April 29, 2025 • 33 mins
Sandlot Goods transforms from a small leather goods company to a thriving hat manufacturer after pivoting to make face masks during the pandemic. Thomas McIntyre shares the entrepreneurial journey behind their handcrafted products, including their popular Yard Ball and partnership with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
• Building a brand identity while also functioning as a manufacturer for other brands
• Finding marketing success by showcasing the manufacturing process rather than hiding it
• Approaching collaborations strategically to elevate the Sandlot brand
• Creating the Yard Ball from a ball of blue painter's tape around the office
• Pivoting from face mask production to hat manufacturing during the pandemic
• Partnering with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum to preserve baseball history
• Setting ambitious 10-year goals while staying true to handcrafted quality
• Future aspirations to create licensed NFL and MLB hats
Find us on Instagram @SandlotGoods and check out our products at sandlotgoods.com.
Make sure to follow the Dad Hat Chronicles: https://linktr.ee/TheDadHatChronicles
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
need was winding down .
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There wasn't any people meet, and so it was
essentially, we got all thisequipment.
We had people that love workingfor sandlot.
I was like, chad, what you know, what do you want to do?
Uh, I wasn't a ceo at thatpoint, I was just kind of
helping out on the side and hesaid I always wanted to make
hats.
And I was like, all right, whatdo we need to do to make hats?
And so there's a few pieces ofspecific machinery that you
needed.
But essentially I'm like, let'sknow, everything I've been
(00:24):
reading, as I've been stressingout about this pandemic, is you
got to find a way to make it anopportunity, not a, not a
problem, and so this feels likewhat's up everybody, and welcome
to part two of my conversation,with saying a lot of goods.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Now listen, guys.
Here's what's going to happen.
This episode we're're gonna goto over my famous and un-famous
questions but, more importantly,the story behind Sandlot Goods
how it got started, how they'veonly been making hats for a
short period of time, and thenwe talk about this awesome
little toy right here, the yardball.
(01:01):
So, guys, make sure you guysare following them, go to their
website, get their hats.
It is great quality, they aredoing some amazing work and it's
made here in kansas city in theus.
So, guys, without further ado,I'll give you the episode.
How do you, as as the ceo ofthe company, right, um, and you
talk, we talked earlier.
(01:21):
I want to pull something you'retalking about.
You know your marketing.
You're going to be be doingsome marketing campaigns and
things like that.
How do you work with thecurrent platform that we have,
like social media and thingslike that?
How do you connect those twothings your company and social
media to promote Sandlot Goods?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
We're trying to find that footing.
So I think one key part of thestory that we haven't really
talked about a ton is theevolution of Sandlot.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Oh, it was coming.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Okay, yeah, we've only been making hats for four
years.
We were doing stuff differentthan that prior to hat making,
so it's kind of a new identityfor us.
I always tell people we'rereally good at it and not great
at it and we're just going tokeep going until we are great at
it, but it's one of thosethings that we probably we have
not found our footing on, likethe social media yet.
(02:13):
It's always a constant battlebecause we have this identity
crisis that I love.
But we're a brand Like we'retrying to make Sandlot, this
thing that people come to intheir you know, branded hats and
sweatshirts but then we're alsoa manufacturer, and so we can
be just a good high qualitymanufacturer for other brands to
make their product through, andthen, where you know, how does
(02:34):
that all blend together?
And so I think that's ourconstant battle and the best
thing we can do is just takeproduct pictures of our product
in our warehouse.
Yeah, you know sitting on thesewing machine, sitting on the
cutting table, do a walkthrough,show the embroider machine
happening, and so more and more,I think we used to kind of hide
the manufacturing piece behindit all and just show glitzy
(02:55):
pictures of models on our hats,and more it's like, no, I'll
just throw the hat down on thetable, you know, trim the last
thread off of it in the videoand and show people that what
they're getting put on theirhead was was sown by, uh, this
team member, um, and let themtalk about it.
So that's really what I want tofocus on uh is just being
ourselves and um, not worryingabout how cool the brand feels
(03:17):
on top of that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You know, it's something I appreciate about
your Instagram for the is thatyou do show that.
Like you know, I'm looking atyour, your webpage right now and
you have, you know, variouspictures, right, Obviously, you
do the model right At the LA hat, you got the kingdom, you got
Ohio state, OH, right, and allthis other stuff.
(03:39):
You have that.
But at the same time, I seethat you have, like, you know,
the store you have, you know,like the sewing and cutting the
last thread on there and showingthat, showing the behind the
scenes.
I think it's such a muchimportant thing sometimes, just
because that way they know whereit came from, like what it took
(03:59):
to make the hat that I'mwearing right now.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, and I want to track the person that has no
idea where hats are made,doesn't even care where hats are
made, they just love the waythey look and the way they feel.
I want that customer.
And then I want the customerwho's like actually typing in
made in the usa ball caps, andthey're like great, I'll buy any
hat you guys got because Iwanted it to be manufactured in
the us, and I think that's.
(04:23):
Those are those two things thatwe're trying to accomplish.
That it's just like I don't needto think about it, but just be,
us and both things will shineis the goal, but we have a ton
of work to do.
In our social media presence.
We've been so focused onmanufacturing and that piece of
it that it's like I got to shiftgears and let the world know
who we are.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Hey, listen, you guys are doing a great job.
I mean especially working witha.
Kelsey brother, I think thathelps a little, you know.
Yeah, so before we move on toyou know, what I wanna talk
about also is, like, the futurevision of the company, what you
got going on and all that.
But you know what is yourstance on?
Collaborating now with all thebrands and things like that?
(05:07):
I'm sure that's part of yourgoal in the future, right?
Like, hey, let's work together,let's come up with something
that we can all be proud of.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, Collabs are always tough for me.
The team would probably belaughing a little bit, because
I'm an accountant by trade andso I'm very numbers-driven and
oftentimes in my career so far,when the word collab comes up
from a numbers standpoint, noone really wins.
It's all just kind of a splitpot.
(05:40):
And who does what?
It's kind of cumbersome.
And so my honest answer is Iwant to do collabs with
companies that elevate us, andthat's a very selfish approach,
to be transparent with you rightnow, but sure, with where we
are as a company and so fewpeople know us and how small we
are.
Uh, if someone comes to me withsomething that that I think the
brand that I want to do acollab with needs to clearly be
(06:03):
bigger and better than us, andthen that they're just excited
about what we're doing, and thenwe can go do a collab and put
our names together and then seewhat happens from it.
I think I would love to be thecompany one day that is that
bigger, better company and wantsto find companies to elevate.
That's my goal right now.
That's, that's my, that's myCEO approach to collabs.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
It's not the fun, creative answer, that is no.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I get it.
I get it Anything with anybodyand that stuff will happen,
because we need people to havefun and do cool new stuff.
But the barrier of entry tocollabs is are they bigger or
better than us?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
You know what?
I can appreciate that,Obviously, you being the CEO and
all that, you're looking aheadright.
You know you're not working inthe present, You're always
working in the future.
What's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That's the goal, yeah .
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah right, exactly, easier said than done.
What do you see, sandlot Gutsin the next, you know, let's say
five, ten years.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So that's a big part of our process is sitting down
to the leadership team andlooking down the road and
working backwards, just settingthat 10-year goal, setting that
five-year goal, and then whatdoes that mean for this quarter
and what are we going to do thisquarter so we're in line to hit
that 10-year goal?
I don't have it in front of meright now, but I'm pretty sure
what we wrote down on paper is arevenue of between above 15, 15
(07:30):
to 20 million in revenue, whichwould be, to be clear, massive
growth for us and just growththat supports that.
So, like I said, I think it'swe're not all about just the
revenue.
It's okay.
We choose to make things byhand and work with people.
So how people does that mean ourteam is?
If we're doing 17 million inrevenue in a year, um, it's a
(07:52):
big team.
It's a lot of sewing machines,it's a lot of process and that's
what fires me up, you knowthat's that's a big company and
we're doing cool things andhaving an impact on our
community, and that's's our goalStaying true to who we are, let
more and more people find outabout us, but that's also that's
not a massive company in the inthe head in the headwear game.
(08:12):
We're still going to be tryingto do stuff the way we do it
high quality, take our time andmake sure that the final product
is something we're super proudof, but still in Kansas city.
Just good, consistent growth, Ithink, is what we're looking
for.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Tell me the story of how you guys decided to work
with the Negro Leagues BaseballMuseum.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think that all goes back to Chad and just
the baseball roots of what we do.
It's just so cool that we'rehere in town.
It's just one of those thingsthat just made too much sense,
and so, I'll be honest, I wasn'tin the building when that
agreement started, and so I justknow it's one that matters a
lot to us and it's one that welove working with the museum
(08:54):
directly.
Each one of those hats thatsells the, you know they get you
go through the catalog, the hatyou're wearing.
There's so many fun things andif you want to talk about
storytelling, we have someonecome in the building and be like
what's that clown?
And it's like, let me tell you.
Let me tell you about the NegroLeagues, and so you can go down
(09:14):
the line.
And this is the history, andfor me, any brand retail if
there is a story, you got a goodpath in front of you, and the
Negro Leagues give us a betterstory than anything we're doing
right now.
It's just such a gift thatthey're in our city and that we
can go through this catalog andmake cool hats to represent it
and keep their story alive.
(09:35):
I mean, that's what's fun forme is just the names.
You're throwing out thepictures of things that, like,
as long as we're making hats andusing marks, like their stories
live on and we can do thatthrough headwear, it's just.
This is awesome.
I feel like you rock.
We have some really good cordcord flat bills, five panel cord
.
That just would look good onyou.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Man, I'm telling you, I'm looking at all, every
single one of them they got to.
You know, lord Jesus, it's some, there's some nice ones out
there right now.
So I really do appreciate that,the care that you guys give it
right, because that's that's theone thing right.
Um, anybody can work with themand that's fine.
But like giving in the care andand and time and dedication
that it does take to really makesure that it is done right, uh,
(10:16):
in accordance to what the negroleagues and what they're doing
right now is, it's truly amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
So yeah, we feel we're lucky to have the
partnership there.
They, they're awesome.
So we, uh, we just want to keepmaking it, making good ads and
supporting them.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That's amazing.
I love it, love that.
Uh, all right, um, got a couplemore questions and then we
really will get down into thenitty gritty of, like the real
stuff you know here in a second.
So uh, so uh.
And then do, do you foreseeyourself expanding into other
lines?
Uh, for sandlot goods, you know, because obviously it's
(10:49):
something that we haven't talkedabout.
But the yard ball yeah, talk tome about this, man, because
this is the first thing I boughtfrom you guys, just so you guys
know, this is the.
This is the very first thing Ibought, and the reason I bought
it is because I was looking forsomething to throw around the
house with my daughter.
Perfect, and it is literallythe perfect ball for this, and
my wife appreciated that,because I don't break things.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
That's it, that's that's it, including your kid's
nose.
You're right, yeah, I mean, ifyou true story, yeah, yeah, I
know my three kids have been hitwith a yard ball a lot.
It's still.
It's still not fun maybe, butit's uh.
No one's getting bruises.
Um, yeah, it's.
It's a really fun story, Ithink, for me, just being
entrepreneurial minded andloving the idea of just how
things come about.
Uh, so I'll give the quickestversion I can of how that ball
came about.
But it um the other matingcasey, the company I started.
(11:38):
Sure we had just finished inrepainting one of our cafes and
we took down all the blue tapefrom masking and we made a big
ball out of it.
Yep, that was it.
We had this finished inrepainting one of our cafes and
we took down all the blue tapefrom masking and we made a big
ball out of it yep that was it.
We had this ball.
It was laying around the officeyou know open office and this
thing got thrown around likecrazy.
When it's time to brainstormyou know a new product or
whatever it was.
We were throwing this blue tapeball and I was just holding it.
(12:00):
One day I'm like this thing,it's perfect weight, it's the
perfect softness, we can throwit outside, and I just was kind
of like there's never been aball.
That's not a derivative of asport.
It's always baseball orfootball.
You know, you name it.
There's never been just a ballfor throwing.
I mean, obviously there's likecush balls and things like that.
(12:21):
But nothing that was made with alot of intention, and so that
was one of my favorite storiesto tell about Chad Hickman, our
founder, the guy that can makeanything, and he was just making
leather gears.
This was before the hats werereally humming.
I took him this tape ball and Isaid can you make one of these
(12:43):
like legit, like something, thisweight, this softness?
And he came back a few dayslater with a pretty rough
looking but essentially aprototype of what you're holding
right yeah uh, and I was likethis, is it like this thing, is
this thing's gonna blow up?
and so, uh, we ran a kickstarterit.
If you're familiar withKickstarter, yep, I am Ran the
Kickstarter and it just took offon us.
I mean, way more than weanticipated.
(13:05):
I forget how many we ended upselling to the Kickstarter, but
three or four thousand balls.
And then I was like, well, wenow have to hire people to train
them to make them, because ofhow Kickstarter works.
Right, it's crowdfunding.
It's the products aren't madeyet.
Um, if you get funded, you gotto make them yeah we hired 10
people and set up the shop andstarted started sewing yard
balls.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So those are sewn by hand in our factory I, and I do
appreciate the fact that you cancustomize these.
Yeah, that's the cool thingabout it.
It's like, oh, it's not justthat you know you can make this
and then be done with it.
It's like, no, no, no, you canactually customize these, each
of these.
You know the stitching and allthat, and it's that's super cool
.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, it's, it's, it's and it's just such a simple
product.
That's what's been so fun forme with it Is is.
Now we're trying that you putin your glove box and you know
it.
It sounds corny, but the onethat sits by my front door the
conversations happen, my son, aswe wait for everyone else to
leave for the house, we stand inthe front yard and throw that
(14:03):
thing back and forth justbecause it's there.
Uh, that wouldn't be happeningwithout that ball laying around,
and so, um, it's just a coolpiece to own.
Everyone should have one intheir car.
Uh, and they're the way you'reusing.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
It just sits on your desk and you hold one all the
time on doing my show ontuesdays and thursdays, right,
uh, it's, I have it on my hand.
You know doing the podcast whenI'm working, it's always on I'm
obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think it's such a good product.
I love it.
It's fun when you, when youtalk to someone that has, when
he gets it oh, I get it, yeah,oh, 100 when you don't get it,
someone's like all right, man,it's a ball, like when you don't
get it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Someone's like all right, man, it's a ball.
No, you don't understand.
It's more than just a ball.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
It's a handcrafted leather awesome thing, so it's
been super cool for us.
So we peeled it off.
It's got its own website now,yardballcom Yep.
So it's doing its thing, and wejust hired a new yardball sewer
last week.
The man's up a little bit, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Uh, it's been fun I'm I'm actually just following
them on instagram right now nice.
Yeah, we got some work to dothere too oh no, sorry, I'm
listen, I'm a fan, so you get.
But I like that though.
You're right though, because itis a conversation piece.
And you know my daughter's like, hey, daddy, let's go throw the
you know the ball around, likelet's go, like I mean, she's six
years old, right, so she'sstill working on those uh,
(15:17):
working on through catching theball and things like that, right
, and this is a perfect piecefor that.
And then my friends have youknow, they've come and visited
and I've showed it to them.
They're like what is this?
I'm like, let me show you, letme talk, let's talk.
Like a baseball fan woulddefinitely understand what this
is yeah, it's got that pop whenit hits your hand.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's, it's fun but I so I take some
with me when we go to the park.
I'll take an extra couple withme, because I'll see your dad
with like a five-year-old tryingto throw a football and it's
just, it's not working because akid can't throw a football.
So I'm here try this out and,uh, it just works, it just works
marketing right there,grassroots marketing right there
.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
My friend, that's amazing's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That's awesome.
So is there anything?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I think the main thing.
I just love the story of how Igot the hats as a company.
So Sandlot Goods, like I said,even when Made in KC, got
involved in 2019, they weremaking leather goods and we
still make some of the bestleather goods out there, in my
opinion.
But, uh, 2020, uh, you know,meeting kc, uh, pandemic hit
(16:21):
everything closed um shuteverything down and it was just
like you know, this is, we'resmall business owners and this
is a weird, uncertain world andum chad got on the phone with me
.
I have two business partners atat um meeting kc and some other
business partners and he's likehey, I think I think we can sew
some simple face masks together.
And you know, we're all sittingat home just like stressing out
(16:41):
.
We're like, let's go what canwe do?
yeah, and so, uh, chad,prototypes and face masks.
And then you know, demand hasskyrocketed for face masks and
so we were making these simple,simple face masks and we started
getting more machinery andhiring people and we were the
only people in the world thatare hiring at that moment and so
we went from a very small groupof leather workers to, I think,
(17:03):
at its peak, we had 70 teammembers in this pretty small
6,000 square foot space and somewere selling from home making
face masks, face masks.
And I think, when I was allsaid and done, as the the need
for face masks wound down, wehad made 800,000 or more pieces
of PPE through this team and wewere paying employees and we
(17:25):
were getting face masks toschools and hospitals and needed
them, solving problems.
And Chad and one of our otherbusiness partners, adam Pfeiffer
were the ones running the showand it was just awesome and so
need was winding down, therewasn't any people meet, and so
it was essentially, we got allthis equipment.
We had people that love workingfor a sandlot.
I was like chad, what you know,what do you want to do?
Uh, I wasn't a ceo at thatpoint, I was just kind of
(17:47):
helping out on the side and hesaid I always wanted to make
hats.
And I was like all right, whatdo we need to do to make hats?
And so there's a few pieces ofspecific machinery that you
needed, but essentially, I'mlike let's you know, everything
I've been reading, as I've beenstressing out about this
pandemic is, uh, you got to finda way to make it an opportunity
, not a, not a problem, and sothis feels like that pivot for
(18:09):
sandlot.
Let's go and so ordered a fewpieces of equipment and they
started making some test hats inearly 2021, I'd say.
So that's how it startedQuickly started making more,
getting better at it, constantlyimproving.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
And that's what we're super young.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
We're very young hat manufacturer, but that's what we
do now.
So primarily the vast majorityof our revenues come from hat
sales and then a few other softgoods.
But that was the genesis ofwhat we're doing now that's cool
, I, I that.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That's pretty cool.
Uh, just the fact that, likeyou know, you, just you took an
opportunity, you know, insteadof just like all right, we're
done, shut down, we're done,yeah, exactly let's go, everyone
, go back to what they're doingis like hold on a second.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
we can hold on to something here if we want, um
and it's.
You know, no one asked us tostart making hats, and that's
kind of the challenge is, wejust started making hats, so now
, now we're going to spread theword.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yeah, what was the first silhouettes that you guys
made regarding, you know, whenyou guys started making hats.
So the, the silhouette you'remaking.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
The the vintage flat bill was okay the first hat we
went to.
So, um, we were not shy aboutit.
At ebbets was a hatmanufacturer that we'd always
looked up to, um, and they did alot of vintage flat bills and,
um, some other, some other hatsthat chad was just obsessed with
, and so, um, definitely look tothem for inspiration.
But then we knew we needed thebasic dad hat to be involved.
(19:35):
Um, and uh, just wanted to beanother hat manufacturer doing
things in a cool way.
Uh, then get some new materialsinvolved there's some different
logos involved and really kindof make it our own um, any other
that you that you're lookingforward to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Obviously you work with negro league baseball, but,
like any other sports that youguys are looking to get into in
the future, as far as you guysare saying the goods, yeah, so I
think we have a fewopportunities coming up.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I mean to be honest with you.
I think NFL licensing would bejust the coolest thing ever.
I think getting gettingofficial teams on American made
ball caps would be a really coolstory.
I hope that's in our future.
It's going to take a long time.
It's a big commitment biginvestment.
I don't think we're there yetfrom a company, from an
awareness standpoint.
(20:24):
So we're going to keep doingwhat we're doing and grow a fan
base and hopefully, if we getreleased some officially
licensed NFL, and then I thinkthe goal that Chad's always just
thrown out there is like thebig, crazy, hairy, audacious
goal is MLB players wearingSandlot hats on the field.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Listen, I got.
There's some.
There's some minor league teamsthat would love some of this
stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I'm telling you, I mean, I think the one, the one
giant step we need to take isdoing some fitted hats.
We know everything we do isadjustable and I know on the
field everyone's wearing fittedand so, yeah, every step we can
take towards that goal for Chad,I think would be the coolest
thing ever.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
But yeah, even if you make fashion minor league or
major league, whatever rightfashion, people would gravitate
towards that stuff like hotcakes.
You know what I mean?
I think that's something coolthat you guys would definitely
we like definitely would succeed, succeed in that cool yeah the,
(21:20):
the, the fit it, that'll beyeah that'll be cool that's next
step.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Uh, it's a whole new ball game with keeping different
inventories of sizes and thingslike that.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
But it'll be in our future, I'm sure.
Love it, love it, love it.
All right, my friend, are youready?
Ready okay so this is the veryfirst question that I ask
everybody.
When I'm asking this, right,we're getting into my famous not
so famous question here.
When you go to a ball gameright, you're going to a
ballpark are you a kansas cityroyals fan?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
yes sir.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
All right, so I'm a cleveland guardians fan, so you
know um I.
You know we are.
We're in the same division, weWe'll talk.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Okay, but you're going to the ballpark right.
By the way, you guys have agorgeous ballpark.
It is such a cool ballparkthere.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Thank you.
What is your food and yourdrink of choice?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Food and drink of choice at the ball.
So we're big tailgaters here inKansas City.
We'll throw the yard ball.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
You're talking about in the parking lot beforehand.
I want to say it's better, manlike you guys really are
tailgaters over there, like incleveland we have the the muni
lot when everybody goes for likefootball games, but you guys,
you guys still get for baseballgames which is awesome, uh, and
there's.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
There's no better place to throw a yard ball than
in kaufman stadium's parking lot.
So I'd say my answer is,without a doubt, I'd want a
Boulevard Brewery in Kansas CityBrewery.
They do a cosmic IPA, the SpaceCamper.
So I want a Space Camper beerin my hand and just a brat with
some barbecue sauce throwing ayard ball around.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Hey, nothing wrong with that.
I like that, that's not bad atall.
My friend Donnie will tell youhe loves the IPAs, so we'll go
with that, all right?
What's your spirit animal?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Oh wow, spirit animal .
Oh yeah, my kids all havespirit animals, don't they?
Yeah, they do, they gravitateto them.
I don't think we ever got to meas my spirit animal.
You know, I think the for forsome certain special reasons.
Uh, the fox has been a ananimal that's been um pretty big
(23:25):
deal to me and my family thepast few years.
Uh, it's kind of representingsomeone that passed away and, um
, it more represents them, but Ithink more and more kind of
represents all of us, just, uh,um, an intelligent fox that is,
uh, that can be kind and kind oflive their own life.
So, um, I'll go with foxesbecause I have a better answer.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
There's no wrong answers here.
If you could have any wildanimal as a pet, what would it
be?
Any wild?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
animal.
Big cats are just so fun towatch Tigers and lions and stuff
like that.
But in a while, all right, I'llgo crazy.
I would want, I'd want a giantaquarium that's got dolphins in
(24:16):
it.
Dude, that'd be cool, that'd besweet.
You get the whole setup with itand everything you know.
It's not just in your backyardyeah you.
I feel like they'd be fun andplayful to hang out with, so,
yeah, they're super smartanimals, so it's super smart, I
could get some stuff done for us.
So yeah, we'll go dolphins.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I like it.
What was your favorite cerealgrowing up as a kid?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Favorite cereal.
It's funny Now with my kidsdoing their thing out, with my
kids doing their thing they're.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
They're working through some cinnamon toast
crunch right now.
Dude, we got so many out here.
Oh, jesus, yeah, we got ricekrispies, we got the cinnamon
crow a crunch and we have acaptain crunch here.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
We have every single one that you can think of I
think, I think I, I think Ialways gravitated to lucky
charms.
We weren't, it wasn't in thehouse often, and when it was, it
was just same, couldn't getenough of it.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So mine was a captain because I was like it wasn't
always around, but when it wasmad that we made the big bulls
out for real.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Um, okay, favorite school subject uh, that was
pretty, pretty easy.
I was a math guy, I loved math.
It was that one's pretty easy.
I was a math guy, I loved math,it was my thing and went into
accounting after that, which ispretty boring math a lot of the
time, but it's math focused.
So, yeah, math was my go-to.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Better you than me, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
What was the last movie you watched?
Oh man, I don't watch a ton ofmovies, but recently, last movie
we would have watched on our tvwould have been.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Do you guys have that disney chat listening?
Yeah, I mean, it would havebeen a kid's movie.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
So I'm trying to think of something besides a
kid's movie that we would havewatched recently, um, but it
definitely would have been a kidmovie, I think.
Yeah, moana has been flyingaround our house a lot recently
so, yeah, moana was probably thelast movie that I took in.
I'm not complaining.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, no, I love it, dude.
I'm all about Disney movies, Ilove them, but the last one that
we just literally saw ittonight, disenchanted.
It's like the sequel toEnchanted.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Okay.
Yeah, it's okay, my daughterloves it.
All right, yeah, oh, I knowwhat the actual answer is, as
you just said that and it wasawesome.
It was the Three Ninjas with myson.
What it was nuts, he hadn'tseen it and I see he's seven
years old.
I'm like tuck, you're gonnalove this movie.
(26:47):
And sure enough he was obsessedand dude, there's things that
would never be in movies today,that were in that movie.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I'm like I can't really say that yeah, I don't
yeah but I actually follow oneof the guys on Instagram, I
think.
One of the original threeninjas.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, it was three ninjas and I loved every minute
of it.
It was so fun.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Wow, you just took me back there with that one.
I like that All right.
Here's a philosophical questionfor you.
Is it wrong for a vegetarian toeat an animal cracker?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
uh, I'd like to think if I was a vegetarian, I'd I'd
cut out the animal crackers too,just on principle alone I like
just to throw people off like Ican't eat that oh, you know it's
an animal, don't you see it?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
get that away from me , a bear right favorite ice
cream flavor.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Uh, I'm boring.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Uh, I'm not chocolate but if there can be chunks of
brownie or something in there,that's my good that's good.
Yeah, yeah, for sure all right,couple more and then I get you
out of here you're great allright bungee jumping or
skydiving um, I would do both.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Haven't done either, but skydiving I think I would.
I think I'd get a.
I'd be terrified, don't get mewrong.
That's why I would love it.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
I think I'd go for it since you you are someone of a
person that does watch a lot ofdisney movies.
Yeah, I'm gonna ask you thisquestion what disney princess
will make the best spy?
Best spy and I've trust me,I've gotten every single answer
on this one, so it's you knowyeah, yeah, there's a lot, of, a
(28:32):
lot of moving pieces here.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I mean, if it's context, if we got, if jasmine
has access to the flying carpetand there's a leg up there, uh,
to sneak around and spy onpeople because it's quiet, right
?
Yeah, she seemed pretty sneakygetting out.
Yeah, I'm gonna go with jasmineI like it yeah all right, two
(28:54):
more here.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Favorite tv show growing up this is a weird one.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yeah, did you know the show chips?
Yes, with the motorcycle cops.
Yes, couldn't get enough of it.
I watched it like crazy.
I don't know why, I just lovedit I remember chips, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I even saw the remake movie, that's okay, I never saw
.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, it didn't suck me in enough because I knew it
was like now.
It's just this weird thing.
I like the speeding chases andstuff, but yeah my three older
sisters.
They'd be watching somethingnormal in the other room and I'd
be watching chips.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I like that one.
All right, last one have youever re-gifted a gift?
Oh, definitely, yeah.
Who hasn't?
Like I said, I've got threeolder sisters, so there's no
shame.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
You get something I'm like.
Kate will love this.
I'll package it up.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I'm just going to keep it here and then, you know,
move it along.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I'd say there's a group of people that are, you
know, at risk of getting are-gifted gift, and there's a
group of people that I wouldnever do it to.
And as long as there's thatgroup, that would be stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Somebody will get something.
100% Thomas.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
This was a blast.
I learned a lot about yourcompany Such a massive fan.
Just so you know, I'm a massivefan of your company.
Where can people find you andthe company on social media.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, standlockgoodscom.
And follow us at StandlockGoods on Instagram.
I don't think there's anythingtricky with our Instagram handle
.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Nope.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Just Standlock Goods, right?
Yeah, just making sure, so I'llsay it wrong on here.
So, yeah, give us a follow onus, get involved.
More YouTube if you're intomanufacturing, if you're into
cool hats, so appreciate it.
Just just happy to be able todo what we do and fans like you
make it, make it doable.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
So more than happy to be here and appreciate you fans
like me who spent definitelywill be more than happy to spend
the money on your company andmake sure you guys are following
the data Chronicles on allsocials.
I'm also on YouTube.
This episode will also air onon video on YouTube and as well
as Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 pmEastern time, the data
(30:58):
Chronicles sports show, where wetalk all things sports and then
obviously we also talk hats.
So we'll see you guys then andthank you for listening.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Thank you.
need was winding down .
Speaker 2 (00:01):
There wasn't any people meet, and so it was
essentially, we got all thisequipment.
We had people that love workingfor sandlot.
I was like, chad, what you know, what do you want to do?
Uh, I wasn't a ceo at thatpoint, I was just kind of
helping out on the side and hesaid I always wanted to make
hats.
And I was like, all right, whatdo we need to do to make hats?
And so there's a few pieces ofspecific machinery that you
needed.
But essentially I'm like, let'sknow, everything I've been
(00:24):
reading, as I've been stressingout about this pandemic, is you
got to find a way to make it anopportunity, not a, not a
problem, and so this feels likewhat's up everybody, and welcome
to part two of my conversation,with saying a lot of goods.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Now listen, guys.
Here's what's going to happen.
This episode we're're gonna goto over my famous and un-famous
questions but, more importantly,the story behind Sandlot Goods
how it got started, how they'veonly been making hats for a
short period of time, and thenwe talk about this awesome
little toy right here, the yardball.
(01:01):
So, guys, make sure you guysare following them, go to their
website, get their hats.
It is great quality, they aredoing some amazing work and it's
made here in kansas city in theus.
So, guys, without further ado,I'll give you the episode.
How do you, as as the ceo ofthe company, right, um, and you
talk, we talked earlier.
(01:21):
I want to pull something you'retalking about.
You know your marketing.
You're going to be be doingsome marketing campaigns and
things like that.
How do you work with thecurrent platform that we have,
like social media and thingslike that?
How do you connect those twothings your company and social
media to promote Sandlot Goods?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
We're trying to find that footing.
So I think one key part of thestory that we haven't really
talked about a ton is theevolution of Sandlot.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Oh, it was coming.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Okay, yeah, we've only been making hats for four
years.
We were doing stuff differentthan that prior to hat making,
so it's kind of a new identityfor us.
I always tell people we'rereally good at it and not great
at it and we're just going tokeep going until we are great at
it, but it's one of thosethings that we probably we have
not found our footing on, likethe social media yet.
(02:13):
It's always a constant battlebecause we have this identity
crisis that I love.
But we're a brand Like we'retrying to make Sandlot, this
thing that people come to intheir you know, branded hats and
sweatshirts but then we're alsoa manufacturer, and so we can
be just a good high qualitymanufacturer for other brands to
make their product through, andthen, where you know, how does
(02:34):
that all blend together?
And so I think that's ourconstant battle and the best
thing we can do is just takeproduct pictures of our product
in our warehouse.
Yeah, you know sitting on thesewing machine, sitting on the
cutting table, do a walkthrough,show the embroider machine
happening, and so more and more,I think we used to kind of hide
the manufacturing piece behindit all and just show glitzy
(02:55):
pictures of models on our hats,and more it's like, no, I'll
just throw the hat down on thetable, you know, trim the last
thread off of it in the videoand and show people that what
they're getting put on theirhead was was sown by, uh, this
team member, um, and let themtalk about it.
So that's really what I want tofocus on uh is just being
ourselves and um, not worryingabout how cool the brand feels
(03:17):
on top of that.
Speaker 1 (03:18):
You know, it's something I appreciate about
your Instagram for the is thatyou do show that.
Like you know, I'm looking atyour, your webpage right now and
you have, you know, variouspictures, right, Obviously, you
do the model right At the LA hat, you got the kingdom, you got
Ohio state, OH, right, and allthis other stuff.
(03:39):
You have that.
But at the same time, I seethat you have, like, you know,
the store you have, you know,like the sewing and cutting the
last thread on there and showingthat, showing the behind the
scenes.
I think it's such a muchimportant thing sometimes, just
because that way they know whereit came from, like what it took
(03:59):
to make the hat that I'mwearing right now.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, and I want to track the person that has no
idea where hats are made,doesn't even care where hats are
made, they just love the waythey look and the way they feel.
I want that customer.
And then I want the customerwho's like actually typing in
made in the usa ball caps, andthey're like great, I'll buy any
hat you guys got because Iwanted it to be manufactured in
the us, and I think that's.
(04:23):
Those are those two things thatwe're trying to accomplish.
That it's just like I don't needto think about it, but just be,
us and both things will shineis the goal, but we have a ton
of work to do.
In our social media presence.
We've been so focused onmanufacturing and that piece of
it that it's like I got to shiftgears and let the world know
who we are.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Hey, listen, you guys are doing a great job.
I mean especially working witha.
Kelsey brother, I think thathelps a little, you know.
Yeah, so before we move on toyou know, what I wanna talk
about also is, like, the futurevision of the company, what you
got going on and all that.
But you know what is yourstance on?
Collaborating now with all thebrands and things like that?
(05:07):
I'm sure that's part of yourgoal in the future, right?
Like, hey, let's work together,let's come up with something
that we can all be proud of.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Yeah, Collabs are always tough for me.
The team would probably belaughing a little bit, because
I'm an accountant by trade andso I'm very numbers-driven and
oftentimes in my career so far,when the word collab comes up
from a numbers standpoint, noone really wins.
It's all just kind of a splitpot.
(05:40):
And who does what?
It's kind of cumbersome.
And so my honest answer is Iwant to do collabs with
companies that elevate us, andthat's a very selfish approach,
to be transparent with you rightnow, but sure, with where we
are as a company and so fewpeople know us and how small we
are.
Uh, if someone comes to me withsomething that that I think the
brand that I want to do acollab with needs to clearly be
(06:03):
bigger and better than us, andthen that they're just excited
about what we're doing, and thenwe can go do a collab and put
our names together and then seewhat happens from it.
I think I would love to be thecompany one day that is that
bigger, better company and wantsto find companies to elevate.
That's my goal right now.
That's, that's my, that's myCEO approach to collabs.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
It's not the fun, creative answer, that is no.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
I get it.
I get it Anything with anybodyand that stuff will happen,
because we need people to havefun and do cool new stuff.
But the barrier of entry tocollabs is are they bigger or
better than us?
Speaker 1 (06:39):
You know what?
I can appreciate that,Obviously, you being the CEO and
all that, you're looking aheadright.
You know you're not working inthe present, You're always
working in the future.
What's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
That's the goal, yeah .
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Yeah right, exactly, easier said than done.
What do you see, sandlot Gutsin the next, you know, let's say
five, ten years.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
So that's a big part of our process is sitting down
to the leadership team andlooking down the road and
working backwards, just settingthat 10-year goal, setting that
five-year goal, and then whatdoes that mean for this quarter
and what are we going to do thisquarter so we're in line to hit
that 10-year goal?
I don't have it in front of meright now, but I'm pretty sure
what we wrote down on paper is arevenue of between above 15, 15
(07:30):
to 20 million in revenue, whichwould be, to be clear, massive
growth for us and just growththat supports that.
So, like I said, I think it'swe're not all about just the
revenue.
It's okay.
We choose to make things byhand and work with people.
So how people does that mean ourteam is?
If we're doing 17 million inrevenue in a year, um, it's a
(07:52):
big team.
It's a lot of sewing machines,it's a lot of process and that's
what fires me up, you knowthat's that's a big company and
we're doing cool things andhaving an impact on our
community, and that's's our goalStaying true to who we are, let
more and more people find outabout us, but that's also that's
not a massive company in the inthe head in the headwear game.
(08:12):
We're still going to be tryingto do stuff the way we do it
high quality, take our time andmake sure that the final product
is something we're super proudof, but still in Kansas city.
Just good, consistent growth, Ithink, is what we're looking
for.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Tell me the story of how you guys decided to work
with the Negro Leagues BaseballMuseum.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think that all goes back to Chad and just
the baseball roots of what we do.
It's just so cool that we'rehere in town.
It's just one of those thingsthat just made too much sense,
and so, I'll be honest, I wasn'tin the building when that
agreement started, and so I justknow it's one that matters a
lot to us and it's one that welove working with the museum
(08:54):
directly.
Each one of those hats thatsells the, you know they get you
go through the catalog, the hatyou're wearing.
There's so many fun things andif you want to talk about
storytelling, we have someonecome in the building and be like
what's that clown?
And it's like, let me tell you.
Let me tell you about the NegroLeagues, and so you can go down
(09:14):
the line.
And this is the history, andfor me, any brand retail if
there is a story, you got a goodpath in front of you, and the
Negro Leagues give us a betterstory than anything we're doing
right now.
It's just such a gift thatthey're in our city and that we
can go through this catalog andmake cool hats to represent it
and keep their story alive.
(09:35):
I mean, that's what's fun forme is just the names.
You're throwing out thepictures of things that, like,
as long as we're making hats andusing marks, like their stories
live on and we can do thatthrough headwear, it's just.
This is awesome.
I feel like you rock.
We have some really good cordcord flat bills, five panel cord
.
That just would look good onyou.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Man, I'm telling you, I'm looking at all, every
single one of them they got to.
You know, lord Jesus, it's some, there's some nice ones out
there right now.
So I really do appreciate that,the care that you guys give it
right, because that's that's theone thing right.
Um, anybody can work with themand that's fine.
But like giving in the care andand and time and dedication
that it does take to really makesure that it is done right, uh,
(10:16):
in accordance to what the negroleagues and what they're doing
right now is, it's truly amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
So yeah, we feel we're lucky to have the
partnership there.
They, they're awesome.
So we, uh, we just want to keepmaking it, making good ads and
supporting them.
Speaker 1 (10:28):
That's amazing.
I love it, love that.
Uh, all right, um, got a couplemore questions and then we
really will get down into thenitty gritty of, like the real
stuff you know here in a second.
So uh, so uh.
And then do, do you foreseeyourself expanding into other
lines?
Uh, for sandlot goods, you know, because obviously it's
(10:49):
something that we haven't talkedabout.
But the yard ball yeah, talk tome about this, man, because
this is the first thing I boughtfrom you guys, just so you guys
know, this is the.
This is the very first thing Ibought, and the reason I bought
it is because I was looking forsomething to throw around the
house with my daughter.
Perfect, and it is literallythe perfect ball for this, and
my wife appreciated that,because I don't break things.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
That's it, that's that's it, including your kid's
nose.
You're right, yeah, I mean, ifyou true story, yeah, yeah, I
know my three kids have been hitwith a yard ball a lot.
It's still.
It's still not fun maybe, butit's uh.
No one's getting bruises.
Um, yeah, it's.
It's a really fun story, Ithink, for me, just being
entrepreneurial minded andloving the idea of just how
things come about.
Uh, so I'll give the quickestversion I can of how that ball
came about.
But it um the other matingcasey, the company I started.
(11:38):
Sure we had just finished inrepainting one of our cafes and
we took down all the blue tapefrom masking and we made a big
ball out of it.
Yep, that was it.
We had this finished inrepainting one of our cafes and
we took down all the blue tapefrom masking and we made a big
ball out of it yep that was it.
We had this ball.
It was laying around the officeyou know open office and this
thing got thrown around likecrazy.
When it's time to brainstormyou know a new product or
whatever it was.
We were throwing this blue tapeball and I was just holding it.
(12:00):
One day I'm like this thing,it's perfect weight, it's the
perfect softness, we can throwit outside, and I just was kind
of like there's never been aball.
That's not a derivative of asport.
It's always baseball orfootball.
You know, you name it.
There's never been just a ballfor throwing.
I mean, obviously there's likecush balls and things like that.
(12:21):
But nothing that was made with alot of intention, and so that
was one of my favorite storiesto tell about Chad Hickman, our
founder, the guy that can makeanything, and he was just making
leather gears.
This was before the hats werereally humming.
I took him this tape ball and Isaid can you make one of these
(12:43):
like legit, like something, thisweight, this softness?
And he came back a few dayslater with a pretty rough
looking but essentially aprototype of what you're holding
right yeah uh, and I was likethis, is it like this thing, is
this thing's gonna blow up?
and so, uh, we ran a kickstarterit.
If you're familiar withKickstarter, yep, I am Ran the
Kickstarter and it just took offon us.
I mean, way more than weanticipated.
(13:05):
I forget how many we ended upselling to the Kickstarter, but
three or four thousand balls.
And then I was like, well, wenow have to hire people to train
them to make them, because ofhow Kickstarter works.
Right, it's crowdfunding.
It's the products aren't madeyet.
Um, if you get funded, you gotto make them yeah we hired 10
people and set up the shop andstarted started sewing yard
balls.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
So those are sewn by hand in our factory I, and I do
appreciate the fact that you cancustomize these.
Yeah, that's the cool thingabout it.
It's like, oh, it's not justthat you know you can make this
and then be done with it.
It's like, no, no, no, you canactually customize these, each
of these.
You know the stitching and allthat, and it's that's super cool
.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Yeah, it's, it's, it's and it's just such a simple
product.
That's what's been so fun forme with it Is is.
Now we're trying that you putin your glove box and you know
it.
It sounds corny, but the onethat sits by my front door the
conversations happen, my son, aswe wait for everyone else to
leave for the house, we stand inthe front yard and throw that
(14:03):
thing back and forth justbecause it's there.
Uh, that wouldn't be happeningwithout that ball laying around,
and so, um, it's just a coolpiece to own.
Everyone should have one intheir car.
Uh, and they're the way you'reusing.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
It just sits on your desk and you hold one all the
time on doing my show ontuesdays and thursdays, right,
uh, it's, I have it on my hand.
You know doing the podcast whenI'm working, it's always on I'm
obsessed with it.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
I think it's such a good product.
I love it.
It's fun when you, when youtalk to someone that has, when
he gets it oh, I get it, yeah,oh, 100 when you don't get it,
someone's like all right, man,it's a ball, like when you don't
get it.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Someone's like all right, man, it's a ball.
No, you don't understand.
It's more than just a ball.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
It's a handcrafted leather awesome thing, so it's
been super cool for us.
So we peeled it off.
It's got its own website now,yardballcom Yep.
So it's doing its thing, and wejust hired a new yardball sewer
last week.
The man's up a little bit, it's.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
Uh, it's been fun I'm I'm actually just following
them on instagram right now nice.
Yeah, we got some work to dothere too oh no, sorry, I'm
listen, I'm a fan, so you get.
But I like that though.
You're right though, because itis a conversation piece.
And you know my daughter's like, hey, daddy, let's go throw the
you know the ball around, likelet's go, like I mean, she's six
years old, right, so she'sstill working on those uh,
(15:17):
working on through catching theball and things like that, right
, and this is a perfect piecefor that.
And then my friends have youknow, they've come and visited
and I've showed it to them.
They're like what is this?
I'm like, let me show you, letme talk, let's talk.
Like a baseball fan woulddefinitely understand what this
is yeah, it's got that pop whenit hits your hand.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Oh yeah, yeah, it's, it's fun but I so I take some
with me when we go to the park.
I'll take an extra couple withme, because I'll see your dad
with like a five-year-old tryingto throw a football and it's
just, it's not working because akid can't throw a football.
So I'm here try this out and,uh, it just works, it just works
marketing right there,grassroots marketing right there
.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
My friend, that's amazing's amazing.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I like that.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
That's awesome.
So is there anything?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Yeah, I think the main thing.
I just love the story of how Igot the hats as a company.
So Sandlot Goods, like I said,even when Made in KC, got
involved in 2019, they weremaking leather goods and we
still make some of the bestleather goods out there, in my
opinion.
But, uh, 2020, uh, you know,meeting kc, uh, pandemic hit
(16:21):
everything closed um shuteverything down and it was just
like you know, this is, we'resmall business owners and this
is a weird, uncertain world andum chad got on the phone with me
.
I have two business partners atat um meeting kc and some other
business partners and he's likehey, I think I think we can sew
some simple face masks together.
And you know, we're all sittingat home just like stressing out
(16:41):
.
We're like, let's go what canwe do?
yeah, and so, uh, chad,prototypes and face masks.
And then you know, demand hasskyrocketed for face masks and
so we were making these simple,simple face masks and we started
getting more machinery andhiring people and we were the
only people in the world thatare hiring at that moment and so
we went from a very small groupof leather workers to, I think,
(17:03):
at its peak, we had 70 teammembers in this pretty small
6,000 square foot space and somewere selling from home making
face masks, face masks.
And I think, when I was allsaid and done, as the the need
for face masks wound down, wehad made 800,000 or more pieces
of PPE through this team and wewere paying employees and we
(17:25):
were getting face masks toschools and hospitals and needed
them, solving problems.
And Chad and one of our otherbusiness partners, adam Pfeiffer
were the ones running the showand it was just awesome and so
need was winding down, therewasn't any people meet, and so
it was essentially, we got allthis equipment.
We had people that love workingfor a sandlot.
I was like chad, what you know,what do you want to do?
Uh, I wasn't a ceo at thatpoint, I was just kind of
(17:47):
helping out on the side and hesaid I always wanted to make
hats.
And I was like all right, whatdo we need to do to make hats?
And so there's a few pieces ofspecific machinery that you
needed, but essentially, I'mlike let's you know, everything
I've been reading, as I've beenstressing out about this
pandemic is, uh, you got to finda way to make it an opportunity
, not a, not a problem, and sothis feels like that pivot for
(18:09):
sandlot.
Let's go and so ordered a fewpieces of equipment and they
started making some test hats inearly 2021, I'd say.
So that's how it startedQuickly started making more,
getting better at it, constantlyimproving.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
And that's what we're super young.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
We're very young hat manufacturer, but that's what we
do now.
So primarily the vast majorityof our revenues come from hat
sales and then a few other softgoods.
But that was the genesis ofwhat we're doing now that's cool
, I, I that.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
That's pretty cool.
Uh, just the fact that, likeyou know, you, just you took an
opportunity, you know, insteadof just like all right, we're
done, shut down, we're done,yeah, exactly let's go, everyone
, go back to what they're doingis like hold on a second.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
we can hold on to something here if we want, um
and it's.
You know, no one asked us tostart making hats, and that's
kind of the challenge is, wejust started making hats, so now
, now we're going to spread theword.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Yeah, what was the first silhouettes that you guys
made regarding, you know, whenyou guys started making hats.
So the, the silhouette you'remaking.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
The the vintage flat bill was okay the first hat we
went to.
So, um, we were not shy aboutit.
At ebbets was a hatmanufacturer that we'd always
looked up to, um, and they did alot of vintage flat bills and,
um, some other, some other hatsthat chad was just obsessed with
, and so, um, definitely look tothem for inspiration.
But then we knew we needed thebasic dad hat to be involved.
(19:35):
Um, and uh, just wanted to beanother hat manufacturer doing
things in a cool way.
Uh, then get some new materialsinvolved there's some different
logos involved and really kindof make it our own um, any other
that you that you're lookingforward to.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
Obviously you work with negro league baseball, but,
like any other sports that youguys are looking to get into in
the future, as far as you guysare saying the goods, yeah, so I
think we have a fewopportunities coming up.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
I mean to be honest with you.
I think NFL licensing would bejust the coolest thing ever.
I think getting gettingofficial teams on American made
ball caps would be a really coolstory.
I hope that's in our future.
It's going to take a long time.
It's a big commitment biginvestment.
I don't think we're there yetfrom a company, from an
awareness standpoint.
(20:24):
So we're going to keep doingwhat we're doing and grow a fan
base and hopefully, if we getreleased some officially
licensed NFL, and then I thinkthe goal that Chad's always just
thrown out there is like thebig, crazy, hairy, audacious
goal is MLB players wearingSandlot hats on the field.
Speaker 1 (20:40):
Listen, I got.
There's some.
There's some minor league teamsthat would love some of this
stuff.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
I'm telling you, I mean, I think the one, the one
giant step we need to take isdoing some fitted hats.
We know everything we do isadjustable and I know on the
field everyone's wearing fittedand so, yeah, every step we can
take towards that goal for Chad,I think would be the coolest
thing ever.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
But yeah, even if you make fashion minor league or
major league, whatever rightfashion, people would gravitate
towards that stuff like hotcakes.
You know what I mean?
I think that's something coolthat you guys would definitely
we like definitely would succeed, succeed in that cool yeah the,
(21:20):
the, the fit it, that'll beyeah that'll be cool that's next
step.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
Uh, it's a whole new ball game with keeping different
inventories of sizes and thingslike that.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
But it'll be in our future, I'm sure.
Love it, love it, love it.
All right, my friend, are youready?
Ready okay so this is the veryfirst question that I ask
everybody.
When I'm asking this, right,we're getting into my famous not
so famous question here.
When you go to a ball gameright, you're going to a
ballpark are you a kansas cityroyals fan?
Speaker 2 (21:48):
yes sir.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
All right, so I'm a cleveland guardians fan, so you
know um I.
You know we are.
We're in the same division, weWe'll talk.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
There we go.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Okay, but you're going to the ballpark right.
By the way, you guys have agorgeous ballpark.
It is such a cool ballparkthere.
Speaker 2 (22:03):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Thank you.
What is your food and yourdrink of choice?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Food and drink of choice at the ball.
So we're big tailgaters here inKansas City.
We'll throw the yard ball.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
You're talking about in the parking lot beforehand.
I want to say it's better, manlike you guys really are
tailgaters over there, like incleveland we have the the muni
lot when everybody goes for likefootball games, but you guys,
you guys still get for baseballgames which is awesome, uh, and
there's.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
There's no better place to throw a yard ball than
in kaufman stadium's parking lot.
So I'd say my answer is,without a doubt, I'd want a
Boulevard Brewery in Kansas CityBrewery.
They do a cosmic IPA, the SpaceCamper.
So I want a Space Camper beerin my hand and just a brat with
some barbecue sauce throwing ayard ball around.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Hey, nothing wrong with that.
I like that, that's not bad atall.
My friend Donnie will tell youhe loves the IPAs, so we'll go
with that, all right?
What's your spirit animal?
Speaker 2 (23:04):
Oh wow, spirit animal .
Oh yeah, my kids all havespirit animals, don't they?
Yeah, they do, they gravitateto them.
I don't think we ever got to meas my spirit animal.
You know, I think the for forsome certain special reasons.
Uh, the fox has been a ananimal that's been um pretty big
(23:25):
deal to me and my family thepast few years.
Uh, it's kind of representingsomeone that passed away and, um
, it more represents them, but Ithink more and more kind of
represents all of us, just, uh,um, an intelligent fox that is,
uh, that can be kind and kind oflive their own life.
So, um, I'll go with foxesbecause I have a better answer.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
There's no wrong answers here.
If you could have any wildanimal as a pet, what would it
be?
Any wild?
Speaker 2 (23:55):
animal.
Big cats are just so fun towatch Tigers and lions and stuff
like that.
But in a while, all right, I'llgo crazy.
I would want, I'd want a giantaquarium that's got dolphins in
(24:16):
it.
Dude, that'd be cool, that'd besweet.
You get the whole setup with itand everything you know.
It's not just in your backyardyeah you.
I feel like they'd be fun andplayful to hang out with, so,
yeah, they're super smartanimals, so it's super smart, I
could get some stuff done for us.
So yeah, we'll go dolphins.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
I like it.
What was your favorite cerealgrowing up as a kid?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
Favorite cereal.
It's funny Now with my kidsdoing their thing out, with my
kids doing their thing they're.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
They're working through some cinnamon toast
crunch right now.
Dude, we got so many out here.
Oh, jesus, yeah, we got ricekrispies, we got the cinnamon
crow a crunch and we have acaptain crunch here.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
We have every single one that you can think of I
think, I think I, I think Ialways gravitated to lucky
charms.
We weren't, it wasn't in thehouse often, and when it was, it
was just same, couldn't getenough of it.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
So mine was a captain because I was like it wasn't
always around, but when it wasmad that we made the big bulls
out for real.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Um, okay, favorite school subject uh, that was
pretty, pretty easy.
I was a math guy, I loved math.
It was that one's pretty easy.
I was a math guy, I loved math,it was my thing and went into
accounting after that, which ispretty boring math a lot of the
time, but it's math focused.
So, yeah, math was my go-to.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Better you than me, I'm telling you.
Speaker 2 (25:40):
What was the last movie you watched?
Oh man, I don't watch a ton ofmovies, but recently, last movie
we would have watched on our tvwould have been.
Speaker 1 (25:50):
Do you guys have that disney chat listening?
Yeah, I mean, it would havebeen a kid's movie.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
So I'm trying to think of something besides a
kid's movie that we would havewatched recently, um, but it
definitely would have been a kidmovie, I think.
Yeah, moana has been flyingaround our house a lot recently
so, yeah, moana was probably thelast movie that I took in.
I'm not complaining.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
No, no, I love it, dude.
I'm all about Disney movies, Ilove them, but the last one that
we just literally saw ittonight, disenchanted.
It's like the sequel toEnchanted.
Speaker 2 (26:26):
Okay.
Yeah, it's okay, my daughterloves it.
All right, yeah, oh, I knowwhat the actual answer is, as
you just said that and it wasawesome.
It was the Three Ninjas with myson.
What it was nuts, he hadn'tseen it and I see he's seven
years old.
I'm like tuck, you're gonnalove this movie.
(26:47):
And sure enough he was obsessedand dude, there's things that
would never be in movies today,that were in that movie.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
I'm like I can't really say that yeah, I don't
yeah but I actually follow oneof the guys on Instagram, I
think.
One of the original threeninjas.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
Yeah, it was three ninjas and I loved every minute
of it.
It was so fun.
Speaker 1 (27:10):
Wow, you just took me back there with that one.
I like that All right.
Here's a philosophical questionfor you.
Is it wrong for a vegetarian toeat an animal cracker?
Speaker 2 (27:27):
uh, I'd like to think if I was a vegetarian, I'd I'd
cut out the animal crackers too,just on principle alone I like
just to throw people off like Ican't eat that oh, you know it's
an animal, don't you see it?
Speaker 1 (27:40):
get that away from me , a bear right favorite ice
cream flavor.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
Uh, I'm boring.
Speaker 1 (27:52):
Uh, I'm not chocolate but if there can be chunks of
brownie or something in there,that's my good that's good.
Yeah, yeah, for sure all right,couple more and then I get you
out of here you're great allright bungee jumping or
skydiving um, I would do both.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Haven't done either, but skydiving I think I would.
I think I'd get a.
I'd be terrified, don't get mewrong.
That's why I would love it.
Speaker 1 (28:09):
I think I'd go for it since you you are someone of a
person that does watch a lot ofdisney movies.
Yeah, I'm gonna ask you thisquestion what disney princess
will make the best spy?
Best spy and I've trust me,I've gotten every single answer
on this one, so it's you knowyeah, yeah, there's a lot, of, a
(28:32):
lot of moving pieces here.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I mean, if it's context, if we got, if jasmine
has access to the flying carpetand there's a leg up there, uh,
to sneak around and spy onpeople because it's quiet, right
?
Yeah, she seemed pretty sneakygetting out.
Yeah, I'm gonna go with jasmineI like it yeah all right, two
(28:54):
more here.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
Favorite tv show growing up this is a weird one.
Speaker 2 (29:01):
Yeah, did you know the show chips?
Yes, with the motorcycle cops.
Yes, couldn't get enough of it.
I watched it like crazy.
I don't know why, I just lovedit I remember chips, yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
I even saw the remake movie, that's okay, I never saw
.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
Yeah, it didn't suck me in enough because I knew it
was like now.
It's just this weird thing.
I like the speeding chases andstuff, but yeah my three older
sisters.
They'd be watching somethingnormal in the other room and I'd
be watching chips.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I like that one.
All right, last one have youever re-gifted a gift?
Oh, definitely, yeah.
Who hasn't?
Like I said, I've got threeolder sisters, so there's no
shame.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
You get something I'm like.
Kate will love this.
I'll package it up.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
I'm just going to keep it here and then, you know,
move it along.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I'd say there's a group of people that are, you
know, at risk of getting are-gifted gift, and there's a
group of people that I wouldnever do it to.
And as long as there's thatgroup, that would be stuff.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Somebody will get something.
100% Thomas.
Thank you so much for doingthis.
This was a blast.
I learned a lot about yourcompany Such a massive fan.
Just so you know, I'm a massivefan of your company.
Where can people find you andthe company on social media.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Yeah, standlockgoodscom.
And follow us at StandlockGoods on Instagram.
I don't think there's anythingtricky with our Instagram handle
.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Nope.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Just Standlock Goods, right?
Yeah, just making sure, so I'llsay it wrong on here.
So, yeah, give us a follow onus, get involved.
More YouTube if you're intomanufacturing, if you're into
cool hats, so appreciate it.
Just just happy to be able todo what we do and fans like you
make it, make it doable.
Speaker 1 (30:37):
So more than happy to be here and appreciate you fans
like me who spent definitelywill be more than happy to spend
the money on your company andmake sure you guys are following
the data Chronicles on allsocials.
I'm also on YouTube.
This episode will also air onon video on YouTube and as well
as Tuesdays and Thursdays 9 pmEastern time, the data
(30:58):
Chronicles sports show, where wetalk all things sports and then
obviously we also talk hats.
So we'll see you guys then andthank you for listening.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.