Transcript
Chris Molnar (0:00)
One of the things I learned with Good Life, not every brand is meant to be $100 million business, you know, and you get caught up. Like I said, if you, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of money in the world. There's a lot of brands that have access to endless amounts of capital for whatever reasons, whether it's, you know, self funded, whether it's just, you know, having the right connections. And you can create a brand that doesn't have to be authentic. You know, that's not my goal with Cacio Pepe. It wasn't my goal with Good Life. I think with Good Life, we got caught up with trying to keep the Joneses. You know, this brand is doing 50 million, this brand is doing 100. This brand just raised at this valuation. You know, we need to be doing that. We need to roll out retail. We have to chase that carrot to be $100 million business. I think you lose authenticity if that's what you're going after. For me, I would rather have a $20 million business that's profitable, that has an authentic story, that has a real following, that you can really grow into a true lifestyle brand over the course of, over a course of years. But you have the guts to the business. You have a real story that creates loyalty.
Michael Chernow (1:10)
I'm Michael Chernow and this is the Creatures of Habit podcast. Our habits will make us or break us. It's just that simple. I've lived on both sides of the tracks and have learned that the decisions we make on a consistent basis truly define who we are as human beings. On this show, I will be interviewing some of the most inspiring, motivating and high performing humans I've encountered to share their daily habits, routines and rituals that help them stay on top of their game and ultimately happy. So sit back, relax, and pay attention because what you hear over the next 30 to 45 minutes could potentially change your life.
Unknown (1:52)
Let's go. The pursuit for a perfect T shirt. Chris Molnar, you are a friend, you're a fellow founder, and you have built two incredibly awesome brands. One brand that I. My closet is lined with, which is Good Life clothing. And now you have stepped away from that after a decade to create Katia Pepe, which I'm so fired up about. My closet is now lined with Cacio e Pepe, but when you called me to tell me that you were creating something new, I obviously was super inspired because I personally believe that you have figured out the perfect T shirt. There's no other T shirts. I like to wear. What is that? How. What does that mean to you? Is that. Is that kind of the thought process when going into this business? In the men's apparel business? Like, is that the number one for, for the brands that you've created? Is that kind of like the mission?
Chris Molnar (3:07)
Yeah, I mean, you have to go back a long ways. You know, my career in industry has spanned 25 years, you know, and I worked for brands like Hugo Boss and John Varvatos and Michael Kors and some smaller stops in between in the contemporary market. And I mean, we're talking, you know, 15, 20 years ago at this point, when the basic T shirt market is nothing like it is today. You know, back then it was all designers or big brands pushing out T shirts as a part of their overall assortment. I remember, you know, when I first did Good Life, back when I was like 25, I found a factory outside of Pennsylvania that was doing American made T shirts that I started working with because I saw a void in the market where there were really good, no good basic T shirts. Everything had lame branding on it. It just. Nothing was cool. Right. And so, you know, the industry just has changed so much. It was like American Apparel was like your only option for somewhat of a better basic type brand. And it was like, you know, there was just Gildan and, you know, Hanes beefy tees and things like that. So the industry has changed so much. When we first started Good Life, yeah, it was all about creating like a perfect T shirt that was different from some of the other brands already in the space. Without naming names, things were boxy, ill fitting to European fitting. There was just all these different reasons why there wasn't good product out there. And that's how Good Life really started to break through, is because we were offering better product, better price, value. Cause we were making things domestically and it was a small, scrappy business, you know, not these big bloated brands that are fighting for margin with department stores. So that's how Good Life started with that product. Fast forward to Cacio Pepe. You can go on Instagram. You can get hit with 50 different brands in a day that are telling you they make the perfect T shirt. You know, it's totally, totally different from how it was, you know, 10, 12 years ago when I started Good Life. So it's a completely different market now. And now, you know, there's a lot of good product out there. I think some brands have probably knocked off Good Life with the scallop hem T shirt that we started doing in fall 2013. You know, I can name 10 brands right now that also have a curved hem T shirt. So you know it now it's more about, you know, you have to have great product, but you also have to have an authentic message and a story and compelling content. You know, it's not just about putting good product in the market because the competition is just so fierce.
