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2HEX Skateboard Shoes Manufacturer
Stay Chill’s Experience with 2HEX
Nick @ 2HEX: A lot of people that come to 2Hex are interested in either starting their own shoe brand or working with a shoe brand. And so far they don't know Stay Chill.
Can you maybe give them a short introduction of Stay Chill?
Chris @ Stay Chill: Yeah, so it was started in January of 2024. And it's just a brand. I'm from Dallas, Texas, so that's where it's based.
So this is this is the box that it comes in. It's just a nice fancy box. We have the paper and then the shoe itself is - You can see close up. You can see we have a vulcanized outsole, so it's very flexible. And that helps with the board feel a lot. And then it's it's a very simple design like I said, but it's very durable.
I I don't have it on me right now, but my pair that I've skated, it's been like I've skated it for months upon months and there's like a little hole right here and maybe one right there and that's it. It's very durable. Weirdly enough. Because it feels so like soft and nice. But I don't know. It's a pretty simple design.
Seriously, when I got the first sample shoe it was the most comfortable thing I've worn in my life. But yet it holds up on skateboarding.
We have the outsole. And I mean that's it really. It's just a a normal shoe that is basic and works well.
Nick @ 2HEX: How was the transition? It's such a big step from just being a skater to starting your own company, especially a shoe company.
Chris @ Stay Chill: I've always been interested in the business side of things. My dad has had his own small business his entire life. And I was interested in the business also.
So, I bought this specific model, this first shoe we made is more for street skating.
Whenever I first was designing it, I was debating between going simple and basic with something that that I know would work. And something more like different and complex.
But, I felt like it would be too difficult for my first order to be something really complex like other ideas like have work multi-colored layers so you could see which layer you were on, which areas are getting the most damage. And something like cool up in here have lore under the layers or some cool stuff like that. But, with this first one I was simple and on the next ones I'll be more complex and innovative.
Nick @ 2HEX: That sounds really good. I like the idea with the different layers so like the more you kickflip, the more different colors it shows. What was the feedback you received from skaters so far?
Chris @ Stay Chill: Um it's it's been pretty good.
Nick @ 2HEX: Like did they say that let's say for example, did they say their feet hurt afterwards or did they like did they mention anything or did they say the shoes hold up well or like did they break fast?
Chris @ Stay Chill: Yeah, they they definitely hold up well. I mean, whenever I first got mine, I skated for like 3 months non-stop cuz I was skating like every day and they still were I still have the same pair after 3 months of non-stop skating.
Nick @ 2HEX: Oh, we've been both skating it, I’m wearing them right now.
Chris @ Stay Chill: So, like I feel comfortable just skating it. It's pretty light.
Nick @ 2HEX: Based on my experience, it's going to be like first skaters are going to join you and help you and sell the shoes maybe directly to other skaters without even going over a shop. Then once enough skaters sell the shoes, then you're going to have shops. And usually at the point where you have 40 shops, the distributors will be interested. And once you've got one distributor in the US, then you're going to have another one that wants to join. And once you have two distributors in the US, then you've going to have Canada and Mexico interested. And once you've got Canada, Mexico, and the US, then South America and Europe will follow. And then Asia usually follows in the end. But it really is step by step, so it's really hard to get into a distribution if you don't have like a best friend who owns it. Or if you don't the shops that already sell like distributors only want to take over if you sell directly to their customers that are already.
Let's say skaters want to buy your shoes, how would they get your shoe?
Chris @ Stay Chill: It's of course on like eBay and Amazon and stuff like that, but the main way is if you go to our website staytuned.org, you can just go there and you just buy a shoe. It's really simple. You just go there and it's like a normal website.
Nick @ 2HEX: Thank you Chris, so nice to see you again!