YouSaid · the spoken record

Paige Mycoskie

lines on the record: 81
first: 2024-01-01
most recent: 2024-01-01
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Yeah. So I kind of set my vibe. And of course, as a photographer, I'm thinking to myself, like, I'm going to have to like shoot photos of this stuff and what's it going to look like as a brand and literally on a shelf in my bedroom. I have probably 30 pairs of aviator sunglasses, all different. Like I get them at flea markets and stuff. And I always collected them. And I always wore aviator. I think my first obsession with aviators came from Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis and Top Gunn because that was my favorite movie and I had the poster on my wall growing up. And then I remember thinking like, what do I want to do with this brand? Like, you know, this could be cool if it was like also bringing cool people together. And the word nation kind of came from that because I'm like, I want it to be like a group of people that are all wearing these cool sunglasses, this lifestyle hanging out at the beach, like surfing together, friends. So anyway, I'm like aviating.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, yeah. I mean, and even today, like, I don't start my work until I have candles lit and music playing and like the right lighting”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I thought of the name when I was back in California, like right after I got back. So I was basically sitting there in my bedroom and I had all the clothes around me. And I think I probably lit a couple candles. I always do that. I'm like big into like setting the vibe.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it's funny. I mean, my mom is always like just loves everything. My dad, on the other hand, is very, very supportive and encouraging, but he's also very analytical. And I'll never forget where sitting in the kitchen. And I was like, okay, here's the thing. I made some clothes. I was wearing them around. People liked them. I think I'm going to try to start a clothing brand. What do you think? Do you believe in this? And he was like, I'll give you like, I think he said six months to be profitable. He was like, if you're profitable in six months, then I'll believe in you. Something like that that was like pretty hardcore. But like at the same time, it made sense, you know, it was like a reasonable amount of time. So I said, okay, I got to do this fast. It's got to be profitable. And I'm going to stay focused, you know?”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I was making them from scratch, so I would buy garments at Goodwill and thrift stores and just cut it up into a big piece of fabric. And then I would make my own garment from patterns that I would make. And the way that I would make the patterns is for me, and again, this is like totally no like fashion school. And a lot of people probably think I'm crazy. But I would take my favorite garment, like let's say my favorite t-shirt. I would carefully take all of the stitching out of it. And then I could lay it flat. And then I had a puzzle. Like I had a piece of each part of the garment. And then I would trace that onto paper and I would have a pattern.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it was a lot of stripes. I would make like a little half sun so it would be like a sunset on a bunch of stripes. And then the lightning bolt was another thing that was really consistent. I just loved lightning bolts and all the stuff that I liked was from the 70s. I mean. A lot of the kind of vintage stuff that I wore and would buy would have kind of those 70s rainbows and stuff on them. I also had posters in my rooms and stuff of like cars that were from the 70s. I think that I get inspiration from the colors of cars and a lot of record albums and old skateboards.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I basically did not really know at that time. I knew that I was going to try to sell it to somebody back in California. I knew that California was the place where people were starting brands. So my plan was basically to try to get a collection sown up because I knew that from being the buyer's assistant that people sell a collection. They don't just sell two things. So I needed to make an actual collection. And then I would decide where I would try to sell it. But there was one store in particular that was what I thought was the best store in LA. It was Fred Siegel in Santa Monica. And that was always where I thought all the new up-and-coming brands and were being displayed. And so my goal was to make a collection in Texas and then go back to LA and try to get Fred Siegel to carry the brand.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And so I decided I'm going to quit my job. I'm going to move home to Arlington. I'm going to tell my parents that I'm going to spend some time sewing, only focused on these clothes that I was making. And I was going to try to start selling the clothes. And I just felt like I needed to get into the craft. Like I needed to just be sewing. I needed to see what I could really do. You know, so I went back to Texas for May and June of 2006. And I pretty much did not leave the bedroom. I set up a workshop and I just.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I just told him, of course, I made it myself. Sorry. Like, I just made it myself, you know. But that happened in one day, like three times. And I was just like, this is actually crazy. Like these people want to buy this. And I thought, I wonder if I could actually make clothes and sell them and make more money than I'm making right now at my job. And then I think it was like a few days later, I went to a trade show with my boss for ZJ Boardinghouse. And I was at the Action Sports Trade Show in San Diego. And I was wearing something that I made to the trade show. And it was like a feeding frenzy because all these people are there to buy, you know, whatever's the cool thing for their store. And it was like I couldn't walk 20 feet without someone being like, what are you wearing? What is that shirt? And I couldn't go anywhere. I mean, people like were just out of control, thought it was nuts. And so I knew when I got home, I was like, I'm going to try to do this. I'm going to try to actually make a collection and sell it.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“One day I was in Venice and I was walking around and I literally got stopped by like three or four different people in the span of a couple hours asking me where they could buy my sweatpants. Where did you get those?”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah. And so his idea was obviously to give back to the people of Argentina by giving away a pair of shoes when he sold a pair. And it was so random. I mean, he had done nothing in retail. And he was like, what do you think? And I said, oh my God, that's so crazy. I was like, I literally bought a sewing machine a couple weeks ago and I've been making clothes. We literally are both thinking about getting into like the fashion industry and we both had no previous discussion about being in fashion at all. And it was just so it was kind of a funny moment that we shared. But we definitely had our own thing going.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, it's a really funny story. So when I bought my sewing machine, which was in February 2006, he was in Argentina. And he was supposed to kind of decide what he was going to do next. And he came back from Argentina and we were very, very close. And he goes, Paige, I have an idea and I want to tell you about it. He came in and he was like told me the whole thing. He said he was in Argentina and he was inspired by all the people that didn't have shoes there. And so he wanted to make a traditional Argentina shoe.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Oh, yeah, it was so weird. It's like I look at the stuff I was literally painting as an eight-year-old girl and it's kind of doing the same thing now”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so my technique was I basically had an idea of what the graphic was that I wanted on the shirt and I didn't know how to screen print or anything like that. So for me, I just drew the graphic on a different color, cut it out of fabric, and then sewed that fabric on top of the other garment. So, like a heart, you know, if I wanted a heart on the shirt, I would cut out a heart and then I would sew it on. So that's technically applique. So a lot of it was stripes and shapes, heart, sunsets, you know, and I would make it all. I would draw it on other colors of t-shirts, cut it out, and then sew it on to the sweatshirt. And yeah, it was very handmade looking. But it also had this like super unique look because, I mean, nobody was really doing that. I just did it because it was the only thing that made sense in my head.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And I got some money for my birthday. It was in 2006. And I remember I ordered a couple books on sewing and DVDs. And I taught myself. And I remember honestly, like no joke staying up all night long, making clothes. I was completely obsessed. And then I started wearing, you know, the clothes to work. And that's kind of where it started is everybody was just like, what is that? That is, that's so dope. That's a rad shirt. What is that?”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so I just, you know, I had all these ideas in my head. I was really, really specific about what I personally wore. I really liked things that felt super broken in. I wanted really soft clothing all the time. And I naturally ended up shopping in thrift stores and at Goodwill and flea markets. And I was starting to get more and more specific about like I would see something that I liked, but it wouldn't fit the way I wanted it to fit or I would have something I liked the way it fit, but it wasn't the color I wanted. And, you know, growing up, my grandmother made her own clothes and I spent a lot of time with her. And it kind of just hit me. You know, I think I'm going to buy a sewing machine and just make what I'm looking for.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I always wanted the really crazy stuff, you know, the funky colors, the stuff that a lot of people in retail would say that nobody really wants to buy. And I always believed that like if you had a little bit of the crazy and you still had the blacks and the whites and the neutrals, like that stuff actually looks cooler when it's paired with a little bit of the crazy stuff.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I started as data entry and I was basically putting in orders for the buyers. It was funny. I would be going through catalogs, putting in his order, and then I would look at my buyer and be like, you know, are you sure you want to order this one? Because I think these shoes are actually like way cooler. And I think this hoodie is like way cooler. And I always just kind of had a knack for what people would want. And like, so he would say, okay, let's try that. Let's try that. And then we would order it and then it would sell out. And so he saw that I was really good at choosing what should go in the store. And so he ended up making me his buyer's assistant. And so then I started going to trade shows. And it was so fun. I got to pretty much choose what we were going to carry. And I shifted pretty much what he was ordering kind of more of the safe items. And I always wanted the more risky items.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, not at all. After the race, we decided to just kind of move to LA. I really wanted to be in LA anyway. I kind of had fallen in love with surfing and the CBS people, you know, offered me the job at Survivor to do casting. But I realized pretty soon that it wasn't really for me. I didn't love the travel. And so I started kind of working at a surf shop on the side. And I was a little all over the place at that time.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I mean, I think for both of us, we just learned so much about breaking through the barriers because there really were. Like when you travel, I mean, everyone knows it's stressful to travel, but on those conditions, we really kind of hit a lot of struggles along the way. And I think that both of us were just so close to that million dollars and then losing it that like I think we both just wanted to do big things. I think we were both just kind of like, let's just go out and make it anyway.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so when we got to San Francisco, we were down to the last three teams. And when we got there, we had to find something. And I was looking at the map. And Blake took the map out of my hands and was like, no, we're going this way. I know it's this way and like kind of made this like executive decision to go basically in the wrong direction. And it's like a funny thing now we joke about because we ended up losing the race by four minutes in the end. And I always joke with him that he owes me a million dollars and he agrees.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I remember when we were in Australia, we went to this place called Cooper Pedie. I just remember just getting sunburned, like bad and being in this extreme heat and having to trek through the desert. And it was just so brutal. I remember physically just feeling completely exhausted. I lost like 30 pounds on that show. I had like no body fat. Yeah, because we weren't eating.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, absolutely. It was interesting because the show was pretty much just starting. And so they had a very low budget. And it was kind of like a scavenger hunt, but at the same time, we had no money and we're racing around the world. And so Blake and I always thought that our money should go into buying a guidebook because we had no cell phones, no computers, nothing like that. And then we just sacrificed. We were like, okay, like we would buy like a loaf of bread, literally, and eat it for three days. That would be our food. And then we would sleep on the street, and that was our strategy.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And the premise was like they gave you a small budget, and then you have to survive off that budget and make your way around the world. And that meant that sometimes you'd sleep outside, oftentimes, or in the jungle. It was sort of like survivor meets around the world in 80 days.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so it was a race around the world. We started actually in Las Vegas and they dropped us off in helicopters in the middle of the desert. And basically we had to find our way to an airport. And then the first stop was Brazil. And we went to Hong Kong. We went to Australia, New Zealand, multiple places in Africa. And Blake and I, you know, both had never traveled. I think he had been to Europe, but I had never traveled at all. So it was pretty wild.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Apparently, they had just filmed the first season, and so this would be for the second season, and he explained that to us. And he said, well, it's a race around the world, same prize, a million dollars to the winner, but you don't have to go survive on a deserted island. Instead, you're going to race around the world as a team. And we were like, oh, this sounds amazing. Yes, we want to do amazing race. I mean, we knew right away that we didn't want one of us to not be able to do it. So we were like, let's go. Let's be a team. And so anyway, we agreed right there that we would be his first.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And then you can compete together. And we were like, what's amazing race? Because the first season hadn't even started yet.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, they didn't. And so, anyway, we went to our interviews, and then we got a second call. We were both being called back. And then finally, I think part three was for all the final people to come to LA. And apparently they were going to put us in front of Les Moon Vest, the president of CBS, and that he was going to choose the ultimate contestant. Sits us down and he's like, okay, Blake and Page. It was not until literally this week that we knew we had two microscopies here. I love you both and I would love to have either of you on Survivor. He was like, but I can't put both of you on Survivor. So you can have the choice. You can either decide amongst yourself who's going to do Survivor or he's like, I have this new show, Amazing Race, and I can actually put you both on the show as a team.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Back then, I don't know how it is now, but you send in like a three minute video, and that's how you apply. So, anyway, he sent in his video, I sent in mine, and our big thing was okay, let's make this a competition, let's see who can get on. And it was so funny a couple weeks later, he called me and he's like, did you get a call? And I'm like, yeah. I'm like, did you get a call? And so we both got a call from CBS to basically come to an interview. And we obviously were like, this is so weird. I wonder if they know, you know, that we both tried out, if they know they're asking us both to come in.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Aviator Nation eventually branched out beyond sweatpants and shirts to jackets, hats, bags, and denim, and it grew slowly but steadily, not crazy out of proportion sales, but growth each year. But unlike many other successful founders, Paige never took on any investment. She is the main owner of aviator nation. During the pandemic, when more casual clothes became a lot more popular and practical, aviation began to go viral on TikTok and sales exploded from twenty seven million to more than one hundred thirty million today. As for Paige, she loved art and sports and studied photography. In college. In the early 2000s, kind of on a lark, she and her brother Blake applied to compete on a new reality show called Survivor.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So I first set up a tripod in my apartment and I took photos of myself wearing all the clothes and I printed out a little pamphlet. And so my theory was to go into Fred Siegel and basically be wearing the clothes. And I just walked in and I was like, hey, is the buyer here? And the girl at the counter, I remember just kind of laughed at me, you know, I mean, the thing is, it was such a high profile store that I think she thought I was nuts. Nobody walks in off the street to Fred Siegel and gets a meeting.”
2024-01-01 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Aviator Nation: Paige Mycoskie · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT