Men and Sneakers: the Importance of Sneakers to the Male

Home , Dedication (short story), Sneakers (short story), Sneaker collecting, Tinker Hatfield

MEN AND SNEAKERS: THE IMPORTANCE OF SNEAKERS TO THE MALE

SNEAKER ENTHUSIAST THROUGH FUNCTION, FASHION AND PERSONAL

VALUE.

______

A Project

presented to

the Faculty of the Graduate School

at the University of Missouri-Columbia

______

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

______

Jordan Noble

Dr. Monique L. R. Luisi - Project Supervisor

Professor Amy Simons

July 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend innumerable and immeasurable thanks to Dr. Monique Luisi, without whom I would not have a master’s degree. She worked tirelessly to ensure I was prepared in every aspect to complete this project, as well as graduate, even when times were incredibly tough. She is always supportive and someone I could continually count on throughout my time at the University of Missouri.

Second, I would like to thank Amy Simons, who was kind enough to take on this project at the last moment and encourage me across the finish line with immense help in my interviews.

Finally, I would like to thank Kathy Adams for too often allowing me into her office without an appointment ready to answer any question I could possibly have.

Behind the scenes she did countless things to bring this project to life and ensure I was on the right track throughout my time at Mizzou.

DEDICATION

I would like to thank my mom and dad for always providing me with countless opportunities to better myself and for pushing me to be the best student and person I can be. I love you both, and deeply appreciate everything you have done for me.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ii

DEDICATION (OPTIONAL) ...... iii

LIST OF FIGURES ...... iv

Chapter 1: Introduction …………………………………………………………………...5

Chapter 2: Literature review..……………………………………………………………..7

Chapter 3: Professional analysis…………………………………………………………30

References………………………………………………………………………………..55

Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………58

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

Basketball and sneakers have always been two worlds closely intertwined, constantly influencing one another. Basketball, more than any other sport has dictated since the 1950s what the youth have worn on their feet (Cunningham, 2008; Nichols,

2011). The explanation could be as simple as one cannot wear football or baseball cleats in the street, while basketball shoes can be worn anywhere (O’Connor, 2014). However, I feel as though it may go deeper. A subculture has grown and developed in recent years around those who collect, wear and care about sneakers (Rakestraw, 2017a).

The targeted demographic and sneakerhead lifestyle is growing. With it, so is the coverage of the expansive sneaker industry. Sneaker culture, a cultural lifestyle driven by one’s love of sneakers and the continued desire to purchase new pairs and learn about their history, has changed drastically since its rise from sub-culture to a popular culture phenomenon -with the most growth occurring in the last decade along with the advent of social media. (Rakestraw, 2017a; O’Connor, 2018). Since the meteoric rise of the

Internet, the sneaker fanatic lifestyle has changed in many ways. Gone are the days when it was necessary to wait in line for hours to buy a must-have shoe before it sells out

(Welty, 2016). Rather than waiting in the cold in New York City overnight, sneakerheads wait patiently in the comfort of their homes until the second the clock hits 10:00 AM, hoping they pushed the “Buy” button fast enough to purchase the shoe before it sells out.

With the majority of sneaker purchasing moving from brick and mortar locations to online stores, along with it moved the sneaker culture. Still, throughout the evolution of sneaker culture, one thing that has remains constant: the importance of basketball sneakers.

Professional basketball players are the first line of influencers in dictating what basketball shoes are popular (O’Connor, 2018). After all, they are the athletes wearing the shoes on the hardwood for the consumers across the world to be exposed. Elite, professional basketball players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) are often offered deals with big name companies such as Nike, Adidas, or Under Armour. Through these lucrative deals, players work alongside the brands to design sneakers that are functional on the court and stylish in the streets (Sykes, 2017).

Through conversations with athletes in The Basketball League, as well as collectors across the country, I probed deeper into the importance of sneakers at a functional, fashionable, and personal level. I set out to learn what sneakers they wear, and why they wear the sneakers that they do. I wanted to know how they arrived at those decisions. As a collector of sneakers myself, I know that people have personal connections with certain shoes, and am immersed in this culture. It is a connection linked to a memory, or a person, or a time in their lives. This connection is part of a culture, and a billion-dollar industry, (Wolff and Rega, 2016) and thus, these stories are important to tell.

To tell these stories, I spent four months interviewing players in The Basketball

League in addition to my own friends and acquaintances immersed in sneaker culture to learn what their sneakers mean to them and their process of assigning value to basketball shoes – or sneakers.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

History

Sneaker culture is comprised of collectors and fanatics who together create a community that revolves around the purchasing, fantasizing over and love of sneakers and the sneaker industry (Rakestraw, 2017a; Cunningham, 2008; O’Connor 2014). Those who are a part of sneaker culture, especially the collecting aspect, are often referred to as sneakerheads (Proulx, 2018). Sneaker culture has been a subculture in the United States since the 1930s (Cunningham, 2008). When sneakers began to be mass-produced, following the industrial revolution, sneaker production was cheap and the style gained popularity (Cunningham 2008). The first sneaker to take on a life of its own was the

Converse All-Star. A sneaker still popular in the 2010s selling nearly 100 million pairs a year (Sommer, 2015); the All-Star was the first sneaker endorsed by an athlete

(O’Connor, 2014). Chuck Taylor, the eponymous brand style, was the professional basketball player who first endorsed the Converse sneaker in 1921 The following year, the United States’ Olympic basketball team wore the sneaker, making the shoe synonymous with basketball forever (O’Connor, 2014; Cunningham, 2008). After World

War II, Converse began to mass-produce the All-Star in multiple colors for wear by nearly every basketball team from high school to the professional level in the United

States (Cunningham, 2008). However, it was not until the 1950’s that the basketball sneaker made its way from the hardwood to the streets (Cunningham, 2008). Off the court, Hollywood actors pushed the popularization of the Converse All-Star when James

Dean was photographed wearing a pair of white Converse, blue jeans, and a white t-shirt.

Dean’s style became a symbol of rebellion and youth for teenagers for over a decade

(Cunningham, 2008). This was the first time that a sneaker itself defined a generation and became part of a culture, but it was far from the last (Cunningham, 2008; Nichols, 2011).

While athletes often endorse sneakers (Wilson & Sparks, 1996), they are not the only ones who can popularize a shoe. Following the culture influence of the Converse

All-Star was the success of a black and white; three stripe Adidas sneakers, now known as Superstars (Nichols, 2011). RUN DMC, a hip-hop group that emerged in the 1970s released a song titled “My Adidas” (RUN DMC, 1986, track 3), in reference to the white and black striped shoes the group often wore. The song’s success made the sneakers so popular that Adidas agreed to sponsor the group. As a result, the following year Adidas’s saw a $35 million increase in U.S. profits (Heard, 2003). Adidas quickly realized that sneakers were synonymous with hip-hop. The two cultures were, and are still so interwoven that it is hard to separate between the two. Hip-hop artists often determine what is cool in footwear, suggesting brands to youth through their music. Examples include entire songs dedicated to sneakers and fashion such as “Air Force Ones” (Nelly,

2002, track 7) or “Fashion Killa” (A$AP Rocky, 2013, track 10). Other songs include quotes about coveted sneakers including Kanye West’s “All Falls Down”; “Cause that’s enough money to buy her a few pairs of new airs cause her baby daddy don’t really care”

(West, 2004, track 4). Adidas is crucial in sneaker history not only because of the merger of hip-hop and shoes, which they continue to do today through Kanye West, but also because of the influence their formula had on all well-known sneaker companies. These companies realized that they needed to begin to target the youth – a tactic still used in modern business (Wilson & Sparks, 1996; Roberts, 2015).

Among other factors, the exploitation by sneaker companies of limited releases

has expedited the growth of followers of the sneaker culture (Welty, 2016). The introduction of limited edition sneakers, or sneakers that are not mass-produced, was a crucial turning point for the industry and the sneaker culture as certain sneakers became rare and necessary for collectors to have (Rakestraw 2017a). While this concept was profitable for the sneaker companies and helped shape the progression of sneaker culture, it is also responsible for the aforementioned violence that is unfortunately still visible in sneaker culture (Cunningham, 2008; Heard, 2003; Welty, 2016). Due to the limited nature of popular releases, many sneakerheads cannot get their hands on pairs that they want for their collection, something I have experienced personally on multiple occasions.

Therefore, fanatics may resort to violence in order to get what they want (Welty, 2016).

Sneaker companies have attempted to lessen the violence associated with sneaker releases by moving popular releases online, rather than in stores (Jones, 2017). By moving releases online, mobs are no longer forming outside of stores and people are purchasing from the comfort of their own home, though it still comes with its own set of flaws (Jones 2017). Problems with the new system can include the sheer number of people attempting to purchase these coveted release. This can cause applications and websites to crash, adding another level of frustration to the sneaker game. Another byproduct of the move online is the lack of community among collectors (Rakestraw,

2017a; Jones, 2017). This relocation online has moved the point of purchase and the online advertisements side-by-side and often accessible by way of one another.

As sneaker culture continues to expand, top tier companies continue to innovate and come up with new ways to advertise and keep their consumers satisfied. As recently as 2018, innovation has come in the form of collaborations (Rakestraw, 2017b). By

teaming up with famous guest designers, big brands are reimagining sneakers with the input of rappers, athletes or designers from other popular areas of fashion Such as A$AP

Rocky, LeBron James and Alexander Wang (Corral, French & Kahn, 2017). Limited releases such as Nike x Off White, Nike X Supreme, and Adidas X Pharrell, to name a few, generate so much hype in the sneaker community that they sell out seconds after their release and resell in some cases for over $1,000 (Corral, French & Kahn, 2017).

With collaborations, the sneaker behemoths get a two for one deal when drawing in sneakerheads. The collections are often very limited, which generates excitement in the community, but by collaborating with someone it is also an endorsement and the endorser actually helped design the product, making it that much more “special.”

Influence

The rise of sneaker culture, and importance of footwear, has been greatly influenced by celebrities such as Michael Jordan and James Dean (Cunningham 2008;

Kellner, 1996), as well as brands like Nike and Adidas and the respective brand endorsement (Rakestraw, 2017a). Nike’s most notably did this in advertisements featuring Michael Jordan (Wilson & Sparks, 1996), arguably, the most influential man in the sneaker industry to date. In 1991, Nike launched a series of commercials featuring

Jordan and Spike Lee in order to sell Jordan’s new line of basketball shoes (Wilson &

Sparks, 1996). Nike utilized Jordan’s popularity as a black athlete, paired with Lee’s popularity as a Black actor and director to help target a young black audience with their ad campaign (Wilson & Sparks, 1996). In their study, Wilson and Sparks (1996) contest that youth identity is attributed to style and sneaker style is a staple of young Black culture, which in turn becomes a staple of young White culture. This idea as Hall (1993)

states, is something that spans all of American popular culture though, “And, of course, silenced and unacknowledged, the fact of American popular culture itself, which has always contained within it, whether silenced or not, black American popular vernacular traditions” (Hall, p. 469). In a GQ article entitled, “Only the Ball was Brown” written by

David Kamp in 2012, Kamp (2012) states “Basketball is today, along with hip-hop, one of the tent poles of African-American cultural identity. And since young white America takes its cues from young black America, basketball is, when you get right down to it, a cornerstone of American cultural identity” (p.1). This quotation, relates to not only basketball and hip-hop, but also sneaker culture. Young White America has become obsessed with sneaker culture; therefore, it is receiving more and more media attention.

Sneaker culture, and the way we discuss and write about sneakers, would not be as popular as it is today if early sneakerheads were not influenced by advertisements. In

1996, Michael Jordan earned $40 million in endorsements alone, which was $6 million more than his NBA contract for the year (Kellner, 1996). Jordan changed the reception of sneakers - he turned his basketball shoes into a commodity. Jordan brand shoes became a tool in the eyes of the consumer that would increase ones performance on the court as well as their style in the streets (Kellner, 1996). As Jordan’s popularity and greatness on the court continued to rise, so did the status that came with owning the sneakers that shared his name (Rakestraw, 2017a; Rakestraw 2017b; O’Connor, 2014). As certain sneakers became more popular and more limited, the sneaker industry began to turn violent. According to a study conducted by GQ in 2015, an estimated 1,200 people die every year because of sneakers (author, year). From shop owners to teenagers lucky enough to get a limited release, many are affected by the dangers that come with sneaker

culture. In 1990, Sports Illustrated released an issue titled “Your Sneakers or Your Life,” following the murder of 15-year-old Michael Eugene Thomas, who was shot and killed in

Chicago for a pair of Jordan’s (Telander, 1990). Some journalists as well as citizen journalists and bloggers are quick to blame the athletes who make the shoes so popular, or the companies that make certain releases unattainable to many (Jones, 2017).

However, without endorsement from celebrities and athletes, in conjunction with the rarity of certain sneakers it is hard to believe that sneaker culture would even exist today

(Welty, 2016).

Kanye West, for example, has become the face and redeeming feature of Adidas

(Roberts, 2015). A company, that was struggling to compete with other big brands, with a plummeting stock, put their faith in the hip-hop star. West ended his relationship with

Nike in 2013 and joined Adidas in 2015 (Roberts, 2015). West’s signature shoe marketed as “Yeezy’s,” which can resell for 800% over retail price, sell out almost immediately upon online release, causing sneakerheads to become increasingly more frustrated in attempting to acquire the sneakers (Roberts, 2015). West has single-handedly revitalized sneaker culture since his move to Adidas in 2015. According to online sneaker stock market Stockx.com, the resell prices of Jordan brand have fallen, while West’s signature shoes can be worth over $1000 a pair. The Nike vs. Adidas battle, which began in the

1970’s (Rakestraw, 2017a), has been restored and rejuvenated the excitement in sneaker coverage. The battle between the brands has allowed for arguments and the production of opinionated pieces on public forums and has opened the door for people to take sides once more (Bradford, 2015).

Sneaker advertising influences kids not only on the streets of America, but across the world. Diversi (2006), who spent 23 years in Brazil, noted that the street youths in the country all cared about Jordan brand shoes. He was amazed that the kids, who essentially lived on the street begging for money, with far more serious problems than not owning

Jordan brand footwear, were so interested in the newest models and tech that Nike was producing around 1994. Diversi’s article shows how sweeping sneaker culture is across the world and not only in the United States. Diversi found that the children that he spoke to were more interested in having sneakers than they were a sufficient meal. He notes the widespread impact of ad campaigns featuring Michael Jordan and the effect that they had on even those who could never dream of affording a pair of his shoes. Diversi recalls,

“The three of them were soon, all at once, saying things like having better

cushioning, jumping higher, protecting joints, enhancing performance, and

moving really fast. I felt like I was in a Nike commercial. Before I could ask how

they knew about all that, the kids were already chasing one another making

dunking moves in the air and sticking their tongues out” (p. 371).

Advertisements in the sneaker industry shaped the way sneakers are spoken and written about as well as how highly we regard certain pairs of shoes and styles. With Michael

Jordan as the prominent endorser of his brand, his success led to the importance of certain models among sneakerheads (Wilson & Sparks, 1996; Kellner, 1996). A dunk from the free throw line while wearing a pair of Jordan 3’s makes the pair a coveted piece in a collection. A championship as well as a feature in the film Space Jam (Pytka, 1996), cemented Jordan 11’s as one of the greatest shoes ever made in the minds of collectors

(Reisinger, 2016). The sneakerheads as a whole, who decide what is popular and what is

not, are the ones who dictate what sneaker publications and advertisers should be writing and advertising as well what consumers should be buying, almost as much as the advertisers (Cunningham, 2008; O’Connor, 2014). The youth influence on sneaker brands has always dictated the direction of sneaker design and the direction in which the culture itself shifts Diversi, 2006; Wilson & Sparks, 1996).

Theory of Value

For my research, I will borrow a theory from the field of economics that can be applied to journalism and toward my research. My topic falls at the intersection of journalism, economics and fashion; consequently, I believe that the Theory of Value could be useful in furthering my research. Chamberlin (1949), states that the theory of value is the idea that “[a]dvertising increases the demand for the product, that is, it enables the seller, at whatever price he decides upon, to dispose more than he could without it.” He adds, “[a]t each price more of the commodity can be sold; for each amount the marginal demand price… is higher” (Chamberlin, 1949, p. 130). An interesting point surrounding the theory of value is that which has the greatest monetary value is often not a life-sustaining necessity. An example of this is the diamond-water paradox (Hill, 2018). The paradox highlights the relationship between diamonds and water in that water is far more important to human life and survival than diamonds, yet the price of diamonds is far higher than water. This may be due to the scarcity of diamonds and societal conditioning through advertising that diamonds have such a high value (Hill, 2018).

In fashion value is placed on items both buy brands and consumers, however this is nothing new. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the color purple was only to be

worn by royalty (Melina, 2011). Purple fabric was difficult to produce and so expensive that those in power were the only ones able to afford it and therefore the color was a status symbol. Fashion as status is still extremely common, including in the sneaker industry (McGarrigle, 2018). The value of sneakers such as Jordan’s, Yeezy’s or Off-

White’s have far surpassed the sale price of the average tennis shoe. They are seen as a status symbol and only those willing to pay thousands of dollars or with a connection can acquire the shoes (McGarrigle, 2018). Among sneakerheads, though there is also the importance of a sneakers personal value. A memory or connection to a sneaker can make it valuable to a collector and therefore raise the shoes value on a personal level.

While the theory of value falls under the study of economics, it has utility in journalism. Journalism often borrows theories from sociology, political science and history (Steensen & Ahva, 2014). Even theories that seem to originate in journalism have roots in sociology, namely gatekeeping theory, a principle central to the history of journalism. Given the context of this study, application of an economics theory is appropriate for my research. Given my interest in sneaker culture, the background literature, and this internship opportunity, I will be addressing the following research question.

RQ1. What are factors that drive the personal connection between sneakers, and

sneaker culture among men?

Sampling

The written component of my project is an analysis of interviews that I recorded with athletes in The Basketball League (TBL) as well as friends and acquaintances that consider themselves a part of sneaker culture. TBL is a professional league that focuses

on player development and community outreach within the cities that teams are located.

A majority of players in the league are recently out of college, though some are older, who have received a professional, non-binding, contract from the league for the 2019 season. I recorded 8 interviews total; 4 with TBL athletes and 4 with friends and acquaintances.

Procedure

To address my research question, I conducted eight semi-structured interviews in which I had prepared multiple questions as working script, however I also allowed the subject of the interview to dictate the direction of the discussion as long as it remained on topic. Creswell (2009) mentions the importance of interviewing is being able to hear the subject’s voice. I hope that in my writing the reader will be able to understand where the players are coming from and what their relationships with their sneakers are. During the semester I conducted interviews over the phone that lasted between twelve and forty-five minutes with athletes, collectors and working men who see sneakers as a side hobby.

Throughout the interviews I encouraged the athletes to truly be introspective and open about their thoughts, and therefore it was important that the subject was comfortable with me. As Creswell (2009) mentions, it is important to being interviews with icebreaker questions to make the subject more comfortable, which I attempted to do before getting in depth in my interviews. Though the content I am covering is not necessarily heavy, I needed the subjects that I was interviewing to be open to discussing their childhood with me and really getting into the importance of sneakers in a young man’s life, both on and off the court.

Findings

Personal Value

In interviewing my subjects, I found that, like myself, many men have personal connections to sneakers as well as the culture that surrounds the sneaker industry. While the fashion aspect is a large part of sneaker collecting, for some collectors it is much more than just style that draws them to not only a specific shoe, but to the entirety of the culture as well. I came to realize that for many of the men whom I interviewed, style was not at the forefront of their purchasing decisions. The ideals and values varied between participants including beliefs such as, “It’s a simple flex. And it’s not too over the top, like you’re not wearing a Gucci jacket or something. It’s just a pair of sneakers… that probably cost as much as someone’s paycheck.” Or “I started to get into shoes at a really young age and have carried that with me, I think one of the really interesting things about guys and fashion; about athletic shoes in particular [is] it does serve as kind of an interesting indicator about who that person is, before you even really hear them speak.”

The men whom I interviewed all had their own reasons for getting involved in sneaker culture. However, what I found interesting is that more often than not, what drew men to sneakers and to the sneaker community was family. For some it was a family member that first introduced them to sneaker culture such as Subject 5, who recalls how he was introduced to the industry. “It really started early with my mom. She would get me all the

Jordan’s that would come out when I was younger, as well as… my two younger sisters at the time, so we would all have the matching Jordan’s.” Similarly it was Subject 3’s parents who first introduced him to high end sneakers at young age, some of which he still has. “Michael Jordan was my favorite player growing up and of course everybody knows Jordan’s, so probably I think I had my first pair of Jordan’s when I was little, like

1, 2 or 3. I think I was a one year old when I got my first pair of Jordan’s. I still have them, and I hang them up on my rear-view mirror in my car.” Sneaker collecting, like many hobbies, draws people together to form a community and is something that people want to share with one another, including family members.

Rather than learning the ideals of being a sneakerhead from his parents, Subject 1 is the one who is now passing the culture down to his son; Something that he says has become much more special than collecting for himself. “So, people's heads explode when they come by and visit about how many shoes [my son] has, and of course he doesn't care, he’s a toddler. But I'm trying to instill these values early on… and it's kind of our thing. So, I'm able to channel the sneaker culture… and I'm not only selfishly thinking about scoring some for me, but I’m thinking its gonna look even better for him.” Being able to share his love for sneakers with his son is important for Subject 1. It is both a way to connect with his son and also way to satisfy his hobby unselfishly. Subject 1 is growing the culture by sharing with his son at an early age, but he also finds himself sharing his love for sneakers with strangers as well, even if involuntarily; “But, again, I talked about when somebody who's wearing like, my favorite style that I have this instant bond. I find that, you know, if somebody is wearing like generic shoes that might be an indicator of sort of a lack of creativity.” As Sneakerheads walk through life they are constantly looking down and observing and analyzing what passersby have on their feet.

Subject 2 says, “It’s an easy thing to look at. For me I just stare at people’s feet all the time walking around New York.” This is one of the outside influences that Subject 2 places value on, which is one of the reasons he believes that he and many other may be interested in sneakers outside of them just being fashionable. He says, “I guess it’s just if

you’re wearing something loud on your feet that’s the first thing someone notices. When

I wear my Sean Wotherspoon’s I guess it’s like statement, I don’t know.” Subject 2 admits that sometimes it feels good to be noticed, which may influence some sneakerheads purchasing decision, but also adds that it is also a bit of the problem in the culture. He comments “That’s why hypebeasts is such a big thing right now for kids. It’s a way to prove they’re rich. People just waste so much money to look the part.” Though his opinion may differ from others involved in sneaker culture, Subject 2 raises a valid point pertaining to the sneaker industry. While the personal value may be what drives many purchases, monetary value always lurks in the background of the sneaker industry.

However, lately with prices skyrocketing due to resellers, the monetary aspect of collecting and the sneaker industry has become a larger discussion.

Monetary Value

Behind every sneaker collection is thousands of hard-earned dollars that were spent to grow the collection from one shoe up to over 70 for some of my interview subjects. Sneaker collecting is not an inexpensive hobby. Most popular releases are a minimum of $150 and that is before they enter the resell market where shoes can reach prices up to $2000 for a single pair. When it comes to purchasing sneakers, my subjects had different opinions in what they were comfortable spending on shoes or how often they were buying new pairs.

For example, Subject 5 is currently purchasing more pairs now than he has in the past. “I’m probably getting, right now, I would say about 4 pair a month. I’ve been really getting back into to lately. Making sure my shoes are top notch.” While Subject 6 on the other hand has been trying to cut back his spending. “I think like, two years ago, maybe a

year ago, I was buying maybe a pair month or two pairs a month and that like just kind of drained my bank account because I started going from like buying $100 shoes to like

$220 every drop… but I think this month actually, is kind of my breaking point. Because

I started having some more financial responsibilities. I’ve got like house payments, got all my utilities and things like that going on. Trying to save up some money. And I think last month I bought three pairs of shoes and I'm kind of sick with myself. So I'm going to cut it off for a while.” The sneakers that the subjects I interviewed purchase are not by any means necessities. That being said they often convince themselves to make purchases, even when the money may not be available. Subject 5 states, “I might move a couple coins here and there depending on the release and depending on how exclusive it is. I’ll move a few dollars around to make sure I got those.”

Subject 1 on the other hand is at an age where he no longer prioritizes purchases and therefore is not moving money around in order to buy sneakers. “For me the last 10 years of being a sneakerhead has just meant making sacrifices… we've got some big thing that we're really saving for; a big family vacation. [It is] not really fair to my wife, who also works, and she saves and she doesn't have a shoe addiction like a I do.” He mentions that there are plenty of releases that he has had restrain himself from buying because the money was not available for shoes at the time. That being said, there are still shoes that when they release, he will be sure to have the money for. One of his favorite shoes is being re-released in May of 2019 and he will be purchasing hopefully more than one pair for himself as well as his children, as he did with a release in early 2018 which cost him over $1000.

While many men are losing money on sneakers, there also plenty who are finding ways to make money in the sneaker industry as resellers. When we spoke, Subject 1 alluded to the battle in the sneaker industry between the collectors and the resellers who are driving the aftermarket prices of shoes. He mentions that it can be frustrating having to purchase at extremely higher prices than the original, but he can also see why the resellers continue to sell. If collectors are willing to pay, he cannot fault resellers for trying to make as much money as they can.

Subject 2 falls on both sides of the collector vs seller debate because selling is what originally introduced him into collecting high-end sneakers. In our discussion he reflected on the moment he realized he wanted to be not only seller, but also a collector;

“I couldn’t make any money at the time because I couldn’t work, but I realized this was an easy way to make money. At first that’s literally what it was, but then my first pair of

Zebras came in and I was like oh fuck… so I put them on my feet and looked down and I was like oh my god… then 11 more came in! and I was like oh shit. I remember wearing them to class one day and like 20-30 people tapped their friend when I walked by or said something to me like “holy shit how did you get those” and I was like I’m just cooking baby, I don’t know.” Subject 2 continues to both sell and collect, straddling that divide in the sneaker industry, however he says that since he acquired a fulltime job he is no longer selling as much as he used to. Subject 6 attempted to live on both sides of the selling and collecting spectrum but expressed to me that he failed. He explains that he often attempts to purchase shoes that he thinks will have a high resell value, yet when they arrive at his house, he struggles to make the sale because he likes them and, in the end, keeps them for

himself, leading to his 40 pairs of shoes and the feeling of needing to relax on the spending.

With collector’s incomes, finances and values being in different places some are willing to spend more than others on a single pair of shoes. The most that Subject 3 has spent on a single pair is $220 on a pair of Jordan’s, while Subject 2 has spent $800 on a pair of Ultraboosts. He then followed that up with a $700 purchase. However, in his mind, Subject 2 is not losing money when he makes purchases. “I think that what I realized with reselling is that I could get the shoes that l liked, and essentially they’re free… I see it as an investment.” With shipments coming in every few weeks Subject 2 became not only interested in making money, but with the fashion side of the sneaker industry as well.

Fashion

For Subject 2, his style began to morph into what it is now in his college years.

He attributes it to a combination of his losing weight and growing interest in DJing. “[I] started thinking I’m not gonna dress like this frat guy my whole life, and I liked the way the DJs looked… And that’s when I started, not just the sneaker thing, but really changing my style in general.” For many of the subjects it became apparent that their style and daily sneaker decisions were made based on opportunity and ability. Subject 1 commented that he has just begun a new job in a new city and therefore may not be able to wear what he is used to. “It may be a little early for me to break out, you know… something interesting from the closet.” He feels it may be inappropriate to wear his favorite sneakers in the workplace, considering he is not sure how receptive the new culture he is a part of would be. However, Subject 1 does mention that he still finds

opportunities to wear his sneaker. In the coming weeks he will attend a conference where he plans to wear one of his favorite pairs; the Jordan Black Cement 3. “I’m gonna be stylish… I wanna be comfortable, and I wanna be me. So when I go to conferences, or something I like to really reflect that.”

While Subject 1 is often in business attire, the athletes I interviewed take on much more of a streetwear style to accompany their footwear choices. SUBJECT 4 for example likes to keep his outfits relaxed; “Well I’ve always been a hooper, so I wear a lot of joggers and stuff like that, but I like to switch it up… I usually pick the shoes first and then put [the rest of the outfit] together from there.” SUBJECT 4, like many sneakerheads, begins building their outfit for the day by starting with the sneakers.

However for some, it does not really matter when the sneakers are chosen, considering they wear very similar outfits very day. Both Subject 6 and Subject 2 said that they almost exclusively wear black jeans with either black, white or gray shirts. They both expressed that wearing those neutral, quieter colors, allowed their shoes not only to stand out, but also allowed them to wear more unique sneakers. Subject 2 added, “Once I started wearing less colorful clothes I started realizing you can wear any colorful shoes with it. I think my style changing has definitely helped with getting to wear crazier color shoes.”

While Subject 2 may have plenty of expensive shoes, he, like plenty of other collectors rarely wear them out to the bar or to social events. “I don’t wear them unless it’s like a day thing where I know I’m not gonna be in like a dirty basement of a bar. It makes me a little cautious going out to wear my nicer shoes.” Subject 2 is not alone in this sentiment. When buying shoes that he really likes Subject 1 often buys “one to rock

and one to stock,” a concept that is very popular among sneaker heads. By doing so

Subject 1 is saying he will buy two pairs of the same shoe, one which he will wear and not worry about ruining and another pair that he will not put on until necessary. “I don't sell anything, but also don’t rock my stuff, I kind of like keep them for a few years and then break them out like five years after they dropped. So right now my rotation, is like about 10 to 12 that I wear pretty regularly. The others, Kind of sit and I like to admire them.” This is a practice in the sneaker community know as putting shoes “on ice.”

Subject 1 adds that he has a custom closet to display his 75 pairs of sneakers. He has different views though from his friend growing up who is also a sneakerhead. “My friend

Scott, he buys all the same stuff that we like, the same style, and he wears everything. As soon as they arrive in the mail, he wears them that afternoon.” Though they all agree that the shoe is the most important part of the outfit, Sneakerheads all have different a style and value different aspects of collecting; be that putting pairs on ice or wearing them as soon as they are purchased. However for some the style is not enough, but the function is of great importance.

Function

Because I had the opportunity to interview athletes I was able to ask them about their sneaker decisions on the basketball court, apart from what they wear on the streets.

Most of them came to a similar conclusion that comfort was most important and style came second on the court. That being said, for SUBJECT 4 it was playing in different basketball shoes that got him interested in sneakers off of the court. “I just really loved hooping in different pairs of basketball shoes. Seeing how different ones felt and wearing different ones, so I kind of just started getting more and more shoes and trying different

things.” SUBJECT 4 also mentions that while he likes the way that they look off the court, he doesn’t believe that retro Jordan’s are meant to be worn during a game. Subject

5 on the other hand disagrees; “On court purposes, more so Nike’s, but a couple pair of

Jordan’s that I play in. Really though, 11’s are the only Jordan’s that I play in that are most comfortable for me.” He says that he has a few pairs of Jordan’s that he plays in and he makes sure that the pairs that he wears on the hardwood stay on the hardwood. He does not want to take the risk of ruining the shoes traction by wearing them out in the streets.

All of the basketball players I spoke with did have one thing in common and that was the size of their feet. They complained about the difficulty of finding shoes in their size that want, especially in stores. Subject 3 says “I wear a 14, so they usually don’t have that in stores anyway. So I have to order mine online. I’ll go to the store, see what the style looks like in person, and then I’ll go home and order it.” He also spends a lot of time on social media looking at sneakers that he is interested and then will go see them in person. After which, he will have to go back online and find them in his size. Another problem that Subject 5 mentions when it comes to his shoe size is trading and selling. He says “I wear a size 14, so it’s hard for me to be trading a lot. But I’ve got a couple guys that I trade with and they’re basketball players of course.” The basketball players all agreed that on the court comfort comes first and style is second. However, once off the hardwood they have their own styles that reflect their personalities.

Discussion

When beginning my research, I was interested in learning how collectors of sneakers assigned value to their shoes, both personally and financially and I came to learn

that what makes a specific sneaker valuable differs from subject to subject. The water diamond paradox speaks to the idea that what may not carry life sustaining value may carry great value financially (Hill, 2018). Sneakers fall into that category. While a pair of shoes may be necessary for survival or at the very least, safety, spending hundreds of dollars on a single pair is not necessary. I sought out searching to understand why certain pairs of sneakers were assigned such high monetary or personal value. Some of what I found did not surprise me. It is often as simple as rarity, however what makes a shoe valuable can be so much more. Subject 1 commented on how a favorite pair of his shoes is the Jordan Space Jam 11, which released in 2016. What he finds valuable about the shoe is not only the limited release, but the cultural relevance. The shoe is modeled after the shoe Michael Jordan wears in the Space Jam film. Being a fan of the movie, Subject 1 is able to combine his passion for sneakers with his enjoyment of the film. The shoe’s monetary value reflects the popularity of Space Jam and that specific style of Jordan sneaker, making the shoe valuable to collectors.

Others still, find value in sneakers because of what a certain shoe means to them; often from a memory. However, while I expected memories such as the first time someone wore a shoe to be more prominent, it seems as though what made a shoe more special to my subjects was recalling who first introduced them to sneaker fashion, which was most often a family member. Multiple subjects recalled first being introduced to high-end sneakers at a young age by a parent. Parents passing down their interest in sneaker fashion to their children creates a personal value that was seen in more than one subject. For Subject 5, the memory that they associated with a certain shoe made them think of their mother and the relationship they have. Because this personal connection is

specific to Subject 5, others may not assign that specific shoe personal value or an inflated monetary value, but the shoe is still of great importance to the subject.

For the athletes whom I interviewed, the first shoe they remember playing basketball in was extremely valuable to them. Because it brought back positive memories of them playing basketball in their younger days, the athletes still value the shoes they wore when they were kids and all admitted that they are searching to find a pair in their current size so that they could wear them again.

Furthermore, what draws several sneakerheads to certain releases is influence from collaborators and sponsors. Not many shoes on the market today garner more attention than Nike’s collaborations with Off-White; a company founded by Virgil

Abloh. The shoes designed by Abloh, which retail between $100-$200 can resell for up to

$2500. Subject 2 finds both the monetary and personal value in the Nike x Off-White collaborations. He feels that the sneakers not only complete his look, but also make statement. Subject 2, as well as many others, finds personal value in the attention that high-end sneakers bring the wearer. Receiving compliments or glances from strangers satisfies the desire that many people have to be noticed. Therefore, the value for Subject

2 lies in the how the shoes are perceived by others. He finds value in wearing something that others may not be able to. In his own words it is “a simple flex” or a way to stand out. Collaborators such as Virgil Abloh and Kanye West have added another layer to sneaker collecting. Rather than shoes being designed by and for athletes such as Michael

Jordan’s expansive brand of sneakers, Hip-Hop artists have entered the industry and are influencing those who may have been on the outside looking in, to become involved in the sneaker industry and culture.

Subject 2 mentions that the shoes that first got him interested in sneakers and collecting were Kanye West’s Yeezys. He and Subject 6 who are both fans of the Adidas x Kanye West collaboration choose to support the artist by buying their sneaker.

Nevertheless, West is not alone in combining hip-hop and sneakers. For example, Travis

Scott is currently collaborating with Jordan Brand for a popular sneaker and there were many before West as well. By popularizing the Adidas Superstar RUN-DMC would be sponsored by Adidas, inflating the value of both the brand and artists.

While all consumers assign value to sneakers for personal reasons, it is the culture as a collective that decides the monetary value of the most expensive and sought-after sneakers on the market. Through reselling, limited releases and popular collaborations, the sneaker industry, and its collectors have created an after-market that benefits some while infuriating others. The high prices found on the resell market forces consumers to believe that a shoe may be more special or valuable than another, which, in a sense, makes it true. Sneakers are assigned monetary value by those who consume the product and consequently, when sneaker collectors force a shoe’s resell price to inflate it is a statement that the shoe is valuable within the culture.

What I came to learn through my interviews was that the cultural value of a shoe does not always reflect the personal value assigned to shoes by my subjects. There are numerous outside influences that cause a collector to appreciate a specific sneaker, style or brand. Be that a memory, a desire, or a simple difference in taste from other collectors.

What remained constant however, was the idea that the sneaker is the most important piece of the outfit. The fashion style of collectors comes down to what is on their feet. As sneakerheads, we walk through life with our heads down, seeing what others are wearing;

looking for inspiration, a connection with a stranger or just admiring the pair of shoes that walks by.

We all assign our own value to sneakers from our experiences and preferences, but the influence of the culture will always drive the monetary and cultural value of what is popular. The culture itself is something that was often taught or handed down from an elder generation, and something that, like in the case of Subject 1 and his son, should be handed down and shared with future generations.

CHAPTER 3: PROFESSIONAL ANALYSIS

Field Notes

Week 1 Field Notes

On day one I arrived at GLI and was welcomed by Shawna who took me on a tour of the office and introduced me to a few co-workers who happened to be there in the morning as we were walking around. After a short meeting with Shawna she advised me to begin researching a few GLI projects that were coming up this summer. While I was conducting my research, I had a quick meeting with both IT and HR to make sure I understood the computers and went over a few HR rules and regulations. Afterword I went back to researching the Tech City initiative as well as the Health Solutions initiative. In the early afternoon I met Marie, who’s duties I will essentially be taking over when she goes on maternity leave next week. I spent a little time researching the application basecamp as well and began learning how to use it as it is used a lot at GLI. I left early on Monday because my supervisor Ameerah is in Florida for a conference and will be back Wednesday.

On Tuesday I was given the marketing plans for both the Tech City and Health

Solutions initiatives. I spent much of the morning reviewing the plans and taking notes. I came up with a lot of ideas for the Tech City marketing plan because it is in its early stages and I will be spending a lot of time this summer working on Tech City. Mid-day I was assigned the task of writing a news-letter on “disconnected youth” to be published on

GLI’s website. Upon completion of the news-letter I attended a meeting with Marie and

Luke (the graphics intern), pertaining to brand standards and how to use GLI’s social media accounts appropriately. After the brand standards meeting, I sat in on a meeting

about the upcoming event FAM Tour. The marketing team (Marie and I) meet with the other teams to discuss what needed to still be done for the upcoming event. Once the meeting was over, I drafted copy for an email about the Hot Spot Networking event taking place next week.

Wednesday Morning I meet Ameerah, my direct supervisor and we spoke for a while about the summer and some big events and initiatives GLI has coming up. I spent much of the day using WordPress to design the TechCity website on greaterlouisville.com (greaterlouisville.com/techcity). In the afternoon I attended a meeting with Ameerah and Marie about Tech City, in which we discussed what Marie had done so far and where I would be picking it up in her absence. Before going home

Wednesday I put together the Top Investors Update letter on Mailchimp. Which goes out once a month.

I began Thursday morning with a marketing team meeting with Ameerah, Marie,

Luke and Rene, who is the graphic designer of the team, but today was his last day.

Therefore, the meeting covered what we needed to know from Rene before he left that afternoon. After the meeting I made few edits to the Tech City website and corrected a few typos elsewhere on the GLI website. Before lunch I attended a meeting for the E3 event next week where I learned I will be attending the event and recording b-roll footage to edit for a news release after the event. I spent much of the afternoon after lunch creating an excel sheet for an audit of the GLI website, which I will be working on throughout the summer. Finally, I drafted a script for a radio ad about Tech City that the company’s president will be recording.

On Friday morning I began drafting a Request for Proposal to build a website for

Jessie, who focuses on education and workforce development. Ameerah invited me to sit in on two media interviews in the morning; one about policy and one about Tech City, after which she took the time to explain to me what our speakers did and did not do well, which I found very valuable. In the afternoon I worked on a PowerPoint to be displayed during the E3 event and created a spreadsheet to collect articles and events in Louisville pertaining to tech development.

Week 2 Field Notes

When I arrived on Monday Ameerah had sent me the recording of the radio ad that we had written on Thursday. After hearing it we both agreed that we did not like the recording and asked the station to re-record it with a female voice rather than male. After we meet about the radio ad, I spent much of the morning working on the website audit.

Mid-day we had a meeting with the events teams about FAM Tour, which is happening next week. After the meeting I copy edited a 2 sheeter for an employee in the education and workforce department. Today was Maria’s last day before her maternity leave so we had one last meeting with her about marketing and brand standards. After the meeting

Maria and I discussed the monthly newsletter which I will be working on tomorrow.

Before going home for the day, I read over part of the Mayor’s resiliency plan.

I started Tuesday with two meetings. First, we had a meeting for Evening of

Entrepreneurship followed by a meeting for FAM Tour. After my meetings I began working on the newsletter. Each month GLI send out a newsletter to investors looking forward to the month ahead highlighting events in Louisville as well as GLI’s events. The newsletter also highlights important stories surrounding greater Louisville. After working

on the newsletter for a couple hours a started working on the PowerPoint for Evening of

Entrepreneurship. I am tasked with creating the PowerPoint for the program Thursday

Evening. I also went and picked up the awards that were being given out at the event.

Before leaving on Tuesday I wrote and scheduled social media posts to be sent out on

Wednesday.

I spent most of the Morning on Wednesday finishing the newsletter, as it needed to be sent out by noon. Before finishing the newsletter, I worked to redesign on of the company’s logos that would be featured in the newsletter. After completing and distributing the newsletter through Mailchimp I began working to finish the PowerPoint for Evening of Entrepreneurship. Before finishing though, I attended a meeting with

Ameerah that she had with the investor team in which she was interested in learning how we could best help them. After the investor meeting, I attended a meeting for Innovation

Indy, an event happening in a few months that I had not even hear of. I finished the lengthy PowerPoint and went home to prepare for a long day tomorrow.

On Thursday Morning I made a simple graphic that Ameerah asked for since

Luke was busy and I could handle it. I sat in on a meeting with Outfront Media who were hoping to get GLI’s business so they may help us with out of home marketing. After the

Outfront Media meeting I jumped into another meeting with YPAL, a branch of GLI, to discuss the NBA2LOU movement. We had a phone call with a board member of

NBA2LOU discussing the possibility of a co-branded event next month. As soon as the phone call ended I ran into Ameerah who needed my assistance. She was supposed to attend a lunch with a few other employees, a local reporter and the speakers for the

Evening of Entrepreneurship keynote speakers, however a story came up that she needed

to interview with local media about, so she sent me to the lunch in her place. After lunch

I spent the rest of the afternoon researching NBA2LOU and brainstorming ideas for a future event. I left GLI at 4:30 and headed to the theatre where the Entrepreneurship event would be taking place an hour later. I spent the evening taking photos and b-roll video of the event which ended at about 8:00. After the event Ameerah and I went back to the office and I cut video and put the b-roll together for a news release. We left the office at 9:30 pm.

Because I worked for 13 hours on Thursday, I did not spend a lot of time at the office on Friday. I came in for a few hours and worked on the website audit and went home at 11:00.

Week 3 Field Notes

When I arrived on Monday morning Ameerah called me in for a meeting about

Tech City. We discussed pushing forward on getting GLI’s investors more involved. One way we wanted to do so was to reach out to investors who were in the tech industry and have them share their tech story with us. Therefore, I spent the entire day searching for and gathering email addresses of our tech investors so that I could contact them with the google form I am going to make. This took the whole day.

On Tuesday morning I created the google form and distributed to the investors asking them to share their tech stories and tell us how they are innovating and growing the tech ecosystem in Louisville. Once I sent out the form, I uploaded photos to the serve and updated the photo albums on Facebook. I also loaded social media posts into buffer to be sent out throughout the week. After working on social media, I finished the

PowerPoint for FAM Tour, which begins tomorrow. After lunch we had a FAM Tour

meeting to finalize the agenda and ensure that everyone knew where they needed to be when and tie up some loose ends before the out of town consultants arrive. After the meeting I gathered photos from Tops Magazine to be distributed on social media next week. I spent about an hour researching tech trends that we could send out on social media as well. Finally before going home we had a debrief meeting about Evening of

Entrepreneurship where we discussed the good and bad of the event and what we could do better for next year.

On Wednesday I began the day reading trends that Ameerah had sent me before I arrived in the morning. I had a meeting with Ameerah and Rebecca about investor marketing where we discussed how to better market the sales team and generate investor leads, primarily through website updates, which I will be working on. After the meeting I spent some time updating the meet the team page on the website. We took new headshots of the staff which I had to update on WordPress. After lunch I began working on the D.C.

Fly-In app that the participants will use while on the trip to keep up with the agenda.

After work I went straight to the first event of FAM Tour and took photos of the welcome event and bourbon tasting from 4:30-6:30.

Thursday morning, I drove straight to the breakfast session for FAM tour and took photos from 8:30-11:30. When I got back to the office I uploaded videos to GLI’s Vimeo account and caught up on industry trends. I spent most of the afternoon however, working on the audit of the website, which I had not been able to work on in a few days.

I spent all of Friday at the final FAM Tour event taking photos and working with

Ameerah on social media posts for the event, as well as taking notes for a press release of the event.

Week 4 Field Notes

Monday began with a debriefing meeting about FAM Tour. Everyone involved was very happy with the outcome of the event. After the meeting I began editing a blog post for the website recapping Evening of Entrepreneurship. While I was working on the post Ameerah came and grabbed me for a meeting about everything we have in the upcoming weeks and we zeroed in on what to focus on when the events work settles a bit.

After our meeting I finished the blog post and posted it on the GLI website. I then spent a few hours creating social media content for Patrick, a local tech influencer, who is helping us promote an event happening in August. In the late afternoon I worked to find a way to use an RSS feed on WordPress through Wake let to promote the #TechCity campaign.

On Tuesday morning I had a meeting with Ameerah concerning advocacy marketing for once D.C. Fly-in has ended. We spent an hour coming up with a post-event plan after which I went back to my desk and uploaded the new goals into Basecamp.

Once everything was loaded in I used Instagram to promote GLI investors and employees who were recognized by Tops Magazine as Leaders of Louisville. I then spent time working on the application for D.C. Fly-In. I took Ameerah to lunch today and we discussed ways to improve my resume and how to best promote myself. After lunch I went back to work on the D.C. Fly-In app for about an hour, followed by a meeting about

Innovation Indy. I had to leave early for a Doctor Appointment, so I left the office at about 2:30.

When I arrived on Wednesday, I worked on a newsletter for EnterpriseCorp recapping the Evening of Entrepreneurship. After sending the letter our for approval I spent most of the morning working on the D.C. Fly-in app. I also wrote an invitation to a tech city round table event coming up in July. After lunch I headed straight to an

Educators and Employers event which focused on HR employers speaking to Deans from the University of Kentucky about how to best prepare students for the workforce. GLI employees also discussed talent attraction and retention. While I was there, I took photos of the event as well as documented the event on social media; mostly through Instagram stories. The event ran the remainder of the day from 1:00-5:00.

Thursday morning Ameerah, Luke and I had a short marketing team meeting, something we are looking to do more regularly, tentatively every Thursday morning.

Following the meeting I finished the EnterpriseCorp newsletter and began working to edit and publish a blogpost recapping the highlights of FAM Tour for the GLI website. After working on the blog post I spent the rest of the day working on the app for D.C. Fly-in.

On Friday morning we had a full staff meeting, which GLI holds at the end of every month to discuss the events from the previous month and look ahead to what is coming to down the pike. After the hour-long meeting, when I returned to my desk, I uploaded photos that I took from the previous events and uploaded albums to Facebook and to the company shared drive. I also finished the blog post recapping the FAM Tour event. After finishing the blog post Ameerah and I had a meeting with Phil at ESPN radio about NBA2Lou. Phil is a leader for NBA2Lou and wanted to meet with Ameerah and I, to discuss the best ways for GLI and NBA2Lou to co-brand and promote NBA2Lou’s

efforts. We came up with a lot of marketing ideas that I will be focusing on throughout the remainder of the internship.

Week 5 Field Notes

With the holiday on Thursday we had a short week which ended midday on

Wednesday. On Monday I made updates to the D.C. Fly-In app. After making the updates

I started working on an email invitation for an EnterpriseCorp event. I had a long meeting with Ameerah to discuss upcoming projects and we worked to prioritize our work that needed to be done. After the meeting I went back to my desk and uploaded all of our upcoming projects into Basecamp. After uploading to Basecamp, I was finally able to spend the rest of the afternoon finishing my audit of the website. Which is only the beginning of the website update…

On Tuesday morning I made updates to the D.C. Fly-In app. I then uploaded all of the social media posts for the week into Buffer since no one would be in the office for the rest of the week after 3:00 tomorrow. I then began to make a template for an email about

Innovation Indy. After lunch I read the trends that Ameerah had sent me and then attended a meeting with Health Enterprise Network (HEN). We had a lengthy meeting discussing what Luke and I would need to do since Vanessa, a HEN employee, is leaving for a new job next week. We discussed their event in September and put together a lose marketing plan for the upcoming event. Before going home I made a few more updates to the D.C. Fly-In app.

On Wednesday morning Ameerah and I had another investor marketing meeting with Rebecca where we updated our making plan and put together a new idea for crowd

sourcing videos from investors to be displayed on the website. I am tasked with putting together the guidelines and invitation to submit videos. Before leaving for the day I finished the email invitation for the EnterpriseCorp event at the end of the month.

Week 6 Field Notes

On Monday morning I wrote an HTML to be distributed to those who attended

FAM tour. The email was a recap of the weekend’s events and what we as a city should take away from the consultant’s impressions of Louisville. I then made edits to the website on greaterlouisville.com concerning the 2020 campaign (a fundraiser). I then wrote and distributed an email concerning the Federal Agenda in preparation for D.C.

Fly-In. Ameerah and I had a brief meeting about the giveaway that we are holding for the

GLIDE trip which I then added to our schedule on basecamp. I spent much of the afternoon finalizing the D.C. Fly-In app. Before I left for the day I spent about an hour preparing the Top investor update which will go out on Wednesday.

When I arrived on Tuesday morning I continued the work that I had started on the

TI update which occupied me through much of the morning. Ameerah and I gathered a plethora of tech and community stories which I loaded into buffer for social media. Per my meeting with Ameerah yesterday, I began creating the collateral for the Glide

Giveaway. I researched what would be necessary for our giveaway. i.e., landing page, google form and graphics. In the afternoon I had a meeting with Ameerah and Sarah, the sponsorship intern, about GLI’s incentives for members and how Sarah should discuss them on her phone calls. I then reviewed the training videos that WordPress sent us for our site, but they were not what we asked for. Therefore, I had lengthy meeting with

Ameerah to discuss how to fix the problem. We got on a call without WordPress team and to amend the issues.

On Wednesday morning I began designing the landing and the form for the

GLIDE trip Giveaway. This took up much of morning and into the afternoon. After lunch

I uploaded social media posts to Buffer and added ads to out Tech City website along with other minor updates. Luke and I then had to drive across town to take a GLI ambassador’s photo for our Ambassador Spotlight in the newsletter. When I got back, I worked a little longer on the GLIDE form before heading home for the day.

Thursday morning was a little slow, so I spent some time working toward my

Google AdWords certificate. I was then tasked with working on the GLIDE Giveaway news release to be distributed to investors and local media. I then realized that my ad links for the Tech City website had not updated correctly and needed to be fixed. After a quick huddle with Ameerah, Luke and I attended a meeting for Innovation Indy, another event which I will need to design an app for through Eventmobi. After the meeting I combed through the photos I had taken at FAM Tour and uploaded them to a Facebook album. I left early today, around 4:30, to attend a networking event hosted by ESPN radio and NBA2LOU. Dan Issel, the spokesman of NBA2LOU was in attendance as well as many supporters of the cause.

On Friday I finalized the collateral for the GLIDE Giveaway as well as the press release. I distributed all the information to investors as well as on social media. I then had to spend some time teaching a few employees how to use Flickr, a photo app that we are beginning to integrate the use of at GLI. After which I updated a word template for

Rebecca that she can use for the 2020 campaign updates. I ended up staying late on

Friday in a meeting with Ameerah in which we collected stories and events for the newsletter which will go out next Wednesday.

Week 7 Field Notes

On Monday I spent most of the day putting together the newsletter that Ameerah and I outlined on Friday. It’s a lengthy process to gather all of the links and re-work the

Mailchimp site to fit the new model for the month so that took up a majority of my day.

In the afternoon I had a meeting with Ameerah in which we discussed a few things that

Shawna needed to be done including an update to the KPI Dashboard for July. I spent the rest of the afternoon working on that for her.

Tuesday morning I finished updating the KPI Dashboard for Shawna and got back to work on the monthly newsletter. Every few months there is a community project managing meeting held, which is attended by small group of marketing professionals working on projects in the community that may affect one another. Ameerah is a member and it was held today at GLI (the meeting rotates) and I was invited to join. It was really interesting to listen to marketing leaders in our community and to hear what other people are working outside of GLI. After the meeting I continued working on newsletter followed by a few website updates. Before the end of the day I prepared social media for

GLI winning the Chamber of the Year. Which we did!

Wednesday morning I finished the newsletter and sent it out to investors via

Mailchimp. I then shifted my focus to Chamber of the Year announcements. I wrote multiple announcements for social media and Ameerah and I drafted a press release to announce the victory.

On Thursday the Leadership team returned from the award ceremony in Long beach and we had a small celebration for Chamber of the Year in the breakroom. After the celebration, Ameerah, Luke and I had our marketing huddle followed by a meeting for GLIDE updates. Before leaving the meeting Shawna gave me edits for the KPI dashboard, which I revised for her. I spent the majority of the rest of the afternoon working on the marketing PESO plan for the Chamber of the Year.

I was out of the office on Friday.

Week 8 Field Notes

Monday was a battle. I spent the entire day updating the investor list to be displayed on the TV monitors seen when entering the office. The task alone took me most of the day, but the real struggle was figuring out how to display the updated PowerPoint after our IT department had gone home for the day. I spent the last hour and half of the afternoon working to display the new list correctly, which I finally figured out around

5:15. No one else in the office new how to do it either, so I was not as embarrassed as I could have been.

Tuesday morning I woke up early and attended our Diversity, Equity and

Inclusion event, which was hosted by Papa John’s. I took photos of the event and posted social updates as well. The event itself was very interesting and I am glad that Ameerah asked me to join her. A panel of Papa John’s employees discussed the situation that happened with their owner and how they have learned and grown from it. When I returned to the office I uploaded tech posts into buffer for the rest of the week, to be displayed on social media. I noticed while at the DEI event that our camera was getting full so I took then time to upload all the photos on the camera to the GLI shared drive on

the computer and categorize them by event. There were 2,700 photos in all, so it took a while. I made a few updates from the website and began updating the Chamber of the

Year marketing plan. Before heading home Ameerah and had a meeting about the marketing plan and what I need to do to compete it tomorrow.

First thing in the morning on Wednesday, I attended my first engagement meeting. It was a meeting with the whole “engagement” team including marketing and events employees and managers. We discussed what we were working on and what was most important going forward. It was mostly a meeting for the managers to understand how they could best help us accomplish our upcoming goals. After the meeting I had edits from Shawna on the KPI dashboard, which I updated for her before heading to a meeting for Converge, an event being put on by Health Solutions Network (HEN) in mid-

September. The front woman for HEN and Converge left GLI last week, therefore our marketing team is picking up the slack for the event. After the meeting I spent much of the afternoon finishing the marketing plan for Chamber of the Year. Before leaving I made the agenda for our marketing huddle tomorrow morning.

Thursday morning, we had our weekly marketing huddle, discussing what we were working on and the importance of the projects coming down the pipeline. Most of my morning after the meeting consisted of making updates to the website until I had a meeting with Ameerah and the investor team to discuss investor marketing and engagement. After the meeting I composed an email promoting both Innovation Tour and

GLIDE to be sent out to all GLI investors. After completing the email, I spent the rest of the day working on the website updates.

Friday morning, we had our monthly full-staff meeting. After the meeting I spent the remainder of the day working on the Media Kit for GLI. We are putting together an updated media kit to be distributed to news outlets and organizations so that they have the most up to date information about GLI including logos, leadership team info and history.

Week 9 Field Notes

Monday morning, I finished the website updates that I had been working on last week. We ordered a Chamber of the Year banner which I drove and picked up. When I returned, I got back to work on the media kit. Included in the kit are bios of everyone on the leadership. Rebecca, however, does not have a bio. Therefore, I used her resume to write a bio for her and added it to the media kit. After lunch I continued to work on the media kit, mostly copy-editing the 20-page document.

A large part of our Chamber of the Year marketing plan revolves around swag we can purchase commemorating the award. Therefore, Tuesday morning I worked to gather ideas from my co-workers on the types of things they would like to see around the office and as giveaways that we could order. I then spent some time reading a CBRE report that

Ameerah had sent me, which mentioned Louisville as a top up and coming city for the future of Tech. I then worked on a media advisory for HEN announcing Converge and the sale of tickets for the event next month. After re-crafting and editing the media advisory from the original that had been sent to me I uploaded social media posts into buffer for the rest of the week. Ameerah and I had a quick meeting to discuss the media kit, which I continued to work on the rest of the afternoon.

On Tuesday night a troll commented on a post from our CEO Kent’s LinkedIn, essentially talking poorly about Louisville’s innovation and growth, which was then seen and written about by Business First, a newspaper covering Louisville businesses and happenings. Rather that arguing with the man on linked in, Ameerah and spent

Wednesday morning crafting an article for LinkedIn recognizing the success happening around the tech economy in Louisville and posted it from Kent’s personal account. The post attracted a lot of positive engagement with over 300 “likes”. I then spent time updating the GLIDE website. The event sold out and I updated the site to include who will be attending the event in September. I also updated a few other parts of the website as well as long I was in WordPress. We had our weekly meeting to discuss HEN and the

Converge event, many of the updates don’t concern me, but I still attend to discuss any marketing/creative services updates. After the meeting I spent the remainder of the day working on the media kit.

Thursday, I spent most of the day working on the media kit; updating leadership team bios so that they are all in the same format, as well as an in-depth copy-edit. I also worked with Samuel on the design of the kit, which he will be making in Adobe. I had a meeting with Morgan and Samuel mid-day to discuss an infographic she needs from us for innovation Tour. She handed us a 10-page document that I need to cut down to two pages. Before leaving on Thursday I created a photo album on Facebook for the DEI photos from last week.

On Friday morning Ameerah and I had a meeting about the VOGT awards.

Usually the EnterpriseCorp team handles everything for the awards, but seeing that they are being absorbed by another company, Ameerah and I needing to pick up the missing

pieces. She explained to me the event and we worked to put together a plan and highlight dates we would need to get marketing out for the awards. I then took headshots of our new employees, Samuel and Morgan, and added them to our Meet the Team site. I then spent the rest of the day racing to finish the media kit so that it could be approved by the leadership team.

Week 10 Field Notes

On Monday morning I began researching websites to order some of the swag we received feedback on throughout last week. I contacted a few vendors for quotes just to get a ballpark on a few items. I then spent some time uploading social posts into buffer for the week before working on adding the media kit to the website. While I was doing so, Ameerah informed me that Kent had a meeting with Business First, in which he would discuss GLI moving forward after the Chamber of the Year announcement and we would give out our first media kit. She invited me to join them at the Business first office, so I joined and watched Kent’s interview. After the interview Ameerah, Samuel and I had a meeting about Chamber of the Year swag and what we would move forward with. We decided we needed to move quickly on hats and stickers, because that’s what we will be giving out at the small celebration in a few weeks. After the meeting I began contacting vendors about hat orders that need to be made asap.

I spent much of Tuesday morning working on the Top Investor update that will be sent out tomorrow morning. Ameerah sent me the basics and I put together the email that is sent out to all of our top investors. While waiting on feedback about TI update from the leadership team I began working on the mobile app for innovation tour. Because the TI update is scheduled to go out at 9:00 am tomorrow I spent an hour or so in the evening

after work putting together edits from the leadership team so that I could send it out in time

After making a few more edits to the TI update, I sent it out Wednesday morning and continued working to get the media kit on the website, a more arduous task than I expected… Kent had another meeting with Business first this morning, however this one was more about Kent and his time at GLI. I sat in on the interview with Ameerah and actually learned a few things I did not previously know about the company. After the interview Ameerah and I discussed the swag we still needed to order and I worked on getting together laptop sticker proofs together to be given out at the party. We had a meeting at the end of the day with Kent and a few other members of the leadership team to discuss the party. Kent did not like the hat we planned to order and I was advised to find a new vendor. Before leaving for the night I put together the agenda for the marketing huddle tomorrow morning. On the way home I called a new vendor and discussed a new hat order with him.

On Thursday morning I was in contact with the new hat vendor and we got together a proof that Kent and the rest of the team approved so that I could move forward with the order. In our marketing huddle we mostly discussed the collateral needed for the two upcoming Chamber of the Year celebrations, as well as Innovation Tour, which takes place in two weeks. I then wrote an email for Connie, in HR, about our Health Solutions promotion to be distributed to the Health Solutions subscribers. I spent much of the afternoon working on cutting down the 10 pages of info that Morgan needs for

Innovation tour. I also worked on the app for innovation tour as well.

On Friday I got the media kit up on GLI’s website. Sam and I had a meeting with

Ameerah about the infographic that Morgan needs for innovation tour and I spent the rest of the day working on the app and the sheet for Morgan.

Week 11 Field Notes

I spent a little time Monday morning gathering information to complete the white paper for morning and Innovation tour, before shifting my focus to the newsletter which will go out on Wednesday. I also used a little bit of my free time in the morning to research hats to order for the Chamber of the Year party next week. I spent the majority of the day going back and forth between working on the newsletter and the app for

Innovation tour. I worked on the graphics for the home screen of the app as well as loaded in attendee information for the trip. With trip happening this weekend, I need to prepare the app so that that attendees can access it before they leave on Sunday. In the afternoon I spent more time preparing the newsletter for Wednesday.

Tuesday morning I worked on the newsletter, which became a longer process than expected, considering the leadership team wanted to make a lot of changes to content, which they usually do not. This takes a lot of patience and back and forth between

Ameerah and I, and the leadership team. However in the afternoon I found time to work on the app, which I am getting close to finishing, other than Sam and me making progress on the white page. In the afternoon Jessie needed to send out an email pertaining to barriers to work with a survey for those receiving the email. After being sent the survey I designed an email to be distributed to GLI’s members. I spent the remaining hour of my day at work researching sticker manufactures so that I can get stickers designed for the

Chamber of the Year celebration.

Wednesday morning I spent a few hours completing the app, other than the white page, for Innovation Tour. Sam and I had a meeting to discuss the graphics that he would creating for the piece to match the text I would be writing. After the meeting I spent the remainder of the day finishing and cleaning up the newsletter, which would be distributed at the end of the day. We also had our weekly meeting for Converge, which is now only a month away.

Thursday was very heavily consumed by creating the white page with Sam. We took Morgan’s 11-page document and cut it down to a 4 page info-graphic which would be displayed on the Innovation tour app. However, first thing in the morning we had our weekly marketing team huddle. We discussed Innovation tour as well the orders we need to make for Chamber of the Year materials. After the huddle we began work on the white page, only to be halted because of the meeting we had to discuss GLIDE. GLIDE is the biggest event of the year and is getting close, as soon as we finish with Innovation Tour, I will be working almost exclusively on GLIDE. Sam and I finished the page for the app before the end of the day and began creating a design for Chamber of the Year T-shirts.

Friday was spent making edits and updates to the Innovation Tour app. With the event happening in two days I was making sure everything was set for the trip, pertaining to the app. Mid-day though, I was pulled away from desk to assist the investment team to attend a ribbon counting and document it for social media. The investment team was thin today, so I had the opportunity to step in and help, which was a neat experience. After returning to my desk in the afternoon, Ameerah informed me that the Marketing and

Communications Manager position was officially open and I was encouraged to apply.

Before leaving I finished updating the app and spoke to Ameerah about the open position.

Week 12 Field Notes

With GLIDE one week away the focus for everyone in the office this week is getting prepared for the trip, which means for me ensuring signage is ordered and accurate, working on the app, drafting social media posts to be loaded for the trip, as well as a social media script for Rebecca to use while on the trip. I am also creating the

PowerPoint presentations that will be used throughout the trip.

On Tuesday I spent most of the day working on the app; loading in attendee info as well as agenda updates. It is not hard work, but it is time consuming. After working on the app much of the morning I spent the afternoon putting together the PowerPoint presentations.

There are four in total throughout GLIDE. For the presentations I needed to create sponsorship slides, slides featuring takeaways from past GLIDE trips, and miscellaneous slides that provide info to attendees about the trip.

On Wednesday morning I continued working on the presentations so that they would be ready for my meeting with Sydney which we had at 11:00. After finishing the slides and my meeting with Sydney I left to pick up the signs that I had ordered. Upon returning I got to work on the social media posts that I had begun drafting last week. I took time to skim through the agenda and pinpoint places that GLI could tweet for optimum engagement. This included not only posts that I would schedule pre-trip, but I also spent time highlighting areas for Rebecca that would be good to capture while she is on the trip. I used the remainder of my day doing tasks for Sydney and Shawna that they needed done before they leave for San Francisco tomorrow. I also officially accepted a full time position with GLI!

Thursday morning, we had our weekly marketing huddle, in which we discussed

GLIDE and ordering more swag to commemorate our Chamber of the Year victory. I collected the rest of the shirt sizes I needed from co-workers and placed an order for T- shirts that we can wear to our celebration on the 17th. After getting the shirts ordered, I returned to the GLIDE headspace and worked to complete the app as fully as I can (I foresee that there will be more updates coming in throughout the weekend and for the duration of the trip). I also completed the social schedule before leaving for the day. I will not be working on Friday as I am leaving town and will return on Tuesday as a full-time employee.

Evaluation

Self-Evaluation

When I started at Greater Louisville Inc. (GLI) as an intern, I was nervous, as I had no prior experience in marketing and communications, other than my courses in school. Because I was coming into the position so fresh, I figured my best option was to immediately jump in and display my work ethic, rather than rely on my technical skills. I was staying late and helping with various projects throughout the office in hopes that my superiors would not notice my lack of experience in the field. However, in the time that I spent grinding at the office I was learning everything I needed to be a successful marketing/communications professional. My supervisor, Ameerah Palacios, was an incredible teacher and continues to be a mentor for me in my young career.

As an intern I was thrust into a difficult, yet exciting situation. The Marketing and

Communications manager- Marie, who has been working at GLI for 8 years left for maternity leave my second week as an intern, and I was essentially filling in for her, in her absence. A responsibility I was not sure I was ready for, seeing as the only other marketing employee was the Director- Ameerah. In Marie’s absence I took control of a majority of her daily tasks including event marketing, press release writing/editing, newsletter construction and many other duties. I was working over 40 hours a week to make up for Marie being gone, but I did not mind the hours, as I was gaining so much valuable experience.

I did not expect to enjoy my time at GLI as much as I did. Not only was I gaining necessary experience in my field, I was also making important connections around the city of Louisville and connecting with my co-workers and superiors. As my time at GLI began to wind down Marie announced that she would only be returning part time, which

meant her position as Marketing and Communications Manager would need to be filled. I was encouraged by Ameerah to apply and received and accepted a full time offer from

GLI in mid-September.

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economy-2016-5

APPENDIX

Transcripts

Subject 1: 44: Seattle, WA

ME: How did you get into sneakers? How did that become a thing for you that you knew you liked?

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, yeah. Good. Yeah. I'm a fellow sneaker head and you now, big, big fan of the culture. So, for me, I mean, I'm an 80s kid, right? So, So I grew up in an era where, like, retro toys, comic books, you know, like the early sort of popularity of video games and particularly athletes were making a very different splash on the scene of pop culture because of, you know, because marketing and, you know, companies like Nike really started to take off in the 80s, obviously, and so, you know, that's where I developed my sort of bond or appreciation for high end sneakers, which obviously as a very young person, as an early teenager, I couldn't necessarily afford myself right? Because I didn't have a job when I was in middle school, but, you know, sort of, you know, saved money, allowance, mow lawns, do chores around the house, save birthday money. Strive for some success in my report card so my parents would buy me the latest, you know,

Jordan’s or Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson.

I remember in eighth grade graduation for middle school when we were you know, there's a formal event or ceremony and everybody you know, the other guys, are wearing suits in, in terrible looking outfits and such. You know, I was forced to wear that stuff. But instead of buying penny loafers, or some horrible pair of dress shoes that I would never wear again, I convinced my parents to buy me a new pair of Air Revolutions

from Nike. Which were pretty new on the scene at that point. So, yes, it's always been kind of a thing as, you know, I finished school 20 years ago and went off into the corporate world working in journalism and in media you know, I haven't always had the chance. It hasn't always been “appropriate” for me to rock you know, Jordan’s or Air

Max or, you know, something that kind of speaks more to my personality and my connection back into sneaker culture, but, you know, I, obviously, that's a part of me, after work on weekends, holidays. And then I find ways, you know, as I've grown more comfortable and confident with my career, to, you know, kind of weave in those opportunities. Like for example, you know, It would look funny if I wore my normal attire in the office today. You know, a sport coat and a button up shirt, and some jeans with, you know, some very loud, you know, retros or some something like really unique, but I could wear some low top like all black Jordan’s. Casual shoes anyway, they're just super comfortable and again more so speak to my style.

ME: So is that is that something you're still doing… How old are you? I'm sorry.

SUBJECT 1: 44

ME: And it's still something you care a lot about and are making efforts to do? Like, you said it is not when you are in the office or when you're not at work, but you're still making efforts to wear to wear sneakers, it's still your style?

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, the answer is yes, but again, it's sort of in small doses, and where the opportunities makes sense. For example… it's a little unique for me, I’m in a new role.

I'm leading a news operation in Seattle, Washington and I just got here about a month and a half ago. So it may be a little early for me to break out my you know, whatever… something interesting from the closet. So, you know, I think like in a year, whenever

things are more comfortable that might be more appropriate. But, like, I'm going to a conference this weekend for the Society of Professional Journalists. And I'll be wearing like jeans and a button up shirt, and, you know, my Jordan, Black Cement Threes, right?

I'm going to be comfortable I'm going to be stylish. I'm not going to sort of make a statement in terms of the business impact. I'm there to contribute some dialogue. And I wanna Be comfortable, and I wanna be me. So when I go to conferences, or something that is sort of really reflect that. But more importantly, Jordan, for me more relevant, I should say maybe not important, but more relevant to me, is, I'm a parent and I have four kids. My youngest is three, he just turned three and he has a ridiculous sneaker collection.

So I was buying shoes for Maddox before he was born, I was buying, you know, go by the Nike outlet, find deals online, I follow the right Instagram accounts. He has more than

100 pairs of Jordan’s alone. You can you can obviously, you know, toddler shoes, they're much cuter first of all because of the size, they're just adorable. Second of all they’re much more affordable rather than paying $175, $220, $225 and up for men sizes for us, you can get many of those same versions for a fraction of that, you know, maybe, you know, $50 sometimes, you know, they’re on sale for $30. At the outlets, you might, you might grab some Retros for $20. So, so I've been collecting his shoe for a long, long time.

So he wears some, you know, high end stuff. And then others, I don't even have time he grows out of them before he can even wear them, but I keep them, they are out on display on this nice customized shoe shelf system in his nursery.

So, people's heads explode when they come by and visit about how many shoes he has, and of course he doesn't care, he’s a toddler. But I'm trying to instill these values early on. And, you know, I say he wears a lot of Nike shirts and a lot of hoops jerseys,

NFL jerseys, and it's kind of our thing. So, I'm able to Channel the sneaker culture and sort of the latest releases and I'm not always selfishly thinking about scoring some for me but I’m thinking its gonna look even better for him and the cool thing is when you're, you know when you're the parent on this stuff and the kids foot is always growing, at least it will be for a few years, I just grab stuff that like, like I said I'm buying stuff before he was even born. I'll buy something that you know he'll be wearing high school. Because sometimes you can get such a great deal.

ME: Wow. So who has more pairs of shoes right now you or Maddox?

SUBJECT 1: Definitely him, cause like I said, he could get 4 or 5 pairs right now for the price of one that I would get. But its cool. We can both wear our Space Jam’s. We both have Air Max Silver Bullets. Again, he is too young, where he doesn’t care, which is good. He can’t say I only want to wear whatever, you know, he may be into a totally different style in a few years, but for now he doesn’t really have a choice.

ME: Let's just hope he doesn't become an Adidas guy!

SUBJECT 1: Hahah it’s okay, he's got some cool adidas. A good example is I got him, you know, the early edition Kendrick Lamar Adidas’ at Foot Action and with like discounts, and they were on the clearance rack, sort of tucked away, these things were like 16 bucks.

ME: That's awesome.

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, you could get really good stuff for him and it's very cool.

ME: So how many how many pairs do you have right now? Just sneakers not including your other shoes that you would wear to work.

SUBJECT 1: For just sneakers I have 75. My rotation of what actually where, is probably

10. A vast majority of my high-end sneakers; I just stock them away. I just have them on display in a custom closet. That's a very heated debate with sneakerheads; rock or stock.

My two best friends, we’re all sneakerheads from back in that era, when we grew up in the late 80s, and we're all divided like, you know, My buddy Sean, he sells. He turns a lot of profit. He does a lot of the draws and he has great luck at that stuff. He has the eye for getting some limited-edition stuff, and then he'll triple up for a really good profit. My friend Scott, he buys all the same stuff that we like, the same style, and he wears everything. As soon as they arrive in the mail, he wears them that afternoon. Me,

I'm different. I don't sell anything, but also I don’t rock my stuff, I kind of like keep them for a few years and then break them out like five years after they dropped. So right now, my rotation, is like about 10 to 12 that I wear pretty regularly. The others, Kind of sit and

I like to admire.

ME: Have you always been that way? Or is that something that's kind of started happening as you got older?

SUBJECT 1: It happened as I became older because I have more disposable income, so when Nike drops something that I really love. You know, we’re all anxious for the Bred

4’s to come out, so, you know, its a little unclear as to how limited that's going to be, but in a perfect world I’ll get at least two pairs in my size. One to wear immediately, and one to put away. And then I have to get Maddox one or two pairs. So like, when the BC3s

(Jordan Black Cement 3’s) came out in 2018, I bought five pair. I bought two for me, two for Madox one for toddler, one for big kids, and then I bought one for my older son who's kind of a little into sneakers, but he's into other types of fashion too. So if it's a release I

love and I can, you know cause sometimes it's hard to even get one pair that fits, I'll get more than one like the Tinkers, the Tinker Hatfield that came out, the three that came out last year. I bought two of them instantly because I love them and so you know one to rock and one the stock. But I couldn't do that when I was in my early 20s because, you know, I could barely pay rent. That’s what happens when you’re not making that much money.

ME: So you have about 75 pairs right now, is that more than you've ever had or have you kind of scaled down a little bit?

SUBJECT 1: No, it is more than I have ever had because I don’t get rid of them. I mean, only time I get rid of shoes are when I wear them down and then, you know, it's time to chuck them. I don't want like beat up shoes being an eye for my collection, but if they’re really nice I don't wear them, so you know I keep getting more, which my wife isn’t the biggest fan of. But I think most guys I know, that have a vice, they have hobbies they have a passion and they're not always legal but, I think you know sneakers in many ways are like the new wrist watch for men.

ME: That's a really good way to put it.

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, like a decade ago it was really hot like, professionals in particular used them to kind of brag a bit and be really celebratory over sporting different watches every couple days, things to match their outfits, whatever I mean that they could get pretty high end obviously in terms of the big designers and name brands and such. And the rarity. I don't know maybe that's gone down because things like smart watches are now pretty popular as a utility that you wear every day that you don't really switch out of

it. I know I wear my Apple watch every day. So anyway, I think I think that's kind of subsided a bit and sneakers are the new wristwatch.

ME: Is there is there one sneaker that kind of not necessarily is not your favorite or what you think is the best looking, I'll ask you that in a minute. But, is there a sneaker that when you see it, it just kind of takes you back and is one that you're always kind of thinking about, one you always of want to have that makes you think of a time or memory or place or a person, something that just stands out to you every time you see it?

SUBJECT 1: There is a handful, that is really a good question. I mentioned my story about 8th grade graduation. Everyone was wearing really dorky Penny Loafers and

Oxfords, and here I come strutting down the aisle in black, white and gray Nike Air

Revolutions. That was the moment for me and that brings back a lot of vivid memories.

So that was fun, but I would say it kind of starts with the Air Jordan 1right? Like you know, I'm old enough where I can remember in ‘85 when the NBA was cracking down and Nike fired up their famous campaign and it became all the rage and I remember going into like sporting goods stores, because their weren't… I mean, like, Foot Locker was around but like there weren’t sneaker stores. You went and got your kicks from sporting good’s stores like Big Five or like mom and pop shops. They sold sneakers next to like hockey sticks and like soccer balls and I remember all the Nike posters of the

Jordan 1, and “banned” and so those are those are probably the two most vivid examples for me.

ME: So kind of going off that what is your favorite right nowWhat do you like to wear?

What do you think is really good looking?

SUBJECT 1: So my thing I mean like, personally, it's when you talk to a sneakerhead that’s into Jordan, you can always have an immediate connection. I'm like okay, what's your favorite style?

My favorite styles have always been in order Jordan’s 3, 4 and 11 so almost instantly if I see somebody sporting Jordan’s 3, 4 or 11, I admire him already and have some instant respect.

You know, like, Hey, you know, like, this person has some sensibilities. This guy is grounded, and I’m already connected to them. My current favorite still is the 2016 Space

Jam, which I just think we're so different, the box, you know, maybe it's me, but the smell is different. And the sort of allure with the movie and, now we got the new movie coming out next year. And so anyway, I love the Space Jam 2016. I get a little, actually with those shoes that were so limited and so sort of rare and special. I get a little perturbed when I see people just wearing them and scuffing them and getting them dirty. Which is very, it's a very strange feeling right like, that is the fundamental reason why people buy shoes… to wear them and get use out of them. But you start getting to that level where they're pieces of art, and they should be respected in a way that they should be in a glass case not you know, walking through puddles or getting gum stuck underneath them.

ME: Isn't that so interesting, especially with Jordan’s for example. I play a lot of basketball and you see guys wearing certain shoes on the court and getting them creased and scuffed and stepped on and it just hurts watching that happen sometimes. it's something you would for example never put on and always keep clean and you see someone to beat them up on the basketball court, but that's what they were made for!

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, yeah, they are. You could argue that lot of the Jordan’s, a lot of the like newer Jordan’s, from the last five years, probably aren't even really good quality basketball shoes. Like it's more of the style, the casual, like going to the mall or going to a club or people going to work and it's a good look, but they're not necessarily the ones you see NBA guys sporting. It's just it's not the same, they don't have the same durability or the stability and the ankle support. Yeah and you're right like especially for a playground like why would you wear that when guys are going to be stomping all over and you're going to get them scuffed and they instantly lose their luster and their value?

So you see other typed of shoe. I have some other shoes that I like, I am a fan of other shoes. They are mostly Nike, but like I'm a big Paul George guy for example. Paul

George went to my alma mater, Fresno State, so I got to see him play in school, and he's come out with some limited edition Fresno State shoes which of course I own. So yeah, mostly a Nike guy, but that is a really good point.

ME: You kind of touched on this earlier, but you're at the point in your life where you don't really need to worry about moving money around saving money or borrowing money to make these purchases anymore, but was there a point where buying sneakers was really important and you didn't have the money to be doing it as much as you did?

How did you kind of tackle that? Were you making sure you saved up for a release you knew was coming out, or were you borrowing money, or moving money, anything like that?

SUBJECT 1: I mean, look, the reality is Jordan, that you know, once you have your full time career and you have a family to support, you have a limited amount of money, most people have a limited amount of funds to, to be able to do, “fun things”, right? So, it's

really just a matter of, for me in the last 10 years of being a sneakerhead has just meant making sacrifices, you just make choices. You can either can either go on more boy’s trips like to Las Vegas, or to Atlantic City or to other fun adventures, and I might spend a couple thousand dollars for that weekend. Or I take fewer of those trips and have that money available for that part of the year to go splurge and go shopping. It might mean that I go, you know, we go to the movies a lot more and I buy other things, or I put that money toward shoes.

I want to be clear that I've never been at a point where money wasn't an issue and

I could just buy whatever shoes I wanted. There's been a ton of shoes that I've had to pass up because, you know, I just don't have a couple hundred bucks that I could justify having to have, just to have another pair sitting in my closet, because we've got some big thing that we're really saving for; big family vacation. That's not really fair to my wife who also works and she saves and she doesn't have a shoe addiction like a I do. She is a pretty thrifty person. So, I feel bad. Not that she makes me feel bad, but I do feel bad when the Nike delivery boxes are on porch twice a week and she doesn’t do that. It really just comes down to sacrifices.

Since I’ve arrived in Seattle a month and a half ago, I haven’t purchased any shoes in this month and a half. I’ve been so busy with work and we're buying a house here so we're pretty focused on where that money needs to go. That being said, I'm definitely going to get those Jordan 4 Bred’s in two or three weeks when they drop, because those are probably going to be the release of the year. Yeah, those must haves.

Same with the Bred 11’s in November, there's a few big ones this year, but I'm kind of taking it easy.

But the other part of it is, that with the advent of the Internet, you can get any pair you want now. You might have to spend a lot more if you missed the window when it comes out and you’re not paying retail, but you can go to like StockX or you can go on eBay or wherever. You can find anything. You know, it's just a matter of it's going to set you back a ton. But, you know, back when, sneaker culture was exploding like when the famous, you know, when the Jeff Staple Pigeon’s dropped in New York and, and there was a riot because you had to be there. Like, you literally have to be there to score one of those and people got trampled. And then Nike changed the way they did their draws, and everything changed. But now it's like a lot less pressure. You don’t have to be there when the doors open, and you don’t have to be one of the first in line. You can score this stuff off your phone, you can know a guy and he'll be your plug. All of these consignment shop, things that have popped up.

That's the other cool thing is I travel quite a bit for work, and it's fun to go to new cities. And then I instantly seek out where the sneaker shops are and, you know, every citie’s got like a little different style or something that they're famous for. Seattle has really good ones, I’ve been exploring. But you know if I visit New Orleans or Miami or you know obviously New York is the capital for so much of this stuff or LA. Wherever you go its kind of a fun thing or pursuit to go kill some time. Check out a new city, sometimes you get good deals I usually am shopping for the toddler. Again, prices are better and it's usually less competitive.

ME: You mentioned that now you can get anything online, which can be more expensive.

Do you ever do that? What's the most you think you have spent on a shoe?

SUBJECT 1: The most I’ve spent? Let me think… Well, I mean look, I would say, when

I spent about 1000 bucks on the Nike Black Cement 3s last year, when I bought five pairs; three adults and two kids. That was a hefty setback, but it is my all-time favorite

Jordan. So, I felt like I had to. I didn’t really have a choice hahah. So yeah, I mean like that was one day really. And that was pretty, a pretty big hit. But, you know, I'm still wearing my first pair from that relase and I have another pair tucked away for a couple years from now, so it was worth it.

ME: Yeah, I do love that shoe. I don't wear mine a lot but it's one that I look up at, like

I've got a little display as well in my room, it is just one of those where I look up at it and it's like man, that is just such a pretty shoe. It is a dang near perfect shoe.

SUBJECT 1: When I started to get into shoes at a really young age and have carried that with me, I think one of the really interesting things about guys and fashion about athletic shoes in particular, because I think it does serve as kind of an interesting indicator about who that person is, before you even really hear them speak. And that's obviously not always the case. Somebody could have really expensive taste, and, you know, inexpensive shoes. I'm not saying it's always the case. But, again, I talked about when somebody is wearing like, my favorite style that I have this instant bond. I find that, you know, if somebody is wearing like generic shoes that might be an indicator of sort of a lack of creativity, or the other thing that I found is, based on where people are from their culture or, you know, for example; I've lived in some big cities and you'll see people wearing European style sneakers, and you wouldn't know, by their face, they look like anybody else. But you can tell that is somebody who comes from like, Eastern Europe, from Italy or the UK or something, or same thing with, you know, Asia and some of the

shoe, sort of the popular shoes in that area. I've always found that it's kind of cool like you can, you can read someone. I always like to look at someone shoes when they walk in the room, I sort of start down and work my way up. And sometimes people call me out on that like why are you sizing that person up? They just have a cool pair of shoes and that caught my eye first and then if I can I like to look at some of the signature, I think that's always interesting too. But you cant always easily see that, but you can always see what someone’s footwear represents.

ME: You kind of, you got to live through that era, where it was just getting really popular where you had to go and wait outside of a store to get a shoe in line or go somewhere to actually find a shoe rather than online. Do you kind of miss that era? Or are you happy with the way that it's progressed with the technology and everything?

SUBJECT 1: No, its way better now, like the accessibility. I mean, you know, like, you know, who has time to like, spend the night outside a store, you know, drive like 100 miles I mean, it's way more convenient. So it's, it's just the nature of the web, It's better now.

ME: Okay, because I'm, I'm 24. And so, obviously, when I was really young it eas like that, but at that point, I wasn't old enough to kind of be into it. And so I always kind of think I have this nostalgic look at it.

SUBJECT 1: Yeah, it probably does brings back those nostalgic memories for some, but

I am a person of convenience. Maybe it’s because I have a lot of kids, I’ve had a bunch of jobs, I wear a lot of hats. I don’t have that kind of time in my life. I wish I did, but that’s just the reality.

Subject 2: 23: New York City

SUBJECT 2: I mean not to be cliché or anything. But I definitely think that Michael

Jordan is the reason that sneakers are so big. And then he started the culture, because I don’t think that was any real hype behind any sneakers until the Jordan 1 came out.

I feel like the first shoe that I was really feelin, was like, when the SB dunks came out. I know it was right when I started skate boarding, like 5th or 6th grade, and Home

Skate Shop was right down the street from my house and my mom didn’t let me go to

Bardstown road at the time, she was nervous for me to ride my bike on it. I remember my grandma took me to Home Skate Shop for my brother’s birthday. It was my non-birthday present cause she felt bad that I wasn’t getting anything, and Max was getting all these presents, so she bought me a pair of the Mosquito Dunks in 7th grade.

Before that I had a lot of converse, I guess I was a converse guy. But I really didn’t start getting into real sneakers until I saw Regan had the first Yeezys and I was like… holy shit, these are sick. Remember when they first came out everyone though they were so ugly? I saw the Moonrocks then I saw the Oxford tans in person one time at

Oneness in Lexington and it was like, these are so sick. And so, I obviously couldn’t afford them in college so, I got an Ali Express pair. I told people they were fake, but

other people would like, turn their heads and be like holy shit. I knew how real fakes were, but It was before people realized how real fakes were. They’re the first shoes that really put fakes on the map, I think. They’ve been selling fake Jordan’s forever, but I never really knew. Nowadays they’re like perfect.

ME: You have gotten a lot more into actually wearing your sneakers rather than selling them since you got to New York. Correct me if I’m wrong but you seem to be more into the style of it now?

SUBJECT 2: Yeah, so I think in college it was a turning point when I really started following DJs and stuff. They all kind of a similar style and I started thinking, I’m not gonna dress like this frat guy my whole life. I guess people to do that, but I liked the way the DJs looked. Chucks were getting hot again, and I remember seeing a few pictures of

Drew from the Chainsmokers, right when the Fear of God Vans came out and I was like, those are the coolest shoes I’ve ever seen. And they’re so not, but I still think they are my favorite shoes that I own.

So, I saw that and thought it was so sweet. I was just so tired of seeing like,

Khakis and Sperrys and Wallabies and duck boots. And I remember I was just laying in bed after my brain messed up and thought I need to change up my style a little bit. And that’s in college when I started wearing tighter pants and wearing more fitted T-shirts.

Honestly because I started losing weight too and I didn’t look as fat when I was wearing them. And that’s when I started, not just the sneaker thing, but really changing my style in general. That when I started looking at Instagrams, and going on reddit, and looking at streetwear stuff and that’s how I got into Supreme too, but that’s a different story really.

So, I started looking at this sneakers reddit and I was seeing all these shoes. Then the first

shoe I got was an all-black NMD. Right when the NMD hype was huge. Like GRs

(General Releases) were selling on Ebay for like, $50 over retail. So my first one was the all-black NMD, the mesh one. And then after that my buddy Grant who was reselling saw that I was getting into it through Twitter. He started helping me figure out shoes and what to get and what actually resells. So, that’s when I started getting into Yeezys. That’s when they were so hot in the streets. When every release was guaranteed a couple hundred bucks a pair. I was one of the only people that when the Belugas first came out, I was like, these are fuckin sweet. Everyone hated the, because they were so different from the first pair of Yeezys.

When Boost came out, that was when I really got into it. I couldn’t make any money at the time because I couldn’t work, but I realized this was an easy way to make money. At first that’s literally what it was, but then my first pair of Zebras came in and I was like oh fuck… so I put them on my feet and looked down and I was like oh my god… then 11 more came in! and I was like oh shit. I remember wearing them to class one day and like 20-30 people tapped their friend when I walked by or said something to me like “holy shit how did you get those” and I was like I’m just cooking baby I don’t know. I think that’s one of the reasons. It’s an easy thing to look at. For me I just stare at people’s feet all the time walking around NY. I don’t know if that’s just a me thing, but people at work or people who are not sneakerheads, when I wear like my Kith

Ultraboosts or my Sean Wotherspoon’s or Off-White blazers, will comment on it. I think that’s one of the main reasons why people like to wear, like not only the expensive ones, like I have random shoes that aren’t expensive. I have New Balances that I got for like

$90 off Ebay that a lot of people like.

Maybe its an attention thing; it probably is, but I don’t know where it came from.

I guess its’ just if you’re wearing something loud on your feet that’s the first thing someone notices. When I wear my Sean Wotherspoon’s I guess its like statement, I don’t know. I don’t look it at like that, I just saw them and thought they were awesome.

ME: People who know, know. And there are even some shoes that people who don’t know see them and can just tell there is something about it that is special

SUBJECT 2: Yeah, and also, this is so petty, but I think it is a statement that people that have a lot of money can afford a thousand-dollar shoe and are going to want to flex it. So,

I think that’s one of the main reason that people are into it. It’s a simple flex. And it’s not too over the top, like you’re not wearing a Gucci jacket or something. It’s just a pair of sneakers… that probably cost as much as someone’s paycheck.

ME: So, it was really the selling that lead you into the lifestyle of it rather than the other way around?

SUBJECT 2: I think that what I realized was that with reselling is that I could get the shoes that l liked, and essentially, they’re free. At first, I was like, there is no way I’m gonna keep any of this. I looked at the Zebras and that’s $1300. I paid $200 for them and they’re reselling for $1500. Then I put them on my feet, and I was like, good god I have to keep these. And I didn’t wear them for a while. I sold 11 pairs to a kid I new from a sneaker group on twitter. I see it as an investment. If a shoe that comes out that I like I can wear and even I can get resell if their worn and I keep them nice. First I saw the money and then fashion. At first it was just Yeezy and Adidas, cause that’s what I knew.

My first non-Adidas shoe was the Fear of God Vans. I paid a hefty price for being in college. I paid $450 for them.

ME: Is that the most you’ve spent on a single pair?

SUBJECT 2: No. I saw both guys from The Chainsmokers wearing them and then I saw this youtuber wearing them. I saw it on my Instagram explore feed sitting courtside at the

Oracle Arena and thought they were sick. They were reselling for $600-$800 at that point and I got a worn pair on GOAT for $400 or something. And they were basically brand new. And I walked outside and got a grass stain on them the first time that I wore them.

And then that led me to get a fake pair cause I knew I would destroy them. They were clearly fake, but I was like whatever, I like them, it’s worth it to pay like $100 for these shoes I can beat up. And I can’t even wear them anymore because they’re so destroyed.

And then I got the pure boost Y3’s which were some of my favorite shoes I ever had and those were going for stupid money. I found a deal on them. The fakes were so obviously fake that I knew I wasn’t getting a fake pair. So I got them in college for probably $300, and then I wore them maybe two times and they hurt my feet. But I saw that I could resell them for like $900, so I did that.

ME: What is the most you have spent on a single pair of shoes?

SUBJECT 2: I bought the All Hallows Eve Blazer for like $550.

ME: Do you wear them?

SUBJECT 2: Yeah, I wear them a lot actually. My really hyped ones I only wear to work and stuff, I don’t wear them out, so I don’t ruin them. I paid around the same for the Sean

Wotherspoon’s too. I buy them all a little bit used. You can save so much money. The All

Hallows Eve came with all the laces, they didn’t smell at all, they were basically brand new. So, I paid like $550 for both of those pairs used. Actually, right after I sold my

Zebras I made a big purchase. I bought the Sneakers and Stuff Ultraboost Tee Times. I

paid a lot for those. I think $800. And the Woodward Ultraboosts. Those were my grails, then I saw them in person, and I was like… they’re just white and black Ultraboosts so I didn’t hold on to them for too long. That’s when Boost was so hyped. Those are the ones

I spent the most on. I bought those two back to back together for like $1500 and I was just like oh my god… I was so hyped for them to come in. especially the Woodward’s. I don’t know, there also shoes that aren’t really hype that I love. Like the react 87s, I love every color-way of those.

ME: How many pairs do you have right now?

SUBJECT 2: 14 pairs.

Me: What is the most you’ve had at one time?

SUBJECT 2: Just sneakers, probably about 20 at time. Granted I’ve had some that I’ve kept some in closet that I never wore. But yeah, probably like 20. And I’ll occasionally wear, like my all white Yeezys, but I destroyed them so they’re still here, but I don’t really wear them. My normal rotations in my NMD white Glitch Camos, my Blazer’s, both of my Vans, Wotherspoon’s, and I wear a pair called common projects a lot, but I blew out the heel on them.

ME: What do you wear when you’re going out?

SUBJECT 2: I have one pair of high-top Chucks, one pair of low-top Chucks and Chelsea boots usually. Unless its like a day thing where I know I’m not gonna be in like a dirty basement of a bar. I’ll wear like a Blazer or a Wotherspoon, but it makes me a little cautious going out though.

ME: You said what first got you into sneakers was skate boarding and Nike SBs, do you ever think about getting any of those again?

SUBJECT 2: I love the way they look, but I don’t really like the way they look on my feet. I love that they can get pretty wacky, a lot of crazy designs. The shoes I cant stand is the basketball shoes off the court. I probably will get the SB Off-white collab though. But that’s why like NMDs and stuff, cause they’re so sleek, and not puffy like SB’s.

I usually only wore like black and white shoes or gray, because they go with anything. But once I started wearing less colorful clothes I started realizing you can wear any colorful shoes with it. I think my style changing has definitely helped with getting to wear crazier color shoes. Getting into sneakers has gotten me into high fashion.

SUBJECT 2: That’s why hypebeasts is such a big thing right now for kids. It’s a way to prove they’re rich. People just waste so much money to look the part

Subject 3: 22: Dallas, TX.

ME: How did you first get into sneakers?

SUBJECT 3: Michael Jordan was my favorite player growing up and of course everybody knows Jordan’s, so probably I think I had my first pair of Jordan’s when I was little, like 1, 2 or 3. I think I was a one year old when I got my first pair of Jordan’s. I still have them, and I hang them up on my rear view mirror in my car.

ME: Which ones are they?

SUBJECT 3: They’re 10s

ME: So at that time it was your parents getting you into it and jump starting it for you?

SUBJECT 3: Yeah pretty much, but what is crazy now is I wouldn’t even buy a pair of

Jordan’s right now probably. And its crazy, I have changed to a different style of like shoes and stuff.

ME: What’s your style now?

SUBJECT 3: I really like Adidas, vans, I like, yeah pretty much I really like vans right now, that’s what I really wear a lot.

ME: Do you collect sneakers or do you just get them when you need a new pair?

SUBJECT 3: Yeah, mine is more like, I usually get em when I need em, or if I really like em I’m like okay, I gotta have those, but I don’t collect, not like that.

ME: When it comes to adidas are you more into Yeezy or the boost kinda thing?

SUBJECT 3: I like the boosts, but I’m definitely gonna get me a pair of Yeezy’s.

ME: if you had a fashion style how would you describe that? What are you wearing when you go out?

SUBJECT 3: I would say I wear a lot of button-ups, but they’re like with crazy colors and

I like jean jackets. I love jackets. I would say it is kind of like… you know how

Westbrook dresses? Not that eccentric, but its kinda like that.

ME: Do you have, or have you had in the past, any shoes that you gave personal value to?

Something that when you see that shoe it sparks a memory or means something to you.

SUBJECT 3: That’s a good question. I don’t have a pair of Jordan 11’s, but I have always wanted them, I don’t know why, but I have always wanted 11’s. Either some Space Jams or some Concords, but not really. I just think of my basketball shoes and if I see them I’ll be like oh I used to play in them back when I was in high school or something. So like the hyper dunks, or the crazy light Adidas when those first came out.

ME: What are you playing in right now?

SUBJECT 3: I’m playing in the Black History Month Kyrie’s. the comfort is amazing.

ME: There are certain sneaker that have a culture value about them. They are something that everybody wants. What do you think it is that makes the 11 a shoe like that?

SUBJECT 3: I don’t know man. I really feel like it’s just the design of it. And to me, it’s the best-looking Jordan. And I think a lot of people believe that it’s the best-looking

Jordan. But I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the movie.

ME: That’s what is so interesting to me. Why is the 11 so mythic when the 9 for example doesn’t get the love like that?

SUBJECT 3: You know there are certain retros that are on a higher pedestal than other ones. I don’t know what it is, but it just happens to be like that with the culture, I don’t know

ME: When you were growing up was your style like what it is now, or you trying to follow what the trends were?

SUBJECT 3: Yeah I tried to follow and be with the hype, and tried to get shoes when they released and stuff, but after a while I was like, man I’m really doing to much sometimes (Laughs). When you gotta wake up right when it releases and you gotta buy it.

ME: What is the most you think you have ever spent on a pair of shoes?

SUBJECT 3: It was I think, $220 on some J’s, I think it was the 3s. I’m not sure which ones though.

ME: When you’re making purchases are you following releases online and know you are going to buy something, or do you just pass by a shoe in the window and now I need to get that?

SUBJECT 3: I usually see stuff that I like on social media. And then I’m like okay, I might have to get that shoe when it comes out. Then I’ll go to the mall and look at it in person and then I’ll make my decision. Cause I wear a 14, so they usually don’t have that in stores anyway. So I have to order mine online. I’ll go to the store, see what the style looks like in person, and then I’ll go home and order it.

ME: Do you consider yourself a person that follows the trends, or do you just try to do your own thing and not care about what’s hot

SUBJECT 3: I like to do my own thing and its funny, cause when I dress up and stuff I start getting my teammates to wear Vans and stuff cause they see those do look good. I start getting them to get on the Vans train. I feel like I like my own style.

Subject 4: Atlanta, GA

ME: Wade gave me your number and said you were into sneakers?

SUBJECT 4: Yeah I have quite a few pairs

ME: How many do you have?

SUBJECT 4: Man, I would say right now, probably well over 70, I would guess.

ME: When did you start collecting?

SUBJECT 4: Well my foot hasn’t grown since 11th grade in high school so, I guess it started then.

ME: What would you say got you into sneakers, and that culture and collecting?

SUBJECT 4: Well definitely my older cousin was a sneakerhead. He’s from NY and he’s a big sneakerhead so, I guess he really got me into it and then I just really loved hooping in different pairs of basketball shoes. Seeing how different ones felt and wearing different ones, so I kind of just started getting more and more shoes and trying different things.

ME: What are you playing in now?

SUBJECT 4: Right now I’m playing in the Kyries, but I actually just got a pair of

Westbrook’s new All-Star ones he wore. I haven’t worn them yet, but I’m gonna start wearing those.

ME: Do you remember the first shoe that really go you into sneakers?

SUBJECT 4: The Haurraches, the ones that Deron Williams had for the Utah Jazz, I loved those shoes, that’s what might have gotten the ball rolling.

ME: Did you start wearing them yourself cause you saw him wearing them?

SUBJECT 4: I saw him wearing them, and they were the same colors as my school colors, so I said perfect and I loved the style of it and he was a great player.

ME: Do you have a certain style right now?

SUBJECT 4: Playing wise I prefer to wear low top shoes, so usually I tend to gravitate toward those. And I do really like the PG 2s as well. Those are most comfortable to play in.

ME: Is most of the stuff you’re buying meant to be worn on court or are you buying for fashion too?

SUBJECT 4: Yeah for sure, my favorite Jordan’s are probably the 3s. I don’t like to really hoop in Jordan’s. I don’t consider retros and classic as playing shoes. I like to wear those out and about.

ME: What are some of your favorites that you’re wearing off the court?

SUBJECT 4: The Cement 3s, the retro 11’s are probably my favorites, I’ve got the red ones, I’ve got the UNC lows, those actually might be my favorites.

ME: What is the most you’ve ever spent on a pair of sneakers?

SUBJECT 4: I spent $800 on Louis Vuitton’s, I don’t know if that counts as sneakers

(laughs)

ME: Do you wear those—

SUBJECT 4: I’ve only worn them once so far

ME: Do you save money or move money around to be able to afford sneakers?

SUBJECT 4: No, if I don’t have it, I’m not gonna get it. I only spend what I’m comfortable with. Can’t break the bank buying some shoes.

ME: When you see releases coming up are you planning to make purchases or are you more in the mindset when you see something you like you get it?

SUBJECT 4: I’m not really camping outside or watching releases, I’m more like, if I’m in foot locker and see something I like I’ll get it.

ME: you seem like you’re more of a Nike/Jordan guy, is that correct?

SUBJECT 4: Yeah for sure. I did have a pair of the Harden 2s actually, but those are the only adidas that I played in.

ME: What do you think about the style that’s popular now? Such as the vans and the

Adidas and stuff? Are you into that at all?

SUBJECT 4: I’ve never really been a big vans guys, I do have one pair, but I don’t wear them that often. But I do like wearing Air Max’s kinda that category. I love the

Vapormax, I do have a couple pairs of those. I’m not a big vans guy though

ME: How did your cousin get you into sneakers?

SUBJECT 4: It was just growing up. Both of my parents are from NY and he’s still up there and we would go during the summer. I would just see his collection. He has a room full of shoe boxes and that planted the seed in my head. He got me into basketball as well, so he’s kind of been like a mentor.

ME: Being from Atlanta, and now being in Raleigh is it tougher to keep up with the sneaker community and industry

SUBJECT 4: The malls and places I am close to here don’t have as big of a selection as they do in Atlanta. They style is a little different here in Raleigh too.

ME: What would you say is your fashion style?

SUBJECT 4: Well I’ve always been a hooper, so I wear a lot of joggers and stuff like that, but I like to switch it up, I don’t know.

ME: When you put your outfit together do you start with the sneakers or does that come last?

SUBJECT 4: Yeah I usually pick the shoes first and then put it together from there.

ME: I know you mentioned the haurraches earlier, but is there another shoe that really means something to you?

SUBJECT 4: Yeah, actually the Carmelo’s, the 1.5s. that’s probably the first shoe that my dad bought me. So that one means a lot to me.

ME: Do you still have a pair of them?

SUBJECT 4: I actually found one a couple years ago. I found a pair. It wasn’t the same color, but I got em.

ME: do you plan in them or just wear them around?

SUBJECT 4: I’ve played pickup in them, but not any meaningful games or anything. But those are for sure sentimental

ME: Do you ever do any trading at all with people?

SUBJECT 4: I was thinking about getting into that, because I do have so many pairs that

I don’t wear, but especially in college I was just giving shoes away to my friends and stuff. I never really been into selling and trading.

Subject 5: Raleigh, NC

ME: Do you remember first getting into sneakers and how that happened for you?

SUBJECT 5: Yeah, It really started early with my mom. She would get me all the Jordans that would come out when I was younger, as well as my other siblings as well. My two younger sisters at the time so, we would all have the matching Jordans and everything.

That would be something, a little thing she would just do, she was always trying to do stuff like that so it was cool.

ME: Do you remember the first pair she got you that made you think “this is the one”

SUBJECT 5: I think it was the Jordan 8’s. I don’t remember what they were called at the time, but I think they’re called Aqua’s now. But they’re the Jordan 8’s; the black, turquoise and purple ones. At the time back then, that’s the main ones I remember from back when I was younger. And of course the 11’s, but the 8’s are really the first ones that were really like yeah alright I love these shoes.

ME: How many pairs would you say that you own now, or what was the most that you have owned at a time?

SUBJECT 5: Probably the most I’ve owned at one time would be I’d say around 70.

Maybe 70 pairs of shoes. Cause I would say I play in my shoes, so some exclusives that I have out here I have on the court, but I like to wear them off the court and I’ll transfer them to the hardwood and do what you’re supposed to in them.

ME: Do you ever find yourself saving money or moving money around to be able to afford sneakers, or are you just purchasing when you have the extra money?

SUBJECT 5: I might move a couple coins here and there depending on the release and depending on how exclusive it is. I’ll move a few dollars around to make sure I got those.

ME: What is the last release that you bought?

SUBJECT 5: The last release that I bought is the Jordan Concord 11. But I’m going to the consignment shops and stuff and picking up new all the time.

ME: Do you ever do any kind of trading or do you just purchase?

SUBJECT 5: Yeah I’ve got a couple guys, but I wear a size 14, so it’s hard for me to be trading a lot. But I’ve got a couple guys that I trade with and they’re basketball players of course.

ME: Do you have a brand that you’re loyal too or does that not matter to you?

SUBJECT 5: I more so lean toward Nike’s and Jordan’s. On court purposes, more so

Nike’s, but a couple pair of Jordans that I play in. Really though, 11’s are the only

Jordans that I play in that are most comfortable for me. Outside of those I keep everything else outside the court. I might throw some 12s on every now and then, but for the most part on court its 11’s for me.

ME: Do you have many memories attached to a certain style or certain shoe. Something that when you put it on-

SUBJECT 5: Takes me back?

ME: Yeah

SUBJECT 5: Man let me tell you the truth. I’ve been trying to find these kicks for a minute too. In high school I used to play in the all black Charles Barkley’s. I forget what exactly they was called, but they were a specific Charles Barkley shoe and I went to the

Dominican Republic about 3 or 4 years ago for a tour and one of my teammates actually had those pair of shoes and when I put those shoes on, I promise you, I felt like I was right back in high school. It was just a whole feeling, cause you know, there was a team

thing behind it. I got a whole bunch of guys on my team into them so everybody else got them. So that’s probably my best memory with a specific shoe. They were special.

ME: You haven’t been able to find them again?

SUBJECT 5: No man, not in a size 14. I’ve seen a couple in other sizes, but not in a 14. I gotta get them though

ME: When it comes to fashion do you build your style around your shoes or do the shoes get chosen last as the final piece to the outfit?

SUBJECT 5: I’m going with shoe I wanna wear first, and then outfit after that.

ME: When you’re playing in certain shoes are you still wearing those shoes off the court?

SUBJECT 5: No, I make sure I have shoes only for on court purposes. Gotta keep the traction for the court.

ME: How often would you say you’re buying new pairs?

SUBJECT 5: I’m probably getting right now I would say about 4 pair a month. I’ve been really getting back into to lately. Making sure my shoes are top notch.

ME: What’s your favorite thing you’re wearing right now?

SUBJECT 5: My favorite ones I’m wearing right now would probably be my Yeezy

350’s. They’re the most comfortable for me, so when I’m off the court that’s what I’m in.

So comfortable. It’s hard when you wear a size 14

SUBJECT 5: Let me ask you this question. You say you’re into shoes. You know who PJ tucker is right? So you know he’s form Raleigh. That’s one of my guys, one of my big brothers type of thing. Me and him were always bonding over all these things. A lot of it is inspiration from seeing PJ doing what he’s doing. Just watching him do is thing as the sneaker king of the NBA has been an inspiration in itself.

Subject 6: 23: Myrtle Beach, SC.

ME: I know that you're into sneakers and have been for a little bit, but what drew you to kind of collect them and what drew you to the sneaker culture?

SUBJECT 6: Okay. I mean, even whenever I was like a little kid, like, probably second grade, third grade, I would always have like new sneakers. And they weren’t anything thing cool, but like, I was like the first person to wear Vans at my school, so everyone got them and then like, I don't know, my hometown, like Myrtle is kind of boring, and like a whole tourist trap. So like all my friends kind of just like rocked, whatever we sold at the store, stuff like beach Ts and like, board shorts, stuff like that. And I would always try and stand out and be different. So like, I would get my mom to take me like journeys and get some Adidas shoes or something like, I remember I had like Sambas one year and then like, all my friends bought a pair of Sambas that month. And then I copped a pair of

Van’s, and then they all got their Vans. And then like it just kind of it continued that way that I always like wanted a shoe that was different than everyone else. And I never really messed with flip flops. And that's all we really sold. I would just go get my mom to hook it up. I remember I had my first pair of Jordan’s in like sixth grade. And that was like the year after I started in public school and everyone was like who is this nerdy looking

Jewish kid rocking Jordan. That's how I made all my friends that weren't Jewish. And then after that I started making money at the store. And I was like, there's a lot of other shoes I can buy, that are much cooler than these ones I’m getting at Rack Room and

Journey’s. So now I can just go on the web and buy as many as I can. That's become a problem.

ME: Trust me, I hear you with that. Do you find yourself spending more than you should on shoes? Or are you kind of keeping it in an acceptable level? Are you getting to the point where you're spending too much?

SUBJECT 6: I think like, two years ago, maybe a year ago, I was buying maybe a pair month or two pairs a month and that like just kind of drained my bank account because I started going from like buying hundred dollar shoes to like $220 every drop. And I would look out for every drop. And I was like I gotta have these since they’re dropping. I would always try to get them. And if I got them I always say like I would sell them and I would never sell them because I would like them too much. But I think this month actually, is kind of my breaking point. Because I started having some more financial responsibilities.

I’ve got like house payments, got all my utilities and things like that going on. Trying to save up some money. And I think last month I bought three pairs of shoes and I'm kind of sick with myself. So I'm going to cut it off for a while.

ME: Yeah, we've all been there.

SUBJECT 6: Yeah, for sure. For sure it happens. But I'll probably stop for a good \ month or two and then see what see what happens after that.

ME: What is the most you've spent on a single pair you think?

SUBJECT 6: The most I spent on a single pair… was not actually, even for myself, I bought it for my cousin for his birthday. Because he was always like, looking at my shoes. And then I bought him a pair of Off-White low top Vulcans. And they're I got them for like $325. So yeah probably like $325 is the most I have paid ever, but for myself personally, I think the last pair of shoes I got, also a pair of Off-White’s, but the

high tops were $270 in the end. But yeah, but yeah, those are probably the most expensive pair of shoes I’ve bought.

ME: Do you have any shoes that you own now or owned when you were younger that you really want to get again? Or Is there a shoe that when you see it makes you back to when you were younger? Something that you kind of always loved and maybe never had when you were younger?

SUBJECT 6: For sure. back in the day, I was always the type of guy that was always rocking Adidas, and just the shell toe Adidas, I used to have like, two pairs of them or three pairs of them when I was younger. And then they came back and style, so I bought a pair. And then like every girl that was wearing a jean jacket had a pair of them and I was like I can’t wear these anymore. So I still have them in my closet. I look at him every now and then and debate where I'm going before I put them on.

ME: It's that shoe that every girl that ever went abroad loves.

SUBJECT 6: It definitely ruined the shoe and in a way that I don't want to wear it, but I still really, really enjoy looking at it.

ME: It's funny, we see it as ruining the shoe. But I mean, Adidas couldn't have asked for anything else. if you if you know the history of that shoe it got popular because RUN-

DMC made a song about it. Everybody was wearing it.

SUBJECT 6: But it's still like something where you had some of those people that were rocking it still and wearing it every now and then. And I remember I was in like, third or fourth grade and my mom got me a pair because my dad wore them back in the day. So every time I wear them around my dad, he always comments on them.

ME: What do you think it is about a shoe like that for you that gives it personal value?

Do you think it's just an idea of it being something that you were into when you're younger or do you think it has more that to it?

SUBJECT 6: It was probably that, I don't know, it's probably that shoe really got me into

Adidas. Like I was always playing soccer whenever I was younger, and like no one else really had like, I mean, they're always rocking, like just random cleats that you would find at like Walmart or something. But like I would always kind of sneak in with my mom and try to like, get myself some really cool pair of Adidas like cleats and stuff. And

I think those shoes really just made me move on from wearing like, the random brands to like trying to get name brand shoes and like, I don't know, it kind of stuck with me.

Because my uncle is in Israel, and people probably don't really know this, but Israel's, like very behind on trends. Like, I remember whenever, like 50 cent dropped a song. I was eight years old and I had already listened it two years ago.

And I went to Israel, and that's all they listened to so I remember the shell toes came out,

I would say like a year later, all my cousins came from Israel and they were still rocking them.

It's just like kind of the culture behind it. Like how they blew up. It was just, I don't know, it's just like, that got me into like really wanting to get more and more shoes, I would say

ME: What is your favorite shoe that exists? What is your holy grail?

SUBJECT 6: Holy grail, like in terms of like collector, or like, my favorite shoe that I wear the most?

ME: Give me both.

SUBJECT 6: All right, well my favorite collector… I don't know, they're really not even worth that much. But I really like my supreme Nike that came out, the SBs. Yeah. Yeah.

Those ones I feel like are very low key but like, very, very cool. Yeah, yeah. they have that aspect. And people like to look at them. But I have a pair of those. And I just bought a pair of the Supreme tailwinds that I like a lot. And I don't know, I used to really, really appreciate the fact that I had a pair of Yeezy’s. I think that's kind of gone down the drain for me. So I wouldn't even consider them my grail.

ME: Yeah, I was kind of the same way when I had my Blue Tints.

SUBJECT 6: Exactly. Like my friend offered me like, he offered me some money for my

Yeezy’s I had in my closet because like, I haven't been wearing them, I wore them like twice. And yet, he was like, yo, let me get them. I ruined mine. I was like, Okay, well, yeah, I'm definitely fine with selling these. But I would never sell my SBs. And I have these Nike ACG boots that I'm a real big fan of. I haven't seen anyone… Anyone at least in Myrtle wear them. Every time I wear him out people are like, damn, where the fuck did you get those? Like, I've never seen those. And then the ones that were the most are probably like, Air Max 95’s or 97’s. I go between the 95 in the 97’s and the Adidas in

NMDs. People don't really wear them anymore and if they do they're like not the cool ones but I’m still a big fan of that shoe. maybe two pairs of 97

ME: Can you describe your fashion style?

SUBJECT 6: My fashion style is probably, like a lot of black white and gray. Like jeans I always just I don't even, I don't know when I could tell you I had a blue pair of blue jeans. I wear a lot of, you know those jeans that they're calling moto jeans? I like those,

those are pretty much the only types of jeans I wear now. And a lot of like plain black

T’s, plain white T's and very minimalistic logos if they have anything on them. And then shoes, shoes are probably the one spot that I like color on and change up the style.

ME: Would you say when you're putting an outfit together do you start with the sneakers? Or do the shoes come last?

SUBJECT 6: Come last, but I would say I take more time picking out the shoe I'm gonna wear with outfit rather than like what t shirt I'm wearing. I put more focus on the shoe.

ME: How many pairs do right now?

SUBJECT 6: 40. I started working and then I started getting money and I was like damn,

I need more shoes. I think I got jealous after I saw those boxes whenever you were moving out. I Gotta catch up.

ME: You're getting close. I was up to about 60 at one point, but I'm back down to like, low 50s right now. I'm kind of at the point where I'm like, get one, get rid of one.

SUBJECT 6: The worst problem I have now is I got a huge closet. So literally my whole floor my closet is just lined up with shoes.