Behind the Vuori Brand with Founder, Joe Kudla

Hi everyone,

It was the mid 90's and I was in my first year of college, making money in retail, earning commission on sales of $800 suits, $350 handmade English cap toes, wingtips and $65 Polo shirts at Ralph Lauren in Southern California. These were also the Double RL era days and the best way to describe the scene is to say it was a vibe. I was young and inexperienced then and didn't recognize signals and "vibes" in a way that I could use them to my advantage to get ahead.

The prologue of personal stories leading up to my main focus on Joe Kudla's brand Vuori is here by design as "signals" for you to consider with respect to what's currently happening around you. I'm hoping that by calling your attention to this that you'll be able to learn from what you'll see were missed opportunities in my case and hopefully, it will give you a leg up.

As I mentioned, the Double RL days at Ralph Lauren were special. Everyone could feel it and our little shop did big business with locals as well as international customers. Even as a student, I had a book of business that earned me about $50,000 annual salary after commissions. I had some good clients including a young guy named Shawn who would come into my store often and buy stacks of pique Polo shirts from me, one of each size from Small to XXL. Curious about it when I asked, Shawn confided in me that he had a little handcrafted surfboard and t-shirt business. He wanted to expand the line and was taking the Polo shirts to a local pattern maker in Newport Beach to reverse engineer his own activewear.

Shawn was special. I could feel his energy and it was a clear signal to me but I didn't follow through. Why? I think it was because at the time I didn't think taking extra action would benefit me. I could have easily asked him to go surfing to become better friends -- I basically lived at 32nd St. in Newport all summer before and after work. I was a student at the time so I could have asked to shadow Shawn when he was doing his surfboard and t-shirt business so I could learn the art of the side hustle and maybe get invited to join him. But I let it go and did nothing. I found out later that Shawn's brand was called Stüssy, a breakout hit that had a valuation of $20 million at the time.

Another signpost right under my nose was the management team at the Polo Store. We were a licensed Ralph Lauren store owned by a venture group out of Colorado, run by a guy named Bill Merriken. Bill was special and I knew it. I actually worked with Bill a bit on trying to develop new business ideas to increase sales at the store. I know he recognized me as a young, ambitious self-starter and that I had his attention for a season. But I didn't follow through. I could have asked Bill if I could join him in Colorado for a couple of weeks to see how the business side of the front office worked.

There's no doubt he liked my work ethic and personality and would have said yes. I could have kept developing ideas to send him to improve the store which showcased my creativity. This might have earned me an invite to work with Bill on other projects. But I didn't. Why? Again, I ignored the signals and didn't think it would amount to much. About a year later Bill would exit and get out of the retail business to help his daughter Lara with a small all-natural protein bar concept in Colorado. The brand was called LÄRABAR which sold to General Mills in 2008 for a reported $55 million.

My last year of college in 1999, I was in a marketing role at a vertical apparel manufacturer in Southern California that serviced almost all of the surf, skate and snow brands at the time. This included brands like Volcolm, Quiksilver, Billabong USA, Vans and more. One night we got a frantic call from Bob Hurley, who was on the management team at Billabong USA. Bob was special. He had a real positive energy about him combined with authentic surf & skate culture and it was contagious.

As it happened, the U.S. licensing rights for Billabong were up for renewal after the company had grown to over $70 million in sales in North America. Bob told us that the U.S. team was not going to renew the USA license, but instead were going to launch a new brand called Hurley International. We reacted quickly and started working double shifts and weekends to make sales samples of Hurley t-shirts, hoodies, hats, board shorts, wallets and more and it was a full-court press to get merchandise ready.

Our shop basically helped launch Bob's new brand overnight. Because of my connections, I had the chance to cross over and work at Hurley but I didn't follow through. I was graduating that year and wasn't sure it was the right path for me. A short while later the Hurley brand was born and it was a huge success. In 2002, the company was sold to Nike for an undisclosed amount.

These are all stories of what could have been. It's hard to say where I would be now if I had acted upon just one of those signals. I guess I'll never know. But I do regret ignoring what I see now as obvious opportunities in disguise.

It's been years since I've felt such an authentic signal from a founder and I can tell you that Joe Kudla is special. You can feel it. Vuori is no secret at this point. It's a huge success with a $4 Billion valuation with no signs of slowing down. I believe part of what I'm feeling comes from the ethos of Kudla and the team combined with Vuori's birthplace, the perfect little surf town of Encinitas, California. You can read my full article on Inc. Magazine that includes everything I learned from Vuori founder, Joe Kudla; watch my video interview or listen to the podcast on ITunes, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts, Player FM, iHeart Radio and wherever you listen!

To access and watch my full library of videos with some of the smartest people on the planet, on Youtube, click here:

Want to reach our growing audience of company founders, entrepreneurs and small biz owners?

Sponsor a future email newsletter like this and we’ll help you with your message and CTA. Just reply to this note and we can set up a time to chat.

Special thanks to this week’s partner WeWork!

The way you work has changed. The way you grow your business has changed. WeWork has flexible workspaces, built for all the ways you work today, so you can drop-in, connect with others, get your to-dos done.

Get out of the house for a few hours and pop by WeWork’s co-working space when you need it. Looking to reconnect the team a few times a week? Bring everyone together in an office that fits what they need. Take meetings or off-sites around the world, from London to LA. Unlock hundreds of locations easily with amenities like; free coffee & tea. They’re even dog friendly!

Now, you can try out your local WeWork– for the day– for 50% off!

To redeem this offer, visit https://we.co/behindthebrand and download the WeWork On Demand App. Use the code BEHINDTHEBRAND at checkout by to receive a discount off your booking. Valid on one workspace booking. Terms apply.