about just . I think , just people . Understanding people is the thing that I just have the hardest time with , and creating common ground is what I strive to do at all times in some sort of way .
Speaker 2Right , yeah , and I love the way that you've done it . Thank you . Right , with Deadstock Coffee and , again , bringing sneakers and coffee together to ideas that exist . You know two different spaces , but bringing them together , bringing coffee heads and sneaker heads under one roof to discuss ideas and have a time , yeah . So I'm curious how you have brought sneaker culture into coffee culture , like , just like tangible things . What have you done with that stock to differentiate in that way ?
Speaker 1I appreciate that question more , not that I didn . I appreciate that question more , not that I didn't appreciate the previous one . I appreciate that more because that is what I feel like I have brought to coffee culture . That is different . Coffee should be dope . Coffee should be dope , right , like it should be , whatever you want it to be . I think that's the coolest thing about sneakers is .
Speaker 1A lot of the reason why I started Deadstock is because I missed the community around sneaker stuff . Okay , everything went digital , right , sneakers app and uh , and you know , uh , you got to get in , like , you got to get in the . You know launch lines online and like get queued up and like all this kind of stuff . Right , everything goes digital . Everything is like you know geo fence , are you in the ? You know geofence ? Are you in the ? You know , then you can have access to this thing online .
Speaker 1But I missed being in line with this group of people who I don't really know . I don't actually know I might know their
The Origins of Deadstock's Signature Colors
Speaker 1Nike Talk name or their ISS name . I know that they don't wear my shoe size so that they're not in front of me , right , but like this line of people who I see every week , every other week every month . Kids you know , jordans were used to release on Thursdays . They had to switch it to Saturdays because kids were skipping school . Right , like , yeah , that's how , that's how serious this thing is , right Up to some people . So , saturday morning , the homies leaving from the club , still drunk , probably shouldn't have drove here , Right , the high school kid who you know got to have the newest . Kobe . The plumber , the lawyer we're all in line . You know the , the , the girl who bray hair Right , like , we're all there , right , right , because we all love this thing . Right , like , we're all there , right , right , because we all love this thing .
Speaker 1And so for me , that was what I wanted was , like I want all those people to be able to go somewhere . Yeah , right , and and and talk about because while we're in line , we're all appreciating . We're not talking about shoes the whole time . Right , we know , we're here for J's bro , we're here for Kobe , we're here for LeBron's . Right , like , you got those cool . Yeah , blah , blah . We might talk about shoes for like five minutes , 20 minutes , we're there for five hours . We're talking about life , but I still don't know your name . You know what I'm saying and it was just like so personal , over , like a thing that we enjoy .
Speaker 1And so , for me , with coffee , it was like how do we make this the same version of personal , right ? Yeah , but how do we make this more personal for my community or people who look like me , people who who want to understand things the way that I want to understand them ? Yeah , right , and at the end of the day , I'm making product sneakers a product . Coffee is product . Coffee is product . Car stuff is product , right , it's like , at the end of the day , the skateboard , the records , it's all stuff , yeah , right . And so it's like how do we interact with stuff ? How do we find , like , the right way to interact with the stuff ? And like , for coffee , you for sneakers , like it gets shipped to your house and you can wear them wherever , but it's like really cool if you got the story of how you went and got them . For coffee , you can get a ship to your house , but it's like really cool if you get to go , if somebody's making it for you get to experience it .
Speaker 1So , so for me , it was always just like bringing the passion for sneakers , the same energy , you know , uh , but the way that we do the energy , yeah , you know . And and so you know somebody who was already doing coffee stuff . You know leather vest , twirly , handlebar mustache . You know , like they got , they got their own version of the energy , right , but like , that's about my energy , yeah , right , and and so you know , like I started to understand slowly that there were also people who look like me out there who are kind of doing some coffee stuff .
Speaker 1And I found out about David and Boudreaux Right when I first was like learning about Tipping Point . I found out about the homie Twizz , who at the time was in Ohio still , who had just moved to Houston , and I started to find out about , like , other roasters who were like you know , other black roasters . I found that about Michelle Johnson , uh , who was down in LA or like from Phoenix and like , and I started to look around and I'm like , oh , we're out here , we're just not here , we're just not talking about it , you know , and and so I was , was like I'm trying to do what everybody else is doing , so you know , but then it's like from sneakers , we like rare things , we like special stuff . So it's like , okay , what does it look like if we make a shoe ? Yeah , right , like what does it look like if we ? What does our merch look like ? You know , what is our coffee mugs , what is our music when we're playing in the shop ? Yeah , what is the out , what is the atmosphere feel like ?
Speaker 1Right , so for me , I'm like I want to take a barbershop , because that's where we go to get our information a lot of times , or to get validated . Right , right , you're going on a date . You're going , hey , I'm going to need a cut dog . Yeah , right , like , you used to get me , right , while you're in there for your 30 minute haircut . Uh , the , you're getting your , you're getting validation , you're getting information , you feeling , you understanding what's happening in the neighborhood , right , um , or like , what's going on in the city or whatever . But then , uh , but then you're also like getting looking good , right , you leave , you feel better , all that kind of stuff .
Speaker 1And then when you go to the sneaker shop , you're in there because you want this thing and you're looking for the thing that's going to like make the fit . Right , you're looking for , you want , you want to talk to the homies , you want to be able to have something that somebody else don't got . So , like , I wanted to bring that feeling into the coffee space . Yeah , and I think I've been able to do it pretty well , I still don't think that I've done it to the best of my ability . I think I'm on the way .
Speaker 2Well , I love how you've done it . There's a lot of self-expression that's come into Deadstock through you , through your unique perspective , through your community's unique perspective . I remember the first time of when you think about Deadstock or see Deadstock you see , the air force one .
Speaker 2Oh yeah you know , on the top with , I don't know , the cinnamon or however . You guys do that , and then you're able to get different , different shoes , you know . So you've innovated , uh , you know , in the coffee world by bringing your perspective to it . Uh , like , the menus , I don't know , you got like like the names of the of the drinks are influenced by sport , by sneakers , and you mentioned all the different merch and the jacket that you came in with and all the collaborations and stuff . But for the , for the menu , can you drop a couple of ?
Speaker 1the names yeah , yeah , I mean , supposedly LeBron's favorite drink is the Arnold Palmer . The names of the drinks yeah , I mean , supposedly lebron's favorite drink is the arnold palmer . Uh , there is a shoe that got street named the the lebron palmer . Uh , so it was a , uh , lebron nine I believe that was colored up like , uh , like shirts that arnold palmer used to wear when he was golfing . So when we made when I was making a drink , uh , that was coffee and sweet tea , because I'm from the south , so like sweet tea is what we do . One day I was drinking a drink , uh , that was coffee and sweet tea , cause I'm from the South , so like sweet tea is what we do . One day I was drinking one . I didn't want to drink the whole thing . I had some lemonade in the refrigerator , so I cut it . I'm like , oh , it's like Arnold Palmer , so , whatever , take a sip . I was like , bro , what is this ? And instantly I was like this drink is called the LeBron Palmer , right and so . But that's from like years of sneaker stuff , right . Like knowing these stories of LeBron's love for the , you know , for Arnold Balmers , right . Or like for a drink , for that drink , the sneakers , all those things come together . I tasted them . Oh , this tastes like this moment , right , and so . But then also like Zero Chill , named after Dame Lillard , you know , from when he hit the joint on the Rockets , right , yeah , you know , because he got ice in the veins and he was number zero , you know . Or the letter O or whatever you know . I was just like thinking about the moments in going to games , right , and how the O and the zero have always been in his life , you know . And then , like when Gucci got out of jail and I wanted a purple drink First , I actually made it when Prince died and it was like a , it was just like a purple , like a sparkling lavender lemonade . Okay , when Gucci got out , we did it . I renamed it the Gucci , and so it still is named the Gucci at the . We did it , I renamed it the Gucci , and so it still is named the Gucci at the shop to this day .
Speaker 1But then , like Universal Music , a while ago , hit us up to do something with Metro and we made a drink for him , and so we took the Gucci and we added this I was in Japan one time and tried this chili pepper that numbs your mouth , the Abudo Sancho chili pepper in Japan one time and tried this chili pepper that numbs your mouth , the Abudo Sancho chili pepper , and so we put uh , we did it with blackberry to make it like more purple and put the chili pepper in it and it kind of tastes like , uh , like a lemongrass . Okay , so it was like blackberry lemongrass bubbly , but also like numbs your mouth but served in a double cup . But also like numbs your mouth but served in a double cup . It looks like something else , right , like , and so so , like . So we just call it the .
Speaker 1I think we just call it the Metro Boomin , like , and that was right . And so you know , we've always just done things like that . That makes sense to what we do . Yeah , right , and when , and you know , to our detriment , sometimes customers come in and you know , to our detriment , sometimes customers come in and they start to rename things based off of , but it's because , also , like , we have no menu , right , like you talk about the menu but there actually is no menu . Oh , the whole thing is is is a menu ? Your experience like , right ?
Speaker 2people come in .
Speaker 1they're the first thing . People are looking around . We're like we actually don't have a menu , we we just make you whatever you want . And people are like I know you ain't got this and we're like we got that . Or do you want us to just make something for you when they ask how are you feeling ? What are you feeling ? I want something cold , ok . I want something fruity , ok , like this kind or like this . You want sour or do you want sweet ? You ?
Speaker 2know , do you want ? And we just kind of like craft , the way that you are going to experience our stuff and you get to experience it the way that you want to Aspire . I love it , man , I love it . I've been thinking for me , I've been thinking deeply on community . You know , as we're building Big Yard and , you know , trying to figure out where Big Yard's spaces are , continuing to define what Big Yard does , but also defining what I do personally , right , what does this podcast exist for ? What's the creative agency exist for ?
Speaker 2You know , all these different things that I find myself spending my time in , and oftentimes it comes back to community , and I've been spending time in trying to define what community actually is , because it could easily become a buzzword , right , like we've said community , probably more times than we could count in this conversation , like , what does it actually mean ? Right , because Joe Schmoe up the street could also be talking about community , and so , as far as I've gotten , is community is , uh , is the people , it's the place and the culture in my mind . Okay , and if you , if those are kind of like the three pillars of community and you're assisting or empowering one of those things , then you're giving back to our community . If you're empowering all three , then you're triple bottom line , you're hitting it out of the park , yeah so , and I'm thinking , as you're like talking about dead stock and you're talking about people coming in and having an experience and having the space , you know you're empowering the people .
Speaker 2You're in Old Town , right , you haven't left from Old Town , which Old Town and Portland , for those who don't know is . You know that's downtown but it's a rough area because you know there's a lot of folks who are dealing with addiction and there's a lot of vandalism that goes on . Old Town's got its own thing , but because Dead Sock is there , you're empowering a place . And then you have this sneaker culture and coffee culture that has all come together and you're creating that . And so thank you I appreciate that For empowering our community and inspiring our community , right , and I'm glad that we've been able to have you on the show with Beast Guard TV , because this is actually exists to inspire community . This is for community as well , you know , for whoever listens and watches out here and hears you've given you know that game , define what their success looks like and what their passions are and feel confident that they can go and pursue those , because they've heard the , the dookie stories . You know they heard about you cleaning the dookie ?
Speaker 1I feel like the dookie stories might have to be my . Hey , tell me the worst story about your career . I feel like I'm about to be in the street . You might need to have a little content series . Man , I might . That's what I'm saying . Dookie stories is real man . Etumbo's Dookie stories ? Come on , no , no , no , no , no , no , come on man . Oh man , dookie should be dope , dookie should be dope . Dookie could be dope . You know it could be . You could innovate that space . When you're ready , man , nah , I don't know if I'm ready . I still got PTSD .
Speaker 2I bet , I bet . Well , I appreciate you man . Yeah , sam , that's our time for today . I appreciate it , appreciate you spending the time hey , thank you .
Speaker 1Thank you for having me . Thanks to all y'all in here yeah , it's a lot of . I don't think people understand how much work this kind of stuff is , man . So we got a great team . Yeah , we got the RB , etar Shani , yeah , yeah , people don't get it .
Speaker 2Come on you next time . Peace .
Creating Authentic Community Experiences
Speaker 2This episode of Beast Guard TV has been brought to you by Scarlet Creative . For the full length video episode and more content , find us on Instagram , youtube and TikTok at Beast Guard TV . Instagram , youtube and TikTok at Beast Guard TV . And please leave us a review . Drop a comment . What do you want to see ? What do you want to hear ? Who do you want to hear from ? We would love to hear from you . This is your host , with the most Brennan Scarlett signing off Peace .