Video summary
The speaker, a veteran collector who has been involved in sneaker culture since the mid-2000s, argues that the essence of the hobby has shifted dramatically from a community-focused past to a value-driven present. He recalls an era defined by genuine passion, where enthusiasts gathered online and offline to share stories about how they acquired their shoes, display their collections, and build relationships rather than focusing solely on resale profits. During those times, the culture was characterized by mutual support, such as helping friends get discounts or hooking them up with specific models, creating a sense of belonging that transcended mere ownership of footwear. This foundational period fostered deep connections where people talked about life beyond sneakers, including sports and personal interests, making the experience holistic and socially enriching.
In contrast, the speaker identifies the years between 2020 and 2022 as a "culture vulture" era where the narrative was hijacked by a relentless focus on resale value and financial gain. He observes that modern interactions have become transactional and isolated, with people prioritizing maximizing profit over building friendships or enjoying the culture itself. This shift is evident in how individuals now approach sneaker events; instead of engaging in conversation or offering help, many are focused solely on securing deals and immediately flipping items for maximum return. The speaker laments that this mindset has eroded the community spirit, turning what should be a shared passion into a competitive marketplace where trust is scarce and genuine connection is often sacrificed for short-term financial advantage.
To restore the health of sneaker culture, the speaker urges the community to proactively rebuild the sense of unity and respect that once defined the hobby. He emphasizes that while seeking good deals is natural, it should not come at the expense of relationships or positive interactions within the group. He calls for respectful conversations in online spaces, discouraging negativity and attention-seeking behavior that harms the collective atmosphere. By returning to a mindset where people help each other, share knowledge, and appreciate the history and nostalgia behind the shoes, the community can recover its lost spirit. The speaker believes that sneakers are more than just commodities; they are a gateway to learning life lessons about investing, networking, and building opportunities that align with broader personal and professional goals.
Ultimately, the video concludes with a hopeful vision for the future of sneaker culture, asserting that the hobby is still alive and thriving despite recent challenges. The speaker encourages current enthusiasts to take responsibility for their own actions and to lead by example in fostering a supportive environment. He invites viewers to engage positively in comment sections, share their stories, and join broader communities where like-minded individuals can discuss not only footwear but also strategies for making money and growing together. By reclaiming the communal aspects of collecting and moving away from the isolating effects of excessive internet reliance, the sneaker world can once again become a place where people connect, learn, and celebrate their shared love for shoes in a meaningful way.
Read the full video transcript
Today we're going to talk about how to
preserve the sneaker culture. I don't
have no notes. I don't got no plan for
this. I'm about to tell you guys exactly
what I think, what I feel. I'm probably
going to miss some things. So, please
fill it in in the comment section. But
the reason why I want to talk about this
topic is because I've been in the game
for a long time. Essentially got serious
about collecting in 2005 2006 when I
was, you know, young and in high school.
And obviously, I've been a sneaker head
my entire life since a baby. had all the
Jay's, all the Nikes, all the other
stuff. I grew up in Portland, Oregon. It
makes sense, right? But the thing is,
the culture of sneaker heads has changed
so much. And the reason why I say
sneaker heads is because that's kind of
like the title that is become uh shoe
heads, whatever you want to call it.
People that like shoes, people that's
just about it. Whatever lingo and words
you want to be politically correct for
your world, I don't care. At the end of
the day, you know what I'm talking
about. So, sneakerheads and our culture
has changed so much, especially with the
internet. And in during that 2020 to
2022 era, we called that the the culture
vulture era, right? A lot of people came
into the game and they changed the
narrative even more. It became about
resale. It became about we don't care as
much about the shoe, but we care about
the value. A lot of people were just
blindly buying sneakers and just trying
to get the most out of it, the bang for
the buck. Everybody's asking me
particular, how do I get into reselling?
How do I do it? How do I do it? And I
was a successful sneaker reseller from
200,
we'll say 2008 to 200
I pretty much kind of cut things off
around like 2016. So, I had a good run.
My business was very successful. Uh did
multiple seven figures in the business,
was doing my thing. But the reason why I
was the only reason why I was reselling
shoes was so I could buy more shoes for
my collection. Like I was hustling and
grinding and flipping shoes just to be
able to get more money as a kid in high
school to be able to afford more shoes.
And I was also like buying new shoes,
cleaning them up, selling them, trying
to get more extra value into the shoe,
you know, creating equity into it. But
one of the biggest things about sneaker
culture, I'm going to give you guys a
blast from that past and then we'll talk
about current time and see if there's
things that are like adjacent or
aligning and then things that are just
like, wow, that doesn't even sound like
somebody would do that. So during this
time, Nike talk, Soul Collector, you
know, issues.com
back when Nice Kicks used to have fakes.
Like we can go down the list, right? You
guys remember that time, that era. Okay.
So, and then also same thing, scrolling
through the Flight Club websites and
just diving deep in and like seeing all
the colorways and learning the names and
and the nicknames of the shoes and the
trends and what the prices and all the
stuff and wanting to make a trip to New
York one day to be able to purchase the
shoes and everything like that and
seeing Riff LA and there was, you know,
there wasn't that many shops and I was
one of those shops, but I was online. I
was one of the top 10 sneaker resale
stores online. So, I was competing with
Flight Club and other brands like that
as well. But that's a whole another
topic. Either way, during this time,
this was a very fun time to be a
collector. You would go on the blogs and
the forums and there was a sense of
major community. People built
relationships. They met up in person.
They had fun times and events and they
they would just share and display and
show shoes. It wasn't about the value or
um you know what they could sell or
trade or do whatever. It was heavily
about like let me just display what I've
got. Let me tell you the story about how
I got it. Let me tell you the story
behind the shoe. Have you ever seen
these before? And it wasn't like a
jealousy thing. It wasn't like a ego
thing. It was just like dope to see. But
there was also an interesting time
during that because I was such a young
kid that
I was the young buck in this grown man's
game. All the dudes that were in their
20s and 30s and 40s at the time and now
all those dudes are 40s, 50s, 60s now.
But during that time, there were people
that accepted me into the game and there
was people that didn't accept me into
the game and was like, "Oh, he don't
know nothing about shoes." D whoopy
whoop. Like, I didn't come from here.
Like, I can't recite all the stuff.
Like, I don't remember the times. Like,
I wasn't watching the tapes and and
watching the stuff live with my pops and
everything and and going to fun events
and everything. So, for me, I was like,
"Oh, I felt a little bit disrespected
for that time." But the reason why I'm
saying that and bringing it up is
because we have new sneaker heads coming
into the game now. And I feel like the
reason why my YouTube channel in
particular was so successful when I
first started and still to this day
because I still get these comments and
remarks and please sound off in the
comment section. You came to my channel,
you learned something. I inspired you to
build your collection. you came to my
channel and you got more in-depth
knowledge about the Air Jordan 1's or I
explained the Air Jordan 4s or gave you
the history and knowledge behind the
Jordan 11 bread or or whatever the model
was or how to tie your shoes or what how
different lacing styles or how to store
and protect your collection.
There were people that I learned all
these things from over the years and I
accumulated all this knowledge from my
own experience from tips and tricks from
other collectors, different things from
all these years and I was able to
package this all up and bring this and
present it to you guys from the things
that I've learned and experienced. So I
know you guys share me send me a lot of
love as well. But I just want to make
sure that I'm sending love to everybody
that I've been a part of this game with
for all these years. And now in the
current time everything is built off the
internet and people don't want to be in
person and they don't want to do that.
And then when they do get in person,
they want to gouge you for the price and
they're trying to make the max value out
of it. And back then, you used to hook
people up. You used to be like, "Bro,
just buy me lunch or put some gas in my
tank and I'll get the shoes for you."
There was that's what it was before. And
now it's not that. It's, "Bro, can you
get on sneakers app and hit this shoe
for me? And I know you don't even care
about sneakers, but then they find out
that the shoe's reselling for $700, and
now they hit and they don't want you to
get the shoe, and they're trying to sell
the shoe." And then it's like, "Bro, I
was trying to get this shoe for my
collection cuz I really wanted these,
right?" Or, prime example, there's this
happened multiple times with me. People
say, "Hey, bro. I'm trying to get this
plug on this shoe. I'm trying to get
this good deal." And then next thing you
know, they're going and reselling the
shoe. And I'm like, "Bro, you just got
it for my network and connections that I
know and have built to get you the
discount, to get you hooked up, to get
you the shoe that you said was your
grill or something that you wanted in
your collection, and then now you're
just reselling the shoe." I could have
did that myself, but I'm retired of res.
I'm not reselling anymore. So, I don't I
don't need to do that anymore. I don't I
don't like it's crazy. But again, you
guys, I'm just painting different
pictures of different scenarios and
moments and times. And I just wanted to
hop on and and talk about these
different times and eras and stuff that
was going on and just kind of reflect a
little bit. Let you guys chime in in the
comment section. Again, this is there's
no notes or anything. You guys know me.
I'm just flowing. But I think back then
there was a way better sense of
community and we need to get back to
that even when you guys are going to
sneaker events and conventions or
whatever and go into it with a different
mindset of obviously yes you want to get
the good deal you want to do that but
build a relationship while you're
getting the good deal build a
relationship with the people while
you're doing these things like this is
how and why I'm able to go to so many
different places contact so many
different people do all these different
things because I built the relationships
with all these people. I'm able to get
these good deals. I'm able to pass deals
along. I'm able to hook people up. And
this I learned all these principles from
sneakers. But the reason why I'm
bringing that up too is cuz I need you
guys to understand it's more than just
sneakers. You guys understand I've been
successful in in content and that's a
whole another world. sneakers, stocks,
real estate, business itself, all them
different worlds, those things align.
Building relationships, creating
opportunities, learning tips, tricks,
nuggets, investing into myself to go
somewhere to be able to learn from
somebody else, whatever the scenario is,
but I'm building that community.
And sneakers during 2020, 21, 22, 23
lost the community element. it was just
like obliterated, right? So, it's
recovering right now. And I love to see
that these sneakers are just available
and we have good deals and and there's
just opportunity to get grills in your
collection for affordable prices. And I
think we need to make a whole another
video about shoe game being dead and all
that stuff because to me it's not. It's
alive. It's thriving. There's a lot of
great things going on. There's a lot of
amazing things to talk about when it
comes to shoe game.
the community aspect, the element of the
eras and the generations, things have
separated and we have to be the ones to
bring that back. We need to have
respectful conversations in the comment
section. We need to respect other
people's thoughts and opinions. We need
to be on the positive side of these
things. Stop falling into it's corny.
It's corny. Like when people are just
getting in the comment section saying
something random or or just unnecessary
for attention and then after you engage
with it, then they're like, "Oh yeah,
bro. Big fan." Like that's corny. Just
show love. Share it back. Give it Give
the love to Not I'm not even talking
about just me. I'm just talking about to
everybody. Like in the comment section,
people are going in on other people and
stuff and it's like, "Why? Why? What
does that get you? Nothing. It just
hurts the sneaker community. I don't get
it. I get understand there's always
going to be the bad apples. There's
always going to be those things. But I I
I just encourage the people that are
deep into the game, the people that are
um serious about just the community, the
culture of collecting and being in the
shoe game and and passionate about
whatever type of collection that they're
building or the history or nostalgia or
whatever it is that they are when it
comes to cuz there's so many different
layers of the sneaker game, which is
again probably a whole another video. I
could break that down too of just the
layers and elements of types of
collectors and types of ways of going
about it. But
those type of people, they sit back and
they watch and they go like this. And
then we have our conversations amongst
each other and we're great and
everything's smooth and we go to these
events and we gather together and we
have a great time but we also go to
those events and then we we're sitting
like this in the comment section and
then we complain about oh what's going
on in the community and why is everybody
doing but like we have to be proactive
in the community as commenting back. I
have to make videos like this. We have
to start the conversation. We have to do
those type of things. So I didn't want
him to take too long but you get what
I'm saying. You see where I'm going?
Again, I probably missed a million
things. You can all whatever you want to
do. Again, everybody's always looking
for a reason to point a finger at
somebody else besides themselves. You
need to go like this and point it back
at yourself sometimes, but whole another
topic. But just let's just start a
conversation. Let's have a good topic.
And again, I think this is going to
spring a lot of good video ideas and
things that I can elaborate on more in
the future as well. So, if you have
video ideas or topics you would like me
to talk about or me to talk with
somebody about or whatever it may be, I
would love that as well. But that was
just kind of tip of the iceberg. Sneaker
culture where things were at community
elements, the fun and the stuff behind
that. And then now current time internet
separation. Um even when we camp out at
lines, like camping out, people don't
talk to each other. People don't build
relationships. They don't do that stuff.
Every now and then they do, don't get me
wrong, but for the vast majority of the
time people on their phone, people
aren't asking each other's questions.
They're not talking about stuff outside
of sneakers. It used to be about so many
things outside of sneakers. Why were we
camping in line for sneakers, right?
Yeah, we'll be talking about sneakers,
but then we'll also be talking about
something else, sports, something else.
We have so many different things that
align in our lives besides just
sneakers. And I think that's one of the
cool parts about being a shoe head or
being a sneaker head or being a
collector or a person that likes shoes
or whatever the hell the word is that
you guys want to use. So, yes, that's my
little two cents. I got plenty more to
talk about this topic. And again,
appreciate you guys as always. Make sure
you guys blow up the comment section. I
would love to see what you guys are
talking about and I can chime in a
little bit too as well. And then
obviously, you know me, I want to take
that, extract it and make videos from it
and create more conversation and more
opportunities for people to learn and
meet new people as well throughout this
journey. If you guys haven't already,
join the community. I have that is where
I have the full like-minded community of
over,400 sneaker heads, investors,
content creators, multi-figure and 8
figureure millionaires. I have all the
people inside of the community and
that's what we talk about. We talk about
not just sneakers, but actually how to
make money and then be able to afford
more shoes. So, if that's something you
like, scan the QR code, hit the link
down below in the description. See you
on the next one.
Let me go down.