worldie with Aaron Faison feature 119 of Together Talks
- KLS
- Apr 9, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Apr 14
"Together Talks" feature 119: worldie presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on worldie
For today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to interview worldie Co-Founder, Aaron Faison. Shoes designed to meet the needs of young athletes and their parents. Follow for updates as they approach launch this year.
Former Athletes
The beginning of this company started as ideas for Aaron and Co-Founder, Brandan Ward. The duo met at law school in 2021 on a flag football team. Aaron mentioned that around 2018 once his college career was over he got back into playing soccer. When he had gone to the store to buy new cleats he felt overwhelmed and uninformed about current models, technology, and value. His thought at that time was to go into making soccer cleats for former competitive athletes.
Fast forward to 2021 when the Co-Founders met and decided to partner, they realized during research that maybe there was a better opportunity that was untapped. Doing their surveying and research they came across a constant theme, many young kids just getting into sports generally wore the same shoe regardless of what sport they playing. Aaron and Brandan realized this could be their play. Rather than selling a shoe designed for one sport they could create one versatile enough to work across multiple sports and playing surfaces.
Aaron shared with us that there have been moments of doubt along the journey of their company that officially incorporated in 2022, but they have embraced it as part of their story. Initially they found trouble finding a designer as Aaron told us, " Some people within the industry weren't very willing to help. We were getting stuck because people were gatekeeping their connections which which was frustrating." Not having contacts and being completely new to the industry they did what they could by cold reaching out until they found a designer interested in their brand and mission. Aaron reflected on how creating this company is extremely tough and can be draining, but they are committed to seeing it through. To date they haven't got any feedback to deter them from carrying out their vision. Instead they take the data and feedback to constantly evaluate their business model and make more well-informed decisions.
Pivots
In 2018, standing at that store helpless with the store associate clueless to which shoe would be a good choice for him, Aaron dreamt of creating a better athletic shoe. After connecting with Brandan they narrowed down to focus on a soccer cleat. Further research and reflection and reflection helped them realize that they’d rather create a product for young athletes. They initially set out to create a kids’ soccer cleat, but parents told them that they wanted a more versatile shoe.
Being outsiders and beginners in the space, one interesting data point they kept hearing is that many consumers don't want to buy from huge corporations anymore. They prefer to buy and support brands that resonate with them. Their brand is being cultivated to apply their authenticity. Both former college athletes who played sports their entire lives, they understand the values and life lessons that sports have provided them. worldie plans to be an integral part in young athlete's and their long=term goal is to be the # 1 for kids sports brand.
Getting taken seriously has been a hurdle for them given their lack of connections and experience in the footwear space - especially at the beginning of their journey. Often they were told to come back once they had made progress or generated more traction, but that isn't an option without someone giving them the option to start. Aaron said it has been eye-opening seeing how many in the space are not in favor of disruption and change. Despite being a difficult space to infiltrate the company remains steadfast on creating sustainable change. That ties directly into the name which is a British term used in Soccer meaning a really good goal.
Ikea...graduate
In speaking with different demographics they are often asked, well how will you be different than Nike for example. Aaron broke it down for us, "They have so many different target segments. We think of our target customer like a college kid who shops at Ikea. Their budget constraints only allow them to buy a starter piece of furniture. They they graduate, get a job, maybe get married, and they start shopping at other furniture stores that are more specialized and more expensive. " worldie will be that starter shoe that spans across any and all sports. Targeting between ages 4-8, their shoe will be built for active kids who want to explore different sports as they figure out which sports they enjoy most. Aaron and Brandan realize that as kids get older and better at sports, they will start to specialize and “graduate” from the worldie brand. worldie is planning to prioritize things like comfort and durability over performance at all costs
The company is planning on launching into market in Q4 of this year. Their focus is currently on finding and evaluating partners to help them meet this target. In the coming months both Aaron and Brandan will receive a pair of their prototypes to test and provide feedback. They will also send their prototypes to a 3rd party testing company to evaluate performance compared to competitor products. From there, they will make any changes necessary to finalize the product. The company will launch with a Kickstarter campaign.
Enjoying the journey
Aaron and Brandan recently launched their podcast, worldie UNBOXED. Aaron shared with us that they initially discussed the idea of a podcast about two years ago. They recorded the first few episodes about a year ago and started recording again in the past six months after taking time off to focus on graduating from law school & business school and passing the bar exam. He continued, "Although our product isn't in the market this felt like a teaser for what we will feel once that day comes. It was super fulfilling and rewarding to release this with Brandan." often Aaron said they are asked what they are working on or when is the next news drop, but now everything can be shared via their podcast. Getting to bring people along with them for their journey only helps build the awareness and community they are actively seeking to build.
Having a vision and seeing it through despite the roadblocks is an integral part of being an entrepreneur Aaron shared. He had a vision for a shoe to start, that morphed into several ideas which ultimately turned into their current model. Despite not yet selling the product having something they can physically touch and say is theirs is incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. He elaborated, "Getting the first prototype was such an incredible feeling. I get a decent amount of packages, but when I opened that one it felt like a culmination of a couple years of hard work. This served as a good reminder for us to keep pushing and helped me understand how good it will feel once we start selling these."
Piece of Advice
The conversation with Aaron ended with him sharing his piece of advice:
"The best way to become better at entrepreneurship is by doing it. Many people spend a lot of their career thinking about doing something entrepreneurial and thinking that to be an entrepreneur you need to take a huge leap by quitting your 9 to 5. You don't need to quit your job and spend 80 hours a week on a venture to try out entrepreneurship. It doesn’t have to be black and white. You can start out doing something a couple hours a week to see if you like it and then expand from there and eventually go part-time or full time. This is true for most things in life. Try it out to see if you like it first, if you do then devote time to it. Don’t be afraid to fail or be a novice. If you're afraid of those things, you might never find what you're passionate about or the things that you find the most rewarding."
In Closing
KLS wants to thank worldie and Co-Founder, Aaron Faison for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
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