YouSaid · the spoken record

Shep Murray

lines on the record: 61
first: 2026-04-27
most recent: 2026-04-27
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

“And we found that a lot of the ties that didn't tie well were all done one way and the more expensive ones were done the other. So we emulated what we liked and walked away from what we didn't. But I think it's important we talk about what was going on in the world at the time and what was motivating us. And back then in the late 90s, Shep had the idea that Ty and I was sort of like, well, like your response guy, like these guys are crazy. It's casual workplace. Nobody was wearing ties. This idea makes no sense. But what really fueled us was not the endgame, but the journey. And at that time, Nantucket Nectars was a very popular brand.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Not, I mean, it's a pretty basic item, but the components really matter. One thing that most guys will tell you is they like the way a tie ties or they don't. And a lot of that has to do with what's inside it, the interfacing, which we cut apart all the ties that we had, what we liked, what we didn't like, and why. The other thing that people notice is how the silk feels, you know, what the finish is on there. Is it gummy? Is it not gummy? And as you pull the tie tighter, a lot of people would like a little bit of a contour, like a little curve to the surface of it. And we discovered that that had to do with the way in which you cut it and which way the weave was going.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yep, we're using that. And then also the vineyard has a very distinct shape of the actual island. It's sort of like a triangle a little bit. And we would make a tie another print pattern that had that with whales swimming between the little islands. And those are the first very early patterns that we had. And then we would, like Chef said, I remember going to the New York Public Library and looking up clothing manufacturers and label manufacturers and various things. And would make those cold calls and we got to a point where we had assembled enough information that we had met people that knew how to screen silk overseas. We had met people who knew how to cut the silk into the various patterns to sew them into ties.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yep, the way I remember it is we have this idea of the street signs in Martha's Vineyard have a very distinct look to them. You've probably seen them. And we went up to the vineyard. I remember going up there and taking a picture of the street signs, of all the street signs. Shep was working at Young and Rubican on Madison Avenue. When I get out of my job at 530, I'd go down to see him at YNR. I'd bring a pizza, 12 pack of beer. I'd go into the creative studio. People would think I basically worked there. And we befriended a couple of graphics people. I said, hey, can you guys do me a favor? Will you scan in these photos? Will you create an illustration similar to them? Lay it out on a piece of paper.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, I mean, it was very interesting. We were traveling with our parents. And one thing that was interesting about being the guests of these properties is how much time we got to spend with the general managers and seeing how they did everything from helping to check people in and bring the luggage to their rooms to getting on their hands and knees and fixing a carpet to making sure the food and beverage was running properly. And I think we maybe didn't appreciate it at the time, but we learned how to really understand what customers' expectations were or could be, particularly for affluent customers”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Exactly. The things that we love to do are very much still rooted in what we did when we were kids. We would drive our truck out on the beach with our father early in the morning. Somebody would make breakfast out on the beach. We'd go fishing. We'd spend the day at the beach all day. And by the time the end of the day came around, we were all exhausted and we went to bed not long after the sun went down.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So here's what I remember. I remember going down to Anguilla with our parents, and Shep had mentioned the idea of creating a line of neckties of all things. And in talking about it, we really liked that print motif tie that you could get from Hermes and Farragamo. We found that that was a price point over $100. We found that you could get novelty ties that sort of had the same sort of motifs, but they were like $25 to $30. And we saw an opportunity to do something right in the middle.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, not for me. But it didn't feel authentic to me. And I, you know, one of the things that happens from a young age, I think when for some entrepreneurs is everything you see, you go out to lunch, you go out to dinner, you go anything, you just see opportunities. How could this be done differently? How could we reimagine what's happening right here at this takeout window, you know, how the person greeted me, how they thanked me, anything like that. What does the packaging look like? My mind always went to those places. And just sitting there writing press releases, it was not fulfilling for me.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The reality, I mean, I started to think maybe do I want to teach or something because the reality of not having a summer vacation was like outrageous to me. Couldn't figure out how I was going to get called adult.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Got a job offer to be an assistant account executive for $30,000. And I remember my father saying to me before I took the job, don't be in a rush to put on a suit and get on the train because good, bad, or indifferent, it's totally possible. You'll be doing that for the next 40 years. And remember sitting on the train, reading the paper about various people who had quit their jobs and sort of chased their dreams and also getting to work and realizing no fault to them, but I did not want to be my boss. I did not want their job. I did not want that life. It wasn't for me. And so I didn't exactly know what was next for me, but I knew that what I was doing was not what I wanted to continue to do.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Reality is, you know, you're standing in a parking lot on the side of the road putting on your tie, putting on, we were like salesmen, you know, going into a place in the pouring rain, you know, in the fall each day it got colder and wetter and rainier and each day there were more no's. And like what we found was we didn't know the business and we needed to learn the business.”
2026-04-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · Shep and Ian Murray: Vineyard Vines. A Stale Product Transforms into a Lifestyle Brand. · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT