April 22, 2025 • 34 mins
Thomas, CEO of Sandlot Goods, shares the story behind their American-made hats and leather products, explaining how quality manufacturing and positive workplace culture create products meant to last generations.
• Founded with the belief that everyone needs their own "sandlot" – a place where they work hard at something they love
• Started as a leather goods company before expanding into high-quality, American-manufactured hats
• Produces approximately 1500-1600 hats weekly through a meticulous 20+ step sewing process
• Uses duck canvas as their signature material, creating durable hats that develop character with wear
• Maintains rigorous quality control standards while balancing production needs
• Employs core values like positivity and pride in work to shape company culture and reduce turnover
• Creates custom hats for companies and other brands, including the New Heights podcast
• Planning limited edition releases featuring rare, unique materials in the coming year
• Focused on making high-quality products accessible rather than luxury-priced
Check out their Negro Leagues partnership hats and other merchandise at the Sandlot Goods website, where you'll find American-made quality that's built to last.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's your sandlot?
Find your sandlot Like we'rehere to support whatever passion
you have.
Throw your sandlot hat on, getin the garage and start brewing
beer or whatever it is.
If you're doing it at 4 ambefore you go to your day job,
like that's your sandlot andwe're here to support that All
right, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, welcome everybody to yet another episode
of the DadHack Chronicles.
My name is Ed, also known asthe Deadhead, with me.
Actually, I am flying solotonight.
My co-host, val, is not with us, so it's cool.
No big deal, because I'm veryexcited for this.
Guys, I have someone whosecompany I follow a lot and whose
(00:41):
company I have given a lot ofmoney to Thomas.
How are you doing today, myfriend?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I am doing great, excited to be here.
Appreciate you giving me thetime.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Absolutely no.
Thank you, first of all, forallowing giving some time,
taking a little bit of time outof your family time.
I get that, so I do appreciatethat.
So, guys, if you didn't know,Thomas and I want to make sure
that I I got that you're the CEOof Sandlot goods, Is that
correct?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Correct.
Yeah, so I'm, I'm.
I'm sitting as a CEO right now.
Uh, and, and our founder, hisname's Chad Hickman, um, and so
he, he can't be on tonight, but,uh, he, he trusts me with the
story of Sandlot and, uh, I'mpretty ingrained in our story
and how we started, so lots goesto him.
I'll give him the credit wherehe needs it.
But yeah, I'm currently sittingas our CEO sport?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'm going to ask you that.
But also, like, why hats right?
Like I mean, you know, what isit that about hats and sporting
that just got you interested indoing what you're doing?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, so the it's a good.
It's a good place to startbecause it kind of talks about
how I got into the seat that I'min.
The company I started isactually called Made in Kansas
City, so it's a local retailhere in Kansas City and it's
exactly what it sounds like.
We work with 200 plus localartists and makers and we buy
and sell their products.
(02:11):
So we have 13 location 14,including our cafes and we buy
and sell local goods.
So Sandlot Goods is one of thevery first companies we
interacted with.
This is back in 2015.
So at that point it was justChad Hickman, our founder, and a
few other team members and theywere making leather goods,
(02:33):
actually Like we still make.
If you're on our website, youcan see our leather goods, our
wallets, our journal covers andthey're all.
They're all yard ball.
Yeah, that one's that one'sbeen a lot of fun.
We'll get to that.
That's more recent, but Istarted interacting with them
and we got to sit next to Chadfor a long time and in 2019,
(02:55):
Mating KC got some ownership inSandlot Goods and it was one of
the true Mating KC companies,meaning they were cutting and
sewing and making the product inkansas city, and that meant a
lot to us, uh, and so we gotalong well with chad and got
some ownership in the company totry to help them grow it, uh.
So really it was just moreabout chad's vision, uh, and how
(03:16):
we could.
We could truly make somethinghere in the usa and manufacture
it with with hands and humansthat's amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Uh, I love that story , right, like that.
It is made, you know, here inthe US.
And then I made an unboxingvideo a while back and I said,
guys, they make it here, theymake it, as a matter of fact,
they make it in Kansas City.
You guys got to go support it,you know, like it's not that
expensive, right, and it's.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I love their hands, by the way no-transcript
(04:06):
entrepreneur that wants to startsomething just to sell it and
go to the next I I want to have.
I always talk about building acompany that people want to buy,
but mainly that I want to bepart of, because probably no
one's going to want to buy itand I was in a place that I want
to go work every day, um, andso the manufacturing piece of
what, what Chad was doing, andthe cutting and sewing and the
(04:27):
machinery.
it just had more meat to it,more meaning to it, something
that you could go to every dayand problem solve and be part of
and have a purpose that peopleunderstood.
We want to make things.
We want to make high qualitythings.
One of the early sayings ofSandlock Goods was products that
you're going to hand down tothe next generation, and so
(04:47):
that's a goal for us but we alsowant to make it approachable.
We're not trying to make 100hats.
We're not trying to makesomething that's super luxury.
We're trying to be competitiveand someone like you that wants
to buy six of our hats that's,that's what I want uh, somebody
that's just a hyper fan and, um,obtain our, obtain our products
assist a hyper fan and umobtain our, obtain our products.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So so, and I'm sure you know this, so I'm gonna ask
so why?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
why the name sandlot goods yeah uh, that's one of my
favorite stories and, um, it's a.
There's a marketing campaignthat I really want to get to at
some point, but I want to do itright that talks about this, and
Chad would be okay with mesharing this.
But he had a brother pass awayand after that, as you would
imagine, it kind of shook him upand kind of reoriented what his
(05:36):
priorities are Always been abaseball fan and he essentially
sat down and was like you know,if you go back to the movie
which a lot of people thinkabout, it's those kids had a
place that they went to everyday to not just have fun, not
just to chill, but to get better.
They went to this place everyday to work their asses off and
get better at the thing thatthey loved, and that's he kind
(06:00):
of every day.
That's where I want, that'swhere I want to go to work.
I want to go somewhere that Ijust want to improve and work
and get better and have funwhile I'm doing it, cause that
was a key part of what thosekids did in the Sandlot.
So, um, that's what he went for, uh, and so for us now it's
kind of like we pass this aroundinside of the marketing thing I
want to do is is what's yourSandlot?
(06:20):
Find your sandlot Like we'rehere to support whatever passion
you have.
Uh, throw your sandlot hat on,get in the garage and start
brewing beer or whatever it is.
If you're doing it at 4 AMbefore you go to your day job,
like that's your sandlot andwe're here to support that.
So, um, you know, I I've neverbeen.
I can't cut and sew hats myself.
I'm just a huge fan of our teamthat can do it and I'm
(06:41):
passionate for chad, about whatwe're trying to build.
But, yeah, I truly believe wefound our sandlot and, uh, we're
trying to make that showthrough our products I love that
.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's amazing, finding your own sandlot.
I I never really had anybodyreally put it that way.
It's like you know what's yoursandlot and it's oh man, you're
gonna have some fun with thatmarket.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah yeah, no, it's great, we're gonna do some
videos with it.
I mean, I would imagine thispodcast is is one of your sand
lots and oh 100.
There's just so many ways, somany ways to to get after it and
we're lucky that you know it'sour, it's how we make a living
and that's the ultimate goal,right?
But it doesn't have to be thatit can be.
It can be something like I saidyou do at eight o'clock when
your kids go to bed and twohours just melt away like that
(07:21):
and that's and if you don't haveit?
That's okay, you can find it,and that's where we're here for
that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And it's never too late, right?
That's the whole thing.
It's like it's never too lateto find yourself and you're
right, though, by the way likedoing the late nights that's
usually like Sunday nights isI'm here editing and putting an
episode out.
But it's a lot of fun, though,right, Because no one is going
to do it for me, I have to do itmyself.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I like that.
So what makes Sandlot such aunique, different company than
the rest of the other techcompanies?
Because obviously there's a lotright.
There's the New Eris, there'sthe 47s, there a a bunch of them
out there.
So, like, what makes you guysso unique in in a way, and that
(08:11):
that sets you guys apart?
Uh, I mean the obvious one isbeing manufactured in the usa.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
You know, there's only a handful of us.
We're we're definitely not theonly ones doing it.
I never claim that we are.
Um, I'm not sure how manypeople are doing it the way
we're doing it or at the scalewe're doing it, but it is that
and I think if you ever get achance to come into our factory,
it's going to be hard toexplain, but that's what makes
us different.
I think you'll walk in thereand the biggest thing I wanted
(08:39):
to do when I got to SandlotGoods was kind of shake off all
the ways people thought aboutmanufacturing and sewing and
make this place that you walkinto.
It's a story I like to tell.
I had this guy that was tryingto sell us cleaning services or
something.
I forget what it was, but hecame into the factory and he had
a box of donuts and we werehaving fun.
(09:01):
that day, I forget what wasgoing on, but we were making
hats.
You could see the machinerygoing and but I think it was
someone's birthday or something,so we had a celebration and uh,
he just kind of looked at me.
He goes this place has somegood vibes.
I was like there's not manymanufacturing places you walk
into where the guy deliveringdonuts tells you you got good
vibes and I think that's what itis.
We're trying to really like Isaid I want a place I want to be
(09:24):
every day.
I'm not trying to figure out howto make the most money off of
every single hat that comes offthe line.
Making money super important,but um, we're trying to make.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
If anybody tells you that, like they're not in it and
like they're not want to beprofitable, run away because
they're lying to you cash cashis oxygen, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
but, um, we, we have a team and we stick to our core
values really, reallyaggressively, and if you don't
fit them, I don't want you to bethere, because it's not going
to be good for you long term.
And so um Long answer, but Ithink what makes us different is
a lot of things about qualityand attention to detail, but
really it's the group that'smaking your hat.
It's a cool place to be andkeep trying to make it cooler.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Speaking of the process right, because obviously
you have your process whatwould be the process of crafting
, like, let's say, because I'mcurrently wearing one of the
your Negro Leagues in which, bythe way, I want to get into so
bad right now I want to talkabout this, but I'm wearing your
Santulce hat, right, andthere's the material is
different, the way that you guysare manufacturing, you guys are
(10:26):
making these hats, and you saidthey're made by hand, correct?
Yeah so what is that process ofcrafting a hat?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, I think that's one of the coolest things.
We tell people we're hatmanufacturer and not until they
get into our space do they seerolls of fabric coming off the
shelf and scissors coming out tocut.
They're like, oh, you actuallymake the hats and, and that's
the thing, we don't just getblank hats and decorate them,
right, we're, we're cutting hatsdown from rolls of fabric.
So, um, we cut it down.
Uh, we use differentmachineries, different cookie
cookie cutters.
The hat you're wearing has gotsix panels If you count all the
seams up top it's got two visorpieces, a brim in the middle and
(11:01):
an attachment on the back, andso it is a.
I forget the exact number ofsteps, but 20 plus sewing steps
that go into making a hat.
It's a pretty complicatedlittle product, oh my God, once
you get down to it.
But we are, I'm, very dataobsessed, so we track every step
of the process, um, and alwaystell my team it's not because
(11:23):
they're trying to be big brotheror watch and figure out how I
need to know how long it takesto make a hat so I can price a
hat to make sure we get paidenough to be making that hat.
Um, so it's a multi-step process.
We have several differentsewing teams lead off team,
crown team, post bed team and itturns slowly from a two
dimensional product into a threedimensional product.
(11:45):
We have a machine called a postbed machine that kind of brings
this post out of the base ofthe table to allow you to sew
three dimensionally.
Then you have to get the buttonput on and then very last, uh,
and then we do all ourembroidery in-house and
everything like that.
So, um, one good opportunity topoint out a cool, unique thing.
So this is embroidered s likethe hat you're wearing yeah
(12:08):
front.
Two panels will come to ourembroidery team first.
This is something you can't dounless you manufacture your own
hats.
We'll embroider on just thisfront panel, and then this will
go to the sewing team, whichallows us to put this hair cloth
on the back.
Yeah, usually, if you see anembroidered hat, you'll have the
strings poking out the back andit's an unfinished look.
We're just used to.
But this you get to hide allthat because we're manufacturing
(12:32):
the hat.
And so then the hat comestogether after you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Uh, embroider it so well I'll be down.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, it's pretty fun .
So, all said and done uh, 20 to30 minutes to make a hat in our
production process.
Um, we're making about 1500 to1600 hats a week right now look
at that.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I'm looking at another one, the ethiopian.
Uh closet and it's like you'reright yeah, so you'll.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You'll.
Occasionally we make some blankhats and we have gaps in
production, so we'll take ablank and then what we need to
decorate it with, we'll decorateit, and then in that case we
will have some embroidery thatgoes through through the hair
cloth, and if chad listens tothis, it's his least favorite
thing, but it's a it's anecessity to be efficient.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So occasionally you'll get a hat or a sale hat
from us.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
It'll have that, but most of the time you'll have
that hair cloth behind theembroidery.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Interesting.
I like that and, by the way,listen, your guy's a price point
.
Pretty good, I'll say thatthat's a pretty, you know,
compared to a lot of the hats,the hat game has grown so much,
right, I mean, you go to theseevents out there, right, Like
you know, know sporting events,and you see, like so many people
(13:37):
that are already designing andmaking their own hats and
everything, and it's like a wild, wild world out there.
Man, uh, you know, kudos to youguys that can do it.
I know I I could never do it,uh, but that's amazing it's cool
, it's been fun.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I mean, I'm a rising tide guy.
The bigger the hat game, thebetter it is for us.
I don't want people to not bedoing it.
I think companies like Mellonthat are putting hats out, that
are pushing the price point upto $70 for a dad hat it's a
luxury hat this helps us be ableto Even our dad hat that's less
(14:13):
of a unique custom lookingthing.
It's the highest quality dad hatyou're going to get.
It's one of the mostcomfortable dad hats you're
going to get and I have noproblem.
I think it should be worth morethan $40 a hat, but like I said
, I want people to be able toget our hats.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Appreciate it, yeah, at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
By the way.
I also have one of god great,yeah, that's a.
The shuttlecocks of kansas citymark uh because, yeah, nelson
art gallery down here, so yep Iactually I have it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So see again.
I mean, you guys are taking alot of my money.
We'll continue to do so.
So, um, all right.
So you, you got the process,but what are the materials?
Because obviously you spend alot of time looking at materials
there, right, what, what, whatare the your most?
Because obviously you spend alot of time looking at materials
there, right, what, what areyour most biggest materials that
you guys use when it comes tomaking these hats?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
So we we the materials is the biggest part of
making sure that we havesomething that feels good, has
the right weight and lasts.
So that's what starts with.
The simplest part is getting agood roll of fabric in the
building.
The hat that you're wearing andthe hat material that I would
say is they were most known foris our duck canvas, so you'd
(15:23):
think of like a Carhartt typematerial.
It's got a little some textureto it.
It's a little bit thicker,extremely durable.
I mean, I've run into some guysin Kansas city that are wearing
a duck hat that is has beenbeat to absolute shit.
It's got grease on it.
They're like, yeah, my wifewants me to get a new one, but I
just love it too much.
It's cool to see.
(15:44):
It wears really well.
It's got a good structure to it.
To be honest, it's a prettygood breathable material too,
even in the summer.
It's got some thickness to it,but compared to our wools and
stuff, it's a good summermaterial.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you can definitely tell a wool from a
duck.
You know duck cotton for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, and I'm wearing a cord hat right now.
It's kind of hard to tell, butwe're doing a lot more with
different corduroys 8-whale,14-whale.
So it's definitely an areawhere we experiment, try new
things, but the duck canvas isour go-to.
An area where experiment, trynew things, but the duck canvas
is our go-to um, and then we'lljust do a decent amount of um,
some cotton on our dad hats, butwe make sure it's a good, high
quality material that doesn'thave any imperfections in it
(16:24):
yeah, I mean, I was looking atit.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm like, oh man, this thing is gonna.
It's pretty legit, so you haveyour, your quality control.
Obviously.
Like how is that?
Because I've always wanted toask this, by the way.
Like, how do you guys gothrough the quality process of
like making sure that it isexactly how it is that you guys
want it?
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, so it's an area that is the most challenging
part of what we do as amanufacturer.
Okay, and I'd say Chad, ourfounder, will fail a hat and
he'll hand a hat to me and I'llbe like I don't see anything
wrong with his hat.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I can't find it.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
It's just different levels, and so it's really
healthy, but we will butt headsand I'll be like man.
That's not a hat that we canafford to fail, because I can
give this hat to 100 people and99 of them aren't going to find
a defect in it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Like the islets, a little off center or something
you know, and so he's has anextreme high level, which is so
good for us, and then we, youknow, I got to talk him down to
earth sometimes about what itmeans to exist.
And so it's, it's, it's verysubjective, right.
I mean, we're back and forth onthings like that, but um really
(17:38):
it comes down to the quality ofour sewers.
They're so talented, um, theyknow what to look for and we're
asking you know, we need highnumbers, we need high volume,
but also don't do bad work, andso it's this balance that they
need to have.
Enough balance, yeah, andthey're so good at it, they're
so talented, and so they.
They'll find imperfections forus in the process.
So, overall, it's having an eyeof quality.
(17:58):
We have a big quality controldashboard on our wall that shows
our percentage.
It's in the 90s right now.
It's gotten as low as the 70sand we have some defects and
everyone sees that big rednumber up there and it's like
all right, let's, let's slowdown, let's focus.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
A thousand hats that we fail is worse than 10 hats
that we pass.
So, but again, we, we prideourselves.
Pride in work is one of our fivecore values and if you sew a
stitch, like I said, there's somany pieces and so many people
working on it, you know if youdo a bad scene and if you hand
that hat on to the next person,they're going to have to try and
(18:32):
figure out making the hat andjust gets pushed down the line.
We're all about raising yourhand if you find a mistake, and
I'd rather throw out two piecesof a hat than an entire hat at
the end of the line.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So yeah, I mean again you're talking about obviously
you're data driven, right, sothere's different data points.
It's like do I want to fill thewhole thing?
I mean, that's money alreadythat we've already invested.
You know we paid somebody tomake this and we already spent
money on the material that wedon't want to fill it right away
.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
And just being transparent.
When we're working on a customproject for a client and you got
the wrong color stitching fromwhat we said originally, we're
not just going to ship the hatand say, you know, hope they
don't see it, let's get on thephone, get a video, be like hey,
(19:23):
we have crazy high standards.
Here's where your hat's at.
Let us know what you want to do, um, just have the conversation
with people, um, and, andusually they'll laugh and be
like it's fine, we didn't knowthat we were using that color
thread or something along thoselines, right.
we'll always find that ourstandards higher than others,
which is where it needs to be,but we'll still send out a hat
that someone gets in the mailand they find it in perfection
and that's a, that's a dagger.
You know, we, we don't wantthose hats to leave in our
building, but we are human, weare making a lot of hats, and so
we'll always own it and makesure that people are happy with
(19:45):
their products.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I was just going to ask you on that and you, you,
you gave me.
The right segue for this is doyou work with other creators or
companies to with other creatorsor companies to that you make
them custom pieces for them.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, so right now we do, I'd say, four main
categories of sales.
So we'll do direct to consumer,so that's our website, that's
our brick and mortar.
We'll do wholesale sales, sothat's hats like you're wearing
and I'm wearing, that we make asa sandlot product that we then
sell to other people to sell intheir stores.
So that's our wholesale game.
And then we'll do volume enduser and so that is a company
here in KC wants to custom makea hundred hats for their
(20:28):
employees as gifts.
So we'll work with them todesign a hat that's special to
their company 10th yearanniversary, 100 year
anniversary, whatever it isWe'll make that hat for them and
sell it as that product.
And then some people areretailers that want a custom hat
that has their brand on it.
So I'd say the one example iswe made the new Heights hats for
(20:50):
the Kelsey brothers, the greennew Heights hat.
Taylor Swift wore one to aconcert and three days later
later they've ordered 6 000 ofthat hat for us to make, uh, to
start fulfilling orders for thembecause demand is skyrocketed
and so that's.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah it was, it was wild.
Um we were, we were, our teamwas very tired of making those
hats, but it was.
It was definitely a blessing.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
So we uh absolutely yes, we do all that well, well,
fun fact, the Kelsey brothersand I share one thing in common
podcast.
No, we went to the same highschool.
Oh really, mm, hmm.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yep, we graduated from Cleveland Heights.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yes, sir, I live in North Carolina, but from
Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Gotcha All right.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
That's a cool note there you go See, like I said,
usually on my videos, becauseit's the more you know.
So there you go, the more youknow.
And yes, in podcasts as well,but theirs is a little bit more
up there.
But it's a good show.
Yeah, it is a good show, it'shilarious.
Um so, speaking of the hat,right, because obviously you
(21:56):
make those, but do you guys haveyou ever thought about doing
like limited?
Do you do limited edition hats,like you know?
It's like, oh, we only make it,like you know, 100 of these and
then this is it.
We're not making any more.
Well, we'll make.
Maybe later on we'll makeanother batch yeah, that's a.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
It's almost like I planted that question for you to
help us push this.
So this year we're planning ondoing four or five uh lprs
limited product releases.
So we've done a couple in thepast, um, but we really think
it's something fun to do andit's a good way for us to get
creative, uh, and find limitedmaterials.
That's going to be the drivingfactor is Chad is really good at
(22:31):
sourcing cool fabrics, so he'llhe'll find something.
That's a, a raw denim that youknow was made in the fifties and
there's only X amount of it,and we got enough of it to cut
down and make 50 hats, and sothat'll be what drives it and
we'll do, we'll do four or fiveof those this year, and I think
quantities, again, it all bedependent on how much material
(22:53):
is out there, cause I truly wantit to be limited.
I don't want it to be somethingthat we just, you know, we only
make 50.
So there's only 50.
So we could have made a hundredif we wanted to like this will
be.
This is it.
You know, this fabric't get itagain.
So we made 29 hats or whateverit is, and then we'll launch a
limited product release for that.
So that's something we want toroll out in 2025.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
And, if I can ask, would it be sports related?
Would it be anything specificto Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Probably not specific to Kansas City.
We're really trying to.
We love Kansas City and KansasCity is good to us, but we want
to make sure that Spread thelove.
Or if we do something, we mightdo a small SG for Sandlot Goods
(23:47):
on it, but I don't know.
I will be the first to admitthat my creativity is a fraction
of everybody else's in thebuilding, so we'll see what Chad
comes up with, but it'll all bekind of what presents itself
and what fabrics are out thereand if there's something to be
excited about.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
That's going to be cool.
I cannot wait to see what youguys come up with In your
opinion and you know, obviouslyyou've had this conversation
with Chad like, how has thedemand for, like, high quality
material hats, you know how hasthat changed?
Right, Because the 80s and 90sthey weren't so good to the hack
(24:23):
community.
But, like, when it comes tomaterial that has evolved so
much, you know, now, in 2025.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, it's evolved a ton.
I think chad would be a betterperson on the hat, specifically
the.
To me it's just the consumer isdemanding of more quality
product.
You know, in general, I think,um, there's been this shift of
uh, mass produced where once ortwice, and that's still out
there and it's probably as bigas ever.
I know it's as big as ever, butbecause of that and because
(24:54):
there is enough knowledge andnoise around how that's not a
good thing in a lot of ways.
There is this kind of slow downculture of maybe.
I don't want the $20 pair ofjeans.
Maybe I do want a $200 pair ofjeans that I'll have forever and
that bleeds into almostanything, and so I think, um,
again, our, our hats are goingto last today.
(25:17):
Uh, yeah, I've washed and driedthem, you know you can do
whatever you want with them, andso, um, for us that there's a
world of opportunity.
It's not something I worryabout, that we're making too
high quality of a product forpeople to get.
We want to make it not thisbespoke we make three a week
type of thing we want it to bequality for the masses, but, to
(25:38):
your point, it is something thatwe couldn't be doing probably
10, 15, 20 years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Listen, I have a good friend of mine, patrick, who
has a lot of hats.
Right's one of those.
I was like he'll wear them, butthere's only one, maybe once a
year kind of deal.
Yeah, I'm more of the.
I want a good quality hat thatI can wear every day.
That's, you know, like they'refor me, hats are meant to be
worn.
You know, use and abuse them,and then I, I think they, the,
the, the wear and tear is whatmakes the character of that hat,
you know, because then it makesit yours.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, at that point, and that's where our brand's at.
I mean, I think we, you know,we did like if Sandlot was a
commercial and you know it wouldbe picking up a hat out of the
dirt and hitting on your jeansand throwing it back on and
wiping your brow type of stuff.
And hitting on your jeans andthrowing it back on and wiping
your brow type of stuff and uh,I love the idea that some people
think our hats are those kindsof pieces that they want to keep
(26:33):
pristine and wear, you know,for a few minutes.
Uh, that's great, I have noproblem with that.
But I also want to make surethat same hat, if someone wants
to wear it every day all summerlong uh is still standing up
strong by the end of the, theend of the end of the summer.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So, um, that that's where our goal is, and however
people want to use it, nojudgment on my end.
Hey, as long as exactly let'sget the hat right.
Yeah, uh, let's talk a littlebit about your culture and all
that.
Like, you know, what's yourphilosophy?
Uh, you know, as a ceo, likeright now is running saying like
because I mean you have yourown philosophy.
You came in and I'm sure youcame in and you're like all
right, let's, let's observe andthis going on, and then, you
know, build the philosophy howthat, how that process, and
what's your philosophy right nowwith that?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
The best way to put it for me is this being culture
first.
When I came in, there was a lotof good things happening at
Sandlot, but there was a lot ofthings that weren't weren't
great.
I think the culture, theculture, needed a big, big
reboot, and I knew I couldn't dothat.
I mean, I me coming in as anoutsider not knowing how to make
(27:35):
a hat.
It was an uphill battle for meto sit down to these team
members and make them think thatI wasn't in there just to clean
house.
Uh, and so we, you know, I'veread a lot of business books and
, uh, I can be the.
Uh.
Chad and I will both always saythis I can be the sucker if I'm
.
Whatever, the book I read lastis what I'm talking about the
most.
But we use a different, a bunchof different processes for
(27:58):
managing a lot of goals, a lotof scorecards, a lot of
dashboards, but the mostvaluable asset we have by far is
our core values.
And that's a cliche, you hearit a lot from people, but it is
also amazing that you talk tosome business owners like, yeah,
we haven't really got thatgoing yet.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I'm like it's just wild like why haven't, why
haven't you?
Speaker 1 (28:17):
yeah, yeah, like what are you?
What's, what are you waiting on?
And and the cool part is ifchad and I were kind of
reflecting the other the otherweek about our turnover rate has
just plummeted, like we havepeople that are coming in and
are doing great and they'resticking around, and when we do
an interview it is um, here'sour core values.
How do you feel about them?
(28:38):
Which one stands out the mostto you?
You know, one of our corevalues is positivity.
It's just as simple as that.
It's positivity and if you'rein it's, it's probably the
easiest core value you can haveto judge someone quickly in an
interview.
Like, I can tell if you're apositive person.
I can tell this pretty quickly.
The other ones are a little bitharder to eke out.
But if you're sitting therejust complaining to me about
(28:59):
your last job, your wholeinterview, I'm here to listen,
but you're not a positive personand it's not going to be a good
fit for you.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And so we're going to move on.
Yeah, person, and it's notgoing to be a good fit for you,
and so we're going to move onyeah, and I think it's it's.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
It feels a little cutthroat, but at the same time
it's it's for both of us.
It's it's for sandlot as acompany and you as a person.
I don't want to waste sixmonths of your time and then we
all find out it's a bad fit, youmove on and so, uh, it's not
much of a philosophy, I realized.
But if I can give advice toanybody trying to do something,
they want core values in place.
Start there, because that'llset everything up.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And it's just, it's just snowballs from there after
that.
So you're talking about yourcore values, right, you know
you're like you're fosteringpositivity, and but also you
talked about creativity, rightand innovation, and how how is
that being fostered every daywhen you, when you come into to
(29:54):
the job?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
I think, I think it's honestly an area that I we can
improve on, just because and Isay that because everyone in our
building is so creative.
We have everyone in our buildingis so creative.
We have, um, we attract and wekeep very creative talented
individuals.
People that graduated artschool come to us.
People that have side gigs athome.
(30:18):
They'll sew all day with us andthey'll go home and keep sewing
.
We have people, uh, that justare extremely talented.
Um, I do check-ins with everyteam member three or four times
a year and, uh, just thefeedback we get on on things and
it's not even just like cooldesigns or ideas.
It's creativity in our process.
Um, just two weeks ago, we hadsomebody who had an idea about
(30:42):
one of the stitches we do on amachine that we don't have a
whole lot of.
She's like, well, why don't wedo that same stitch on our
single needle?
And it was just like give it ashot and it worked, and our
production went up that day Likeit was just, and so I think the
best thing that we do is one ofour core values is smart work,
(31:04):
and it's just like if you havean idea, I'm all for it.
Let's hear it.
We're going to try idea.
I'm all for it, let's hear it,we're gonna try, we're gonna do
it, um, and if it fails, we'llgo back, and if it doesn't,
we'll keep moving forward, andso I think it's something we
need to improve on.
But being a being, anenvironment that asks for that
creativity to come out of peopleis is the way you're going to
really tap into it.
(31:25):
Um, now, you have to have thekind of culture that, if it's an
idea that they're super soakedabout and it doesn't fit, or
it's not a good idea, like, youhave to be comfortable with not
everything being an idea.
We do uh, but that's part of theculture too, so right, I was
like, listen, I a good idea.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I just don't know if that's something that's gonna be
for us right and it's, and it'shaving having the comfort level
to say that, right there, I waslike you know, it's like I, I
appreciate you, thank you forbringing this to us.
I just don't know if it's goingto be something that we're
going to be able to move onforward with.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Keep them coming though like yeah, oh yeah, don't
that does not mean that youstart.
That just means that that ideadidn't work this time yeah, so,
and that takes maturity andtrust and, um, that comes with
people being in the building forlong enough, I hope you guys
enjoyed this episode withSandlot Goods.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Ceo of Sandlot Goods.
Guys, do me a favor, before youget out of here, before you
start listening to anotherpodcast, do me a favor, go to
their website.
Check out their merchandise,okay, specifically the Negro
Leagues partnership that theyhave.
I have like six or seven ofthem, I'm not kidding, I that
they have.
I have like six or seven ofthem, I'm not kidding.
I also bought a CLE one.
I bought this one.
It's one of my running hats,it's one of the hats that I wear
(32:33):
constantly and you guys are notgoing to regret it, okay.
Now, after you do that, makesure you guys go and subscribe,
hit the like button, share thiswith somebody else, okay, and
then also, if you're watchingthe video, you give it a thumbs
up.
Okay, guys, and we'll see youguys in the next one.
What's your sandlot?
Find your sandlot Like we'rehere to support whatever passion
you have.
Throw your sandlot hat on, getin the garage and start brewing
beer or whatever it is.
If you're doing it at 4 ambefore you go to your day job,
like that's your sandlot andwe're here to support that All
right, all right.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Well, welcome everybody to yet another episode
of the DadHack Chronicles.
My name is Ed, also known asthe Deadhead, with me.
Actually, I am flying solotonight.
My co-host, val, is not with us, so it's cool.
No big deal, because I'm veryexcited for this.
Guys, I have someone whosecompany I follow a lot and whose
(00:41):
company I have given a lot ofmoney to Thomas.
How are you doing today, myfriend?
Speaker 1 (00:48):
I am doing great, excited to be here.
Appreciate you giving me thetime.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Absolutely no.
Thank you, first of all, forallowing giving some time,
taking a little bit of time outof your family time.
I get that, so I do appreciatethat.
So, guys, if you didn't know,Thomas and I want to make sure
that I I got that you're the CEOof Sandlot goods, Is that
correct?
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Correct.
Yeah, so I'm, I'm.
I'm sitting as a CEO right now.
Uh, and, and our founder, hisname's Chad Hickman, um, and so
he, he can't be on tonight, but,uh, he, he trusts me with the
story of Sandlot and, uh, I'mpretty ingrained in our story
and how we started, so lots goesto him.
I'll give him the credit wherehe needs it.
But yeah, I'm currently sittingas our CEO sport?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'm going to ask you that.
But also, like, why hats right?
Like I mean, you know, what isit that about hats and sporting
that just got you interested indoing what you're doing?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yeah, so the it's a good.
It's a good place to startbecause it kind of talks about
how I got into the seat that I'min.
The company I started isactually called Made in Kansas
City, so it's a local retailhere in Kansas City and it's
exactly what it sounds like.
We work with 200 plus localartists and makers and we buy
and sell their products.
(02:11):
So we have 13 location 14,including our cafes and we buy
and sell local goods.
So Sandlot Goods is one of thevery first companies we
interacted with.
This is back in 2015.
So at that point it was justChad Hickman, our founder, and a
few other team members and theywere making leather goods,
(02:33):
actually Like we still make.
If you're on our website, youcan see our leather goods, our
wallets, our journal covers andthey're all.
They're all yard ball.
Yeah, that one's that one'sbeen a lot of fun.
We'll get to that.
That's more recent, but Istarted interacting with them
and we got to sit next to Chadfor a long time and in 2019,
(02:55):
Mating KC got some ownership inSandlot Goods and it was one of
the true Mating KC companies,meaning they were cutting and
sewing and making the product inkansas city, and that meant a
lot to us, uh, and so we gotalong well with chad and got
some ownership in the company totry to help them grow it, uh.
So really it was just moreabout chad's vision, uh, and how
(03:16):
we could.
We could truly make somethinghere in the usa and manufacture
it with with hands and humansthat's amazing.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Uh, I love that story , right, like that.
It is made, you know, here inthe US.
And then I made an unboxingvideo a while back and I said,
guys, they make it here, theymake it, as a matter of fact,
they make it in Kansas City.
You guys got to go support it,you know, like it's not that
expensive, right, and it's.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
I love their hands, by the way no-transcript
(04:06):
entrepreneur that wants to startsomething just to sell it and
go to the next I I want to have.
I always talk about building acompany that people want to buy,
but mainly that I want to bepart of, because probably no
one's going to want to buy itand I was in a place that I want
to go work every day, um, andso the manufacturing piece of
what, what Chad was doing, andthe cutting and sewing and the
(04:27):
machinery.
it just had more meat to it,more meaning to it, something
that you could go to every dayand problem solve and be part of
and have a purpose that peopleunderstood.
We want to make things.
We want to make high qualitythings.
One of the early sayings ofSandlock Goods was products that
you're going to hand down tothe next generation, and so
(04:47):
that's a goal for us but we alsowant to make it approachable.
We're not trying to make 100hats.
We're not trying to makesomething that's super luxury.
We're trying to be competitiveand someone like you that wants
to buy six of our hats that's,that's what I want uh, somebody
that's just a hyper fan and, um,obtain our, obtain our products
assist a hyper fan and umobtain our, obtain our products.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
So so, and I'm sure you know this, so I'm gonna ask
so why?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
why the name sandlot goods yeah uh, that's one of my
favorite stories and, um, it's a.
There's a marketing campaignthat I really want to get to at
some point, but I want to do itright that talks about this, and
Chad would be okay with mesharing this.
But he had a brother pass awayand after that, as you would
imagine, it kind of shook him upand kind of reoriented what his
(05:36):
priorities are Always been abaseball fan and he essentially
sat down and was like you know,if you go back to the movie
which a lot of people thinkabout, it's those kids had a
place that they went to everyday to not just have fun, not
just to chill, but to get better.
They went to this place everyday to work their asses off and
get better at the thing thatthey loved, and that's he kind
(06:00):
of every day.
That's where I want, that'swhere I want to go to work.
I want to go somewhere that Ijust want to improve and work
and get better and have funwhile I'm doing it, cause that
was a key part of what thosekids did in the Sandlot.
So, um, that's what he went for, uh, and so for us now it's
kind of like we pass this aroundinside of the marketing thing I
want to do is is what's yourSandlot?
(06:20):
Find your sandlot Like we'rehere to support whatever passion
you have.
Uh, throw your sandlot hat on,get in the garage and start
brewing beer or whatever it is.
If you're doing it at 4 AMbefore you go to your day job,
like that's your sandlot andwe're here to support that.
So, um, you know, I I've neverbeen.
I can't cut and sew hats myself.
I'm just a huge fan of our teamthat can do it and I'm
(06:41):
passionate for chad, about whatwe're trying to build.
But, yeah, I truly believe wefound our sandlot and, uh, we're
trying to make that showthrough our products I love that
.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
That's amazing, finding your own sandlot.
I I never really had anybodyreally put it that way.
It's like you know what's yoursandlot and it's oh man, you're
gonna have some fun with thatmarket.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Yeah yeah, no, it's great, we're gonna do some
videos with it.
I mean, I would imagine thispodcast is is one of your sand
lots and oh 100.
There's just so many ways, somany ways to to get after it and
we're lucky that you know it'sour, it's how we make a living
and that's the ultimate goal,right?
But it doesn't have to be thatit can be.
It can be something like I saidyou do at eight o'clock when
your kids go to bed and twohours just melt away like that
(07:21):
and that's and if you don't haveit?
That's okay, you can find it,and that's where we're here for
that.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
And it's never too late, right?
That's the whole thing.
It's like it's never too lateto find yourself and you're
right, though, by the way likedoing the late nights that's
usually like Sunday nights isI'm here editing and putting an
episode out.
But it's a lot of fun, though,right, Because no one is going
to do it for me, I have to do itmyself.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I like that.
So what makes Sandlot such aunique, different company than
the rest of the other techcompanies?
Because obviously there's a lotright.
There's the New Eris, there'sthe 47s, there a a bunch of them
out there.
So, like, what makes you guysso unique in in a way, and that
(08:11):
that sets you guys apart?
Uh, I mean the obvious one isbeing manufactured in the usa.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
You know, there's only a handful of us.
We're we're definitely not theonly ones doing it.
I never claim that we are.
Um, I'm not sure how manypeople are doing it the way
we're doing it or at the scalewe're doing it, but it is that
and I think if you ever get achance to come into our factory,
it's going to be hard toexplain, but that's what makes
us different.
I think you'll walk in thereand the biggest thing I wanted
(08:39):
to do when I got to SandlotGoods was kind of shake off all
the ways people thought aboutmanufacturing and sewing and
make this place that you walkinto.
It's a story I like to tell.
I had this guy that was tryingto sell us cleaning services or
something.
I forget what it was, but hecame into the factory and he had
a box of donuts and we werehaving fun.
(09:01):
that day, I forget what wasgoing on, but we were making
hats.
You could see the machinerygoing and but I think it was
someone's birthday or something,so we had a celebration and uh,
he just kind of looked at me.
He goes this place has somegood vibes.
I was like there's not manymanufacturing places you walk
into where the guy deliveringdonuts tells you you got good
vibes and I think that's what itis.
We're trying to really like Isaid I want a place I want to be
(09:24):
every day.
I'm not trying to figure out howto make the most money off of
every single hat that comes offthe line.
Making money super important,but um, we're trying to make.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
If anybody tells you that, like they're not in it and
like they're not want to beprofitable, run away because
they're lying to you cash cashis oxygen, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
but, um, we, we have a team and we stick to our core
values really, reallyaggressively, and if you don't
fit them, I don't want you to bethere, because it's not going
to be good for you long term.
And so um Long answer, but Ithink what makes us different is
a lot of things about qualityand attention to detail, but
really it's the group that'smaking your hat.
It's a cool place to be andkeep trying to make it cooler.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Speaking of the process right, because obviously
you have your process whatwould be the process of crafting
, like, let's say, because I'mcurrently wearing one of the
your Negro Leagues in which, bythe way, I want to get into so
bad right now I want to talkabout this, but I'm wearing your
Santulce hat, right, andthere's the material is
different, the way that you guysare manufacturing, you guys are
(10:26):
making these hats, and you saidthey're made by hand, correct?
Yeah so what is that process ofcrafting a hat?
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, I think that's one of the coolest things.
We tell people we're hatmanufacturer and not until they
get into our space do they seerolls of fabric coming off the
shelf and scissors coming out tocut.
They're like, oh, you actuallymake the hats and, and that's
the thing, we don't just getblank hats and decorate them,
right, we're, we're cutting hatsdown from rolls of fabric.
So, um, we cut it down.
Uh, we use differentmachineries, different cookie
cookie cutters.
The hat you're wearing has gotsix panels If you count all the
seams up top it's got two visorpieces, a brim in the middle and
(11:01):
an attachment on the back, andso it is a.
I forget the exact number ofsteps, but 20 plus sewing steps
that go into making a hat.
It's a pretty complicatedlittle product, oh my God, once
you get down to it.
But we are, I'm, very dataobsessed, so we track every step
of the process, um, and alwaystell my team it's not because
(11:23):
they're trying to be big brotheror watch and figure out how I
need to know how long it takesto make a hat so I can price a
hat to make sure we get paidenough to be making that hat.
Um, so it's a multi-step process.
We have several differentsewing teams lead off team,
crown team, post bed team and itturns slowly from a two
dimensional product into a threedimensional product.
(11:45):
We have a machine called a postbed machine that kind of brings
this post out of the base ofthe table to allow you to sew
three dimensionally.
Then you have to get the buttonput on and then very last, uh,
and then we do all ourembroidery in-house and
everything like that.
So, um, one good opportunity topoint out a cool, unique thing.
So this is embroidered s likethe hat you're wearing yeah
(12:08):
front.
Two panels will come to ourembroidery team first.
This is something you can't dounless you manufacture your own
hats.
We'll embroider on just thisfront panel, and then this will
go to the sewing team, whichallows us to put this hair cloth
on the back.
Yeah, usually, if you see anembroidered hat, you'll have the
strings poking out the back andit's an unfinished look.
We're just used to.
But this you get to hide allthat because we're manufacturing
(12:32):
the hat.
And so then the hat comestogether after you.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Uh, embroider it so well I'll be down.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, it's pretty fun .
So, all said and done uh, 20 to30 minutes to make a hat in our
production process.
Um, we're making about 1500 to1600 hats a week right now look
at that.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
I'm looking at another one, the ethiopian.
Uh closet and it's like you'reright yeah, so you'll.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
You'll.
Occasionally we make some blankhats and we have gaps in
production, so we'll take ablank and then what we need to
decorate it with, we'll decorateit, and then in that case we
will have some embroidery thatgoes through through the hair
cloth, and if chad listens tothis, it's his least favorite
thing, but it's a it's anecessity to be efficient.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
So occasionally you'll get a hat or a sale hat
from us.
Speaker 1 (13:13):
It'll have that, but most of the time you'll have
that hair cloth behind theembroidery.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Interesting.
I like that and, by the way,listen, your guy's a price point
.
Pretty good, I'll say thatthat's a pretty, you know,
compared to a lot of the hats,the hat game has grown so much,
right, I mean, you go to theseevents out there, right, Like
you know, know sporting events,and you see, like so many people
(13:37):
that are already designing andmaking their own hats and
everything, and it's like a wild, wild world out there.
Man, uh, you know, kudos to youguys that can do it.
I know I I could never do it,uh, but that's amazing it's cool
, it's been fun.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
I mean, I'm a rising tide guy.
The bigger the hat game, thebetter it is for us.
I don't want people to not bedoing it.
I think companies like Mellonthat are putting hats out, that
are pushing the price point upto $70 for a dad hat it's a
luxury hat this helps us be ableto Even our dad hat that's less
(14:13):
of a unique custom lookingthing.
It's the highest quality dad hatyou're going to get.
It's one of the mostcomfortable dad hats you're
going to get and I have noproblem.
I think it should be worth morethan $40 a hat, but like I said
, I want people to be able toget our hats.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Appreciate it, yeah, at the same time.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
By the way.
I also have one of god great,yeah, that's a.
The shuttlecocks of kansas citymark uh because, yeah, nelson
art gallery down here, so yep Iactually I have it.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
So see again.
I mean, you guys are taking alot of my money.
We'll continue to do so.
So, um, all right.
So you, you got the process,but what are the materials?
Because obviously you spend alot of time looking at materials
there, right, what, what, whatare the your most?
Because obviously you spend alot of time looking at materials
there, right, what, what areyour most biggest materials that
you guys use when it comes tomaking these hats?
Speaker 1 (15:03):
So we we the materials is the biggest part of
making sure that we havesomething that feels good, has
the right weight and lasts.
So that's what starts with.
The simplest part is getting agood roll of fabric in the
building.
The hat that you're wearing andthe hat material that I would
say is they were most known foris our duck canvas, so you'd
(15:23):
think of like a Carhartt typematerial.
It's got a little some textureto it.
It's a little bit thicker,extremely durable.
I mean, I've run into some guysin Kansas city that are wearing
a duck hat that is has beenbeat to absolute shit.
It's got grease on it.
They're like, yeah, my wifewants me to get a new one, but I
just love it too much.
It's cool to see.
(15:44):
It wears really well.
It's got a good structure to it.
To be honest, it's a prettygood breathable material too,
even in the summer.
It's got some thickness to it,but compared to our wools and
stuff, it's a good summermaterial.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Yeah, you can definitely tell a wool from a
duck.
You know duck cotton for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:02):
Yeah, and I'm wearing a cord hat right now.
It's kind of hard to tell, butwe're doing a lot more with
different corduroys 8-whale,14-whale.
So it's definitely an areawhere we experiment, try new
things, but the duck canvas isour go-to.
An area where experiment, trynew things, but the duck canvas
is our go-to um, and then we'lljust do a decent amount of um,
some cotton on our dad hats, butwe make sure it's a good, high
quality material that doesn'thave any imperfections in it
(16:24):
yeah, I mean, I was looking atit.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
I'm like, oh man, this thing is gonna.
It's pretty legit, so you haveyour, your quality control.
Obviously.
Like how is that?
Because I've always wanted toask this, by the way.
Like, how do you guys gothrough the quality process of
like making sure that it isexactly how it is that you guys
want it?
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, so it's an area that is the most challenging
part of what we do as amanufacturer.
Okay, and I'd say Chad, ourfounder, will fail a hat and
he'll hand a hat to me and I'llbe like I don't see anything
wrong with his hat.
Speaker 2 (17:05):
I can't find it.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
It's just different levels, and so it's really
healthy, but we will butt headsand I'll be like man.
That's not a hat that we canafford to fail, because I can
give this hat to 100 people and99 of them aren't going to find
a defect in it.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Like the islets, a little off center or something
you know, and so he's has anextreme high level, which is so
good for us, and then we, youknow, I got to talk him down to
earth sometimes about what itmeans to exist.
And so it's, it's, it's verysubjective, right.
I mean, we're back and forth onthings like that, but um really
(17:38):
it comes down to the quality ofour sewers.
They're so talented, um, theyknow what to look for and we're
asking you know, we need highnumbers, we need high volume,
but also don't do bad work, andso it's this balance that they
need to have.
Enough balance, yeah, andthey're so good at it, they're
so talented, and so they.
They'll find imperfections forus in the process.
So, overall, it's having an eyeof quality.
(17:58):
We have a big quality controldashboard on our wall that shows
our percentage.
It's in the 90s right now.
It's gotten as low as the 70sand we have some defects and
everyone sees that big rednumber up there and it's like
all right, let's, let's slowdown, let's focus.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
A thousand hats that we fail is worse than 10 hats
that we pass.
So, but again, we, we prideourselves.
Pride in work is one of our fivecore values and if you sew a
stitch, like I said, there's somany pieces and so many people
working on it, you know if youdo a bad scene and if you hand
that hat on to the next person,they're going to have to try and
(18:32):
figure out making the hat andjust gets pushed down the line.
We're all about raising yourhand if you find a mistake, and
I'd rather throw out two piecesof a hat than an entire hat at
the end of the line.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
So yeah, I mean again you're talking about obviously
you're data driven, right, sothere's different data points.
It's like do I want to fill thewhole thing?
I mean, that's money alreadythat we've already invested.
You know we paid somebody tomake this and we already spent
money on the material that wedon't want to fill it right away
.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
And just being transparent.
When we're working on a customproject for a client and you got
the wrong color stitching fromwhat we said originally, we're
not just going to ship the hatand say, you know, hope they
don't see it, let's get on thephone, get a video, be like hey,
(19:23):
we have crazy high standards.
Here's where your hat's at.
Let us know what you want to do, um, just have the conversation
with people, um, and, andusually they'll laugh and be
like it's fine, we didn't knowthat we were using that color
thread or something along thoselines, right.
we'll always find that ourstandards higher than others,
which is where it needs to be,but we'll still send out a hat
that someone gets in the mailand they find it in perfection
and that's a, that's a dagger.
You know, we, we don't wantthose hats to leave in our
building, but we are human, weare making a lot of hats, and so
we'll always own it and makesure that people are happy with
(19:45):
their products.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
I was just going to ask you on that and you, you,
you gave me.
The right segue for this is doyou work with other creators or
companies to with other creatorsor companies to that you make
them custom pieces for them.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, so right now we do, I'd say, four main
categories of sales.
So we'll do direct to consumer,so that's our website, that's
our brick and mortar.
We'll do wholesale sales, sothat's hats like you're wearing
and I'm wearing, that we make asa sandlot product that we then
sell to other people to sell intheir stores.
So that's our wholesale game.
And then we'll do volume enduser and so that is a company
here in KC wants to custom makea hundred hats for their
(20:28):
employees as gifts.
So we'll work with them todesign a hat that's special to
their company 10th yearanniversary, 100 year
anniversary, whatever it isWe'll make that hat for them and
sell it as that product.
And then some people areretailers that want a custom hat
that has their brand on it.
So I'd say the one example iswe made the new Heights hats for
(20:50):
the Kelsey brothers, the greennew Heights hat.
Taylor Swift wore one to aconcert and three days later
later they've ordered 6 000 ofthat hat for us to make, uh, to
start fulfilling orders for thembecause demand is skyrocketed
and so that's.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
I don't know why.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah it was, it was wild.
Um we were, we were, our teamwas very tired of making those
hats, but it was.
It was definitely a blessing.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
So we uh absolutely yes, we do all that well, well,
fun fact, the Kelsey brothersand I share one thing in common
podcast.
No, we went to the same highschool.
Oh really, mm, hmm.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Very cool.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Yep, we graduated from Cleveland Heights.
Speaker 1 (21:27):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
Yes, sir, I live in North Carolina, but from
Cleveland.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Gotcha All right.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
That's a cool note there you go See, like I said,
usually on my videos, becauseit's the more you know.
So there you go, the more youknow.
And yes, in podcasts as well,but theirs is a little bit more
up there.
But it's a good show.
Yeah, it is a good show, it'shilarious.
Um so, speaking of the hat,right, because obviously you
(21:56):
make those, but do you guys haveyou ever thought about doing
like limited?
Do you do limited edition hats,like you know?
It's like, oh, we only make it,like you know, 100 of these and
then this is it.
We're not making any more.
Well, we'll make.
Maybe later on we'll makeanother batch yeah, that's a.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
It's almost like I planted that question for you to
help us push this.
So this year we're planning ondoing four or five uh lprs
limited product releases.
So we've done a couple in thepast, um, but we really think
it's something fun to do andit's a good way for us to get
creative, uh, and find limitedmaterials.
That's going to be the drivingfactor is Chad is really good at
(22:31):
sourcing cool fabrics, so he'llhe'll find something.
That's a, a raw denim that youknow was made in the fifties and
there's only X amount of it,and we got enough of it to cut
down and make 50 hats, and sothat'll be what drives it and
we'll do, we'll do four or fiveof those this year, and I think
quantities, again, it all bedependent on how much material
(22:53):
is out there, cause I truly wantit to be limited.
I don't want it to be somethingthat we just, you know, we only
make 50.
So there's only 50.
So we could have made a hundredif we wanted to like this will
be.
This is it.
You know, this fabric't get itagain.
So we made 29 hats or whateverit is, and then we'll launch a
limited product release for that.
So that's something we want toroll out in 2025.
Speaker 2 (23:16):
And, if I can ask, would it be sports related?
Would it be anything specificto Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Probably not specific to Kansas City.
We're really trying to.
We love Kansas City and KansasCity is good to us, but we want
to make sure that Spread thelove.
Or if we do something, we mightdo a small SG for Sandlot Goods
(23:47):
on it, but I don't know.
I will be the first to admitthat my creativity is a fraction
of everybody else's in thebuilding, so we'll see what Chad
comes up with, but it'll all bekind of what presents itself
and what fabrics are out thereand if there's something to be
excited about.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
That's going to be cool.
I cannot wait to see what youguys come up with In your
opinion and you know, obviouslyyou've had this conversation
with Chad like, how has thedemand for, like, high quality
material hats, you know how hasthat changed?
Right, Because the 80s and 90sthey weren't so good to the hack
(24:23):
community.
But, like, when it comes tomaterial that has evolved so
much, you know, now, in 2025.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, it's evolved a ton.
I think chad would be a betterperson on the hat, specifically
the.
To me it's just the consumer isdemanding of more quality
product.
You know, in general, I think,um, there's been this shift of
uh, mass produced where once ortwice, and that's still out
there and it's probably as bigas ever.
I know it's as big as ever, butbecause of that and because
(24:54):
there is enough knowledge andnoise around how that's not a
good thing in a lot of ways.
There is this kind of slow downculture of maybe.
I don't want the $20 pair ofjeans.
Maybe I do want a $200 pair ofjeans that I'll have forever and
that bleeds into almostanything, and so I think, um,
again, our, our hats are goingto last today.
(25:17):
Uh, yeah, I've washed and driedthem, you know you can do
whatever you want with them, andso, um, for us that there's a
world of opportunity.
It's not something I worryabout, that we're making too
high quality of a product forpeople to get.
We want to make it not thisbespoke we make three a week
type of thing we want it to bequality for the masses, but, to
(25:38):
your point, it is something thatwe couldn't be doing probably
10, 15, 20 years ago.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Listen, I have a good friend of mine, patrick, who
has a lot of hats.
Right's one of those.
I was like he'll wear them, butthere's only one, maybe once a
year kind of deal.
Yeah, I'm more of the.
I want a good quality hat thatI can wear every day.
That's, you know, like they'refor me, hats are meant to be
worn.
You know, use and abuse them,and then I, I think they, the,
the, the wear and tear is whatmakes the character of that hat,
you know, because then it makesit yours.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Yeah, at that point, and that's where our brand's at.
I mean, I think we, you know,we did like if Sandlot was a
commercial and you know it wouldbe picking up a hat out of the
dirt and hitting on your jeansand throwing it back on and
wiping your brow type of stuff.
And hitting on your jeans andthrowing it back on and wiping
your brow type of stuff and uh,I love the idea that some people
think our hats are those kindsof pieces that they want to keep
(26:33):
pristine and wear, you know,for a few minutes.
Uh, that's great, I have noproblem with that.
But I also want to make surethat same hat, if someone wants
to wear it every day all summerlong uh is still standing up
strong by the end of the, theend of the end of the summer.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So, um, that that's where our goal is, and however
people want to use it, nojudgment on my end.
Hey, as long as exactly let'sget the hat right.
Yeah, uh, let's talk a littlebit about your culture and all
that.
Like, you know, what's yourphilosophy?
Uh, you know, as a ceo, likeright now is running saying like
because I mean you have yourown philosophy.
You came in and I'm sure youcame in and you're like all
right, let's, let's observe andthis going on, and then, you
know, build the philosophy howthat, how that process, and
what's your philosophy right nowwith that?
Speaker 1 (27:13):
The best way to put it for me is this being culture
first.
When I came in, there was a lotof good things happening at
Sandlot, but there was a lot ofthings that weren't weren't
great.
I think the culture, theculture, needed a big, big
reboot, and I knew I couldn't dothat.
I mean, I me coming in as anoutsider not knowing how to make
(27:35):
a hat.
It was an uphill battle for meto sit down to these team
members and make them think thatI wasn't in there just to clean
house.
Uh, and so we, you know, I'veread a lot of business books and
, uh, I can be the.
Uh.
Chad and I will both always saythis I can be the sucker if I'm
.
Whatever, the book I read lastis what I'm talking about the
most.
But we use a different, a bunchof different processes for
(27:58):
managing a lot of goals, a lotof scorecards, a lot of
dashboards, but the mostvaluable asset we have by far is
our core values.
And that's a cliche, you hearit a lot from people, but it is
also amazing that you talk tosome business owners like, yeah,
we haven't really got thatgoing yet.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I'm like it's just wild like why haven't, why
haven't you?
Speaker 1 (28:17):
yeah, yeah, like what are you?
What's, what are you waiting on?
And and the cool part is ifchad and I were kind of
reflecting the other the otherweek about our turnover rate has
just plummeted, like we havepeople that are coming in and
are doing great and they'resticking around, and when we do
an interview it is um, here'sour core values.
How do you feel about them?
(28:38):
Which one stands out the mostto you?
You know, one of our corevalues is positivity.
It's just as simple as that.
It's positivity and if you'rein it's, it's probably the
easiest core value you can haveto judge someone quickly in an
interview.
Like, I can tell if you're apositive person.
I can tell this pretty quickly.
The other ones are a little bitharder to eke out.
But if you're sitting therejust complaining to me about
(28:59):
your last job, your wholeinterview, I'm here to listen,
but you're not a positive personand it's not going to be a good
fit for you.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
And so we're going to move on.
Yeah, person, and it's notgoing to be a good fit for you,
and so we're going to move onyeah, and I think it's it's.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
It feels a little cutthroat, but at the same time
it's it's for both of us.
It's it's for sandlot as acompany and you as a person.
I don't want to waste sixmonths of your time and then we
all find out it's a bad fit, youmove on and so, uh, it's not
much of a philosophy, I realized.
But if I can give advice toanybody trying to do something,
they want core values in place.
Start there, because that'llset everything up.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And it's just, it's just snowballs from there after
that.
So you're talking about yourcore values, right, you know
you're like you're fosteringpositivity, and but also you
talked about creativity, rightand innovation, and how how is
that being fostered every daywhen you, when you come into to
(29:54):
the job?
Speaker 1 (29:56):
I think, I think it's honestly an area that I we can
improve on, just because and Isay that because everyone in our
building is so creative.
We have everyone in our buildingis so creative.
We have, um, we attract and wekeep very creative talented
individuals.
People that graduated artschool come to us.
People that have side gigs athome.
(30:18):
They'll sew all day with us andthey'll go home and keep sewing
.
We have people, uh, that justare extremely talented.
Um, I do check-ins with everyteam member three or four times
a year and, uh, just thefeedback we get on on things and
it's not even just like cooldesigns or ideas.
It's creativity in our process.
Um, just two weeks ago, we hadsomebody who had an idea about
(30:42):
one of the stitches we do on amachine that we don't have a
whole lot of.
She's like, well, why don't wedo that same stitch on our
single needle?
And it was just like give it ashot and it worked, and our
production went up that day Likeit was just, and so I think the
best thing that we do is one ofour core values is smart work,
(31:04):
and it's just like if you havean idea, I'm all for it.
Let's hear it.
We're going to try idea.
I'm all for it, let's hear it,we're gonna try, we're gonna do
it, um, and if it fails, we'llgo back, and if it doesn't,
we'll keep moving forward, andso I think it's something we
need to improve on.
But being a being, anenvironment that asks for that
creativity to come out of peopleis is the way you're going to
really tap into it.
(31:25):
Um, now, you have to have thekind of culture that, if it's an
idea that they're super soakedabout and it doesn't fit, or
it's not a good idea, like, youhave to be comfortable with not
everything being an idea.
We do uh, but that's part of theculture too, so right, I was
like, listen, I a good idea.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
I just don't know if that's something that's gonna be
for us right and it's, and it'shaving having the comfort level
to say that, right there, I waslike you know, it's like I, I
appreciate you, thank you forbringing this to us.
I just don't know if it's goingto be something that we're
going to be able to move onforward with.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Keep them coming though like yeah, oh yeah, don't
that does not mean that youstart.
That just means that that ideadidn't work this time yeah, so,
and that takes maturity andtrust and, um, that comes with
people being in the building forlong enough, I hope you guys
enjoyed this episode withSandlot Goods.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Ceo of Sandlot Goods.
Guys, do me a favor, before youget out of here, before you
start listening to anotherpodcast, do me a favor, go to
their website.
Check out their merchandise,okay, specifically the Negro
Leagues partnership that theyhave.
I have like six or seven ofthem, I'm not kidding, I that
they have.
I have like six or seven ofthem, I'm not kidding.
I also bought a CLE one.
I bought this one.
It's one of my running hats,it's one of the hats that I wear
(32:33):
constantly and you guys are notgoing to regret it, okay.
Now, after you do that, makesure you guys go and subscribe,
hit the like button, share thiswith somebody else, okay, and
then also, if you're watchingthe video, you give it a thumbs
up.
Okay, guys, and we'll see youguys in the next one.
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