From Hype Beast and Hype Radio, I am Jeff Staples, and this is the business of hype, a show about creative entrepreneurs, brand builders, innovators, and the realities behind the dreams they've built.

One of the reasons why I created this podcast is so I can investigate what businesses in our market are going through right now and how these businesses will soon shape tomorrow.

And I talk to the founders that are at the front lines of making dreams become a reality.

Right now, in sneaker culture and street culture, we are in the Wild West.

It's a whole new frontier, with new boundaries being pushed what seems like every single week.

And it's just not about kicks.

The business of being a quote-unquote sneakerhead is now directly affecting big Fortune 100 companies.

So news broke recently of a mainstream jeans and t-shirt retailer, American Eagle,

partnering with a Las Vegas sneaker and streetwear consignment store, urban necessities.

The first iteration of that partnership arrived this month in Soho, New York City.

That news came with much fanfare,

criticism, and conversation. Admittedly, some of that also came from me in an Instagram post I made

questioning the motives of American Eagle. Many people claim that I bore issue with urban

necessities, its founder, or even the concept of reselling itself.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

My issue stems from the fact that American Eagle is doing something that is unprecedented.

And I guess depending on which side of the fence you stand on, it could be positive or negatively

unprecedented.

So in a rare occasion where internet, social media, he said, she said, could be discussed

openly and in person, I decided to pounce on that opportunity.

This week's episode is a special one-on-one conversation with the founder of urban necessities.

I'm hoping we could get a better understanding of where he came from,

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