It has been a dream of mine, ever since we started the business.

In an old historic brick building in Matthews, NC, (right outside of Charlotte) across the street from a 100 year-old hardware store that sells feed, seed, and bolts, we have a storefront.

As a boy, I grew up visiting my Grandparents and their appliance and mower store in the center of a small town in the mid-West. It was a hub of activity for the town that could bring in people for a new television, mower repair, or a new homeowner looking for a washing machine. The conversations always turned to family and small town talk.

Over the years, in the midst of big box stores and online giants, I kept feeling something missing, especially as I opened Buffalo Jackson online. There was something connected to that experience as a boy and the past that seems lost to efficiency and the "everything" store.

Over the last few years, when the work got to be too much, I would wander antique stores out West in Colorado and since moving to North Carolina, the small southern towns near me to be inspired by the things of old. I'd buy trunks and vintage items from stores and old dusty garages with the dream that maybe I would open up a store one day. We even found a buffalo on that quest.

This idea for Buffalo Jackson first began in Jackson Hole, Wyoming during a leadership program a buddy and I started with 12 college men almost 4 years ago. Since then, our family has moved back to the South with the hope to establish these grounds as a place to help re-cultivate the lost character of men, and explore the rich and often forgotten masculine stories of the past through clothing and leather goods.

This little trading post is chance to share that story in a personal way. 

We would love you to come visit and experience it. 

I would also love to personally meet you, swap some stories, show you some of the items we have up on our walls, and take in the vision of what we are trying to tell folks about Buffalo Jackson.

With some hard work and our amazing and loyal customers like you, taking risks on a new brand, we are building that. We never took on investment money, or a rich uncle. We bought a little, and sold a little, and still hold to that.

If you are ever driving through, I hope you consider stopping by. We are grateful for the opportunity to build something we hope will stand for our convictions and beliefs in our culture today and to stand for a cause hopefully our grandfathers might be proud of.

Sincerely,

Xan Hood

Founder

100 W John St., Unit G, Matthews, NC 28104 

I've been asking some questions lately about business... they are centered around the question... why?

I think for most of us... at least for me... it is easy to live for the MORE. And in business, there is this assumption that if you can grow bigger, you do. And if you can get more, you got for it. And if people are asking for things, you give them all of it.

I might be off here... but rarely do you find contentment in a business... because by its nature it is a moving thing, markets are changing, innovation is fueling new ways of doing business, and changing dynamics bring you to re-evaluate and there is the pressure of paying bills and taking care of those in your care while holding off the threat of competition. And while those are all necessary elements, I think it sometimes leaves the quest in those who are the owners... you must compete, you must win, you must take on more, and more. And so if you have an opportunity... you must seize it.

I can't help but look around and ask the question... at what cost?

At what cost do we give our lives to the demands of that? We work more hours, push through evenings, weekends, we make decisions that will make more. All for this believe that if we get it, then maybe we could settle down. Enjoy that vacation we keep putting off. Maybe have that house down the street.

I hope I don't sound too European economics here, because I am a big fan of free markets giving all the options here to choose. To drive and drive, or to find your niche and enjoy it. Take that month vacation in the summer. Or work through it.

I think for me... here is in part of where my question came... I can easily fall into the work, work, work for some future reward.

But here is where all that gets leveled for me... my wife and my kids.

I keep wondering... are they going to ask... hey dad, why didn't you risk a little more with your business and growth? Dad, could we have lived in that house down the road instead of this one? Is my wife going to look back later in life and wish she had more designer clothes, or more of me being present at home?

I had a good conversation with a friend about this the other day... and I am pretty convinced that while God might want to bless a business, I doubt he wants to bless it to keep us working more, and more taken out from our family, our children, and the things that are important.

I can't speak for everyone here, but I am realizing I have a choice. I can run hard, hustle even more, and hope it all pays off for a future reward, but I might risk losing some things along the way... including intimacy with my wife, a good relationship with my kids, and friendship and community.

This all came full circle for me this week. I was given a really unique opportunity that on one level could have set everything in 10X speed on the business. Sales would sky rocket. And there would be some sense, I would be well on my way. But as I talked through it and tried to explore  and hold it with some of the things that mean the most to me, I realized regardless of the positives or upside, it would guarantee I would have less time for my family and my wife.

I decided to turn it down. 

I think it was a true gift to be given the opportunity, and maybe even more to make a choice.

Measuring that opportunity... I was trying to ask for all the positives.... at what cost?

What does one have to give up to get that? What sacrifice might have to be made?

So today... I wrestle with the consequences of slower growth, missed "opportunities" but a chance that maybe if I give the hours set aside to honor my work, put in a respectable hour, and have energy to invest and care for my kids, and in my relationship with my wife. Maybe that is the greater reward right there... today.

It's hard knowing that many would argue you jump on the opportunity, and as I watch my competitors I see where those choices are made every day to do that. But at what cost?

I know for me, I want to build a brand that reflects values I believe in. I want to build a brand that grows at the pace that allows me to not neglect all the things that are important.

As one much wiser than me said, "you can gain the whole world, but lose your soul."

It might go with saying for you... what choices are you making? Are you considering the cost of what you put your hands to? Maybe there is a time to sacrifice that, like those going off to war, and maybe there is a time to put down your arms, and fight for the family, or even finding the balance of in between. It might be good to ask what season you are in.

I think they are questions we need to ask... because in the end, if you let others make that for you, or you follow opportunities, you might never ask.

There are few more celebrated events in sports than The Masters. The icon of the outline of the US with the flag in Augusta, defines it well. 

The conclusion, like all the ones before it, came this Sunday. It is one of those treasured events embedded in our American fabric. Golf also has a special place in my family, because we learned to play at a young age and there are many memories on the golf course in Tennessee and on vacations on Hilton Head Island with my brother and father.

But the thing that always gets me in the moment leading up to the 18^th green of the Masters is not always the outcome and who wins the jacket. But the moments before the final putts. The moment before the winning moment.

The pressure has built. The tension is visible on the men’s faces and the sacredness of the pursuit of the prize. As the eyeballs of millions rest on the shoulders of these men who have spent their career dreaming and wishing for this moment.

We hang in their suspense.

One thing that always intrigues me about sports is that that for most of us, we ususally are watching other people have those moments. We are part of them, and rooting with them, but it is truly their moment that we are part of. We are the more passive participants, and they are the ones in the arena. It should not be hard to see in the emotion of the faces with the fans... the one who has the most that has been given to this cause.. they are the ones.

Those moments stay with you... you remember where you were. The experience of watching it all unfold. They are burned in your memory for years to come.

In some ways we share that moment as shown above. And that is what brings such emotion on our part, but as you can see... it is the one with it all on the line, who has the personal sacrifice, the risk, the hours logged in dedication and practice to the game that owns the moment. Their emotion in some ways becomes ours.

As I celebrate, I always wonder in that moment of theirs… were you and I met to have that too?

I mean, its only a few that will ever wear the green jacket.  And that is what makes it such a special event. But what does it mean to live our lives to get there too? To put so many hours in practice and in the grind that we have everything firing and our life being bled for all to see? Am I willing to risk and be so disciplined to get there? Or would I rather just be content watching others find it?

What you never see at the Masters, is how many guys scrapped and sacrificed to get the money together to go on tour. How many nights on the phone with their wives in a crappy hotel room to hear stories about their young daughter or son. How many times did they think of giving up, only to try one more time?

The Masters to me has some connection that it has something to do with giving your everything, risking it all, and putting all those years on the line and rising to that moment.

So when it comes to you and I... are we willing to do this as well?

I wonder if we might participate in those type of moments. That after all those years of sacrifice and suffering, those dreams we had as a child, we might find ourselves there in the Master’s moment. I believe deep down, we were not meant to just watch someone else, but experience that as well. I believe we are meant to share and revel in others, and that should inspire us, to risk and step out to experience that too.

And that is why I am always in that pause of seeing their face and the approach to the green as the moment before the moment comes, there is a great joy and excitement for them, and yet a deep longing in me that comes back.

I am longing to experience that myself. Not necessarily winning a green jacket, but where my commitment and sacrifice to what I have yearned for and pursued, and given my life for, meets that connection that I am finding myself in that moment to give it all. The crowd to roar, the emotion to be poured out, and to know somehow I showed up and it was enough.

Whatever thrill, whatever joy that both those men and our own hearts leaped to on Sunday… well it is Monday morning. And time to hit the books, or get through the mounds of emails, or pick up that club again in the silence of the morning hours. There are no crowds, no promises, but for some… there is that dream in us, that just maybe if I gave my life like that, I might be there one day.

In some ways… they are the ones that give us hope. The ones who are out there sacrificing and dreaming proving that if they work hard, and give their all… they just might be in that moment one day. They beget the next generation of Masters hopefuls, and hopefully for the rest, that hope we are to experience that too.

For some, the Masters might be merely entertainment… a chance to escape and live through another. But for me, it is connecting back into that longing and desire. I revel in their moment, cherish it and partake in that joy for them, and am reminded that I too, still have a green jacket I am pursing.

May we continue to celebrate and honor others, and also spend our lives in a worthy cause, looking for that moment for our friends, and that we might find ourselves there too.

I can’t help but think if we were to live true to who we are, and to our passions, and the mission in our hearts, and follow the suffering and sacrifice that it requires… there is in some form a great cloud of witnesses to cheer us on and claim that green jacket waiting on us too.

As we step back into Monday... what is the green jacket you are pursuing? It's worth a moment of reflection. And if you don't have one... maybe a time to dream a little.

It is hard to imagine the headlines this week. “17 year old creates an app that sells for $30 Million dollars to Yahoo.” Impressive for such a young person going through adolescence. And while it is attention grabbing, it really is not all that new.

The American Dream and success is as old as our country, but it appears to be at least on the surface, changing… not in outcomes but the time it takes to achieve it.

Mark Zuckerberg might be the quintessential example of a college kid with a hoodie starting a multi-billion dollar Facebook idea in a dorm room. Within a few years, his idea is impacting global politics.

A prime example is the founder of Groupon, Andrew Mason. He built the venture into the fastest growing company to ever receive a $1 Billion dollar evaluation in less than 18 months of its launch, all the while still in his 20’s. Quite an accomplishment for a young buck.

A few days ago I finally was able to open the much anticipated MAILBOX app that had created so much buzz you had to wait in a line to get it. I started at number 950,000. I waited for weeks to just try the service on my iPhone. I waited and waited. It was down to around 175,000, and while I was still waiting to just try the app, news came it had sold for around $100 Million.

What? $100 Million. I was still in line.

The world is moving quick. Looking to the past, can seem archaic at times but I can’t help to ask if there is something buried there when the world was slower and so was the recipe of success. Food grew at the pace you planted and harvested, not could run to the store. You could travel as fast as your legs or your horses could ride, but not faster. Patience was a required virtue.

Point is this… you really could not hurry success, like you could not hurry most anything else… it took awhile to achieve. You had to plant it, water it, and wait till it would grow.

Today, well most of those barriers have been removed. We have instant access to information online, travel at light speed, and the technology of today, takes away so many barriers that required any waiting.

While I would be the first to say I have enjoyed that, I can’t help but ask… does it produce the same success and the character that might be needed in the people by achieving it so early? What is in the process of waiting in line? Or earning your way into that position?

Ironically after the 17 year old new story came on the news, came the PowerBall $300 Million winner. It was an interesting parallel.

Think about all those lottery winners. Folks who are often living one check to the next, instantly come into millions. Most of the documented stories say that it ruins most folks. And they end up broke.  Everyone becomes their friend, money is spent, and wasted, and after a decade… it is somehow all spent.

It is as if their life had not produced the character and container to hold that type of wealth and how to handle it so quickly. And the result is most are worse off then before.

The fact that so many of our ancestors would be willing to travel for weeks by boat just for the chance to come to America, and take part in the original American dream, and just be given the opportunity to spend decades to build it, shows there was a virtue in enduring the process to obtain it. They were in for the long run.

What pushed the wagons Westward to farm land that required years of clear cutting trees, tilling ground, and learning their land to achieve it? It wasn’t the promise of a quick IPO, or selling out to a bigger business in a few weeks. That Mailbox App had been released and sold before they would have even made the voyage to America.

Here is another question… Do most of us young men and women in America, would we willing to set out for this journey today?

I would argue most might say… why put in the work? We don’t need it. We have made so much progress. Why would you want to go through that if you could achieve it in just a few years, maybe even a few months of intense work? We can speed up this process. Microwaved success. Instant.

But that is the problem. We don’t think about what that produced in those people.

That fastest growing company… Groupon. Well, after the company went public and after increasing pressure, he resigned. The parting words for the company he founded as he was asked to step down? His resignation letter was so odd, so childish and quirky, that Fox Business brought in a 10 year old actor to read it on air.

Child Actor Reading Resignation Letter

I couldn’t agree more. Was the guy smart, you bet. But look at what a teenager does when he is given a throne without the process and character to handle it over in North Korea. He is playing out video game war games with the United States. It’s childish success. The kid needs a spanking. Seriously, he really does.

Here is what I am beginning to think… “What if the greatest gift we could be given is not getting it… at least… not so early.”

There is a great story in the Biblical texts of Moses that represents what I think true leadership comes from…

So we have Moses. He was born as a baby in a time when Egypt was slaughtering all the children of their slaves. His mom floats him down the Nile in hopes of an escape and with the providence of God, he is picked up by the Pharaoah’s wife. He goes from assumed death to be raised in the greatest household of wealth, power, and education in the world. That would appear a recipe for early success.

This kid must feel special. He is dining, learning, and sitting with the pharaoh. Moses is given the highest education, all the luxuries and power with the position.

But he is divided. He also knows he is not like them. He is a Hebrew. His people are the slaves building the Pharoah’s Empire that he looks out upon each day. One day… he sees his Hebrew people in this condition. And that hubrus comes into action. He sees his opportunity and seizes it. “What if the people will see me and notice I am their leader.” He goes for it. Success? Well, not exactly. He kills a man and is driven out. Far away. Wilderness. Abandonment. Attached from all his previous identity.

How long? Well… 40 long years. 40 years away from power, success, riches, entitlement.

That part of the story is often lost for the Moses we all know who is the leader who takes his people through the Red Sea.

But did you notice where he had to go first?

I have to think there is some very serious intentionality here. Those 40 years of wandering in the desert. Apart from his throne, from his people he thinks he is to save. This is the guy who is to lead God’s people. And where does he have to go?

The think we lack as a culture right now is honoring how character is cultivated. How is that? Well, its not getting what you want so early. It’s learning to bleed and sweat. Heading into a desert experience, maybe from your own foolishness like Moses. It is about learning life is not always about you. Learning from failures. Building the character that is needed for those moments.

Is success early and our expectation of it, good for us in the long run? Most people that get it early, well, they don’t do so well later.

No one is talking about that today. That there is something more important than success and money or headlines. Character. The thing that can’t be made quickly. Can’t be purchased, can’t be learned in a quick weekend. It takes longer than we want.

I am 34 years old. I feel a bit between the guy out of college and the experienced guy a decade or two away. But as I look at where I am, and what is shaping me. I can see that need for success early, and yet, the gift of not getting it. I am not sure if I had the substance to handle it. More than likely it would look like something similar to the lottery story.

Instead the last decade has humbled me. Taught me some lessons about managing money, my relationships, including with my wife. mostly by not doing it well. I have had to look at how I spent money, viewed my life, examined opportunities.

Here is what I would love you to consider with me…

What if you considered heading in a different direction.  What if we built our lives similar to the original dream. Hard work and a long path. We built our lives that grew character above all. That success was an outcome of a life, not a lottery pick.

One thing that struck me in learning about so many of the tycoons of a few generations ago. After all their wealth and success, it seemed what they wanted even more was a good name after it. They wanted a legacy. And the irony for many, was the choices they made earlier, haunted and stayed with them. I can’t help but wonder, what if we start there with that goal in mind. That regardless of great success or not, we will have our name, our character, and our legacy.

What if you looked at your life as a longer approach. What if you were to build something and find success, but have it in time. You and I had some learning years. We had the hope that in the decade of your 40’s or 50’s. Instead of the first thing you start, work for, create, might not be the thing.

What if you believed the American dream of our great-great grandfathers. That is a story that has been lost. And we need to recover. Character above success. And fortune only if that comes after a life of virtues that we esteem.

You can read the article here...

(Click Here or on Image)

It was a great opportunity to share some of our story. Since our business started with a few thousands dollars and an idea, (we never got a big check from anyone) I have had to really manage our cash flow and watch every penny in and out of the business. At one point I was looking to get my MBA and decided this business might be that learning opportunity. And it sure has been quite a learning experience.

While I imagine you could argue the case for getting a larger amount of working capital to begin the business, I have found that having less, meant I really had to be strategic about every dollar I spent. It has taught me some great lessons. And while I have failed and made some stupid mistakes, I never had so much money that I was dangerous. 3 years into it, been grateful for that part. Little by little.

Hope you enjoy the article. I am realizing it is quite a good and deeply honoring thing to get a little press here and there.

The outfit at Old Try and the two proprietors, Micah and Marriana, are just two wonderful people through and through. With the age of the BIG brands and often brands being owned by one major holding company, its refreshing to find friends in the business who have incredible talent and who are building their business one step at a time. Their creativity, authenticity, and style is unique to them and they stand shoulders apart from the rest of the crowd.

After a morning breakfast together in Charlotte, there was no doubt we had to create something together.

We sat together and drew up some plans, and after some development and research we think Old Try nailed it.

So we are excited to announce the two prints:

SEE AMERICA FIRST PRINT - Inspired by the railroad opening up and the need to get those city folks back East to come out to the West and experience their own land over Europe. I mean... who needs the Arc de Triomphe when you can see a pack of wild buffalo roaming and grazing through Yellowstone? See America First...

PURCHASE PRINT HERE

GO WEST YOUNG MAN PRINT - A print inspired by one of the founders of the National Parks Horace Greeley... "Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country."

PURCHASE PRINT HERE

<Check Out BACK DOWN SOUTH Here>

<Shop the Jackson Vest Here>

A few years back, we designed a leather sunglass strap for men. Most folks know them as croakies, but whatever you call them, we’ve tried to bring them into a classic look to honor the gentleman in us all.

Here is what I have gathered about the last few decades…

Most people spend $50-$300 on a nice pair of sunglasses. They treat their glasses like they might a hunting dog. Care, love, and tenderness… all goes into those glasses.

But it stops there.

Walk around and you find cheap foam hanging off them. The cost of that? About $.50, actually more like a dime. This is a crime.

It would be like buying a BMW and then driving off the lot and going over to Wal-Mart and asking them to put on the cheapest tire. We are looking for performance here… So at Buffalo Jackson, we tried to honor the rugged gentlemen and bring the leather sunglass straps up to the standard of your sunglasses.

We took cow leather, added pigskin lining on the back (one of the toughest leathers you can find), and sewed it together with nylon stitching.

The point? These puppies will last. And they will compliment your sunglasses.

Great things about our leather sunglass straps … 

• They wear into their character. Think of them like your favorite shoes or a worn pair of jeans. They will stretch onto your glasses like a glove. The leather gets better with time. 
• Compliments… yes, wherever you go, people will ask… and want to examine them. Remember, they are still in the world of foam

• Small frames fit great, large frames? Rayban Wayfarers? All you have to do is put a pencil in the leather hole and stretch it out. Leather is amazing like that.
• Quality…  I can’t stress this enough… they live up to a high standard.
• Options in Dark Walnut or Whiskey Leather

Shop our Leather Sunglass Straps Here

I confess a few years ago, I had assumed they were for the business class and just for board meetings. But a good friend turned me onto the experience of a padfolio as a practical and everyday use item. And ever since then, I continue to use mine just about everyday.  From meetings where I can pull out the note pad, to grabbing a quick bite of lunch where I have my files and receipts that I can review. It is fast and light, unlike carrying in a big bulky bag. And yet, fits great when you need to take your laptop, and the rest. I take mine everywhere.

In fact... as I write this... it is right here with me... Its aged a bit. The leather is looking better today, than when I first started using it.

 Items in mine:

-       Extra Envelopes, Receipts, Sheets of paper, Notes

-       Pens, Full Pad of Paper

-       3 Folders with account information in each

-       Two Slots for my credit cards

-       Charge cords and headphones

-       2012 – 2013 Calendar (removed for this picture)

The left side has room for a few credit cards in two slots, your photo id, and a pocket area you can use for cords, pens, receipts, and even an iphone or phone.

One of the unique features of our leather padfolio design is our right side flap.

When I designed this, I wanted to give the opportunity to use a pad of paper or a calendar you can tuck in the leather slot on the right side, or use it for files… Or even a combination of all three.

Here it is being used for just a pad of paper...

I feel like a padfolio needs to be versatile to change… it can handle classic items… but has space for wires, credit cards for travel, slots to hold maps… you name it. 

We designed the right side flap to be thick enough to hold a pad of paper, but still available to still fold out to hold file folders, papers, and a full size calendar you can tuck in the back page.

Shop the Travel and Business Padfolio Here

It all comes down to the animal. Think about traditional leather that is made from a cow. A cow came from European climates. Their life is more about standing around and grazing in small areas. While great for meat with all that fat, they are not exactly known for their toughness.

Think of cow leather like a house cat.

And then think of buffalo leather like a lion from Africa.

What happens when you put a domestic cat in an African jungle? Well, the "Missing Signs" go up in the neighborhood.

So when it comes to your leather… specifically mens leather shoes. The same applies. It all comes down  to the hide. You want the animal that matches what you will put it through. Because it’s been there before. And the hide has spent the last few million years building a hide structure that will match what you will do with them for the next 10, 20, or 50.

Think of the buffalo.  Here are a few quick lessons on them…

The buffalo are like dinosaurs. They have been around forever. And they scare people how tough looking they are. They are able to survive in freezing climates reaching -50 degrees in the Dakota’s during a winter or up to 110 degrees in the Arizona hot climate. This survivability and adaptability is part of the hide. It provides the unique hide fiber structure that after thousands of centuries became the perfect leather that was resilient and tough.

When it comes to a tough and lasting mens shoe, you need rigid leather that will hold its form but also stretch to the individuals feet. This is what makes bison leather so unique and how it performs. While cow leather has horizontal fibers, bison hides and its leather have interlocking fiber structure so it stretches out, and then after its use fits back together. It is truly the ultimate leather for shoes.

<< Shop our Men's Bison Shoe Collection Here >>

We are a very competitive nation; from our sports, to our business, to our hunting activities, and even our politics… we compete. We find ways of measuring everything, from the size of car engines, to deer racks, to a person’s success.

America is one giant competitive engine in motion.

And with that competition cycle, there are winners and losers. For every chosen winner, there is a line of losers in the wake. And in America, we don’t like to lose.

 I believe in every one of us, especially as men, there is a question… “do I measure up?” And “how am I doing as a man?”

We take that question out. Where do most of us decide?

Well, we do what Americans do. We compare ourselves and compete for it with other men.

I know for myself, as a rather small and undeveloped freshmen walking through the halls of high school the answer I knew was that whatever I was… I was not big, strong, or great enough to measure to up what was around me. This body, this mind, this person…. I was going to have to earn this in time and win.

I’ve noticed something in my 30’s now that can get you in trouble. When you don’t quite have a sense of who you are and you take that question to others, you take that out into all those areas of testing. You throw yourself in the area’s of business, sports, women, you name it, and see how you compare.

I can remember a few years ago being called out by a mentor. “So when you feel small, you have to make other men feel smaller.” 

Listening to it, I wanted to re-act sharply, heck no. That sounded horrible. But it hit me. I do that. In fact, the whole goal was really to out compete other men. From close friends to random folks I met. I was internally checking myself with a question… “am I better?”

I think there is a sense that if I can test myself and win over the next guy, well, then somehow I am strong. If I can win, whatever area you name against that other person, then there is something inside that says… “you do measure up.”

But what a trap. If we compare ourselves to others, we are only as great as our success is over others. We are saying to those around us, maybe even friends whether we say it or just by our internal motivations… “I need to be greater than you.”

Envy is the monster there. We can live our lives being jealous and threatened by anyone.

And let that go on for awhile… and well. We either spend our lives trying to prove to ourselves by trying to go against larger challenges, or we might check out and find a pack we can try and be the top of. And this is where it gets us in trouble, we can easily find ourselves around people that don’t challenge us in good ways. We create small men in our minds, to make us feel big.

We all are unique and competing to earn that is always in some effort diminishing who you are because it is already saying that someone can either give that or take it away. Truth is, we all have different strengths, different displays of what it means to be masculine from strength to mercy, and it requires us looking inward than projecting this to others. Our family, our past, our journey of people who have brought us into those places. Those are gifts by God for us to discover, and I believe part of the journey is weeding through all this and turning from outwardly focused to inwardly. And in some ways, laying down our competitive arms against each other, and finding the greater battles.

And yet, taking that path. Well, it is a harder journey.

I am also convinced all of our strengths and gifts, never diminish another mans. Your greatness should not threaten my own. We can all by in some form our true self and our masculine spirit without making someone smaller. If iron sharpens iron, well then, stronger men come out of strong men joining together.

But here is the challenge there. When we shine, and do offer from a true place, we become a threat to that competitive system. It requires other men to either accept that uniqueness and greatness or judge it and compare to their own. It puts contention on the plate. Envy could be coming your way. Your greatness, might make other men and their insecurities feel small and all kinds of assaults thrown directly and indirectly at you. That can create confusion and envy, and then the cycle repeats. And if you are in the middle of fighting that yourself, well, the system feeds on each other. And it can get pretty nasty.

So here is my suggestion… a simple way today of honoring both yourself and another man.

Consider celebrating the success of another man’s accomplishments.

It does a few things…

1. That man will be grateful that someone sees him and recognizes him without that threat. Your friendship will grow closer.

2. It could be difficult, because it is probably deeply what you are looking for in others to do, as you give it. We tend to hold back, what we want ourselves. But by offering it, your expression will more than likely pay off with others wanting to give that away, maybe even to you one day.

3. It will be a good step in breaking the cycle of envy and help you find yourself amongst other strong men.

I'm starting to think you can know a truely confident man by his circle of friends. Do they bow down to him? Do they become small in his presence? Or are they of equals with great strength and courage and are invited to stand as peers amongst one another? Does that man invite others to be strong for him? Or does he always have to be the strong one?

When we stand together, that sharpening of character and class is being shared amongst us all. And in some ways, we can use that masculine aggression and fight for far greater battles than fighting to win glory from each other. The battles that our family and our country need us to fight.

My brother a few years ago told me the story about homes in Belize. They are mostly unfinished. They are liveable, but still in process. Homes there are constantly being built. They are in a constant process.

Instead of loans to buy their dream house, they take what they have from their paycheck and add to the land they have. So there might be a bedroom and a kitchen. And other sections still in process. As they get some money, they might purchase some cinder blocks to put up walls. A few months later, the ceiling rafters. A few bags of cement for a new floor. It’s a process to build the house. One block at a time. One paycheck at a time

In America, we like things to go quick. And microwaved. We want to finance a dream house immediately. And we found a way to put it on 30 years payment so we could afford it. We might own a huge home, and nice cars, but have 0 net worth. It's a borrowed dream.

Image can be everything.

I don’t point fingers at anyone else, because I’ve had to learn the hard way on all this. I am in my thirties, and so many of us have wanted to live our parent’s success right out of college. It can get us in trouble.

But I’m learning something in this business. Sure there are the tech companies that can shoot up over night, and turn into billion dollar companies. But most companies are built one brick at a time. One day at a time. Not through a financing round that launches you. But sweat and hard work.

The majority of Americans build things through cash flow. Building their company over time. Making a lot of small additions like the folks in Belize.

It’s a good thing. And something we all need to be reminded that good things take time. Including our dreams.

Why? Well for one, there is a huge learning curve. And mistakes will be made. And so making mistakes along the way with a long term approach helps. You can afford to make them. And you will.

What if we saw our lives, our homes, and our businesses as a work in progress? Building one section at a time. It sounds exhausting… and I tend not to want to wait. But what if there is a virtue in it. What if that was something that needed to be shaped in our character. Ambition is good. But what if ambition with patience could bring us into those dreams?

We are building this company a little at a time. A day at a time. Folks will pass us by, innovate beyond us, maybe take a few of our ideas, but we will keep the same pace and building the company a room at a time. A brick at a time.

It’s not as sexy, but it’s the right path.

I’d encourage you in whatever area you are in, season of life, business, relationships, what if you were in it for the long haul. Don’t take out the 30-year mortgage approach of your life to finance all your dreams at once. Don’t sell your companies equity share to make it happen overnight. Build it little by little.

One day… it might just be a mansion.

A few years back a buddy and I started a leadership program to work with college students. Our goal was really to invite them into more of who they are. Unplug them from society, explore their journey, invite older men to teach, father, and guide them in areas they might not have received before, and send them out better men then when they came in. All by God's grace.

My family recently moved to North Carolina, and so as I enter a new season of my life and step away from that role and so many friends that worked together on that mission, I am now more focused on developing and working on products and building a company. Those evenings and conversations with young men remain with me. And haunt me at times.

I must confess, I like and enjoy clothes. But I care much more about the people wearing them.

That is not very fashion forward of me. But, oh well.

I woke up a few mornings ago to a campfire smell. It was probably someone burning some lumber from a new home going up in the suburbs. But the smell took me to the late evenings in Wyoming and Colorado where a group of 10-12 young men would be gathered around a fire on our of our trips. We'd often share our stories, listen to others, and there was always somethig magical that happened amongst us all. Away from technology. Away from distractions. Just the landscape and our own hearts. You just were closer to the hand that made you.

I was thinking about all that tonight because one of the gifts I get every now and then are email exchanges with customers. We are selling products, and so sometimes its more of a transaction. Someone likes something, and we sell it to them. But one thing I love are the conversations that still find their way here. It's not over a fire. Its usually on a computer screen. Two people on different places of the plent. This gentleman was in fact, over in Australia... or I guess, down under.

But through the exchanges... there is that sense... that we are seeking the same things. Our journeys are looking to find and connect to the line of men and our adventures. That masculinity is something we are exploring, our grandfathers are people we honor, that our culture is something we want to see redeemed, and that somehow we might just end up down the same path someday.

I love that. In fact, I need that. Because I really think and hope we are selling much more than clothes. And not just some pipe dream. But an experience we all want to join in. Something that goes beyond fashion.. and that is deep. Something true.

I'm grateful for our customers. I'm honored that somehow, we are given the opportunity to outfit them for an event, a date, or the boardroom. That is what this is all about.

Building a company is often 95% in the weeds, and in details you'd never want to be in, but somehow it is those campfire conversations that keep me going. In fact, I'm kind of hoping that somehow all this hard work might lead me back into those campfires again. For my heart, I know, needs it.

When I think about the clothing industry and men, I can’t help but wonder if it is very lost.

When you look at a fashion runway in New York City, you have to ask… what are they telling us they think a man is? If design follows function, what are they telling us we were made for? Created to do?

I believe beyond just fashion, our country has lost a vision for men. You see it in how it portrays men on sitcoms, fashion runways, the media, and what I would argue is a real war on men.

Are there other wars going on? You bet. The past few decades have brought some great changes to how minorities to women have been viewed and judged. Our society has needed it. But somehow along the way, we castrated our men. We put them on the sidelines. Dressed them in all these feminine styles and somehow maybe made them less of a threat? I'm not sure all of the answers there, but do we honor and value good men in our culture in America today?

And that is what is so interesting about clothing... It is meant to inspire us. Tell the stories of our rich past and function because we are wearing what our ancestors developed and designed for use. And where did most of men’s clothing come from? A function that often had to do with either war or work.

When I explore the past and our rich history in clothing, you find character. The men embodied what they wore. They exuded the values that formed the clothes. Design really was about how clothing functioned for those uses. And so many of the designs from khaki pants to jeans, to Navy Blazers, even bow ties and neckwear, had these elements in them.

That couldn't be farther from clothing today.

When I look out in the clothing industry, I just see people that are less interested in honoring a vision of men, and more about making bucks and cashing in on the current environment of the culture. I see companies wanting to use and exploit history to make money. It is about the bottom line and what is trending. No problem with that, if that is your goal, but I believe that clothing is meant to take us further.

No one wants to live these stories anymore. They just want to sell them. Sell the idea of character and vintage and Americana.

It is supposed to be inspirational. But it starts with living from that place.

It needs to carry and hold to a guiding vision that goes beyond a profit. There needs to be passion. And courage to make decisions that don't just follow trends but have a deeper reason for its existence. And the company needs to have the conviction to build a company that will hold true to those, no matter the shifting winds of what is cool or fashionable each season.

There is a new HERITAGE movement going on right now in clothing. It is articles bringing back the old Americana. Jeans, boots, worn industrial work clothing... it looks so authentic.

But the problem?

It's a trend. It's started by people who spend their time finding the next new thing. They are looking for something unique and cool and after a few months when the new charm wears off, they are ready to blow through it and get to the next trend that might be purple parachute pants or tight shirts. And that is what frustrates me. If you follow fashion, you never sit in something long enough to experience it and take in its depth. You are like the locusts going from one field to the next, consuming all you can, till the fields are eaten, so you go to the next.

That is why I love Yvonne Chouinard... The founder of Patagonia.

He is one of my mentors from afar. I deeply value what he has brought to his company.

Why?

Well, he built a company around his values and beliefs. He lived from his true heart, and a clothing company emerged from it. He never brought on investors that would have changed the mission or ownership structure and loss control of his company for faster growth and more money. He has built it brick by brick. And because of those convictions and passions, I believe has proven he can go against the industry with his focus and ideals and survive and be a light.

What Yvonn Chouinard has done for conservation and clothing practices, and the outdoors, our company would love to do in bringing the old American stories of morality, hard work, honor, and character back in clothes. It's a big vision, and I have no idea if we can pull it off, but we'd love to be the Yvonne Chouinard for a new generation of men. Men that care about honor, character, and class, and who want their clothes to be cut with this in mind.

Our vision is to build a clothing company that honors men of the past and of today. We believe our history is good and full of visionary men who had the values we seek to promote, and meant to inspire us. We don't need to create new heros as much as dig up the ones that have followed in our footsteps and whose shoulders we now stand on.

I am excited to carry out that vision in the years ahead. Will our goal be to scale up and bring on tons of investors to grow it quick? Not looking like it. Our vision is about inspiring the next generation of leaders and men. Bringing back the pages of history in clothing and story, along with creating products that are honorable and time tested. Great attention to detail and with our American heritage in mind.

We are into our third year now, and I feel like we are just getting started.

Our company is growing and we are building it one brick at a time.

So when it comes to clothing ideas or any ideas on creativity for that matter. We are kind of taking other peoples ideas and putting them to our own. Now, this is where it gets a bit touchy. Recently Land’s End took an exact copy of young talented designer named Kiel James Patrick and copied the thing from fabric, material, all the way to the photography.

You can read the story here at www.ivy-style.com

So what should creativity look like? If there is nothing new under the sun, are we justified at just going about making exact copies of each other? What should it look like? 

I was watching a music video of Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors last night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC31SLCQRwc&feature=player_embedded

It really was inspiring. So personal and deep. And I couldn’t help but think this was as good a picture as one could find about creativity and inspiration. And the blend that the stories we live, end up telling us. If we are willing to live them well and risk telling them.

Drew explains that he wanted to go back to Memphis where he grew up to film the music video. He’s got those deep full range of the vocals for blues, did he come up with that style… stole that from Memphis maybe? Just a wanna be copy of those greats? Well, what is beautiful about the video and the song is that he says he wanted to film it with his family. He writes this about it… “We gathered in Memphis, my hometown, to film us doing what we love; laughing, eating, and enjoying each other's company in places where we have a deep history. The Hi Tone Cafe. Central BBQ. My Uncle's Farm, and my Great Grandfathers 1942 Jeep, still in my father's possession. My nieces and nephew steal the show with their innocence, their joy, and their courage.”

Reading that is enough for me to be inspired.

And between watching the video and having that personal story, I think Drew speaks to that creative place with a unique story to tell. I like the phrase… deep history. Driving around his great grandfather’s jeep, being with his family, good food, and those familiar places. Ah, yes, that is what I connect to in the video. This is his life… where he find his inspiration... and the music feeds that place in all of us. This is real. A true story. I want to keep listening… what else does he have to say in his songs?

So what should creativity look like? I guess it takes many forms, but I don’t think it is a carbon copy of a product ripped off in China by Land’s End. That is consumerism. I think it has to do with sitting in your story enough to understand how to share it and tell it. As Steve Job’s say… it’s just connecting the dots. The true dots, I believe that are yours to connect. I think creativity might look a lot like Drew and Ellie's (his wife) song and video.

I hope as our company grows, we can draw from those true stories and our history. I want to continue to live that out myself, and what inspires us to find the next thing for our company website and in clothes. I don't want to turn into a Land's End. Just ripping off others. I want to put the time and the work into understanding and living out my own story. I hope we are just getting started. Did we come up with bow ties, waxed canvas, or dress shirts? Nope. There is nothing new under sun. But do we have a story we want to tell, that includes America, our past, and something we think has been lost?

I’d like to think so.  I would be so honored if that was part of our story we get to tell. There are maybe two versions of it... the easy way of Land's End just taking an idea or Drew Holcomb & Designer Kiel James Patrick, for me those are the two paths and choices. 

I’ve heard in the media in recent days about “the war on women.” It’s probably more a political topic right now trying to get votes and divide but the concept has had me thinking. While I don’t mean to be dismissive of those issues, I would also argue what about the war on men?

I am talking about good men.

The last few decades men have taken a beating. The media loves to portray men in a few ways… Hyper-machismo. Or a neutered and soft man. There is the lazy man who sits on the couch and gets yelled at by his dominating wife. There is the adulterous man who sees women as trophies. And let’s not forget probably the most media friendly one… the narcissistic man. He is on every channel showing his exploits and telling the world about himself.

But what about the good man? Where is he these days?

He’s not around those story lines much. But I think he’s the glue that holds the country together. He doesn’t make the news, maybe not the Hollywood story plot, but he’s the guy that takes care of his family, honors his country, and his past, and brings about stability for those around him. He works hard, believes in character, and earning his way. He lives by a moral code. He might have a hunting dog. A wonderful wife or family. And probably goes to church.

I’ve spent my days chasing down a few of those other stereotypes, along with in my shame fitting into a few of the others. But with a family now, and hopefully in a bit more settled place, I believe the good man is probably one of the greatest places to bring about life and hope for our country and our families. We might not end up on the news or on a reality show. But when the kids are older, I hope they will talk about that goodness. I hope. And how it was the strength that led them.

It seems like our grandfather's era weren't quite as eager to hit the spotlight and show up on a reality show. They were a little more simple minded, given over to hard work and patriotism that came from serving your country and living within your means. Maybe it's just looking for idealism where it is not, but there was a groundedness it seemed in accepting a good life, and not trying to live beyond it. Taking care of family, their garden and horses, and maybe a few friends down the street. I'd love to see us get back to that as a country. I think good men need to be celebrated. And maybe the reward is that life lived out away from all the spotlight..

What do you think?

Notice the icicles and fake beards on the men? I really wonder what our ancestors would think of these choreographed runways. What would Ernest Shackleton, the famed British Antartic Explorer coming back from his heroic survival after months on the frozen seas of Antartica think of a fashion week where men put on fake beards and icicles?

What has happened to us as men? What does this reflect on our society? What does fashion tell us about ourselves? That is a bit scary in my opinion.

Ever heard of Moore’s Law? The premise is that technology is supposed to double around every four years. I’ve wondered if that affect could be happening in clothing and fashion as well. Here is a thought on that…

For the first few million years of our existence, we were basically living in the nude. Or for those of us who believe in the Adam and Eve story, it also starts in the nude. Birthday suits were standard issue either side you believe.

Then animal skins became the fad for thousands of years. No fall seasons or spring collections yet. Just a simple deerskin on your body day and night.

This worked for awhile. But then some guy that probably got joked on by his buddies for even the mention of it, decided to try an elk hide instead of the deer. A big risk I’m sure at the time since for the first thousands of years, no one would question the deer hide as the choice. A few thousands of years later, a few natives experimented with bird feathers on their head. First guy got laughed at again, but after 500 years, it was adopted by all. Then one kid took a bear claw and put it around his neck. The village went nuts, fathers talked about the 10,000 years of just deer skins, but somehow everyone started wearing them.

Then came those prideful Greeks. They thought wrapping a sheet around their body made of cotton might bring back the freedom that those deer skin stole. Be a little more free down below less constricting. Adoption to this was much quicker. Again Moore’s Law of fashion. Instead of thousands of years, this was caught on only after a few hundred. Conservatives grumbled it was all brought on by this dangerous progressive thinking. But while there were a few different sheet colors, it was the same sheet.

Things started doubling and much faster by this time. Turn around in fashion was in centuries now. And then somewhere around the 1900’s all that started doubling so fast it got us to the rate we are today. As Oscar Wilde writes, “Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.”

In all seriousness, here is what I want to make a case for; be a man of style, not fashion. Style is timeless. Fashion is not. Style has an anchor to it, while fashion changes with the prevailing wind.

We need to evolve and change. If not, we would still be wearing deer skin. But go slow. Nothing was meant to change over in six months. That's mostly insecurity and consumerism. Style will have you in clothes you can wear for a decade. The other puts you in frozen beard icicles.

A friend and I were discussing the other day why clothing falls apart so easily and isn't made with great quality anymore. Could it be that we don't need it to? It isn't made to last because we only need it for six months. It's made more like a kleenex to be used and thrown away. What if clothing was actually designed with style for a decade or two and manufactured to last that long as well?

We need to step back into that.

Like anything in life, there are two extremes in clothing. Non-engagement (tube socks and generic shirts) or the opposite… which I would consider those pictures above.

You don’t need to be the first to adopt something or the last. Not because you are afraid to fit in, but because usually there is something true about traditions and the past. And yet, there is always room to be fresh and new. Evolve slowly. 

I am a big believer in creativity and its need in humanity and in people. Where you find uniqueness and individual expression, I believe you find the mark of goodness. It is part of why I have come to appreciate America. We honor that part in all of us that yearns for creativity and uniqueness and to be free. We cultivate it in artists, entrepreneurs, and teachers to name a few.

Just head over to North Korea and what you will find is the death of creativity and individualism and with it, the expression of life and hope.

Why do so many authoritative regimes and totalitarian governments hate most religions? It offers a promise of something inside all of us that is an expression of a “creator.”  They just want you to fit in. Utilitarian governments want you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good of the belief of the state or supreme leader. Losing a piece of unique expression and becoming a copy.

Creativity or just a copy?

I am asking that these days… about our company and values. Our products and the future of our business.

We were meant to create. It’s in all of us. It’s a sign of something good and true.

I was invited a few years back to a week to experience women struggling with eating disorders. So many of these women had lost a piece of themselves to this horrible addiction. Many were downcast and had shut down hearts. But as one of the days events turned to an exercise where we were all asked to paint on a canvas. These remarkable colors and designs came out of these women. I had never seen such beauty. It was deep in them, longing to come out. These women has such expressive hearts deep down in there. Artists that had bowed down to a different god.

The world is cut-throat and harsh. It can shut us down. Sometimes it feels the world is set against us becoming who we were mean't to be. Creative image bearers of a creator.

My father was a businessman and my mom an artist. I’ve always found a tension with creativity and business. It’s in my genes. The war between the two. I’ve found myself between the two most of my days. When business gets involved in creative expression, it can get a bit muddled. Exploited and used. Art can just become a copy and sold only for a profits gain.

My thirties have been more about the bottom line, feeding the family, and spreadsheets. It’s often hard to find creative time when there are so many tasks and business things to get to.

I am finding more than ever I have to fight to find some creative time between emails and to-do lists and excel spreadsheets to really clear the head and think of designs or ideas. It is far too easy to get lost in the trap of just duties. But I find that creative thought is crucial. Crucial for me and for all of us to flourish.

I find in clothing, probably much like the field you are in, the majority of people don’t ever get to the creative part. Most are in the business of stealing or duplicating ideas. Often, there is very little creative thought. Business is right brained, art left? So they never meet, or only for one to exploit the other. It’s tempting to just lose yourself and never really offer uniqueness. Sell out to trends and other people’s ideas. Oh man, I am so quick to choose that path.

But I think it goes back to finding out who you are, what story is inside you, and what is yours to tell. I feel like I am still discovering that. How our company is about certain values, and past traditions, and the outdoors, but still with intelligence and gentlemen’s values. And a morality that seems to easily lost.

I think much of it is still waiting to be discovered and with many others I hope that will join and unlock those with me. I hope that is what is coming out of our clothing and leather and shoes. A depth of expression and uniqueness that might relate to others. It is a business and we are producing it in a certain level of volumes. But that we would hold the tension of creativity and art and business together in a mutual respect.

I really hope our company will stand for that and grow in that creative uniqueness.

Ok, now back to all those spreadsheets. 

- Xan Hood

When it comes to building a brand, it’s a difficult proposition. In fact, the statistics say that 9 out of 10 brands fail in their first two years.  One gentleman very successful in the clothing business who I looked to for advice said that  I should do anything else but this business. 18 months later, I understand the reason he said that.

It seems from what I am learning that most brands start with a level of funding (a rich dad or angel investor, maybe their personal finances) but since it takes awhile to build a brand, they can easily go through the initial investment cash and become under-funded and will often run out of the working capital needed. Salaries get cut and there is a lack of funds for new development projects.

But what is always interesting is you would never know it. The website doesn’t show it. The clothes look great and aren’t whispering… “this company is falling apart.” The pictures of the models are of people smiling, the products seem fresh, but then one day they disappear or go bankrupt. I’ve watched a few companies that seemed like great companies just fold up and go away. It always come at a surprise… that company? No way. They seemed to have such a good product or company. But so that is the way of business. Laissez fair markets.

But I hate how that part of the brand is left out. The story behind the story. Why is it that brands today require some sort of illusion? Let’s present a successful logo and image, but behind the scenes there is scrambling and they might be in bad shape. But isn’t a brand at some level supposed to reflect truth? Honesty? Story? A narrative that connects to the heart of it customers? Should it also resonate with the people running it? Do they love the products they are selling? Are their passionate people in it or is it just a investment firm who hired out employees who don’t care about the products or purpose? For the most part, we don’t know this with brands. It’s all the behind the scenes stuff.

I realize this might be a little idealistic thinking. That somehow a company would be honest about their company or how they are doing. In essence, who wants to be buying products from a company that might go bankrupt in a few months? We want to buy from a brand, like we might pick a stock, the ones that are on the up.

But here is where I see the problem with that. It takes away the personal part of the brand. The people behind it are no longer people. They become politicians and only salesmen. They no longer simply relate to who we are and the lives we lead. They are supposed to be fantasies of the life we want.

Ok, that will sell clothes. And you can be successful at that. But I am a believer that we also need people who relate to us. That are maybe just like us. And just living a slightly different life that we can relate with. I'd like to think most of our customers would just as easily be my friends, as anything else.

With that said, I wanted to share what I read this morning and offer a little reflection on our business.

“The bows of the warriors are broken but those who stumbled are armed with strength.”

-1 Samuel 2:4

I’ve been reflecting over the last 24 months of our company, and with it being the start of 2012, I read through a journal I had been writing in. Spent an hour reading the last years moments on paper. It was the most sobering experience I’ve had in awhile. I didn’t realize how many moments of confusion, and struggles over the last year with our business. Building this brand is extremely hard. While I would also say it has been some of the most thrilling moments of my life. There have been many set backs, adversity, manufacturing problems, financial struggles, days of depression. Some days I have found the energy to overcome, other days not knowing if I can make it another day.

We’ve had a few periods of time where I wasn’t sure if I could pay our mortgage. A few nights where I was with my wife and saying if this is too much for our young family, I will give it up. In fact, about 18 months ago I suggested we just set the products on fire in our driveway if she felt this wasn’t a risk she felt confident in. I had to hold it loosely with some of those family obligations. Some of the hardest moments of my life.

But we are also growing... and building new products, sales are increasing, and doors are opening. But one thing I am learning is even with great signs, that doesn't mean we can't still fall on our face. The journey is still hard.

I think that is why that passage in Samuel means something in relating to our business. You can't just look at facts and figures. They aren't the end game success or strength of our business. There are other things going on. Both good and bad. And those are part of life and most certainly our brand. 

Our company has gone through the joys and pains of a business, and I must confess it can be difficult. And I am realizing at whatever level I can, I want to share that. Successful people always talk about failure, and struggles are the way to success, but notice how it is always when they have already overcome it. When they are standing on a platform being invited because of their “success.” It’s not a risky place to share it then. But did they feel that when they were in the middle of it? When it could go either way?

I am reminded of that today, this Monday. The best brands aren’t always the ones with the most money or marketing, or even best products. It’s often out of their hands, their customers and people decide. Greater things going on in the cosmos we aren't in control of. I realized that I want to be a man building a business that brings that part into our story. We might still fail, we might succeed, all that is still open for the days ahead. One of my favorite quotes is Teddy Roosevelt’s “It’s not the critic who counts” quotes. But you have to think… you don’t just come up with a line like that. You have to live it. Roosevelt’s story has all of that. So in essence, the quote is just an embodiment of who he is and what he became.

And so that is my hope with our clothing brand. What is it? Well, it is part of my dreams, part of my sufferings, and struggles, and the hope to see some things change in American apparel and how we run companies. I want authenticity, I want to see little guys be able to succeed, and earn their place in those huge corporate world of brands and money. I hate how our country is polarized and how our country doesn’t believe the little guy can win or earn his way through the American dream. But I have to start with believing that myself, and part of that is growing a company in the midst of all that.

Part of why I love that passage is that it always reminds me that it is sometimes those who have been through something, who have felt the pains and struggles of life, that might a little more perspective and strength. That those who stumble and can live to tell it, and learn from those experiences gain something far beyond just power or victory. I hope that is encouragement to you as well. That often it is our pain and struggles that brings the greatest clarity and hope.  And that if we can overcome those falls, we might gain something on the other end.

- Xan Hood, Founder of Buffalo & Company

I had this thought the other day that clothing might be like the farming industry.

It is hard to believe but there was a time when farming was around 95% of the American population’s job. Can you imagine? Everyone was in farming. Many of our forefathers from Jefferson to Adams had farms and worked in them.

But as the industrial revolution came and new farming technique rose up, America was able to create machines that could do the work of hundreds of men. For an investment in a machine, you could revolutionize your business. Produce larger yields. But it became a scale thing. Large tractors plowing large fields producing large yields and large amounts of money. But some of that money was required to pay for those machines and for all that land. Hence capital requirements. And the birth of American capitalism. But it worked. There could be no greater picture of the fruits of capitalism than in farming. We fed our country and went on to feed the Russians in the 1921 famine that was a socialist revolution. A true sign of our success. And a bit ironic for a group of people who were preaching against us.

But at what price do we pay for economies of scale?

I would argue one of them is uniqueness and creativity.

In economies of scale everything is uniform for efficiency. There are systems in place. It is pretty  much a formula. Same machines, factories, techniques, just over large amounts of space. Think of McDonalds.

Take a look at this company in clothing…

Vanity Fair. http://www.vfc.com/

They are the mass farmer of America in clothing. They own a large amount of the brands in America now.

Wrangler, Nautica, John Varvatos, North Face, Vans, Timberland, Lees, Smartwool

It’s an impressive list. But I would also argue, it’s the formula. They are the Monsanto of clothing. They buy up small farms, plug in their factories and formulas and let it flow.

By all means, I respect capitalism. I believe in it. It is our best system for this earth. You could argue this is a smart business idea. But what makes me sad is that without individuals making choices and living out of their creative wills, we end up getting one mass company. One company that takes this leverage of economies of scale, and offers brands to people that might have very little connection to the brand of the clothing.

If you want to buy 100 shirts, it might cost you $35. But a company that can leverage a few of its brands together and buy 10,000, well, you might be able to get those for $8. And then you can sell it for either four times the profit as the other guy or you can sell it cheaper. If you make four times the profit, well, you can take that profit and buy those little farms and get even bigger and keep leveraging that.

This is the dark side of capitalism. And a bit of what socialism tried to scare us into believing would happen to our system. But here is where I disagree with Karl Marx… we are unique creative individuals who will rise above this.

“We live in an age of great events and little men, and if we are not to become the slaves of our own systems or sink oppressed among the mechanism we ourselves created, it will only be by the bold efforts of originality, by repeated experiment, and by… sustained and unflinching thought.” - Winston Churchill

I believe the reason we don’t sink into that system is that we are people with creativity and originality.  We have human hearts and respond to compassion and truth. Those big systems and corporations tend to lack that. They get fat and lazy. And there are always some young folks with new ideas that break those old ideas and molds.

I would argue the most difficult businesses to start in the 2012 is a small farm. Quite ironic that just a century or two ago, it was the majority of America’s livelihood. Can you imagine trying to make a living with some seed and land today? If you didn’t have the machines, the scaleability, money in the bank, it’s just a very difficult journey unless you have that leverage of scale. The small farmer can no longer survive in this huge scale operation. The leverage of capitalism is that if you can do it “fast, cheaper, or better” you win. Or you get bought out.

I am a big believer than ever that it is important to promote the small creative ones. America began with individual initiatives. Small people making small differences in their communities. When the big guys can out leverage the little ones, our society is going to turn from individuals believing they can achieve a dream to a culture that promotes the 99% against the 1%.

I’d argue that can easily be the case in farming and in clothes. It is happening. But as opposed to believing the government will fix this, or just blaming the corporations (isn’t this the reason for their existence, maximize shareholder wealth?) I would say, let’s turn to people and get the stories out. I believe at the end of the day, people want to work with people they like and believe in and stories that are true.

You will have to pay a little more. You might have to search a little farther to find them. But they often drive progress and change. They are unique and are individuals with ideas. Isn’t that what clothing is about anyways? Individual expression?

Quite ironic since brands are supposed to be about individual identity, and yet, they have become one of the greatest picture of just the opposite.

Most of these original companies at one point had a person who loved and believed in their products. They sold them on street corners, slaved away at a creative idea, were passionate about their products, but then eventually it was sold to a larger corporation to people who mostly saw its financial worth.

So why doesn’t Vanity Fair that owns all these brands just merge them into one massive company? Maybe replace all those labels of North Face, Wranglers, Smartwool, Lee’s, and John Varvatos with the Vanity Fair stock symbol… VFC. Every shirt or jeans or boots had that on it. Would people buy it?

I guess the amount of labels is proof we want a story beyond a stock symbol. Whether it is a true one or not, might be the great and guarded secret. I guess they won’t be looking to buy our company. Oh well.

We need people with passion and mission behind their ideas. I believe capitalism is still the best form for those little guys and girls to bring their products to market, alongside the big ones, but it’s going to take people to value that.

Here are a few of those that I believe in and have original ideas and hope prosper… while some might be considered competitors, I believe that considering all these HUGE corporations, there is plenty of room for us little guys to gain market share.

www.southerntide.com

www.colonellittleton.com

www.saddlebackleather.com

www.otisjamesnashville.com 

www.southerproper.com

www.kieljamespatrick.com

www.wmlambandson.com

I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts on the clothing industry. Especially the latest trends happening. The buzz is all about heritage right now. I walked by Banana Republic today and saw a wonderful wool coat, a hunting/hacking  jacket that really stood out.

It was funny, because just a year ago, I looked in that same window and saw everything opposite of what that jacket represented. Very urbanized sleek styles with that over-feminized metrosexual look.

Now they are selling English style sport jackets.

It was like two extremes, all in about one year. And really, since Banana Republic started as a safari lifestyle company, it has almost come full circle.

And then it hit me.

Most clothing brands are just like diet companies.

Think about it. Every 6 months or so, there is a new fad diet. South Beach, Atkins, Zone, All meat, there is always a new one. The public consumes it, and then they ask for what is next. If you want to get rich? Well, just work on a diet fad, get a few celebrities talking about it, sell it at Wal-mart for about 6 months, and then repeat it all over again with another diet.

Many of the clothing companies are the same way.

It really makes me sad. I see it in so many of these clothing companies. They are all looking to figure out what is “next” in fashion. Will it be rugby shirts or bootcut jeans? They head to fashion shows or big cities so they can find out.

At one level, culture reflects our momentary needs and corrects where the most recent movement took us. History is one huge story of this. Dark ages, renaissance, enlightenment, modern movements. They all come from the void left from the previous period. We always seem to swing from one extreme to the other.

I can respect the beauty of this process, especially when it comes to people sharing their authentic expression of new ideas in art, poetry, and film. And clothing has a place in this.

But the problem is we don’t have artists as much as we have greedy capitalists in this. It really makes for a boring culture when it comes to how the clothing industry works. We just buy from all these copy cats.

The big brands, Old Navy, Banana Republic, Gap, they all are selling the same new trends. In fact, most everyone is using the same factories in China while sewing their logo on the shirt to call it American heritage for this seasons style of vintage American and British style. How far disconnected could that be?

We are buying their carefully constructed illusion.

Truth be told, it will fade away into the next trend, probably already has in most of these companies thirst for the next big thing.

There are some good folks around in the industry, but when you think about fashion it really is an insecure culture. Why not be more of who you are? Figure that out and tell that story and live out your values?

When it’s a business and it’s about money and the bottom line…. Well, you need to be where that green is flowing. So you move around, adapt, and for most companies it just means not really standing or being anything but what is trendy at the moment. You are a chameleon.

One guy that I think is true to himself is Ralph Lauren. There is a style that is unique to who he is and his company. While there are new styles and patterns each season, there is a sense about it that remains timeless to the brand. Don’t you think that is part of his success? He knows who he is and what he wants to be. It doesn’t completely change every six months.

I love the story of LL Bean. Many years ago this enduring and classic company was becoming popular in New York and in fashion. Bean boots exploded and people were asking them how they were going to capitalize on the new craze! They could have sold out, over produced, and reaped huge gains.

But their response?

We aren’t changing a thing. Eventually the spotlight will be off us, but we are going to be the same company once all this buzz fades and making the same lasting items.

Amen to that. They know who they were, and they still are. And still in business. You can buy mostly the same shirts, jackets, and boots that were around ten, twenty, thirty years ago.

That requires knowing who you are. You don’t make as much money that way. But isn’t that why we should love a company? Because we relate and connect to its culture or values. The fact that our American culture has raised up some of these copy cat companies is proof we really lack that sense of identity. While styles should change and there is great good to new and fresh innovation, I don’t see that in fashion. I see more Banana Republics than LL Beans. And the few companies that remain are being bought by these huge fashion holding companies because they want to exploit that unique culture.

As I reflect on our company, I hope we can be the LL Bean for our customers. A company that can stand on some founding principals and values and ideas. One thing I appreciated about Steve Jobs at Apple is that it was never about money. He wanted to create beautiful products, and while the money followed, it was never the point. I hope the same can be said about our company. That we stuck true to our core beliefs and those were reflected in our customers. Are we a company for everyone? No way. How could we?

But we are a company that does believe in some things we feel have been lost in American culture and in men and is not being told in apparel. I don’t think that will be re-claimed over night, so my guess is we will be here awhile till we see that restored. 

This catalog arrived a few days ago. The clothing company is called Urban Outfitters. An interesting play on words. I looked through the pages and was saddened. All of these male models out in some cold artic land. All of them wearing some very unusual combinations for a frozen land that used to capture explorers imagination that would take months of travel and being cut off from all communication. Many great men lost their lives going there. It was wild and dangerous lands. Now it is locations for urban clothes.  

This specific image captured me. A Carhartt hat. Buffalo plaid flannel. Western style vest in neon. The budweiser shirt. It all felt so boyish. Somehow trying to play dress up. I couldn't help but think they are capturing the heart of the condition of the American man right now.

He is playing dress up. 

It is interesting to be watching many companies begin to explore what we might called the rugged, blue collar, and worker side of clothing. Quite honestly, the irony of most clothing for men is that it always served a function, over any sort of fashion fad. From pea coats to carpenter jeans, all of them were about a purpose. I can remember being in college wearing some carpenter jeans I bought from Abercrombie & Fitch, but had no idea they were called Carpenter Jeans because that belt loop on the side was for a hammer. That is our problem today, we no longer are wearing function in clothing, because so few of us are embracing parts of a man's life that are important to grow and discover who we are. Boys play video games, live in their parents basement, don't pursue hard work... and so what does American apparel companies give us... well, they let us play pretend.

The American man is lost. And there are few offering anything of substance these days other than just trying to cash in on these fads. But there are real questions that need to be explored, what is masculinity? What does it mean to be male? A man? How do we live out our grandfathers legacy? How are we to find our own confidence in this generation as things have changed?

I don't believe it is our goal to define this all, since it is complex. But I can't help but notice how sad the industry is right now in fashion. It has zero moral grounding, no basis for its identity of what male or female means, so it will just blow with the wind of the prevailing days trend. And so there it is... lost boys... trying to be men... out in a barren artic wilderness... modeling for others who are just as lost. Like the blind leading the blind.

- A German immigrant to America

There is nothing more American than The American Dream, and it’s somewhat ironic that this dream was born within a nation of immigrants. After all, the majority of us come from German, Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Polish, and Irish decent. Our ancestors heard of this new land during a time when freedom and personal opportunity were seen as a dream, not a reality. Our great-great-great grandparents left their homelands, perhaps with nothing more than their children in their arms, for this rumor of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

In some ways it was a grand experiment. New forms of social and economic structures were being tested all over the world. America was to be a society based on individual rights and equal opportunity for all. Success was based on an individual’s ability and personal desire to achieve it. This dream was so appealing that it travelled across oceans and into the hearts of common men and women throughout the world. People flocked to be part of it.

But today we live in interesting times. There is deep cynicism toward the idea that individual dreams can still be achieved. The countries our ancestors left are financial and political messes. New governments with semi-capitalistic structures and governmental central power are trying to dominate. And at home, we have been hit hard as the fog of recession remains and political maneuvering has American businesses and financial sectors being seen as over-indulgent bad guys. People are gathering all over the world in the streets, protesting corporations and blaming this all on Wall Street and capitalism. All the while, people are looking to the government to find them a job.

I can’t help but think this is far from what our ancestors’ dream was about. In fact, I imagine this was the type of environment they planned on leaving behind when they came to America. They were looking for a chance at their own opportunities. Religious, financial, and political. It wasn’t about bailouts, new taxes, or big government, but the chance for an enterprising individual to seek opportunity of their own by earning their way. We need to find that spirit again in America. We need to dream the real American dream.

So in the midst of horrible economics times, and despite all kinds of corporations and competition, can people like you and I build something and grow it?

I started an apparel business about two years ago. While I had seen better days, at the time I was broke, and had a mortgage I could barely afford to pay. I was painting houses and shipping boxes at night. At one point, all I had was a few hundred bucks to my name. Soon after, I came to learn a few of my bigger competitors had started with a couple hundred thousand and another with a few million. How in the world could I ever compete? That is why all this American dream stuff really hits home with me. I deeply believe that for us to get out of this mess, The American Dream needs to be re-discovered and people need to believe that it isn’t just for the bourgeoisie and ruling classes (that is what socialism wants you to believe), but it is there for those who are willing to work to earn it. The American Dream is for all of us. For the rich and the poor. For those with $300 or $20 million. The market and people will determine if one fails or succeeds. We need to celebrate this and we also need to show that even the little guy can make it.

One thing I know about the fraternity culture is that we are mass achievers. We compete and fight at every level possible, all in our type A wanting to be the best. This American dream is in our DNA, those immigrants are our ancestors. So here is my challenge to you. Live out that story our ancestors dreamt about and share it and become it. Inspire others and help them achieve the same, so capitalism can continue to bring forth its good fruits. There is a lot at stake now.

Written by Buffalo & Co Founder, Xan Hood for totalfratmove.com

I've been reading Steve Job's biography by Walter Isaacson. It is one of the most fascinating stories of a man, a company, his story, and all of it playing out in one beautiful mess. He was a real asshole. But he was a genius visionary. He could be tender and also vindictive. 

I loved his passion for connecting product with humanity. Everyone wanted to sell technology, he wanted to infuse people and design in the midst. It reminds me of those DROID commercials. Apple is human. DROID is some sort of mechanized robot. 

DROID, I struggle enough with being too connected to machines and somehow you make me feel even worse about it!

But Apple, it's personal. It's human connection. But it's a machine. Brilliant.

As we set about making a company and re-claiming our roots in clothing, I can't help but dream of being human and accessible over being the robot. We want to change how men think about clothes and what the fashion industry has done to men. Most of the companies we run into just want to make money. That makes sense considering the market today. Trends make you that.

One part I loved about Steve Jobs was that it was never about the money. He said, he was fine when he had little, so what did it mean when he had a lot. I think that might have been why in the end, he was able to be a creative genius. There were other things driving him then just money. Some good things, some bad things, but the man didn't care about money.

I appreciate that. I think it is easy to compromise when it's about the bottom line.

I watched their commercial from a few years ago during Steve Job's return to Apple. I couldn't help but be inspired. Hope you are as well.