OT: an idea. then a dream. now something real.

[Climb01742]

i hope it's ok for me to post about this. if it's not, mods, please delete, no worries.

when i was in 8th grade, i ran my first race on a dirt track by a grade school in portland, oregon. as i ran down that track, something clicked inside me. this thing, this running, this being an athlete just felt like...me.

since that day, pretty much every day, except for the days i was hurt, i've tried to do something athletic. for me it's like breathing. it's just who i am, what i do. i think being an athlete, particularly not being a great athlete by any means, just a dedicated one, has taught me a lot about life, others and myself.

watching my 16-year-old daughter pour her heart into crew, i see her following the same, sweat-soaked path of discovery and learning and soul-searching. i love watching her row with her heart as much as her body. it's doing her good, i think, a world of good.

sports can do that, played the right way.

fifteen years ago, three words came into my head that summed up everything i love about sports, and much of what i love about life.

it's taken me that long to work up the balls to try to make this dream and these three words something more than just an idea in my head. it's safer, less scary if your dreams stay inside.

but stuff happened in my life. like it or not, the universe made me ready.

and the time feels right too. we seem ready for a conversation about how we get what we want in sports and in life. as athletes and as people.

would you tell me what you think?

http://democracyofsweat.com/

thank you.

[christian]

I like the unified aesthetic. Stuff looks great. Rapha of the locker room, and I mean that in the best way.

[rpm]

A cool concept, very nice web site, and good looking product. May be a customer soon. I'm racing my bike this summer in South Africa at the World Transplant Games, which is a competition for people like me who have organ transplants. The "Screw the odds" shirt would be a popular choice for that group, because that's what we all have done.

One suggestion: Add some expressions that capture the fun of being athletic. It's not all gritting your teeth and fighting; it's also a blast!

[Climb01742]

One suggestion: Add some expressions that capture the fun of being athletic. It's not all gritting your teeth and fighting; it's also a blast!

great point. that's certainly part of being an athlete. we will definitely fill out the voice in the future. thanks. and all good luck this summer!

[AngryScientist]

looks great.

you need to add a cycling jersey to the mix. remember when you're out riding, you are, literally a rolling billboard. no better way to strike up conversations and get the word out about what you're doing then at stop lights with other riders. the jersey gets that conversation started.

[William]

Very inspiring James. You're off to a great start.





William

[slidey]

I love the concept, and in the fleeting glimpse I could afford it looks headed in the right direction.

The one thing that came to my mind when I saw your site was "SufferFest" ala the podcast. I've never heard one, but I've heard plenty of people who swear by it; make of that what you will.

Good luck!

[colod]

Great dream - and a great start on it. Trying to build something like this is certainly admirable, and I hope it takes off.

[Climb01742]

to christian, angry scientist, william, slidey, and colod, thank you for taking the time to look at the site and comment. it's appreciated.

[vqdriver]

i love it. the site looks great and the aesthetic is perfect for the subject.
the best part is that each item description has a story that every single one of us has experienced (that moment of defeat, witnessing the lone runner on the road, etc) and puts it into a larger context. it all seemed so romantic and grandiose in our youth but i, for one, have lost touch with much of that.

thanks for the refresher.
i'm your newest customer.

[rugbysecondrow]

I like it...i look forward to watching it develop.

and i liked the facebook page as well.

Cheers,

Paul

[firerescuefin]

The "screw the odds" should be written from the side of the underdog that overcome the odds...no?

[Climb01742]

i love it. the site looks great and the aesthetic is perfect for the subject.
the best part is that each item description has a story that every single one of us has experienced (that moment of defeat, witnessing the lone runner on the road, etc) and puts it into a larger context. it all seemed so romantic and grandiose in our youth but i, for one, have lost touch with much of that.

thanks for the refresher.
i'm your newest customer.

that makes me happy, vqdriver, that it rang true for you. i know we aren't right for everyone, but glad your first impression was a good one. thanks for commenting.

[Climb01742]

I like it...i look forward to watching it develop.

and i liked the facebook page as well.

Cheers,

Paul

paul, you're dead on. these are our first baby steps. the real work is to make the idea come to life out in the world. to walk our talk. that's a big challenge but it's one we're up for. it's funny, paul, you're one of the forum members i was most curious to know your take. thank you for giving it.

[Climb01742]

The "screw the odds" should be written from the side of the underdog that overcome the odds...no?

firerescue, that's an interesting point. for me, the best lines are those that can be seen different ways, have each person put their meaning to it.

for me, i could see every kid on the florida gulf coast hoops team tonight come out in a 'STO' t-shirt. it's what every david needs to believe when they step on the court against goliath.

thanks for taking the time look at the site and share a thought.

[firerescuefin]

Just ordered a STOs shirt...but as a Florida Alum...Florida Gulf Coast needs to believe the odds tonight...hopefully:cool:

Geoff

[BobbyJones]

Ordered.

Looking forward to your (further) success!

[Climb01742]

thank you, geoff and bobbyjones. your support is truly appreciated.

[bostondrunk]

Awesome.

But the 26.2 t-shirt........you know that marathons are -42km-, right?? ;)

Cheers

[Climb01742]

Awesome.

But the 26.2 t-shirt........you know that marathons are -42km-, right?? ;)

Cheers

Only for folks with the wrong tape measures.;)

Thanks, BD. Always good to see you here on the forum.

[rugbysecondrow]

paul, you're dead on. these are our first baby steps. the real work is to make the idea come to life out in the world. to walk our talk. that's a big challenge but it's one we're up for. it's funny, paul, you're one of the forum members i was most curious to know your take. thank you for giving it.

Oddly enough, I am still chewing on your site/idea. As somebody who has been often described as an "effort guy", I like the vibe. I will PM some thoughts.

Cheers!

[Climb01742]

Oddly enough, I am still chewing on your site/idea. As somebody who has been often described as an "effort guy", I like the vibe. I will PM some thoughts.

Cheers!

great. and thanks. all thoughts, pro and con, are hugely appreciated. i know you're not shy about your honest thoughts.;) our ears, and minds, are open.

[1/2 Wheeler]

I assume you want honest reactions? These are what came to mind.

I'm 50/50 "I get it" and "I don't get it".

Certainly reminds me of some of the sport drink and "Just Do It" campaigns that I love.

I question if the whole image will appeal to the younger crowd at all. I question if many of the under 30 crowd truly appreciate the work they do. I think at that point it is mindless and taken for granted.

I kinda get how "democracy" works with the theme but when I'm working that hard I relate more with dictatorship. The field maybe level, but I work this hard to "Rule", not to seek common ground. I know that is not what you are referencing, but the word just doesn't sit well with me in this setting.

Your mottos and stories are great and inspiring, but the clothes are Blah. Of course the product line is a work in progress I assume.

The "By My Own Sweat" badge doesn't get the message across without the story. I think it needs a word before it. "Driven", "Hardened", "Sculpted", "Forged", "Shaped", "Cleansed"...

I do not care for the tired guy in the tear drop (I know it is a sweat drop) logo. Both the drop and the guy have a slightly disturbing shape.
http://www.democracyofsweat.com/mysite/img/nav_logo.png I think the image should "stand tall". I relate the bent over, hands on knee position as defeat. His feet need to be parallel. If you stick with it you need a photo of a real person somewhere to drive the image.

The website is great. I love the words that become bold as you scroll down.

I would like to see something (shirt, etc) with the Athlete's Code on it. That is great!

I like the bubble level as an image of the level playing field but it makes no sense in the guys athletic bag. Is he bringing it with him to ensure it's level?

On the stories page the word "Video" acts like a link but it does not take you to the video. Same with the "Apparel" link.

[firerescuefin]

The "By My Own Sweat" badge doesn't get the message across without the story. I think it needs a word before it. "Driven", "Hardened", "Sculpted", "Forged", "Shaped", "Cleansed"...

[

I like this idea

[Bruce K]

James;

VERY cool stuff. An excellent/noble concept brought to fruition.

Here's wishing you lots of success.

Will order something shortly.

BK


(+1 on a cycling jersey. THAT would be fun)

[Climb01742]

I assume you want honest reactions? These are what came to mind.

I'm 50/50 "I get it" and "I don't get it".

Certainly reminds me of some of the sport drink and "Just Do It" campaigns that I love.

I question if the whole image will appeal to the younger crowd at all. I question if many of the under 30 crowd truly appreciate the work they do. I think at that point it is mindless and taken for granted.

I kinda get how "democracy" works with the theme but when I'm working that hard I relate more with dictatorship. The field maybe level, but I work this hard to "Rule", not to seek common ground. I know that is not what you are referencing, but the word just doesn't sit well with me in this setting.

Your mottos and stories are great and inspiring, but the clothes are Blah. Of course the product line is a work in progress I assume.

The "By My Own Sweat" badge doesn't get the message across without the story. I think it needs a word before it. "Driven", "Hardened", "Sculpted", "Forged", "Shaped", "Cleansed"...

I do not care for the tired guy in the tear drop (I know it is a sweat drop) logo. Both the drop and the guy have a slightly disturbing shape.
http://www.democracyofsweat.com/mysite/img/nav_logo.png I think the image should "stand tall". I relate the bent over, hands on knee position as defeat. His feet need to be parallel. If you stick with it you need a photo of a real person somewhere to drive the image.

The website is great. I love the words that become bold as you scroll down.

I would like to see something (shirt, etc) with the Athlete's Code on it. That is great!

I like the bubble level as an image of the level playing field but it makes no sense in the guys athletic bag. Is he bringing it with him to ensure it's level?

On the stories page the word "Video" acts like a link but it does not take you to the video. Same with the "Apparel" link.

1/2 wheeler, thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed response. i sincerely appreciate it. honesty is absolutely what we/i want. if it's ok, i'd like to process and think about what you've shared. you've given me/us some good things to think about. i want to be as thoughtful in return.

it will be interesting to see if there is an age skew in how people respond, or don't respond, to the idea. so far we've had good responses across many ages, from high school to 60+, but it's true that our sample size isn't huge. time will tell us more.

we actually have an 'athlete's code' shirt in the works, so i'm psyched the idea appeals to you.

and on the 'stories' page, 'Video' and 'Apparel' are actually tags for categorizing posts. maybe we should tweak the design so it's more clear what they are. sorry for an unclear bit of design.

again, thank you for your honest opinions. i'll definitely mull them over.

[Climb01742]

James;

VERY cool stuff. An excellent/noble concept brought to fruition.

Here's wishing you lots of success.

Will order something shortly.

BK


(+1 on a cycling jersey. THAT would be fun)

thanks a lot, bruce. i'll take all the good wishes we can get. and a cycling kit are definitely in the plans, but maybe not for awhile. we have quite a few other pieces of apparel to tackle first, like a hat and performance gear. but i promise, lord willing and the creek don't rise, we'll get there.;)

[1centaur]

Climb:

I like how this idea is very...you. That will mean a lot, maybe more than anything else, as the idea evolves. There's greater authenticity in building from the concept than in starting as a big company (Nike) and brainstorming the concept as one of 20 ideas in year 27 of existence. Making sure the buying audience perceives that difference will be vital and tricky in inverse proportion to your success, an unintended irony that will require thoughtful negotiation. That's why I said the authenticity at the root of it all may be more important than anything else. Twin Six has done a good job of keeping the vibe as they have grown. Make sure the backing concept is spread around the site and easy to see by most visitors on typical samples. Insincerity, even imagined, is the enemy. Witness the Rapha threads around here - the line between authenticity and marketing is fine and often confused; Americans crave authenticity and don't want to get fooled again.

By very...you I mean the ability to convey what could be a nebulous concept with sincerity and passion that pushes it over the line into credibility.

I don't love the athlete bent over from exertion, though I do love the sweat drop. If you are very successful, that image looks ripe for parody. It may also not translate well with female athletes (or maybe the young?). If it were me, I'd consider it fine as a placeholder until something more universal, maybe more stylized, is developed.

I actually think the message is good for youth and they will get it. Translating the DoS phrase to be it's not about the endpoint it's about the process and how you deal with that will appeal to the many as opposed to the few who actually are elite athletes.

Getting this T-shirt on George Clooney practicing basketball in Lake Como as pictured in People....priceless. Know anybody who puts together the Oscar gift bag?

Great website - clean and fun to click through, clean graphics, good proportions. Puts a lot of sites to shame.

Make your Twitter feed as compelling as possible - game plan how you'd like it to play out over the next 6 months rather than hoping each day will bring inspiration, because if you start reaching you risk slipping over the sincerity line. Instead, imagine the 100 ways to demonstrate your theme and then figure out how to deliver that via Twitter in a way that makes people click to see what it is, follow to see more and then retweet to their network. Great photos will get retweeted more than great text; great photos with short, pithy text would be ideal. Women and kids may retweet more than guys, so appeal to them half the time, but in a universal way.

Great start..no hesitation in that declaration.

[Len J]

First of all. I wish you the best of luck with this.

As I went thru your website, I had the following thoughts:

1.). It's a very high quality website.
2.) I felt like, for the limited items you have to sell, it took too many clicks to get to the product
3.) what do you think is unique, defendable and expandable?

Len

[Louis]

Maybe today just hasn't been a good day for me, but I have three comments, two of them negative:

1) I'm still not sure what it's all about. I looked at the "Our Mission" section, but all I saw were little sayings. How long is someone expected to sift through the various pages in order to figure out what it's all about?

2) The guy leaning over in the sweat drop looks to me like he's preparing to take a dump. (I believe this is what 1Centaur was thinking when he said that it was "ripe for parody.")

3) The overall look is very, very classy, and looks like you put a lot of effort into it - I'm just not sure to what end.

[BCS]

I like the concept and the web design.

However.....

Cotton is the wrong material for serious athletic apparel. You need wicking fabrics

[soulspinner]

Cool stuff. We glorify those who are the best but the majority of us do it as a lifestyle/feel good/ health thing with personal goals of improvement by our own standards. Like the site. A screw the odds shirt is in my future.................

[Climb01742]

First of all. I wish you the best of luck with this.

As I went thru your website, I had the following thoughts:

1.). It's a very high quality website.
2.) I felt like, for the limited items you have to sell, it took too many clicks to get to the product
3.) what do you think is unique, defendable and expandable?

Len

thank you, len. to address you thoughts:

your point #2: at launch, we're trying to balance two things. our apparel and our idea/our mission. as corny as it sounds, i really hope DoS can become a force for good in whatever small way we can. connecting with people about the underlying ethos of why we play and live the way we do is as important to me as selling stuff. so our site nav and structure tries to present both aspects of our company equally.

your point #3: in a nutshell, i think what makes us 'us' is the ethos expressed in the athlete's code. i don't think you could put a nike, addidas, under armour, or any other logo at the end of that and be true and believable. that code, which a believe millions of people live by daily, does not have a voice today, and i hope DoS can give it, and them, one.

[Climb01742]

Maybe today just hasn't been a good day for me, but I have three comments, two of them negative:

1) I'm still not sure what it's all about. I looked at the "Our Mission" section, but all I saw were little sayings. How long is someone expected to sift through the various pages in order to figure out what it's all about?

2) The guy leaning over in the sweat drop looks to me like he's preparing to take a dump. (I believe this is what 1Centaur was thinking when he said that it was "ripe for parody.")

3) The overall look is very, very classy, and looks like you put a lot of effort into it - I'm just not sure to what end.

louis, thank you for taking the time to go through our site and commenting. i'm genuinely sorry we didn't connect with you. perhaps over the next few months, as we bring more of our company to life, what's unclear will become more clear. i hope so. but again, thank you for giving us some time. i truly appreciate it.

[Climb01742]

I like the concept and the web design.

However.....

Cotton is the wrong material for serious athletic apparel. You need wicking fabrics

BCS,

thank you, i'm glad you liked what you saw.

and yes, i wholeheartedly agree that serious performance fabrics and apparel need to be in our product mix. and they will be. the ball is rolling on them now. at launch, we're trying to balance various market forces, audiences, realities of minimum orders and lead times, and allocating resources.

but i absolutely hear you. we're on it. promise.

[Climb01742]

Cool stuff. We glorify those who are the best but the majority of us do it as a lifestyle/feel good/ health thing with personal goals of improvement by our own standards. Like the site. A screw the odds shirt is in my future.................

soulspinner, i'm sincerely glad we connected with you. thank you for giving our stuff a shot. we're at the beginning. thanks for joining the journey.

[Climb01742]

Climb:

I like how this idea is very...you. That will mean a lot, maybe more than anything else, as the idea evolves. There's greater authenticity in building from the concept than in starting as a big company (Nike) and brainstorming the concept as one of 20 ideas in year 27 of existence. Making sure the buying audience perceives that difference will be vital and tricky in inverse proportion to your success, an unintended irony that will require thoughtful negotiation. That's why I said the authenticity at the root of it all may be more important than anything else. Twin Six has done a good job of keeping the vibe as they have grown. Make sure the backing concept is spread around the site and easy to see by most visitors on typical samples. Insincerity, even imagined, is the enemy. Witness the Rapha threads around here - the line between authenticity and marketing is fine and often confused; Americans crave authenticity and don't want to get fooled again.

By very...you I mean the ability to convey what could be a nebulous concept with sincerity and passion that pushes it over the line into credibility.

I don't love the athlete bent over from exertion, though I do love the sweat drop. If you are very successful, that image looks ripe for parody. It may also not translate well with female athletes (or maybe the young?). If it were me, I'd consider it fine as a placeholder until something more universal, maybe more stylized, is developed.

I actually think the message is good for youth and they will get it. Translating the DoS phrase to be it's not about the endpoint it's about the process and how you deal with that will appeal to the many as opposed to the few who actually are elite athletes.

Getting this T-shirt on George Clooney practicing basketball in Lake Como as pictured in People....priceless. Know anybody who puts together the Oscar gift bag?

Great website - clean and fun to click through, clean graphics, good proportions. Puts a lot of sites to shame.

Make your Twitter feed as compelling as possible - game plan how you'd like it to play out over the next 6 months rather than hoping each day will bring inspiration, because if you start reaching you risk slipping over the sincerity line. Instead, imagine the 100 ways to demonstrate your theme and then figure out how to deliver that via Twitter in a way that makes people click to see what it is, follow to see more and then retweet to their network. Great photos will get retweeted more than great text; great photos with short, pithy text would be ideal. Women and kids may retweet more than guys, so appeal to them half the time, but in a universal way.

Great start..no hesitation in that declaration.

1centaur,

thank you. you've taken a lot of time to share your insights. i really appreciate it. you've nailed many key challenges. your points will be taken in and carefully mulled over.

it feels like the major point i should address is our logo, our athlete in a drop. as you can probably imagine, we thought a lot about it. and we knew it was a bit of a risk. i understand the point you, and other posters, have made. and i hear you all and will ponder it, for sure.

here is my thought process behind the pose of the athlete:

many athletic brands make what i believe are false promises to folks. they offer visions of greatness, of only victory, of use our stuff and this can be you. a triumphal pose would be easier. i'm just not sure it would be honest.

i want DoS to be honest. and for me honest is the acknowledgement that all we achieve as athletes comes from work, hard work, busting our butts. but also that the doing is the glory of sports. the willingness to push yourself to your limits is, i think, noble and beautiful.

a famous soccer coach once saw a young female player, alone, pushing herself through a drill. this player would one day become incredible. but on that day when this coach first saw her, and saw how hard she was willing to work, by herself, with (she thought) no one watching, and he saw her at the end of her workout...bend over and put her hands on her knees...he called this pose something. he said it was 'the pose of a champion'. someone who has given her/his all.

for me that is what our logo expresses and honors. the willingness of athletes to give their all. the beauty of giving everything you have. yes, to some degree, the end matters, but the journey matters more. HOW we get there matters more. what we're willing to give and ask of ourselves matter more. i want to celebrate the journey, the effort, the willing.

i'm not dismissing or discounting the other ways the image can be seen. not at all. and i will absolutely keep an open mind about it. maybe our meaning for the image isn't coming through yet. maybe with time. or maybe it won't.

but just wanted to share how and why we got to it.

thank you again, very much, for the time you spent thinking about DoS.

[William]

Lots of great advice!

My $0.02...
As someone who has lived their life, always involved in sport in one form or another, the drop pose resonates. The arms raised winning pose is, in reality, a fleeting moment that not all folks get to experience. Sure, it represents the pinnicle, but for the folks who train day in and day out in the house of pain to possibly reach that goal.......the drop is closer to a daily reality.

I've experienced the wins and they were great. A fulfillment of all the training. To be honest though, it's the training that hardens you and teaches you that doing more than you thought you could is possible. It's also where the bonds of friendship are forged during training sessions where you learn to push each other to greater heights and work together like a well oiled machine. That's what I remember more, and what the drop image invokes to me.








William

[Climb01742]

Lots of great advice!

My $0.02...
As someone who has lived their life, always involved in sport in one form or another, the drop pose resonates. The arms raised winning pose is, in reality, a fleeting moment that not all folks get to experience. Sure, it represents the pinnicle, but for the folks who train day in and day out in the house of pain to possibly reach that goal.......the drop is closer to a daily reality.

I've experienced the wins and they were great. A fulfillment of all the training. To be honest though, it's the training that hardens you and teaches you that doing more than you thought you could is possible. It's also where the bonds of friendship are forged during training sessions where you learn to push each other to greater heights and work together like a well oiled machine. That's what I remember more, and what the drop image invokes to me.








William

Thank you for your thoughts, William. You captured it well. And I second your evocation of the bonds we forge with teammates. Sports friendships can be deep enduring ones.

I'm glad various voices are contributing to this discussion. Having a conversation about what sports mean in our lives and what we take from all our efforts is worth thinking and talking about. It takes on added importance when we have kids and we think about how to help them grow up. Sports sure can help us form and navigate our values.

Thanks, Big William, for taking the time to write/share.

[charliedid]

Hey, good for you!

Best of luck.

[thwart]

Interesting site. I'd agree with a couple of the points above:

Serious athletes want wicking fabrics.

The teardrop/stooped athlete thing is a bit unusual. If you decide to continue with that insignia, I would litter the site with pics of folks in that pose, smiling, spent.

[Climb01742]

Hey, good for you!

Best of luck.

Thank you, charliedid. As I said earlier, we'll happily take all the luck we can get!

[Climb01742]

Interesting site. I'd agree with a couple of the points above:

Serious athletes want wicking fabrics.

The teardrop/stooped athlete thing is a bit unusual. If you decide to continue with that insignia, I would litter the site with pics of folks in that pose, smiling, spent.

thwart, it's an interesting idea to use images of athletes who are in our logo pose. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Appreciated.

[1centaur]

We can't create logo by committee, but I do want to say that I am not looking for a winner's pose as much as an alternative and slightly less literal "tired" pose. To me, it reads "40+-year-old guy" which is why I mentioned the women/kids thing (and yes, Louis got the parody inference right). The Olympics did a great job with stylized/minimalist representations of athletes doing each sport so they did not have to spell out the event names and they gave off a modern feel that could last for many years without aging. Showing somebody overcome by exertion is a much trickier exercise. If I were in literal mode, I might favor someone sitting legs out and back against a wall arming/toweling sweat off the forehead - feels a bit more universal and less prone to parody. You want a logo people want to wear as part of a "we're in it together" feeling, and "we're old, tired guys but at least we're still trying" is not exactly that aspirational sentiment (maybe George Clooney would not want to wear it playing basketball for fear the photogs put that image of him out there and producers start to see him as not a leading man). The bent over pose reads a little like failure and there are other ways to depict effort. Leaf through 100 hobby athlete magazines for ideas that passed the ad agency sniff test and imagine that within your sweat drop with a more minimalized aesthetic that can endure for 20 years and can be recognized from 20 feet away so cameras pick it up well.

Or not. Everybody has opinions, and there is no doubt the bent over pose is familiar to athletes that really push themselves. Although I will say that as someone who assumed that pose many times this winter while doing the Insanity video, I did not LIKE being in that pose, whereas sitting on the ground against a wall arming off sweat is a pose that would not produce negative self talk.

[firerescuefin]

The work is not yet done...there's another set...or 10. Against the wall/on your butt...it's over or you're too tired to go on.

Interesting thoughts from a relatively diverse group of folk.

[daker13]

It's a great looking site. It sounds to me like you're on to something powerful, and it obviously has a lot of meaning for you. I don't see any photos of people actually wearing the clothes, or am I just not finding them? I can see the appeal of this kind of company. I know you're in your early stages, but I wasn't clear whether you're selling a message or a sentiment about athletics, or clothes that perform well. There are many companies selling good quality cycling clothes (expensive, of course), but I don't know of many selling good quality general athletic wear. Much of the stuff in my gym clothes box is cheap junk. I would be interested in a company that used high quality materials, that made tough clothing, that manufactured in the US, etc. (Of course, if it were super expensive, I might not buy it!). For me personally, logos are a turn-off and I want performance--and yes, I realize I am but another segment of the marketing public! Anyway best of luck to you with this endeavor.

[Climb01742]

Interesting thoughts from a relatively diverse group of folk.

+1000

I really do appreciate everyone's comments. The good, the bad, the ugly. Honest reactions from those I hope are our audience are crucial for us to hear.

You've given us a lot to think about. I really meant it when I said in the blog that I want Democracy of Sweat to be a team, a group, and I hope someday, a movement. Hearing you is our first step toward that. Thanks.

[Climb01742]

It's a great looking site. It sounds to me like you're on to something powerful, and it obviously has a lot of meaning for you. I don't see any photos of people actually wearing the clothes, or am I just not finding them? I can see the appeal of this kind of company. I know you're in your early stages, but I wasn't clear whether you're selling a message or a sentiment about athletics, or clothes that perform well. There are many companies selling good quality cycling clothes (expensive, of course), but I don't know of many selling good quality general athletic wear. Much of the stuff in my gym clothes box is cheap junk. I would be interested in a company that used high quality materials, that made tough clothing, that manufactured in the US, etc. (Of course, if it were super expensive, I might not buy it!). For me personally, logos are a turn-off and I want performance--and yes, I realize I am but another segment of the marketing public! Anyway best of luck to you with this endeavor.

daker,

We hope to add photos of folks wearing our stuff as we grow. Personally I'm torn between photos we might craft and shoot vs photos real customers send in. I'm hoping the latter happens soon. Those would mean more, I think.

We are trying to offer high quality apparel. We went through many options to get where we are now. But we want to keep hungry for ever better stuff. Yes, there's a cost/benefit analysis about price of goods vs retail price. But as an athlete myself, I really want to build and sell clothes I would want and be proud to wear myself. Our first collection is a start.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to write.

[vqdriver]

bump the dream.

my order shipped !

[firerescuefin]

Now...I just need to represent the "democracy of sweat"....rather than the democracy of caloric overage(s):help:


Look forward to doing the former....rather than the waiter saying...."another order of wings...this guy walks the walk"..great looking shirt!

[CDM]

I dont see the point. You are reiterating why your audience works out and trying to sell stuff based on that? Best of luck.

[firerescuefin]

James, thought about this thread (and your company) as I was "rocking" one of your shirts the other day.

Update? Still having fun?