Jeff & Randy Vines, Owners of STL Style (Interview 15/100)

Ok so technically this is two leaders in one interview, so the count is going to be off in one way or another. I may have to adjust the tagline to account for this duo, but I’m happy to do so in order to shine a spotlight on these two. They’re full of advice, full of grit, and full of love for their hometown community of St. Louis, Missouri. I first found out about Jeff & Randy Vines, Founders & Owners of STL Style, when I had posted on Reddit asking about the businesses that are known for having really great reputations and represent the city well. STL Style popped up multiple times alongside comments like “They’re the s&!$.” “Stop there every visit home.” “Love what they’re doing and their city pride.” “Yes! STL Style are the epitome of St. Louis.” And there are 2 things you should know if you’re unfamiliar with St. Louis: 

1. It’s a proudly self-deprecating city that can be its own worst critic, but don’t let that fool you. St. Louis natives love their city through and through. It might not be the most popular city in the world, but I’ll challenge you to find a St. Louis native that won’t sing its praises. 

2. They support their own. Hard. And STL Style is a great example of a business that represents its community through and through. And it supports STL right back. 

What started as a moonlight project in 2001 when they graduated college, quickly evolved into much more as it gained media attention and recognition all over the world. That proud undertone that permeates STL clearly doesn’t go away as folks spread out to new cities in new countries. When Jeff & Randy got a surprise write up in the New York Times, suddenly folks from all over were placing their orders to support and own a t-shirt to show off their St. Louis pride. That t-shirt business grew to a brick and mortar location now known locally as STL Stylehouse. And then that shop evolved with the help of it’s employees to become the larger community it is now. 

They’ve also built a stellar internal community by propping up their staff, giving them ownership to make the community around the store what they want it to be. “Our staff is as diverse as the city itself” and are proud of the staff, consider them family, and truly love them. Empower employees to use the space for what they need. This is well beyond a local t-shirt company as they have been known to host open mic nights, drag performances and makeup workshops, backdrops for a professional freelance photographer building his own business outside of the brand. They even give everyone a set of keys and let people keep their keys past their time of employment and welcome a return to visit the house cat. They’ve created a sense of ownership. 

They don't take it for granted that the city loves them back. Even supporting their competitors within the community of St. Louis-based apparel shops that have since opened. They give a shout out to the younger similar businesses that are doing a great job by acknowledging their competition fueling their own evolution. Once again, uplifting the community including the competition.

Whatever it is, whatever they’re doing, they should keep doing it and we should all learn a thing or two from what they’re doing. 

Shout outs: 

• Amanda Clark - founded Renegade Tours now adopted by the Missouri History Museum (Randy does tours for the program)

• Natasha Bahrami - Ginworld (very first custom design project!)

• Bill Streeter - videographer and founder of Lo-Fi Cherokee to showcase local music & businesses

• Vertrell Yates - freelance photographer & owner of Trells Eye Photography

Company Mentions | BioSite (with links to listen & more)

Transcript

AM: Hey, folks, thanks for coming over to Capitalism for Good. This is a part of a larger project where I am on a mission to interview a hundred business leaders about the positive impact that they have on their internal and external communities. It's through these interviews that we will dig into how we can use the ways in which we make and spend our dollars in order to benefit the greater good.

Folks, today we have the first duo of the series, which really kind of made me just question and rethink and adjust the messaging of this because now it's not really a hundred business leaders that I'm interviewing. It's a hundred interviews with business leaders. It is such a small thing, but it was worth it to really think about it and be intentional and to be able to interview both of these guys together.

It is Jeff and Randy Vines. They are co-owners of STL Style and also identical twins. And STL Style might be best known for their brick and mortar store, which is known locally as STL Stylehouse, which also here is a plug to watch the video version, either on Patreon or on YouTube because you can see their logo in the shop in the background. But they also do so much more under the umbrella of their company. You can check them out for their custom work, collaboration with brands, places like Washington University, STL Public Radio. They do public speaking, tours for school groups, relocation groups, all the things that uplift STL. They also hold special events, which you can see on their website. I'll put links to the website. Also, their Facebook and their Instagram page and the show notes that way you can find them and see all of the gajillion things that they have going on within the city of St. Louis.

And also, just a tiny, quick side note here. If you've got kids, just note that there are a couple of moments of some colorful language. I left those in because it really matches their gritty style, which seems to match St. Louis City. It's not a ton by any means, but it is there. And I stand by that it shows their passion for the community, which, let's talk about that. There is so much pride for the city of St. Louis, for their community, for the people around them, for like everything about this, which I think just serves as this natural platform for a t-shirt company that's grown into so much more that's focused on St. Louis and being proud of St. Louis and uplifting St. Louis and they've got all of these fun different designs and things that are going on.

But also I think one of the things that truly stands out with you are things like the way that they have built their business and their brand. Things like, and this is spoiler alert for the things that they'll talk about, like allowing their employees to leverage their skills and talents within the shop that are beyond the scope of the brand. So I'm talking things like hosting drag nights, hosting open mic nights, having other events. There's a photographer that they have on staff that they've been known to use the shop for the shoots that are outside of the brand. Giving their employees keys to the store indefinitely even though they're no longer employees of the store. It's something that you can tell builds ownership and trust and it just has a really cool undertone to all of it.

Something that I would have never in a million years imagined but they will tell you that I found them, much like a few of the other folks that I'll talk to here on the project. But I found them through a reddit post asking for who are the companies and the businesses within your city that you're proud of, that don't make the news for doing shady things, just the folks that are based in your community that are really doing cool things. In STL Style, it quickly popped up and then there were tons of other little responses that followed. I stop there every time I visit home, love what they're doing with the city and the pride, they're the epitome of St. Louis. It's really cool to see people really rally around a business like that and seriously listening to the two of them. It is absolutely no surprise that they have built a good reputation and I think listening to them is a great learning opportunity in how you build a good reputation.

You trust the people around them, you give them ownership and value, you let them do what they do best and also at the end of the day in trying to think about it and extrapolate some key themes and ideas and try to figure out like what's their secret. Yeah, I don't know. Is it being a twin and learning from each other? Is it knowing and loving your community? Is it their background in public access TV? Is it their leadership style? Is it being so well spoken that while I've been working on the write-ups for this project, I really just keep finding myself wanting to quote them? You tell me. I don't know. But with that being said, I'll just let you listen to them tell you what they are all about. Enjoy. My first question, the where I want you guys to start, if you're okay with it, is, I haven't figured out a non-choosy way to say this.

An overview of your career journey of what led you to St. Louis Style, or actually, I should say first, is, do you guys call it St. Louis Style or STL Style?

STL: It's really STL Style, and the physical location, our shop, is known locally as STL Stylehouse. Okay. And it's actually an interesting part of the whole thing, is we really thought of our logo before we thought of a name. So it kind of became STL Style by default because that's what people started calling it, and then we started calling it that. But we had originally envisioned our logo with the ST and L, and the word style emphasized. And our tagline that we had originally thought of way back was, we put the STL back in style something like that. So we never really had a name. It just became that. It became that. We just assumed the name that was given to us. So, yeah, but STL Style is the name of our overarching business, which is a multi-prong business with several different revenue channels. And we do all kinds of things.

And then STL Stylehouse is the physical name of the space.

AM: Okay. And then is it your logo that is behind you on the desktop?

STL: Yeah, it's kind of flipped now. But yeah, the ST and L.

AM: Yeah, I see what you're talking about.

STL: We're too lazy to change it.

AM: So I like it. It fits. And if people recognize it, that's what matters.

STL: Definitely. But to answer your question about our journey or what inspired this, the two of us, you know, we're identical twins. We grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis, really close with our parents, have an awesome group of friends, never really marched to a mainstream beat, you know, in the conventional sense. I mean, we're not any kind of social outcasts or weirdos, but we always were driven by our passions. And we found like unique in all kinds of things over the years. And the one kind of unwavering devotion we have is that to our city, to St. Louis.

We have, you know, we just became enamored from a very young age. When our grandparents would tell us stories about living in the city back in its heyday, and then our dad growing up in the city and driving on the streetcars to the movies and bowling alleys and things. It was just such a cool captivating image of our hometown that a lot of suburban kids at that time just don't, they can't fully appreciate it because our lifestyle was so different.

But we knew the city was cool, we knew it told a great story, and we always wanted to kind of like just soak it up and promote St. Louis's greatness to the rest of the world. And I mean, I'll let you talk so I'm not... And in high school, we actually produced a public access TV show on city cable in the city of St. Louis.

So really, that kind of sealed our love of the city because we had a reason to be here all the time. And not just in the city, but interviewing people on the streets and interacting with city people and doing city things, which was such a distinct difference from what our peers were doing hanging out at Denny's, in Creve Court, in West County suburbs of St. Louis. And we would ride the bus around to different neighborhoods and explore the city.

And we just became enamored with it and realized that we don't really have to move out of town to get this city experience that we really relish. And, you know, fast forward, we love traveling. It's not like we're just St. Louis geeks and we're only St. Louis and that's it.

We love old cities with problems, you know? Old legacy cities that have maybe fallen from grace, lost a little luster, but still pack a punch, tell a great story, are filled with culture and all kinds of great amenities that you'd expect from any great city. St. Louis has it in spades and throughout our time, like we're producing the TV show and just traveling to other cities that we love and taking photos and riding public transit, we realized St. Louis at that time did not have any, we wanted to represent the city in a cool, funky way that we saw, that we felt about it.

And there weren't any cool t-shirts that we would have bought for ourselves. So at that time, I mean, nothing that really like stood out. So we just decided that, hey, we're going to do it ourselves.

And we enlisted the help of a graphic designer friend of ours. And for months and months, really, at the beginning, we were just printing shirts after hours on her kitchen table. And I guess since this is kind of a business-related episode, we should talk about, I mean, we definitely do have experience in the real world, working environment, different.

We haven't always worked together. I mean, I waited tables for a while when I was still figuring out what I wanted to do. And then I got a job at a local bowling shirt company.

Actually, one of the biggest at the time in the country was right here in St. Louis. So that's really how I learned the t-shirt business. And I developed relationships with vendors and I was the trade show manager.

So I would go all over to different trade shows all around the country and just see what the trending products were and things like that. It really taught me everything I know and had no idea that I would ever, you know, bring this experience into our own business. I just thought, you know, what we do on the side with STL Style was for fun.

But I lost my job abruptly in 2010 and suddenly had to figure out what I wanted to do. And just kept circling back to the one thing that never wavered. And it was our passion for this and to be part of the city that we love, you know, in a really cool neighborhood.

And so it just took on a life of its own. And really what gave us the momentum to really do this full time was I had a customer call me, who I used to help at the bowling shirt company. And he had a need for t-shirts for his, I think it was for a play at the high school he taught at.

And he said, I want to order from you though. And that changed everything. And we just hit the ground running and never looked back.

I mean, there were a lot of steps along the way to get there. A lot of missteps and a lot of just like, you know, luck and happenstance. But I don't know, we'll let you steer the conversation.

However much you want to know, we'll tell you.

AM: I want to know all of it. Can we start with, okay, how old were you when you got that phone call to be like, I want you to do these t-shirts?

STL: Well, 2010, it was, what, 15 years ago. Yeah, but it's important to know that we really started doing this stuff as a sideline hobby in 2001. When we graduated from college, STL Style was born in 2001, officially, but it was really just a moonlighting thing, or we would just do like a street fair, street festival or something here and there, but never full time.

But it was during that time of doing it on the side that we realized what we were putting out there was resonating with the big audience. It coincided with this big movement back to the city in the late 90s, early 2000s when St. Louis had fallen on really hard times and there was this very fervent and enthusiastic group of people who wanted to get together and reclaim the city and just like say, we love city living, we embrace it, let's do, let's celebrate the city and all that makes it great. So we had kind of like a kind of a circle jerk, for lack of a better term, of an audience that loved the stuff we were creating.

And at the time, I mean, there was nothing, no other city centric businesses doing shirts or anything else besides what you would find at Lambert Airport or Union Station or one of the tourist gift shops. And it just wasn't the way that we wanted to portray the city. And it's very important to note that our initial inspiration, we really wanted to reach the local audience.

We wanted to reach St. Louisans, whether they lived here or somewhere else. There are, our whole brand and our identity is all about kind of really targeting the St. Louis market, making people proud of their hometown, no matter where they live and giving them an easy way to connect with it and represent it. And over time, obviously, we evolved to include a lot more than just super local centric stuff.

We have stuff that appeals to tourists or people who may have no connection, but we remain kind of committed to that core identity where it's really important. If you make every St. Louisan the best ambassador for their city, give them a sense of pride, they wear it around, it gives them a sense of belonging, and it's also a great billboard for the city. Yeah.

AM: Yeah. So, like I said, I grew up in the Kansas City suburbs, and when I first started this project, I of course started at my roots, started where I knew people had already kind of like vetted and trusted. So, I early on in this project, I'm still pretty early on, but very early days, I interviewed two business leaders in Kansas City of kind of, I would say a comparable, maybe potentially business. One is Charlie Hussle, the other is made in Kansas City or made in KC. Familiar. And something that we both, that we talked about with both Greg and Keith there was, like, Kansas City is a brand and, like, using businesses to, like, uplift the community as an entire whole. And so something I was thinking about when I was, like, getting ready to talk to you guys is, like, one, kind of like the healthy competition of that rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis. And also just, like, what your take is on, kind of, where business fits in that, like, uplifting and shining a spotlight on your city as a brand or as a whole, as a community.

STL: Sure. Oh, wow. Those are great questions and it's big.

I would say that your second part of your question is probably more immediate to answer. That the importance of small business to any city, it really, if COVID did nothing else, it definitely hit the reset button, made people realize how critically important these establishments are to not only just the amenities that we rely on and entertainment and this and that, but just like the core of our identity as a community. They define the city and distinguish St. Louis or Kansas City from any other place.

Right. And we realize and everyone realize at the same time that these things can go away in a heartbeat with no warning and you better not take any of these small businesses for granted. The cornerstones of what makes neighborhoods and cities tick.

Without them, it's really just a blandness and nothingness and every city is the same. So I think and we have said this long before COVID too, that there and I would I stand by this. St. Louis is the most supportive city.

They support its own. It supports its own more than any other city. And I'm saying that with bias, but also some level of objectivity because a lot of people in other cities doing cool things.

And there seems to be a unique brand of civic support in St. Louis. They really, really care and they go come all out for small business. Now more, you know, especially since COVID.

Well, I think and also I think part of the part of the reasons that factor into that is that, you know, St. Louis, the city of St. Louis is by all accounts, you know, a shell of what it was in 1950 when there were almost a million people in the city limits. It's a highly suburbanized region now. So all the big box stuff you'll find out in the suburbs.

But St. Louis City is pretty protected and insulated from that generica that you, you know, that has kind of overtaken a lot of the most hot, popular cities. St. Louis is still pretty raw, untouched, and independent, fiercely independent, which gives a lot of character to the city. And I think, you know, our brand in particular, the reason we've been around for 15 years at a brick and mortar, against all odds and against ourselves even, and our own, our own knowledge and expertise, and our brand in particular, it's a brand that celebrates the, that focuses on the uniqueness and distinctiveness of city, of the city and its neighborhoods, its inside jokes, the colloquial references, landmarks, architecture, history, all of those elements kind of combined in STL style.

And we kind of bring them to the world. And that's, then that's when people are really, you know, want to go all out and appreciate where they live and hometown pride, this is kind of the low-hanging fruit.

AM: Yeah. That hometown pride is I keep smiling and like kind of chuckling to myself because again, growing up in Missouri, I went to school at Missouri State down in Springfield and have so, so many very close friends that are born and raised St. Louis folks. And like, when you're talking about that strong pride and like the joy and love of St. Louis, I'm like, the amount of times that I have heard about like St. Louis pizza is better than any other kind of pizza or hockey team is better than any other hockey. Like there is like a true down to like your accents, the things, the best sandwiches in the world. Like St. Louis people in a sweeping generalization love St. Louis. 

STL: You're right. And it's really the interesting, the irony about it is that, you know, we can also be our worst enemies and biggest critics. A self-deprecating city, for sure. Our humor really embodies a lot of that too. But the thing about St. Louis is that we can talk shit about our city to each other and ourselves. But as soon as someone from outside of St. Louis start talking about it, that's when we have something to say about it. So it's one of those things. Well, yeah. And I think the fervent pride that you talked about is really a result of St. Louis' image just being totally shitty nationally. You know, it's not looked upon as a city that anyone wants to be in or moved to in the eyes of the country.

A popular perception. But usually that's just because they're not exposed. They don't know.

They don't see the real city. And I'll tell you, this kind of leads me into another aspect of our business that's really important to us. Cherokee Street may or may not be familiar with it, but it's really kind of off the tourist radar.

It is in South St. Louis. It was an old commercial district that kind of was the downtown of the South Side in its heyday. And then, with the advent of malls and cars and highways, you know, it just kind of languished and declined.

But it's all still here. The physical built environment is still here. We felt very strongly about finding a location for our shop to become a destination to expose people, maybe from the suburbs or anywhere else, to the real St. Louis.

To have them discover a city, a neighborhood that they would otherwise may not have any reason to come to. And then to change perceptions that way, just experientially. And it works.

And we, I mean, you know, we are not alone on Cherokee Street by any means. We're not the first to re-cultivate this street by any means. But there is a critical mass of really cool things happening here.

And to see people's impressions change and for them to tell us is the biggest satisfaction we can ask for. Because, you know, we've had some, you know, people over the years, you know, families and minivans pull up. They're kind of uneasy at first, not sure what to expect.

And then the next weekend, we see them eating outside at one of the taquerias, you know, because their comfort level has changed now that they've actually seen what St. Louis is. And I mean, especially to Cherokee Street in particular, because it really is so well preserved structurally and, you know, physically, the neighborhood is there and it's intact. It's still a densely populated neighborhood, extremely diverse.

And it really does have all the elements that inspire us about the city all in one neighborhood. And that's just that that's it was a no brainer. So there's and it's also cheap.

They're cheap. That's a huge component of why we're still here. Is we can afford to still be here.

And we couldn't say that for if we had opened in a much more established neighborhood, so.

AM: Yeah. Can we talk about that? So obviously the price and location and those kinds of things helps with like longevity, stability, keeping those prices down so it's affordable, so you can stay there. But you've also talked about how the city has changed and we've mentioned COVID. I imagine the rise in popularity of e-commerce has changed in probably all different kinds of ways. Can you talk about how things are different today than they have been when you first started or like maybe some ups and downs along the way with that?

STL: I'll mention one thing that's changed drastically. When we opened and when we started our brand, we were the only ST Louis oriented apparel company in town. Now, it's a crowded field.

I can think of at least maybe five or six off the top of my head, and there's probably more. That's changed. They're all younger with more energy and new ideas, and they're more social media savvy than we are.

That's a challenge, I would say. You're evolving. We got to keep up with the time.

I mean, 15 years ago, we were young and single. Now, we have families, and we're, in a way, feel like we're aging out a little bit of the hip retail scene, but we're still going strong. I mean, we're not going anywhere, but we can never rest on our laurels.

And also at the beginning, it was before small businesses really capitalized on like Instagram. And we had a Facebook page, but it wasn't like a central component of our business or anything like it was just more for fun and like posting, you know, funny little trivia things or whatever we did. But it has, since those days, it has those social media has become, you know, absolutely essential.

And that's actually one of the most challenging parts of it, I think, for us to stay relevant, stay current, is you really have to be, you know, on top of that stuff and seize the moment. And we've gotten very, you know, lacked in our ways. We feel like we're the embodiment of St. Louis' personality, just kind of, you know, blotting along, you know, slow and steady, you know, no, no, it's a big heavy ship.

You know, we're just kind of going along. And I wouldn't say that we're cutting edge and we're and, you know, these younger businesses are doing great things, too. And we think, you know, St. Louis is big enough for all of them.

The more people celebrating the city, the better. I don't think that's a bad thing. And we all kind of offer our own little take and style.

And then, well, but answer your question, go back to your question. I mean, I remember when we used to pay for for print ads in the Riverfront Times. We're no longer around.

So that's another big change. I mean, all these cultural outlets that we've depended on. We've outlasted a lot of local beloved local institutions and media institutions like the Riverfront Times.

KDHX is a community radio station for decades that was part of the fabric of the city. And they're no longer around. And a lot of that some of that is because they're victims of the times too and for whatever reasons.

So we take nothing for granted. Always, always have to keep adapting, anticipating. And we do that with varying degrees of success depending on what it is.

But I mean, there's no there's never a point at which we say, wow, we really made it or we figured out because all of you know, things change in a heartbeat and we continue to make mistakes on a daily basis that we have to learn from and pivot around. So, you know, it's just like anything else. Just world keeps on turning.

But this it sounds cliche, but it's really true. I mean, we we always hold our our love of the city as our guiding light. And so everything else, you know, hopefully falls into place has up until now.

Yeah. And that really is the most important thing for any any aspiring entrepreneurs. Just keep in mind is like, do what you love.

Nothing else will you'll have your heart in for as as long and as as hard because you're going to need a lot of of heart to continue.

AM: Yeah. And also thinking about like that longevity. And I mean, you brought up the point that you guys have outlasted a lot of other like local institutions. And that is something to truly be proud of. That is unfortunate that those other places have not made it. But it is really cool that you guys have lasted and are a staple in the community. I mean, I found you guys from a Reddit post. I love going to Reddit because if there is tea, if someone's like out there being a jerk, I'm going to hear about it. If I'm like, I'm going to be able to find it there. And I think it was really cool how kind of quick that you guys were given that shout out and that spotlight. And definitely, I imagine the external viewpoint in the community is a part of that. But I also wonder if like your reputation has to do at all with your internal community. And so with that, I was kind of thinking of like, how have you cultivated your internal, like your staffing, your management philosophies, like how have you kept the place running through like your internal team?

STL: Your guess is as good as ours. But, you know, that would be a great question to pose to our employees and to see what they say because we have no idea why they stick with us. I think we're a really fun place to work.

I think it's a really, it's definitely not your typical retail environment. Not no day is ever the same. They have a lot of sense of ownership here.

We give everybody a set of keys. If if or if they move on and pursue other things and no longer work here, we let them keep the keys and they can come and go and visit our shop cat, Frankie, anytime they want. We've even had to let some former employees go and literally in every single case except one, we've had them back for another stint, a second chance or a third.

Sometimes we're bad at being administrators. So you kinda, they're either with us or they're not. And then we're kinda, we don't see ourselves as managers or bosses really, probably to a fault.

Because in our view, they guide us as much as we guide them. But yeah, as far as hiring, really it's just a hunch and a feeling that we get when we're interacting with them and talking with them. Like if we feel that this is gonna click, you know, we'll bring them on.

And really our staff is as diverse as the city itself. We've had, you know, all types of people working with us and a very low turnover, which we're really proud of. And we've had a great loyal team over the years, and we're still in touch with just about everyone who's ever worked, been a part of this operation.

And we really love them. They're like our family. It really is like an extended family, as hokey as that sounds.

But you know, it truly is because we spend so much time here together, and we all feel kind of like this is our spot. It's our place. And we empower every single one of our employees to use the space for whatever they need.

Their personal pursuits. We have a photographer on staff. He's a professional freelance photographer, and he can use this shop for shoots unrelated to STL Style, or different private events, open mic nights if they want to do something.

We had a drag performer, and so they would have drag performances and workshops, makeup workshops here after hours, and open mics. And I think overall we're pretty fair minded people. We're pretty easy to work with even though we have our shticks that annoy the shit out of people who work with us every day anyway.

But that's just personality. You spend enough time with people, and they become your extended family, and that's kind of what this is. And really without our crew, we would not be here talking to you right now.

It's just we have had to learn, and it's been a real struggle sometimes, but to delegate some of the things that we don't have the bandwidth for or the knowledge about or interest in, and we lean on them to kind of help balance us out and vice versa. And I think that it's that kind of like symbiosis that makes things work.

AM: I am struck by you talking about the wide range of employees and like folks you've had and different kind of like skills and passions of your team. And I asked kind of a related question to Greg Moore from Chyler Hussle, so I'm going to ask something kind of similar of you guys, which is, so you're in middle America. Like that if we're going to talk about the stereotypes of St. Louis or the stereotypes of middle America in general, sometimes middle America doesn't have the greatest reputation for being inclusive and accepting of all different kinds of people. And despite that, you guys have really thrived by it, sounds like, capitalizing on that.

STL: Yes.

AM: And has that always been a part of you? Is that the way you grew up? Is that, or is it a conscious choice that you're making? Again, I'm asking 17 different questions in one year, but what's your viewpoint on that?

STL: Great question. I'm glad you asked it. You know, one of the things that makes cities cool and different from any other kind of environment is that they're diverse places.

They're much more progressive. They're a clash of ideas and cultures and sights and sounds and flavors and everything else. And so those are the elements that drive this, our brand.

And also, we make no apologies about our politics. We also take a lot of comfort. And I do think this is maybe a distinction between St. Louis and a lot of, you know, some other places nearby.

St. Louis has a very, very long tradition as a deep, deep, deep, deep blue city, extremely dating back decades upon decades. And not only just the blue city, one of the bluest in the United States by, you know, per capita. It is a deeply, deeply blue city, top 10 for sure in every election, okay?

And so we know there's a gigantic audience of people here who think like we do, and they are thirsty to dispel the stereotypes and myths. They want some way to promote their, their politics and their empowerment on their chests or on their bumper stickers. So that's a huge built-in market for us.

And so anytime there's an opportunity to riff on the right-wing Republicans like Josh Hawley or, you know, or Donald Trump, you know, we do that with a uniquely St. Louis flavor to it, so that it gives it, you know, we will do limited runs of different pro-something t-shirts or anti-something, and we do it with a punchy St. Louis theme. Yeah, we're a decidedly St. Louis-centric business, not Missouri. We don't show off Missouri pride.

Actually, no offense, we have nothing with Missouri on it, because, really, St. Louis' identity has never been connected to the state. St. Louis is older than the United States, much less Missouri. So it's always marched to its own beat, you know?

It's a different thing, I think, than a Kansas city in that regard. St. Louis has always been at fierce odds with the state and has never been proud to be a Missouri city ever. And Missouri has always been kind of animus toward St. Louis for a long time too.

I mean, and so it's just one of those things. There is no love lost on Missouri in this city particular. But I don't know if I should say that.

I mean, we like Kansas City. We like Kansas City. We can get into that later, because we have plenty to say about the Chiefs thing and all that.

But we don't want to hijack the interview. But we think that we tapped into the St. Louis, that kind of fierce civic pride and the anti-Missouri sentiment. And we think that as a small business, this is like our platform.

So we can walk the walk. We can use this to promote our views or the popular sentiments about different things. And getting back to your question, I mean, that is really why we do what we do, because St. Louis deserves respect, because we have all the strikes against us already.

The perception of high crime, depopulation, racial issues, being in Missouri, all those things like kind of mark us off the coolest, but we're here to uphold what we know is true. Yeah, St. Louis needs a place at the table. That's why we love cities like Detroit and Pittsburgh and Baltimore, Cleveland.

The ones that people have written off for dead that were 100 years ago, the greatest cities in the country. And they still embody all the stuff, the essence, and they have a story and a flavor and a style.

AM: Yeah.

STL: You don't find it anywhere else.

AM: Yeah. There's a St. Louis Pride coming through once again. Okay. I'm going to throw you a little bit of a curve block because I don't think this was on my outline, but I'm so curious. So I'm going to turn the tables back to you two. One, because I'm just personally interested in what it's like to work with your sibling. I, for the first time, live in the same city as my older sister. She's eight years older. And I moved to Louisville where she had moved a long time ago. This is the first time that we lived in the same city since we were, I think I was in junior high also and that's when she went to college and moved away. And she started a non-profit. I sat on the board of directors. It's been this interesting dynamic to figure out, one, how to live in the same city together, two, how to work together in that capacity. And I talked to this woman, Lindsay. She is the CEO and co-founder of Plane Products, who also started a business with her sister. And I asked her a similar question because I was like, what is it like to work with your sister? Because on one hand, you've got this like short hand of someone that you have grown up, you've known your whole life. And but you also know how to push their buttons in good ways and in not good ways. And I'm curious what it has been like for you guys as brothers being in business together and like pros, cons, good, bad, ugly, all of it.

STL: It's a blessing and a curse. Yeah, it is a blessing and a curse. And it may be different than most siblings, the fact that we're identical twins because we were wombates before.

If the egg didn't split, we'd be the same person. So for better or worse, we are extensions of one another. And we're constantly on the same wavelength about almost everything.

Our minds work the same. We know what the other one's thinking without having to say a word, have random obscure similarities like some random line of a Lionel Richie song from 1983. And we're both singing the same line.

And we haven't heard the song since then. You know, kind of thing like that. But it's very natural for us to kind of be in the same environment because that's all we've done.

I mean, we had different careers in the beginning after college and we were settling into real jobs. I went into hotels. I don't know how.

He went into the bowling shirt retail, you know, trade show industry. But we've always been very aligned. Our social spheres have been intertwined.

We've had the same group of friends. We have the same taste in girls. You know, growing up, we did things in sync, not because we had to or couldn't be separate.

It's only because our interests were the same. We just thought the same about things. So that's one thing.

And that's a blessing, too. You always have somebody to kind of share the load. There's no entering into a new environment or experience alone.

You know, you got someone else to kind of share it with you. That's also the curse, though, is that you never develop the independence and confidence to do everything or learn every aspect of things because you've always been sharing with someone else to, oh, you can push it off. Oh, you know what?

We'll both go through it. We can both do it, you know? So, you know, we've always been used to doing half the work.

I mean, that's the bottom line. Or pawning it off to, like, no, I don't feel like doing this. I got to do this.

You do that, you know? And so, the negative aspects of running a business are reinforced times, too, because we are both inclined to like or not like the same things, right? To have a similar eye on something where we need someone with a different eye.

Or we both procrastinate on something that's important to the point where maybe it doesn't get done. So there are a lot of, you know, shortcomings about being a twin, but the built-in advantage is one that we could never... I mean, there's nothing that we could...

We wouldn't change it for the world because we've got to admit that it has also been a leg up in getting, you know, pressed and buzzed. It's a little bit novel, you know, to have identical twins. And also, I just lost what I was going to say too, but it'll come back.

But yeah, I mean, like that's what... That's a, you know, we're not just a shot. Oh, yeah.

They've got a story behind it. Well, yeah, it looks like as important as the products we sell are, I think the personalities that you'll meet here are equally as important and bring people in. And so, and that's a big part of it.

And that's why we have been really lucky with our staff that really reflects the feeling that we want to exude. Yeah. Like the experience, it's not just...

You're not just walking in to get a t-shirt or, you know, a koozie. It's an experience that when you walk in here, you know you're never going to have another retail experience quite like this. And that's ain't the mall.

Right. Right.

AM: Yeah.

STL: I don't know. Did we answer your question?

AM: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, I could ask all the nerdy, nitty gritty questions of like, is one person doing the finances and another person's doing the purchasing? Or are you both just like, can we hire someone else to do that?

STL: Well, over... I mean, over the years, we've kind of developed roles. But we do a little bit of everything, both of us.

But Randy tends to handle more of the bigger custom accounts. And the front-facing kind of communication, type of things like that. Speaking and tours and stuff.

And then I am really more of vendor relations, and I kind of oversee the retail aspect. And... But we both kind of do everything.

There's a lot of overlap. In the beginning, before we had real staff, we did do everything. We did it all ourselves.

So, it's not something that is foreign to us, but, you know, we were kind of past that, where we have to do all the heavy lifting, and now we lean and we bring in our crew to help balance us out.

AM: Yeah. If you were talking to someone else that is interested in trying to find a way to, like, leverage a business, leverage a passion, leverage their experience to uplift their community through a business the way you guys have done with STL Stylehouse, what would your advice be to them?

STL: Don't think you have to have it all figured out. Yeah. You do not have to have all the answers.

I mean, we never worked off a business plan. We never followed a mold. We literally have been winging it since 2010.

We're not advising people to deliberately defy plans or not make them. We're just saying you don't necessarily need it. Well, let's just say this.

There were a lot of businesses with comprehensive business plans that were thrown out the window during COVID. So our on-the-fly kind of the way we operate turned out to be a silver lining for us. We were able to adapt.

We were able to think on our feet and do something different, and we weren't tied up with one way of doing things. So that saved us. I would also, with a small business, you're much more than just a product or service.

It's relationships, personalities or commitments to other local establishments and the community fabric. You have to walk the walk. People can see right through if you're just full of it.

You know, if you say one thing in your social media, but you're doing other things behind the scenes, or it just seems like it's phony or an act, people see right through that. And I think authenticity is the number one, you know, best possible quality for a small business. It has to be true to itself and what it's striving to do.

And I think, you know, we've been good at doing that. And leverage your networks because there's things about running a business that you're going to hate and that you're not going to want to do or that you don't know how to do, but other people do. And they actually find joy and purpose in that.

So if you can align with them, then you've got a great team.

AM: Yeah. What do you think gave you guys the confidence? If you didn't have a business plan and you guys were just like, hey, we're just going to do it. Like it started with someone asking you to make a t-shirt and you kind of had that side business going on. Like where did that confidence come from for you guys to be like, I think we can do this. I think we can make a full business out of this.

STL: Well, I would say like one of the turning points was the New York Times article. Do you want to talk about? Sure.

So, you know, we could go on. The t-shirts is kind of the known manifestation of our love and our passion. But prior to having this business, we were really involved with urban affairs and all kinds of civic issues and preservation issues.

We helped save buildings that were endangered and things like that. We were really activists in the urban scene. And we got really involved with a group that was dedicated to revitalizing Rust Belt cities, old cities like St. Louis and Detroit and Cleveland, you know.

And so we would make friends with people in all these other cities. And we go to these conferences every year in these other has-been cities that we love. And some great, I mean, not has-been cities.

Right, right. I mean, well, it's awesome. And we found our people, we found people who think like we do.

They see the same, you know, the same advantages in cities that we love. And one of those people at a conference in Buffalo happened to be an intern at the New York Times. And she thought that our story, this thing that we're doing on the side as a hobby, making t-shirts for St. Louis, she thought that was a cool story pitch.

So she pitched it to her editor and said, can we run with this? These guys are doing something so cool in St. Louis and they're funny, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, it made us feel good.

And we thought never, in a million years, would anything come of that. But it was flattering. Well, lo and behold, about a month later, we get a call from the New York Times, from an editor, asking if we're gonna be available on such and such date, they are gonna fly a reporter to spend the entire day with us, for just one day, getting to know the city through our point of view, through our eyes, the good, the bad, the ugly, everything in between, what makes us, what inspires us.

And so that's what we did. And it became, you know, it was probably six months later that our friends in Brooklyn called us up and said, holy shit, you're on the front page of the New York Times. And it was the Sunday New York Times.

In 2008, when people still read print. Yeah, it was 2008 and we did not have a shop yet. We had a little studio space in the city that we were printing shirts on, that we were only filled one order a week or something from our website.

And it was just fun. We used to do it on the side, but it captured the lens of the New York Times. And we were in the national section on a Sunday, which is more press than anyone could dream of and we literally could not handle the onslaught.

We were bombarded. Like people from all over the world emailing and placing orders from Korea and London and Iraq. We had people from all over the world.

St. Louisians were popping out of the woodwork to buy our shirts. And sharing stories too. It was just we really like plugged into something that tugged at their heartstrings because we would get these really sweet emails about how much, how they've been away for 40 years.

And St. Louis, no other city can can fill that place in their heart. They love it. They miss it.

And I mean, it just gave us positive reinforcement. So from that, we scrambled. And that's when we realized, like, this is not just a hobby for us.

This is bigger. And we got to take it more seriously. And that's when we started putting the pieces together, like, oh, maybe this can work.

And even if it can't, we can at least say we tried. And really, we're fully prepared to fold within a couple of months. I mean, we had no interest or not.

And we had no knowledge of running a business or what to do or overhead and all the anything. We are not financial minded people. Right.

But it just took on a life of its own. And so we surround ourselves with people who want to surround themselves with us. This ethos here, and it just kind of ran as well.

And I remember I was walking down the street in the Central West End that Sunday when the New York Times article came out, and there was a couple at a coffee house reading it, opened up to our page, and they had no idea that I was looking over their shoulder reading it. And I mean, that, you know, so even if everything fell apart after that, we could say we succeeded on some level. But, you know, and of course, naturally, when you get media attention like that, it leads to more media attention and more, and everything kind of kind of snowballs, and then lo and behold, we're an established brand already.

And we don't take it for granted, though, I mean, we feel so lucky, and we're so honored that the city likes us back, you know? And but that's kind of like just the real deal.

AM: I love that so much. And now I'm going to ask you to flip that love around with my favorite final question that I have for absolutely everyone, which is, who's another business and or leader that you see out there in the world that's doing things the right way? And it could be absolutely anyone, a boss, an employee, an old client of yours, someone you're a customer of, absolutely anyone that you think deserves a shout out.

STL: We were thinking about this and we maybe narrowed it down to four people who I think, there are four people who we think are really inspiring. Number one is a friend of ours named Amanda Clark, who founded a tour group, an offbeat kind of tour company with her friend called Renegade Tours that is no longer. It has been adopted by the Missouri History Museum, which now made it a real bonafide special program and they do tours, unique tours of the city in walking tours, bus tours, bike tours, all kinds of really unique.

Under the surface. Under the radar tours and posing people to the real underbelly of the city. She's not even from St. Louis, she's from Tennessee, but she loves the city, got to know it and now makes that her life's work.

And I think if you're talking about transforming lives and the way people perceive the city. Changing perceptions, yeah. Amanda's awesome.

And we still, out of our space, I do tours for her tour programs. But she's one. Another one would be Natasha Bahrami from Gin World.

And she has basically created herself kind of a hub of gin culture from, you know, based in St. Louis, but really it kind of absorbs all the gin related culture from around the world. And, you know, combines it in here in St. Louis and with her efforts. And she's brought diverse groups of people all over the world together to celebrate gin and also eyes to St. Louis, too, because she hosts a lot of events here.

And she was actually our very first custom design project. We designed her way back in 2011, and she's still going strong, too. So I have to give a shout out to Bill Streeter, too, because he is a local videographer, a good friend of ours who we've known for years.

And he is an independent filmmaker, and he has really helped cultivate the local scene, the film scene, he's curated and produced really awesome local events around local music and independent business. One of the most popular things that he started was Lo-Fi Cherokee, which is, it's what, like 15 different music videos filmed in one day in all the different storefronts along Cherokee Street. So it's really a showcase of local music and local independent business.

And what it has become is such a force of its own over the years that when it started out, you know, there was a few people in each venue. Now there's hundreds of people following. Sadly though, it's over.

After 12 years, he decided he didn't have the pattern and he's going to hang it up. Too much work. But he does other incredible things and he's just a really special guy.

And lastly, it's Vertrell Yates, Trells Eye Photography, one of our employees who is really a freelance photographer. That's his passion. That's his interest.

And he is so awesome. He's a self-spoken guy from rural Georgia originally. And he moved to St. Louis and became a very, very beloved and well-known entertainment photographer mostly for like touring bands.

So now he gets called. He goes on tours all over the country with big name Axe. And he's their kind of house photographer for those tours.

And he does it all right out of St. Louis. And he still comes to work here for every shift that he's scheduled. And he's just great.

It's just great to see him kind of soar and kind of come into his own.

AM: Yeah, that's amazing. I love that. So much. And Jeff and Randy, this has been such a joy. I loved talking to both of you. I'm so excited to shine a spotlight on STL Stylehouse.

STL: This has been so great.

Thank you so much for your interest. We are totally flattered and honored to be included. And we really appreciate it.

We sincerely appreciate it. One thing that we didn't touch on so much, I don't know if this matters, but like the way that we have a lot of different things going on in our business, we're not just dependent on walk-in traffic or online or our St. Louis stuff. Right.

I mean, that's kind of our face to the world, our shop. But really our bread and butter and what pays the bills is like our custom work and collaborations with local institutions and everything from bands to Washington University, St. Louis Public Radio and everything in between.

Yeah.

And we also, a lot of our branded merchandise that we've developed is sold in about probably 15 different retail stores around the metro. So that's another aspect of it. And then we do a lot of public speaking and tours for school groups and relocation companies bringing perspective, new talent to St. Louis.

And so there's all kinds of ways that we're trying to help lift up St. Louis' image. And then we have a lot of special events and music and festivals right here in our storefront. So just keep it alive.

AM: Where would you just send people to your website to find out more or to contact you if they want to partner with you?

STL: Sure, our website is probably the best place to go for everything. But we also are on Facebook, we're on Instagram, and all the go-to channels. But our website is probably the most cohesive.

Which reminds me, I have to update some things on our events page…

AM: Thank you so much to everyone who has subscribed through the Patreon. These subscriptions are what fund the project and keep it going. There's so many different tiers available starting at $1 and $2 a month, and each tier gets you access to different kinds of things. So, for example, the $2 a month listener tier gets you access to interviews on Thursday. So early access to the audio and video versions of interviews that are out every Thursday, typically in the evening time. Your $3 a month member tier adds on these weekly Between the Interviews series on Mondays. That's what gave a little sneak peek. There are some early examples of those Between the Interviews that were posted on the main feed so that folks could kind of get a lay of the land and what's behind the motivation for this project. Those reflection episodes are still going every Monday and the folks in that member tier still have access to those things. The VIP tier has access to merch. I really do my best to give back to those that are joining. So check the show notes for the link to the Patreon. There's a lot there. If you're interested in any of the behind the scenes of how this project gets made from the back ends, like if you are someone who is interested in starting anything that looks similar to this, whatever your topic is, I am really open, just like I'm asking these folks that I'm interviewing about the mistakes that they made. I do my best to be very open about the mistakes and the lessons learned that I made, plus the resources that really helped me, the people that I'm looking up to. 

Like, yeah, why not share my experience there? So, that's all available there. And just in general, I truly want to hear from you, so please, please message me on Instagram, message me on the Patreon, leave me a review that tells me what you think of it, email me your thoughts and your suggestions, including the things that you don't like. I got a tough skin, people. You can tell me the things that I need to improve upon. I am very open about early days, early stage, that this entire project and almost everything that goes into it is brand spanking new to me. And I am learning, you know, not just from these leaders that I'm interviewing, but I'm learning about the technical side of things, I'm learning about social media, I'm learning about advertising, like I'm learning about all of these types of things, and I am happy to share what I have learned as well. And so I want your feedback. I want the things that I'm not talking about, that you want to hear about, that is within this Capitalism for Good space. So reach out to me. I want to hear from you. I truly do. Send me your thoughts and I'll do your research. Like I said, I really am listening and kind of creeping to see where people are coming from, where you're located, what your interests are. And so if there's an industry or an interest of yours that I haven't hit on, that you are really interested, like some of your thoughts, if you have a question that is related to this Capitalism for Good project, I'll do the research here. So send them on over. I'm already doing it. I might as well do something that fits what you're asking for and what you're looking for.

Finally, my last little plug and shout out here is if you are interested in working together to build better community, check out the business website for CFG. It's at capitalismforgood.com. There's also a link down in the show notes. And whether you are interested in starting or expanding a community give back initiative with your company, if you want to play in a volunteer day and you don't want someone that's already your full-time employee taking away from their normal job to do it, if you're looking for a charity partner within a specific space or that aligns cleanly with your company values and your philosophy, or if you want to perhaps talk about some education around the value of community partnerships and what that can add to your business if done well and done efficiently and effectively, I would love to help. So I'd be happy to get on a phone call, see how CFG can help you with your community goals. Once again, would love to hear from you if you've got thoughts, needs, questions, interests anywhere within that space.

I truly believe that we are stronger when we work together and that we can truly make a really impactful, positive future if we just put all our brains and our skills together and leverage those things to build better community. So, all right, that's enough. Let's go leave this place better than we found it.