This is Side Hustlers. I'm your host, Carla Maurie from my Heart Radio. The whole point of this podcast is to talk to people who are following a passion outside of their day job. People who thought it would be a great idea to work extra for something that they really loved. And sometimes we talked to people who have left the corporate world and have taken that side hustle and turns it into a full time job. Now you can follow me at the Carla Murie on Instagram. You can listen to My Day Job, which is my morning show on I Heart Radio, the Carla Maurie and Anthony Show on one or six point one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can hear all of that also on I Heart Radio. So yeah, this podcast is my side Hustle. But this week's guest is Rami. Rami is based here in Seattle, Washington, and he started his own sock company and it's because he was out hiking and hated the way his socks felt and he literally started an entire company because of that. And it's incredible and everything he's doing is amazing and he gives back and all that great stuff. But I want you to hear Ramy's story for a lot of people, you know, why are you? What? Do you know? What you want to do? And this is something you want to do and do it. I'm a hustle, hustle, do it. I'm a hustle, do it. I'm a hustle. Come on, ask about me, yo yo. It's the side Hustless podcast we call The Root. So in studio with me today, I have Rammy from From the ground Up Socks. Hello, Ramy Carlo Marine. How you doing. I'm great, How are you good? Okay, So, before we get into your story and how this was your ultimate side hustle and all of that stuff, tell me what From the ground Up Socks is sure. From the ground Up is a We're just a team of outdoor loving Pacific Northwest people who created hiking socks that feature local mountain ranges on them, like Matt right near the Cascade Range. And the biggest thing that we focus on is creating a high performance, functional and stylish sock that inspires adventure and protects the environment. Well, I'm holding a pair right now and I can tell you they are great quality docks. Like they're not. They're not that cheap feel if that's the best way. But no, they really are incredible. But how do you give back to the environment. Yeah, so we built a partnership with Washington Trails Association, their local nonprofit here in Washington that protects and maintains our trails in public lands. So for every sale of our socks, we donate five pc of that purchase to help protect and preserve those trails. And you can go to ft gu socks dot com. That's from the ground Up socks. So who knows what I'm saying. So this was a side hustle for you, very much, a side hustle. Talk about what it was like when you had a full time job and then why you decided to just start making socks. So I used to work as account manager and partnerships for the women's professional soccer team here in Seattle, and at the same time I had launched this hiking sock brand called from the ground Up, and things that work were pretty busy. You know. I'd spent like forty plus hours a week, including weekends for game days, just working for the team, and you know, any and up all of my week nights working on the business. But like, why socks? So I grew up forty five minutes north the Seattle in a town called Lake Stevens. And I was a huge hiker and a skier. And I went on a hiking triple with my friends one day and we're the wrong socks, the worst, the worst, and skiing like I've done on skiing, I'm like, my whole I've got two days that are ruined because my feet hurt so absolutely you don't realize how how sensitive your tootsies are. But I ended up getting a hole in my socks and just ravaged my feet with blisters. When I got back, I did some research. I was looking up for some good hiking socks. Found that marino wool was a really good material that's used for it. But every sock that I found was either too itchy or too hot or like just plain ugly. Yeah and there, Yeah, there are a lot of ugly ones when you find a good parent and normally is that they're ugly. But yeah, the ischy thing, why, I have no idea. I think it has something to do with the wool, maybe the manufacturing. But yeah, So after after searching and being disappointed with my findings, um, I decided to just kind of create my own. How old were you when you just out at that? I was twenty three years old. So you're you have a full time job at a pretty awesome company totally, and you're like, I'm gonna start making socks. Ye, this thing that you have used probably every day for your entire life. There are plenty of them in the world, but you knew that you had a fix to the problem when it came to hiking, skiing, whatever it may be. So what was your first step? Nice pun by the way, Oh, I didn't even look at me. Improv is paying off and I don't even know it. Figure out a lot of feet jokes when you're in the sock. Sure. So the first step was just doing some research online trying to find manufacturers here in the US to manufacturer sock for US. I finally found one in North Carolina. They're an awesome, small family business over there, and they create these high performance Marino wool and poly Pro socks. And poly Pro for people who don't know, that, is a synthetic fabric that's incredibly eco friendly. It's much better than the other material out there like polyester, nylon, rayon, and additionally, it doesn't leach any toxic chemicals during production. It replicates the effects of marino wool. So it's moisture waking, it's breathable, it's durable, it's odor resistant, antimicrobial, antibacterial. I could go on and on, but I don't know more people thank you. So I ended up getting a sample from them and just testing them out, testing them out with some of the top outdoor sock brands out there, and found that they held up just great. Yeah, and then you decided, all right, I'm gonna do this, but I want to put my own spin on it, my own designs that whole thing. Did you know how to design? Like, how did you even do that? Yeah? I'm not a big designer myself. I I graduate from you dub I was a can major with an entrepreneurship miner. But being an entrepreneur, I learned that for any of the weaknesses that I have, find those people to fill those gaps in very So. I have a friend of mine, he's a designer, top of his class from University of Georgia, and he basically creates all of our designs for our socks, for any of our merchandise we're creating. So I basically just chatted with him and I was like, Hey, I'm thinking about making these socks. Can you create some mountains on them? And he's like, sure, no idea about socks, why I'm interested in it or anything. So he made those designs for me, sent them out to our supplier down in North Carolina, and yeah, the rest was history. Do you still have your first sample that they made? Do you have to better me? Got to frame him. I'm going to frame him for sure, or it's still wear them, I mean, whatever, whatever you want. Does he still do a lot of the designs for you? He does? Yeah, so he is like part of the from the ground up team. Definitely. That's amazing. So how long were you working your full time job while launching your own company. I worked my full time job for about a year while I was running this business on the side. Here. I ended up doing full time into the business in January of this year and haven't looked back since. That's incredible, But there was definitely chaos to get to that point. Oh absolutely, So why did you leave your original full time job? So? I was working my full time job, happy as a clam and partnerships, but things kind of just went belly up. We didn't make as much money as we hope to. And let that be a lesson to all of you. Go to the women's soccer games. They're amazing, they're so great. Seattle Sound is just one. The MLS Cup, the women's national team as one, back to back world championships, So what are you guys waiting for? By the way, fully support all of that. So I'm a pent behind that, But you're right. I mean a lot of people will think like, oh, well, it's just it's an organization, or women aren't being paid enough because the teams aren't spending the money or whatever it is, and no, it's because people aren't going to the games. And we get on this rant all the time on our morning show and I'm not going to go into it on the podcast, but you from someone from the back end of it, you're also saying the same thing. Absolutely, it went belly up. It went belly up. They didn't have enough money to keep me on, so they let me go. It's kind of crazy to me. I've never been fired from a job before four at that point, twenty four at that point, yeah, I kind of like hit a low point in my life. I just kind of like starry questioning myself worth. I was like, what am I good at? I don't know anything? So isn't that all of the normal stuff that you go through and that happens totally, Yeah, just the process, the greeting process. But in that low moment, I realized that all the work that I had put in, all that passion and that energy that I had put into working for the soccer team, I could just apply to my own business. That's incredible. So I decided to do that and the rest was history. It's so funny when you think about that, Like, we put so much energy into our corporate into our day jobs, but if you took that energy and put it into something you're truly passionate about it. If you're not passionate about your day job and you put that energy there, what can you do in that world? And you're clearly you have proven it. You've got a full blown company at this point, You've got people who work for you, and I want to get into that in a second. But you didn't go right into working from the ground up full time. You did a part time job. I did. Yeah, So I was very fortunate where my family's business I could kind of fall back on that and work part time with them. Uh. So my family were a bunch of data traffic data collector is uh still if you've ever seen those black road tube stretched across the street when you're driving, Yeah, we're in the business of setting those up. So what is that actually collecting? What? Just volume? Speed classification of vehicles. I can't get caught for speeding, Okay, good to know, Yeah, good to know. Okay, So what did you do then? Yeah, so my job was a field technician, So I basically my job was to go out plan our route, set those road tubes up on the street, and yeah, just like pick them up when they had to be picked up, managed the team of other field text and that's just kind of what I did. But fortunately for me, it granted me a lot of flexibility in my schedule and it played pretty decently. So I was pretty content doing that and just putting my effort into building my business. That's incredible that you were able to find a way to make both things you know, work and then really eventually make that jump to earlier this gent this year January into being a full time business owner with from the ground up Socks when did you make at connection with Washington Trails Association. I made that connection with them of August of last year. Okay, so that was pretty early on. Yeah, it's pretty pretty recent. They're awesome. I shot them an email. I was like, Hey, I'm creating this stock company. I want to give you guys money. And usually when people say you want to give us money, yeah, we'll work with you. Yeah sure, So yeah, no, w t A. They're great. The work that the day was amazing, so we wanted to support them anyway that we could. So your partnership with them started around augusten. What is it the same thing now? Has it grown? Do you guys work together in different things? Have you done events? What is it like now? When we first became partners with them, we sponsored this event they host called Hykathon, where it's a month of August. Everybody who is participating in it just tracks their miles hiking miles. That's awesome. Yeah, and it's great. It raises funds for w t A. We're huge sponsors of it. We absolutely love it. We love the work that people put into it, and so at the end of every year we donate what we've earned in the year to them that's filed. Yeah, and it's cool that you've been able to do something obviously that you love, but also give back and it's environmentally friendly and you are giving back to an amazing organization and you've only been doing this for two years. About two years. Yeah, like that's incredible to see what else you're gonna do? Are you in stores yet? Yeah? So we do have some retail partners carrying us. I'm just gonna give him a shameless plug. Right. You can go to the stock Monster. It's an awesome stock shop in Wallingford. That story. They're awesome. They're an amazing company. The owner Kelly, she's great. Definitely recommend going there. Another story you can pick us up at is Super Jock and Jill and Green Lake awesome shoe store, Greg's Cycle. All three of their locations over in Green Lake, Lynnwood and Bellevue. You can go to the Joe Chocolate Cafe and Pike Place. My really good friends started that company, so we kind of had an end with them. Yeah. And then there's this really awesome shop in Ballard called Turntables and Trails. How do I not know this place? They're pretty small, but they're awesome. The guy who owns it, Spencer, He's a great guy. Um. They still lightly used making gear and turntables, so it's a pretty awesome spot to go for those two things. That's incredible. The fun fact about super Jock and Jill my friends. Grandma created the store, but years and years ago she was a runner, and I believe her son was an Olympic runner, and she was just knew that there were no really good sneaker stores around here, and she launched it. And she's like, she's badass. Her name is Laurel and she hangs out at the Wallingford Starbucks every morning. She is the coolest, she's the best. I know, she'll be your best friend. How did you get an in? Obviously your friend is that Joe's Chocolate, But how did you start making these connections to get your products sold into stores? Literally just walk into the store. It's not people are like get out of here. Mr. Usually walk in and I'm like, Hi, who does you're buying? Yeah? I know, so yeah, walk into the store. People are usually receptive to that. It's really great. They are always looking for a new product that you know, aligns with the values of their store. As well, so do you show up with like a briefcase and like open it up my jacket? I got the socks lined in there. Yeah. Well, I'm sure business owners appreciate the face to face and not just someone firing off an email. Absolutely, I've sent off. I couldn't tell you how many emails have sent off and never heard response. But the amount of turnover that I get from just sending emails out is like just so not worth doing. I'd rather just walk into the store and just say hi, I introduce myself right, and I can understand if it's somewhere you can drive too. If you're reaching out to people from all over the country, you're not gonna show up to all of those, but if you can, why not? Absolutely? So from the ground up. Where is your office? So we actually don't have an office. I like to keep it that way. I live here in Seattle. I live in Green Lake, so I operate everything out of my apartment. And because we sell to retail stores and we do all of our sales online, it's pretty easy for us to just kind of take care of everything through that. Do you ship on your own or do you have so you're physically it's you packaging and shipping the socks, so when people buy that, the personal touch from the founder. Okay, that is incredible. Thank you. You have people working for you? Now how many total? So we have about five people working with us. Yeah, and they're they're partners of mine. So you know, we have a content collection team for our Instagram or social media. They do all of our storytelling for the brand is a whole another job. It's incredibly important. Yeah, I mean, they're they're Fortunately, there were two friends of mine. They had their own companies called Imagine Night and they basically just do all this like media collection. The work they do is incredible. They're totally aligned with my values as being like Pacific Northwest lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, skiers, all that. So the content we get is really good. Oh, I know, your Instagram does look great, so now I know why you've got to shout us behind it. So you've got them working on that. You have your friend from University of Georgia who designs it. Who else we got on the team? Have my other partner, her name is Demi Xenos and she helps me out with the operations of the company. So she and I graduated from the you dub together worked together at that soccer team as well, and so she's kind of been with me at the start of this, you know, help keep my nose clean. She's very very like meticulous, detail oriented things, very strategically, so she's definitely a good person to have in my corner. So she's the one that's like, no, Rommy, we can't do that, or we can't do it like that. Oh yeah, she tells me all the time, and I'm like, come on, She's like, no, you need someone like that otherwise God only knows what you would have done at this point. Yes, your packaging is awesome. Thank you. So I love this. You've got right up front. How much you get back to Washington Trails Association, You've got to thank you in there. There's a message from you, which is incredible. I'm assuming that first pair of socks she sould didn't come in this kind of packaging. No, definitely not yea. So how do you even like where do you even starting? Like, Okay, I need this packaging for my socks, Like, how do you do that? Just go to the other stores and see what those other hiking socks are doing for their packaging. Yeah, I can tell you right now, like the amount of time, sweat, equity, tears, arguments went into that design of that packaging countless. I mean, my hairline probably receved like six inches. But I'm glad we did it. It really, it just pops off the shelf. That was the whole idea, with that bright green. Having all that information on the packaging. That took so much thoughts, so much attention. Even the way we word things right, just just like the wording on the packaging took so much time. It has to though. You have you have to care about that kind of stuff. And I always say this as and as a business owner. You have to care about it because no one else will. Yes, I mean the customers want I mean no, it's yours. It's just your baby. You have to care about it. I couldn't tell you how many people have shown this packaging and been like, yeah, I look at all this amazing work it is, and they're like cool, cool, tossing sad. Okay, okay, just so thank you for asking about the package. No, I'm happy that I did that. I love that it's also made from recycled craft paper. It is I'm a fan of that. Thank you. Also in the US also love that your family, your parents, your friends, all that. Has everyone been super supportive from the beginning or they're like Robbie Socks. Really dude, they've all been incredible. I mean, such a support system. It's and that's that's honestly like something I needed going through this, because yeah, it's a sock company. I'm not changing the world. I'm not. I'm not like I mean, you might change the Waton Trolls Association fingers crossed, but I'm not. And you know, I'm not out here like caring cancer or anything. Yes, but I mean people need socks. People need good socks, especially when they're getting out in the world and doing amazing things and being active. And if you're not going to care about this, then who is I say that all time about the radio. I'm like, why am I stressed about this? I'm not doing brain surgery, but it's a job and someone's got to do it, and I love doing it. I'm helping someone in some way, and I think it's important to be passionate and care about whatever you're doing that much as much as a brain surgeon would, but as much. And that's absolutely right, Like, I had such a passion for what I do, and and it doesn't matter what the product is. Like obviously, when I make the product that's going to be top of its class, it's going to have to be the best product out there. But the passion that I put into it, the the alignment in my views that this product, this brand has, I mean, that's that's what drives me every day to do what I do. Yeah, if you like came in here and like, oh, here's my socks and like threw them down like I'm not gonna care, but you obviously present it well. So you can't show up to everyone and be like, hey, here's my socks, this is my comming, this is awesome. But you've shown that with the packaging, you've put your passion into the little things and even Instagram things like that. It's those things that people will judge you on right away. And if it's done well and done right and shows who you are and shows your brand, it's going to help you in the end. And I think a plus and all that for you. So put up there. You told me when we were first emailing that you have high goals for your brand and your company what are some of those goals. Well, I think the big thing that we want to do is become Washington's sock. When people think of other big brands like Darn Tough, they think Vermont. When they think Smart Will, they think Colorado. When people think from the ground up, they're gonna think Washington like that. They're going to get that pride to get to that point. Obviously, being on podcasts like this definitely helps. But also we're aiming for a deal with ari I. I was gonna say yes, so we're gonna make this happen. Let's do it. I want to help tweet ARII. Yeah. If anybody out there knows anybody working at ARII Corporate, I would love to get an introduction. I might know somebody. Okay, might be able to make this happen. Cool, let's do it, hopefully, because I just said it on the podcast. You said it, so it's it's it's happening, and I do. I want people to follow you on Instagram it's f T g U Socks and then your website is ft g U socks dot com. You can spart, you can wear these socks even if you're not in Washington. We have people all over the U s wearing our socks like it's so crazy because I've had the biggest struggle with ski socks over the last nine years of my ski career, and I am so excited to wear these now. Oh these will be great for you. I can't wait. Yeah, I gotta go right now. I seriously thank you. You mentioned earlier that you minored in entrepreneurship, So what it was that you dubbed? How much is that actual schoolwork helped you now as a business owner. I have to say that the entrepreneurship program at that you dub is one of the best in the world. And the reason I say that is because it doesn't go into book learning. It puts you into real life experiences. So there was this one class that I took. It was called Creating a Company, and it's taught by a serial entrepreneur. I'm not a professor, not someone who just got thrown into a program. It's somebody who's done this, has started companies. He started five very successful multimillion dollar companies. And he sits there and he coaches you, and he's there for you for any sort of questions you have. The course works like a two quarter system. The first quarter, you come up with an idea for a business, You form teams, you put together a pitch deck, and you actually pitch your product to a board of investors. At the end of the quarter, you ask for real capital and if they like your product, that they actually give you real money to start your business. Is your products in the class, So I was making these study aid necklaces called study Sense. Yeah. They basically admit like a cent that you can smell while you're studying, and it's supposed to help with memory recall. So this class was kind of like Shark Tank. Totally like Shark Tank. I want to go take this. It's great, it's smart. I think for anyone, even if you know what career you want, like, no matter what, this is your end goal. But you never know, you like, look at your situation. You never know ten years your life could be different, twenty years, thirty years. Hey we're working for a lot of years at this point. Now, you never know when you're gonna want your own business. And that is like everyone should binder in that I did. It's a life skill. It's not something that you can just be like, oh whatever, I just took this and I'm good. It's something that you are going to take with you for the rest of your life, and it just builds a nice foundation for you going forward. The clearly thing is a lot of really successful companies have actually come out of this class. For instance, Joe Chocolate. The guy who started Joe Chocolate, My buddy Sam was in the class with me when he started the business, and now they carried nationwide in r E I s in Nords from e Bars and they have an awesome cafe down in the heart of Pike Place Market, the place in Seattle. The guy is twenty six, he's my age, and he has his own like a million dollar company. So then, obviously this podcast is not about Joe Chocolate. But my question is what then in that class that was so what was so great to investors and why was a chocolate company like why did it rise to the top? I think that it was not only the product of it being artisanal chocolate with espresso beans in them, so it's caffeine eated dark chocolate. It's like an amazing trail snack. It gets you like two cups of coffee in a bag. But I think it was also the entrepreneur behind it, Sam was. He's an incredible person. He had like just a really good head on his shoulders in that class, and I remember like meeting him and I was like, you know what, I should probably become friends with this guy. So I think that a lot of investors really do buy hints the entrepreneur person, like the passion behind the product. Right, the product is what it is, like, it's going to be a great product. But if you're a passionate entrepreneur, that's what people are going to invest in because you know how to take it to that next level. Yeah, passion has been a huge theme for this podcast. But I remember, going back when I was in college, my professor in journalism telling me or our whole class, you're never going to get anywhere in this career if you're not passionate about what you're doing, because you're not going to do it for the money. You have to do it for the passion behind journalism and media overall. And it's true, I mean in anything really, but if you're passionate behind whatever your side, hustle, main hustle, whatever it is, it will be successful or successful enough for you to grow or move on to something else. And passion is huge. I'm really glad that you did say that, because there's so many people who message me and it's like, I want to start a side hustle, but I don't know what, And I'm like, well, I can't give you a random company to start and be. It's got to be something you care about. Find that thing that you truly love that you will work day and night or or maybe just night while you have your day job, and then throw all of your energy into that and sometimes money, which I'm assuming you had to invest money in your company at first. A lot of people don't want to do that. I'm terrified every day because my actual money is tied into the business, but it's also what drives me to continue to do it. That's what drives the passion to you know. It's like, my actual cash is tied into this. It's kind of a big deal, it is. It is, So I definitely agree with you. I think passion is a huge thing. I think you said another thing earlier about how you shouldn't get into it for the money. You're not going to make money for a long time. You know, you want to put that money right back into growing your business. People who really succeed. Entrepreneurs who really succeed are the ones who do it for the passion and for the ability to have that freedom, the freedom to do things your way. The money is gonna come, don't worry about it, right, focus on that freedom. That's what drives a passion behind an entrepreneur. Yeah, and a lot of times you can't buy that freedom at all, like just making your own decisions and just running within and having this company and caring about it. It's just you can't. You can't get that in the corporate world, and it's worth not making money for a little bit. Absolutely. So I got a message from someone who realized there was a question I've never asked anyone who's ever been on this podcast, and they were inquiring for their own life and what they were about to do. What as a side hustler who doesn't have a full time job in a corporate world, how do you have health insurance? That is a great question, adult questions. So I actually have been thinking a lot about this lately. So I'm twenty five, My birthday is in a month, basically means at the end of December I have no health insurance. Happy New Year's So I've been doing a lot of research into this, and I found that Washington actually has a state funded healthcare system called apple Care, which I love. It's great, isn't It's It's the same idea though as as our product, apple Care totally. Yeah, take care of yourself, take care, take care of yourself. If you make under a certain salary every year that I think you qualify for, it's definitely worth looking into. It gets you that basic coverage that you need. And then you know, if you're still not really paying yourself a ton from your business, go pick up a job as a server. Go pick a like a random part time job, up something that doesn't require much mental energy, but just like something that's gonna be able to cover your bills well. And the cool thing about being a server, which I remember this when I was interning, the people talk to you always and it's like, oh, what will they see that you're young or whatever, like what are you doing. I'm like, well, I'm interning at a radio station in New York City because that's what I want to do. And you start having this rapport with people and a it's just good human communication. But if you have a side hustle you can slowly pitch it to people and be like, oh, I have this stock company. Do you hike a lot? Most likely yes, because you live in Washington, you should. You know. I do this on the side and it's great. It's it's just free marketing. There's people in and out all day, all day, and you never know who that person might be to make you get your next break. I think the biggest thing I remember, hometown boy Chris Pratt was working at a restaurant in Hawaii when he met the I think it was like the manager. His manager basically got him into an acting role. So I mean, like, go work at a restaurant job. You never know who you're gonna meet. It's the number one networking tool and it makes you cash on the side. It's a great win. I have a friend Tatum, who she was my first guest on this podcast. She started her own magazine called this is Magazine. She has the hardest time kind of the terrible word but bragging about what she does. She it's often her husband that's like, oh my wife started her own magazine. She She's like, it's the last thing she will talk about, and I'm trying to get her to be better at it. Do you have that issue or you just like, hey, check out my sock. Uh. I have been like toying around with it a while. Like when I first started, I was like, yeah, I have a sock company. It's so cool. And then I realized people are like okay, dope. I'm like okay, cool. So I kind of refined how I talk about what I do. Some people ask what I do, I just tell him I'm like, oh, I'm self employed, Like oh, what do you do. I'm like, well, I have my own hiking stock company. Like oh, that's cool, and then they kind of ask more questions about it, and that's when you kind of open up about it. But yeah, I wouldn't start knocking on doors. Yeah no, no, Yeah, They're like all right, sweet, thanks for letting me know about your sock business. You have to be proud of what you do, absolutely, and I think like tell as many people as you possibly can about what you're doing, because again, you never know who you're gonna meet, you never know who's going to help you out, you never know where where your brand could go from there. So so speaking of telling people everywhere, you've got a lot of um I guess would this be promo material? Yes. So you've got two completely different pamphlets that explain well, so this one looks like one that you mail, yes, and then this one is where do you put this? Other one that explains what the company is. We give this to all of our retail partners. It's a marketing car basically tells a quick story about the brand and why you should pick our brand up and how do you support small business by doing so? So okay, so marketing partners, and you're not like leaving this out places for random people to find it, like, oh what is this? Oh no, no, I don't want to be a literary good come because then would be completely opposite of everything that you're doing that those are reserved for our retail partners. So you and I connected through someone else who has been on this podcast, and I love talking about connections, and you've clearly you've made that very clear that that's also important to you and talking with people. So David, who was on this podcast earlier this year, he is the creator of Rainier Watch, a local company that it started as an Instagram account, which I love, and it was just sharing pictures of Mountain Rainier and he ended up starting to sell merch which is incredible. How did the two of you connect? We got connected on Instagram? Why does this keep happening? Because it's the best networking tool, isn't it? It's wild And that's how I found David. Also because I accidentally tagged Rainier Watch instead of Mount Rainier National Park and that's how we met. And then you you two, I feel like are very aligned in what you're doing because he's also giving back and your local to Washington and outdoors and people who care about the environment. What did you two do to connect right away? So we actually did a joint giveaway on social media At the time, I think his Instagram account was that like seven thousand followers. Mine was that an abysmal one. So yeah, he kind of put us on and it really got us. Uh got us on the market with like his his followers. It got us some sales online, which is awesome. Um, yeah, we did to give away. I give away a pair of our Cascade Range socks. He promoted us the entire week and it was amazing. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's cool to connect with people who are like minded. It's cool to connect with people who maybe are on a completely different realm that you are in as a business at all. But it makes sense that you guys are aligned, and I wanted to see more of that because I love that the two of you are together because it really is perfect. And I am a fan of all the designs, but I really the mountaineer socks might be my faith. And you've got is this the coordinates amount Rainier on them, So each pair has different coordinates for all the different places. Do you ever plan on doing socks for other states or you're just gonna stick with Washington? Yeah, I know, We're definitely planning on other state socks as well. Like I said, with that big are ideal that we're trying the land, you know, if they carry us regionally with a hyper target each store and create different mountain designs for those specific spots. So there's people from all over who listen to this podcast. So if you get a lot of people from one specific state, I feel like you have to make that one first. Absolutely. Okay, So go everybody buy socks f dot com. Go go go. Okay. So one one quick thing I'd actually want to say is, um, we did sponsor we have sponsored um PCT hikers the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail over on the East Coast because we did want to test out the sock durability first. Yeah, because that's quite the hike. Yeah. So we got reached out to initially by this girl. Her name is Julia Sheehan. She started hiking the Appalachian Trail mile stretch of trail, really rugged terrain. She just loved our brand and she wanted to pick up a pair of our socks for her high She wore our Cascades socks. I think she had like three or four pairs the entire way, and they held up amazingly, like no blisters, they didn't wear down, they totally held up and and they lasted the entire length of the trail. Same thing with our pc T hikers. That's when I realized we had a pretty good product. Yeah. So I was like, all right, like, thank you for that. So there might be some PCT socks coming on the way, but I say that that's good to know. Ye Okay, So one last pitch on why people need to support from the ground up and why do they need to shop from the ground up? Like I said, we're a small business. We're based right here in Seattle, Washington. We are creating these high performance and stylish socks that feature your local mountains on them. We give back to the trails that we hike on because we do believe that protecting the trails that we hike is at the forefront of what we do. These are great socks for you, for friends, for family. They're cozy, they're thermoregulating, and so you can wear them in the summer. You can wear them in the winter. Your foot won't sweat, it won't get blisters, and it won't be cold. Awesome. So yeah, pick a pair from the ground up socks. You can use a discount code first for your first order. It gets ten percent off your socks. That's that's my spiel. I'm a fan of that. Thank you. And I don't know when people are gonna listen to this podcast because it's podcasting, so you never know. But the holidays are coming up. These are actually cool socks to give and get for the holidays. It's not likely the ones that your aunt used to get you, like, yeah, well not y'all. I don't know what your aunt used to get you. Better whatever, These are cool socks to give anyone in your life because they are about us. So Rommy, thank you for being here. Appreciate it very much. Thank you so much, Carlin, I really appreciate it. So you can support Rommy. It's f T g U Socks dot com, get it for from the ground up, and it's f T g U Socks on Instagram, so support him, show them your love. Get someone cool socks for Christmas, don't get some ugly socks for Christmas. You can always rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it. You can also subscribe to it, whether it's iTunes, on our I Heart Radio up wherever you listen, you can subscribe so you'll get updates. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. Until next week to keep Austin H.

This is Side Hustlers. I'm your host, Carla Maurie from my Heart Radio. The whole point of this podcast is to talk to people who are following a passion outside of their day job. People who thought it would be a great idea to work extra for something that they really loved. And sometimes we talked to people who have left the corporate world and have taken that side hustle and turns it into a full time job. Now you can follow me at the Carla Murie on Instagram. You can listen to My Day Job, which is my morning show on I Heart Radio, the Carla Maurie and Anthony Show on one or six point one Kiss FM in Seattle. You can hear all of that also on I Heart Radio. So yeah, this podcast is my side Hustle. But this week's guest is Rami. Rami is based here in Seattle, Washington, and he started his own sock company and it's because he was out hiking and hated the way his socks felt and he literally started an entire company because of that. And it's incredible and everything he's doing is amazing and he gives back and all that great stuff. But I want you to hear Ramy's story for a lot of people, you know, why are you? What? Do you know? What you want to do? And this is something you want to do and do it. I'm a hustle, hustle, do it. I'm a hustle, do it. I'm a hustle. Come on, ask about me, yo yo. It's the side Hustless podcast we call The Root. So in studio with me today, I have Rammy from From the ground Up Socks. Hello, Ramy Carlo Marine. How you doing. I'm great, How are you good? Okay, So, before we get into your story and how this was your ultimate side hustle and all of that stuff, tell me what From the ground Up Socks is sure. From the ground Up is a We're just a team of outdoor loving Pacific Northwest people who created hiking socks that feature local mountain ranges on them, like Matt right near the Cascade Range. And the biggest thing that we focus on is creating a high performance, functional and stylish sock that inspires adventure and protects the environment. Well, I'm holding a pair right now and I can tell you they are great quality docks. Like they're not. They're not that cheap feel if that's the best way. But no, they really are incredible. But how do you give back to the environment. Yeah, so we built a partnership with Washington Trails Association, their local nonprofit here in Washington that protects and maintains our trails in public lands. So for every sale of our socks, we donate five pc of that purchase to help protect and preserve those trails. And you can go to ft gu socks dot com. That's from the ground Up socks. So who knows what I'm saying. So this was a side hustle for you, very much, a side hustle. Talk about what it was like when you had a full time job and then why you decided to just start making socks. So I used to work as account manager and partnerships for the women's professional soccer team here in Seattle, and at the same time I had launched this hiking sock brand called from the ground Up, and things that work were pretty busy. You know. I'd spent like forty plus hours a week, including weekends for game days, just working for the team, and you know, any and up all of my week nights working on the business. But like, why socks? So I grew up forty five minutes north the Seattle in a town called Lake Stevens. And I was a huge hiker and a skier. And I went on a hiking triple with my friends one day and we're the wrong socks, the worst, the worst, and skiing like I've done on skiing, I'm like, my whole I've got two days that are ruined because my feet hurt so absolutely you don't realize how how sensitive your tootsies are. But I ended up getting a hole in my socks and just ravaged my feet with blisters. When I got back, I did some research. I was looking up for some good hiking socks. Found that marino wool was a really good material that's used for it. But every sock that I found was either too itchy or too hot or like just plain ugly. Yeah and there, Yeah, there are a lot of ugly ones when you find a good parent and normally is that they're ugly. But yeah, the ischy thing, why, I have no idea. I think it has something to do with the wool, maybe the manufacturing. But yeah, So after after searching and being disappointed with my findings, um, I decided to just kind of create my own. How old were you when you just out at that? I was twenty three years old. So you're you have a full time job at a pretty awesome company totally, and you're like, I'm gonna start making socks. Ye, this thing that you have used probably every day for your entire life. There are plenty of them in the world, but you knew that you had a fix to the problem when it came to hiking, skiing, whatever it may be. So what was your first step? Nice pun by the way, Oh, I didn't even look at me. Improv is paying off and I don't even know it. Figure out a lot of feet jokes when you're in the sock. Sure. So the first step was just doing some research online trying to find manufacturers here in the US to manufacturer sock for US. I finally found one in North Carolina. They're an awesome, small family business over there, and they create these high performance Marino wool and poly Pro socks. And poly Pro for people who don't know, that, is a synthetic fabric that's incredibly eco friendly. It's much better than the other material out there like polyester, nylon, rayon, and additionally, it doesn't leach any toxic chemicals during production. It replicates the effects of marino wool. So it's moisture waking, it's breathable, it's durable, it's odor resistant, antimicrobial, antibacterial. I could go on and on, but I don't know more people thank you. So I ended up getting a sample from them and just testing them out, testing them out with some of the top outdoor sock brands out there, and found that they held up just great. Yeah, and then you decided, all right, I'm gonna do this, but I want to put my own spin on it, my own designs that whole thing. Did you know how to design? Like, how did you even do that? Yeah? I'm not a big designer myself. I I graduate from you dub I was a can major with an entrepreneurship miner. But being an entrepreneur, I learned that for any of the weaknesses that I have, find those people to fill those gaps in very So. I have a friend of mine, he's a designer, top of his class from University of Georgia, and he basically creates all of our designs for our socks, for any of our merchandise we're creating. So I basically just chatted with him and I was like, Hey, I'm thinking about making these socks. Can you create some mountains on them? And he's like, sure, no idea about socks, why I'm interested in it or anything. So he made those designs for me, sent them out to our supplier down in North Carolina, and yeah, the rest was history. Do you still have your first sample that they made? Do you have to better me? Got to frame him. I'm going to frame him for sure, or it's still wear them, I mean, whatever, whatever you want. Does he still do a lot of the designs for you? He does? Yeah, so he is like part of the from the ground up team. Definitely. That's amazing. So how long were you working your full time job while launching your own company. I worked my full time job for about a year while I was running this business on the side. Here. I ended up doing full time into the business in January of this year and haven't looked back since. That's incredible, But there was definitely chaos to get to that point. Oh absolutely, So why did you leave your original full time job? So? I was working my full time job, happy as a clam and partnerships, but things kind of just went belly up. We didn't make as much money as we hope to. And let that be a lesson to all of you. Go to the women's soccer games. They're amazing, they're so great. Seattle Sound is just one. The MLS Cup, the women's national team as one, back to back world championships, So what are you guys waiting for? By the way, fully support all of that. So I'm a pent behind that, But you're right. I mean a lot of people will think like, oh, well, it's just it's an organization, or women aren't being paid enough because the teams aren't spending the money or whatever it is, and no, it's because people aren't going to the games. And we get on this rant all the time on our morning show and I'm not going to go into it on the podcast, but you from someone from the back end of it, you're also saying the same thing. Absolutely, it went belly up. It went belly up. They didn't have enough money to keep me on, so they let me go. It's kind of crazy to me. I've never been fired from a job before four at that point, twenty four at that point, yeah, I kind of like hit a low point in my life. I just kind of like starry questioning myself worth. I was like, what am I good at? I don't know anything? So isn't that all of the normal stuff that you go through and that happens totally, Yeah, just the process, the greeting process. But in that low moment, I realized that all the work that I had put in, all that passion and that energy that I had put into working for the soccer team, I could just apply to my own business. That's incredible. So I decided to do that and the rest was history. It's so funny when you think about that, Like, we put so much energy into our corporate into our day jobs, but if you took that energy and put it into something you're truly passionate about it. If you're not passionate about your day job and you put that energy there, what can you do in that world? And you're clearly you have proven it. You've got a full blown company at this point, You've got people who work for you, and I want to get into that in a second. But you didn't go right into working from the ground up full time. You did a part time job. I did. Yeah, So I was very fortunate where my family's business I could kind of fall back on that and work part time with them. Uh. So my family were a bunch of data traffic data collector is uh still if you've ever seen those black road tube stretched across the street when you're driving, Yeah, we're in the business of setting those up. So what is that actually collecting? What? Just volume? Speed classification of vehicles. I can't get caught for speeding, Okay, good to know, Yeah, good to know. Okay, So what did you do then? Yeah, so my job was a field technician, So I basically my job was to go out plan our route, set those road tubes up on the street, and yeah, just like pick them up when they had to be picked up, managed the team of other field text and that's just kind of what I did. But fortunately for me, it granted me a lot of flexibility in my schedule and it played pretty decently. So I was pretty content doing that and just putting my effort into building my business. That's incredible that you were able to find a way to make both things you know, work and then really eventually make that jump to earlier this gent this year January into being a full time business owner with from the ground up Socks when did you make at connection with Washington Trails Association. I made that connection with them of August of last year. Okay, so that was pretty early on. Yeah, it's pretty pretty recent. They're awesome. I shot them an email. I was like, Hey, I'm creating this stock company. I want to give you guys money. And usually when people say you want to give us money, yeah, we'll work with you. Yeah sure, So yeah, no, w t A. They're great. The work that the day was amazing, so we wanted to support them anyway that we could. So your partnership with them started around augusten. What is it the same thing now? Has it grown? Do you guys work together in different things? Have you done events? What is it like now? When we first became partners with them, we sponsored this event they host called Hykathon, where it's a month of August. Everybody who is participating in it just tracks their miles hiking miles. That's awesome. Yeah, and it's great. It raises funds for w t A. We're huge sponsors of it. We absolutely love it. We love the work that people put into it, and so at the end of every year we donate what we've earned in the year to them that's filed. Yeah, and it's cool that you've been able to do something obviously that you love, but also give back and it's environmentally friendly and you are giving back to an amazing organization and you've only been doing this for two years. About two years. Yeah, like that's incredible to see what else you're gonna do? Are you in stores yet? Yeah? So we do have some retail partners carrying us. I'm just gonna give him a shameless plug. Right. You can go to the stock Monster. It's an awesome stock shop in Wallingford. That story. They're awesome. They're an amazing company. The owner Kelly, she's great. Definitely recommend going there. Another story you can pick us up at is Super Jock and Jill and Green Lake awesome shoe store, Greg's Cycle. All three of their locations over in Green Lake, Lynnwood and Bellevue. You can go to the Joe Chocolate Cafe and Pike Place. My really good friends started that company, so we kind of had an end with them. Yeah. And then there's this really awesome shop in Ballard called Turntables and Trails. How do I not know this place? They're pretty small, but they're awesome. The guy who owns it, Spencer, He's a great guy. Um. They still lightly used making gear and turntables, so it's a pretty awesome spot to go for those two things. That's incredible. The fun fact about super Jock and Jill my friends. Grandma created the store, but years and years ago she was a runner, and I believe her son was an Olympic runner, and she was just knew that there were no really good sneaker stores around here, and she launched it. And she's like, she's badass. Her name is Laurel and she hangs out at the Wallingford Starbucks every morning. She is the coolest, she's the best. I know, she'll be your best friend. How did you get an in? Obviously your friend is that Joe's Chocolate, But how did you start making these connections to get your products sold into stores? Literally just walk into the store. It's not people are like get out of here. Mr. Usually walk in and I'm like, Hi, who does you're buying? Yeah? I know, so yeah, walk into the store. People are usually receptive to that. It's really great. They are always looking for a new product that you know, aligns with the values of their store. As well, so do you show up with like a briefcase and like open it up my jacket? I got the socks lined in there. Yeah. Well, I'm sure business owners appreciate the face to face and not just someone firing off an email. Absolutely, I've sent off. I couldn't tell you how many emails have sent off and never heard response. But the amount of turnover that I get from just sending emails out is like just so not worth doing. I'd rather just walk into the store and just say hi, I introduce myself right, and I can understand if it's somewhere you can drive too. If you're reaching out to people from all over the country, you're not gonna show up to all of those, but if you can, why not? Absolutely? So from the ground up. Where is your office? So we actually don't have an office. I like to keep it that way. I live here in Seattle. I live in Green Lake, so I operate everything out of my apartment. And because we sell to retail stores and we do all of our sales online, it's pretty easy for us to just kind of take care of everything through that. Do you ship on your own or do you have so you're physically it's you packaging and shipping the socks, so when people buy that, the personal touch from the founder. Okay, that is incredible. Thank you. You have people working for you? Now how many total? So we have about five people working with us. Yeah, and they're they're partners of mine. So you know, we have a content collection team for our Instagram or social media. They do all of our storytelling for the brand is a whole another job. It's incredibly important. Yeah, I mean, they're they're Fortunately, there were two friends of mine. They had their own companies called Imagine Night and they basically just do all this like media collection. The work they do is incredible. They're totally aligned with my values as being like Pacific Northwest lovers, outdoor enthusiasts, hikers, skiers, all that. So the content we get is really good. Oh, I know, your Instagram does look great, so now I know why you've got to shout us behind it. So you've got them working on that. You have your friend from University of Georgia who designs it. Who else we got on the team? Have my other partner, her name is Demi Xenos and she helps me out with the operations of the company. So she and I graduated from the you dub together worked together at that soccer team as well, and so she's kind of been with me at the start of this, you know, help keep my nose clean. She's very very like meticulous, detail oriented things, very strategically, so she's definitely a good person to have in my corner. So she's the one that's like, no, Rommy, we can't do that, or we can't do it like that. Oh yeah, she tells me all the time, and I'm like, come on, She's like, no, you need someone like that otherwise God only knows what you would have done at this point. Yes, your packaging is awesome. Thank you. So I love this. You've got right up front. How much you get back to Washington Trails Association, You've got to thank you in there. There's a message from you, which is incredible. I'm assuming that first pair of socks she sould didn't come in this kind of packaging. No, definitely not yea. So how do you even like where do you even starting? Like, Okay, I need this packaging for my socks, Like, how do you do that? Just go to the other stores and see what those other hiking socks are doing for their packaging. Yeah, I can tell you right now, like the amount of time, sweat, equity, tears, arguments went into that design of that packaging countless. I mean, my hairline probably receved like six inches. But I'm glad we did it. It really, it just pops off the shelf. That was the whole idea, with that bright green. Having all that information on the packaging. That took so much thoughts, so much attention. Even the way we word things right, just just like the wording on the packaging took so much time. It has to though. You have you have to care about that kind of stuff. And I always say this as and as a business owner. You have to care about it because no one else will. Yes, I mean the customers want I mean no, it's yours. It's just your baby. You have to care about it. I couldn't tell you how many people have shown this packaging and been like, yeah, I look at all this amazing work it is, and they're like cool, cool, tossing sad. Okay, okay, just so thank you for asking about the package. No, I'm happy that I did that. I love that it's also made from recycled craft paper. It is I'm a fan of that. Thank you. Also in the US also love that your family, your parents, your friends, all that. Has everyone been super supportive from the beginning or they're like Robbie Socks. Really dude, they've all been incredible. I mean, such a support system. It's and that's that's honestly like something I needed going through this, because yeah, it's a sock company. I'm not changing the world. I'm not. I'm not like I mean, you might change the Waton Trolls Association fingers crossed, but I'm not. And you know, I'm not out here like caring cancer or anything. Yes, but I mean people need socks. People need good socks, especially when they're getting out in the world and doing amazing things and being active. And if you're not going to care about this, then who is I say that all time about the radio. I'm like, why am I stressed about this? I'm not doing brain surgery, but it's a job and someone's got to do it, and I love doing it. I'm helping someone in some way, and I think it's important to be passionate and care about whatever you're doing that much as much as a brain surgeon would, but as much. And that's absolutely right, Like, I had such a passion for what I do, and and it doesn't matter what the product is. Like obviously, when I make the product that's going to be top of its class, it's going to have to be the best product out there. But the passion that I put into it, the the alignment in my views that this product, this brand has, I mean, that's that's what drives me every day to do what I do. Yeah, if you like came in here and like, oh, here's my socks and like threw them down like I'm not gonna care, but you obviously present it well. So you can't show up to everyone and be like, hey, here's my socks, this is my comming, this is awesome. But you've shown that with the packaging, you've put your passion into the little things and even Instagram things like that. It's those things that people will judge you on right away. And if it's done well and done right and shows who you are and shows your brand, it's going to help you in the end. And I think a plus and all that for you. So put up there. You told me when we were first emailing that you have high goals for your brand and your company what are some of those goals. Well, I think the big thing that we want to do is become Washington's sock. When people think of other big brands like Darn Tough, they think Vermont. When they think Smart Will, they think Colorado. When people think from the ground up, they're gonna think Washington like that. They're going to get that pride to get to that point. Obviously, being on podcasts like this definitely helps. But also we're aiming for a deal with ari I. I was gonna say yes, so we're gonna make this happen. Let's do it. I want to help tweet ARII. Yeah. If anybody out there knows anybody working at ARII Corporate, I would love to get an introduction. I might know somebody. Okay, might be able to make this happen. Cool, let's do it, hopefully, because I just said it on the podcast. You said it, so it's it's it's happening, and I do. I want people to follow you on Instagram it's f T g U Socks and then your website is ft g U socks dot com. You can spart, you can wear these socks even if you're not in Washington. We have people all over the U s wearing our socks like it's so crazy because I've had the biggest struggle with ski socks over the last nine years of my ski career, and I am so excited to wear these now. Oh these will be great for you. I can't wait. Yeah, I gotta go right now. I seriously thank you. You mentioned earlier that you minored in entrepreneurship, So what it was that you dubbed? How much is that actual schoolwork helped you now as a business owner. I have to say that the entrepreneurship program at that you dub is one of the best in the world. And the reason I say that is because it doesn't go into book learning. It puts you into real life experiences. So there was this one class that I took. It was called Creating a Company, and it's taught by a serial entrepreneur. I'm not a professor, not someone who just got thrown into a program. It's somebody who's done this, has started companies. He started five very successful multimillion dollar companies. And he sits there and he coaches you, and he's there for you for any sort of questions you have. The course works like a two quarter system. The first quarter, you come up with an idea for a business, You form teams, you put together a pitch deck, and you actually pitch your product to a board of investors. At the end of the quarter, you ask for real capital and if they like your product, that they actually give you real money to start your business. Is your products in the class, So I was making these study aid necklaces called study Sense. Yeah. They basically admit like a cent that you can smell while you're studying, and it's supposed to help with memory recall. So this class was kind of like Shark Tank. Totally like Shark Tank. I want to go take this. It's great, it's smart. I think for anyone, even if you know what career you want, like, no matter what, this is your end goal. But you never know, you like, look at your situation. You never know ten years your life could be different, twenty years, thirty years. Hey we're working for a lot of years at this point. Now, you never know when you're gonna want your own business. And that is like everyone should binder in that I did. It's a life skill. It's not something that you can just be like, oh whatever, I just took this and I'm good. It's something that you are going to take with you for the rest of your life, and it just builds a nice foundation for you going forward. The clearly thing is a lot of really successful companies have actually come out of this class. For instance, Joe Chocolate. The guy who started Joe Chocolate, My buddy Sam was in the class with me when he started the business, and now they carried nationwide in r E I s in Nords from e Bars and they have an awesome cafe down in the heart of Pike Place Market, the place in Seattle. The guy is twenty six, he's my age, and he has his own like a million dollar company. So then, obviously this podcast is not about Joe Chocolate. But my question is what then in that class that was so what was so great to investors and why was a chocolate company like why did it rise to the top? I think that it was not only the product of it being artisanal chocolate with espresso beans in them, so it's caffeine eated dark chocolate. It's like an amazing trail snack. It gets you like two cups of coffee in a bag. But I think it was also the entrepreneur behind it, Sam was. He's an incredible person. He had like just a really good head on his shoulders in that class, and I remember like meeting him and I was like, you know what, I should probably become friends with this guy. So I think that a lot of investors really do buy hints the entrepreneur person, like the passion behind the product. Right, the product is what it is, like, it's going to be a great product. But if you're a passionate entrepreneur, that's what people are going to invest in because you know how to take it to that next level. Yeah, passion has been a huge theme for this podcast. But I remember, going back when I was in college, my professor in journalism telling me or our whole class, you're never going to get anywhere in this career if you're not passionate about what you're doing, because you're not going to do it for the money. You have to do it for the passion behind journalism and media overall. And it's true, I mean in anything really, but if you're passionate behind whatever your side, hustle, main hustle, whatever it is, it will be successful or successful enough for you to grow or move on to something else. And passion is huge. I'm really glad that you did say that, because there's so many people who message me and it's like, I want to start a side hustle, but I don't know what, And I'm like, well, I can't give you a random company to start and be. It's got to be something you care about. Find that thing that you truly love that you will work day and night or or maybe just night while you have your day job, and then throw all of your energy into that and sometimes money, which I'm assuming you had to invest money in your company at first. A lot of people don't want to do that. I'm terrified every day because my actual money is tied into the business, but it's also what drives me to continue to do it. That's what drives the passion to you know. It's like, my actual cash is tied into this. It's kind of a big deal, it is. It is, So I definitely agree with you. I think passion is a huge thing. I think you said another thing earlier about how you shouldn't get into it for the money. You're not going to make money for a long time. You know, you want to put that money right back into growing your business. People who really succeed. Entrepreneurs who really succeed are the ones who do it for the passion and for the ability to have that freedom, the freedom to do things your way. The money is gonna come, don't worry about it, right, focus on that freedom. That's what drives a passion behind an entrepreneur. Yeah, and a lot of times you can't buy that freedom at all, like just making your own decisions and just running within and having this company and caring about it. It's just you can't. You can't get that in the corporate world, and it's worth not making money for a little bit. Absolutely. So I got a message from someone who realized there was a question I've never asked anyone who's ever been on this podcast, and they were inquiring for their own life and what they were about to do. What as a side hustler who doesn't have a full time job in a corporate world, how do you have health insurance? That is a great question, adult questions. So I actually have been thinking a lot about this lately. So I'm twenty five, My birthday is in a month, basically means at the end of December I have no health insurance. Happy New Year's So I've been doing a lot of research into this, and I found that Washington actually has a state funded healthcare system called apple Care, which I love. It's great, isn't It's It's the same idea though as as our product, apple Care totally. Yeah, take care of yourself, take care, take care of yourself. If you make under a certain salary every year that I think you qualify for, it's definitely worth looking into. It gets you that basic coverage that you need. And then you know, if you're still not really paying yourself a ton from your business, go pick up a job as a server. Go pick a like a random part time job, up something that doesn't require much mental energy, but just like something that's gonna be able to cover your bills well. And the cool thing about being a server, which I remember this when I was interning, the people talk to you always and it's like, oh, what will they see that you're young or whatever, like what are you doing. I'm like, well, I'm interning at a radio station in New York City because that's what I want to do. And you start having this rapport with people and a it's just good human communication. But if you have a side hustle you can slowly pitch it to people and be like, oh, I have this stock company. Do you hike a lot? Most likely yes, because you live in Washington, you should. You know. I do this on the side and it's great. It's it's just free marketing. There's people in and out all day, all day, and you never know who that person might be to make you get your next break. I think the biggest thing I remember, hometown boy Chris Pratt was working at a restaurant in Hawaii when he met the I think it was like the manager. His manager basically got him into an acting role. So I mean, like, go work at a restaurant job. You never know who you're gonna meet. It's the number one networking tool and it makes you cash on the side. It's a great win. I have a friend Tatum, who she was my first guest on this podcast. She started her own magazine called this is Magazine. She has the hardest time kind of the terrible word but bragging about what she does. She it's often her husband that's like, oh my wife started her own magazine. She She's like, it's the last thing she will talk about, and I'm trying to get her to be better at it. Do you have that issue or you just like, hey, check out my sock. Uh. I have been like toying around with it a while. Like when I first started, I was like, yeah, I have a sock company. It's so cool. And then I realized people are like okay, dope. I'm like okay, cool. So I kind of refined how I talk about what I do. Some people ask what I do, I just tell him I'm like, oh, I'm self employed, Like oh, what do you do. I'm like, well, I have my own hiking stock company. Like oh, that's cool, and then they kind of ask more questions about it, and that's when you kind of open up about it. But yeah, I wouldn't start knocking on doors. Yeah no, no, Yeah, They're like all right, sweet, thanks for letting me know about your sock business. You have to be proud of what you do, absolutely, and I think like tell as many people as you possibly can about what you're doing, because again, you never know who you're gonna meet, you never know who's going to help you out, you never know where where your brand could go from there. So so speaking of telling people everywhere, you've got a lot of um I guess would this be promo material? Yes. So you've got two completely different pamphlets that explain well, so this one looks like one that you mail, yes, and then this one is where do you put this? Other one that explains what the company is. We give this to all of our retail partners. It's a marketing car basically tells a quick story about the brand and why you should pick our brand up and how do you support small business by doing so? So okay, so marketing partners, and you're not like leaving this out places for random people to find it, like, oh what is this? Oh no, no, I don't want to be a literary good come because then would be completely opposite of everything that you're doing that those are reserved for our retail partners. So you and I connected through someone else who has been on this podcast, and I love talking about connections, and you've clearly you've made that very clear that that's also important to you and talking with people. So David, who was on this podcast earlier this year, he is the creator of Rainier Watch, a local company that it started as an Instagram account, which I love, and it was just sharing pictures of Mountain Rainier and he ended up starting to sell merch which is incredible. How did the two of you connect? We got connected on Instagram? Why does this keep happening? Because it's the best networking tool, isn't it? It's wild And that's how I found David. Also because I accidentally tagged Rainier Watch instead of Mount Rainier National Park and that's how we met. And then you you two, I feel like are very aligned in what you're doing because he's also giving back and your local to Washington and outdoors and people who care about the environment. What did you two do to connect right away? So we actually did a joint giveaway on social media At the time, I think his Instagram account was that like seven thousand followers. Mine was that an abysmal one. So yeah, he kind of put us on and it really got us. Uh got us on the market with like his his followers. It got us some sales online, which is awesome. Um, yeah, we did to give away. I give away a pair of our Cascade Range socks. He promoted us the entire week and it was amazing. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's cool to connect with people who are like minded. It's cool to connect with people who maybe are on a completely different realm that you are in as a business at all. But it makes sense that you guys are aligned, and I wanted to see more of that because I love that the two of you are together because it really is perfect. And I am a fan of all the designs, but I really the mountaineer socks might be my faith. And you've got is this the coordinates amount Rainier on them, So each pair has different coordinates for all the different places. Do you ever plan on doing socks for other states or you're just gonna stick with Washington? Yeah, I know, We're definitely planning on other state socks as well. Like I said, with that big are ideal that we're trying the land, you know, if they carry us regionally with a hyper target each store and create different mountain designs for those specific spots. So there's people from all over who listen to this podcast. So if you get a lot of people from one specific state, I feel like you have to make that one first. Absolutely. Okay, So go everybody buy socks f dot com. Go go go. Okay. So one one quick thing I'd actually want to say is, um, we did sponsor we have sponsored um PCT hikers the Pacific Crest Trail and Appalachian Trail over on the East Coast because we did want to test out the sock durability first. Yeah, because that's quite the hike. Yeah. So we got reached out to initially by this girl. Her name is Julia Sheehan. She started hiking the Appalachian Trail mile stretch of trail, really rugged terrain. She just loved our brand and she wanted to pick up a pair of our socks for her high She wore our Cascades socks. I think she had like three or four pairs the entire way, and they held up amazingly, like no blisters, they didn't wear down, they totally held up and and they lasted the entire length of the trail. Same thing with our pc T hikers. That's when I realized we had a pretty good product. Yeah. So I was like, all right, like, thank you for that. So there might be some PCT socks coming on the way, but I say that that's good to know. Ye Okay, So one last pitch on why people need to support from the ground up and why do they need to shop from the ground up? Like I said, we're a small business. We're based right here in Seattle, Washington. We are creating these high performance and stylish socks that feature your local mountains on them. We give back to the trails that we hike on because we do believe that protecting the trails that we hike is at the forefront of what we do. These are great socks for you, for friends, for family. They're cozy, they're thermoregulating, and so you can wear them in the summer. You can wear them in the winter. Your foot won't sweat, it won't get blisters, and it won't be cold. Awesome. So yeah, pick a pair from the ground up socks. You can use a discount code first for your first order. It gets ten percent off your socks. That's that's my spiel. I'm a fan of that. Thank you. And I don't know when people are gonna listen to this podcast because it's podcasting, so you never know. But the holidays are coming up. These are actually cool socks to give and get for the holidays. It's not likely the ones that your aunt used to get you, like, yeah, well not y'all. I don't know what your aunt used to get you. Better whatever, These are cool socks to give anyone in your life because they are about us. So Rommy, thank you for being here. Appreciate it very much. Thank you so much, Carlin, I really appreciate it. So you can support Rommy. It's f T g U Socks dot com, get it for from the ground up, and it's f T g U Socks on Instagram, so support him, show them your love. Get someone cool socks for Christmas, don't get some ugly socks for Christmas. You can always rate and review this podcast wherever you listen to it. You can also subscribe to it, whether it's iTunes, on our I Heart Radio up wherever you listen, you can subscribe so you'll get updates. Thank you for being here. I appreciate it. Until next week to keep Austin H.