Brad Day, CEO of Helm Boots
There is no more important first step when one heads to the field than to put on quality footwear, and many times this means a great pair of boots. In my search for long-lasting, aesthetically pleasing, and comfortable footwear I found Helm Boots, of Austin, Texas. I got to know Brad Day, their CEO, and am grateful that he was willing to join us for a shift On the Dogwatch. In our conversation, Brad and I discuss his background and experiences in footwear, the development of the Helm Boot brand, and aspects of how boots are made. We also discuss how to choose a boot, some of the attributes of Helm’s current offerings, and new styles that are in the pipeline.
Our feature on this episode is the Endurance, which is both one of the core principles of Helm Boots, and the ship that Ernest Shackleton took to Antarctica in 1914 in an attempt to be the first to cross that continent. Despite now lying under 3000 meters of water in the Weddell Sea near Antarctica, the Endurance is a symbol of perseverance, fortitude, and the human spirit, and the expedition that bears its name is certainly one of the best exploring adventures of the modern era. The current location of the Endurance was only recently discovered by the Endurance22 expedition on March 5, 2022.
Interview Transcript
Michael Canfield: Hello. This is Michael Canfield, and thank you for joining us today On the Dogwatch. A dogwatch is an evening shift of early or late duty or the people who undertake it. This Dogwatch consists enters the natural world and the things that help us experience it, from dogs to watches and everything in between. Ultimately, it’s a place for us to go wherever curiosity takes us. There is no more important first step when one heads to the field than to put on quality footwear. And many times this means a great pair of boots. In my search for long lasting, aesthetically pleasing and comfortable footwear, I found Helm Boots in Austin, Texas. I got to know Brad Day, their CEO, and I’m grateful that he was willing to join us for a shift on the dogwatch. In our conversation, Brad and I discussed his background and experiences in footwear, the development of the Helm Boot brand, and aspects of how boots are made. We also discuss how to choose a boot, some of the attributes of Helm’s current offerings, as well as new styles that are in their pipeline. Our feature on this episode is Endurance, which is both one of the core principles of Helm Boots and the ship that Ernest Shackleton took to Antarctica in 1914 in an attempt to be the first to cross that continent. Despite now lying under three 0 meter of water in the Wetl sea near Antarctica, the Endurance is a symbol of perseverance, fortitude, and the human spirit. The expedition that bears its name is certainly one of the best exploring adventures of the modern era. The current location of the Endurance was only recently discovered by the Endurance 22 expedition on March 5, 2022. And now let’s turn to our conversation with Brad Day of Helm Boots.
Hi, Brad. Thanks so much for joining us today On the Dogwatch.
Brad Day: Well, thanks for having me excited to be here.
Michael Canfield: So you’re the CEO of Helm Boots, and we’ll certainly discuss those boots and details. I have a lot of questions and interest in the particulars of the company, but I wanted to start by hearing a bit about your experience with shoes and boots, like your own experience and how you think about them. So before you came to Helm, I’m wondering if you could describe any sort of favorite shoes or boots and what they were and why you like them.
Brad Day: Yeah. It’s funny now, kind of being fully immersed in fashion footwear. I have a new appreciation for things, but I wasn’t always a shoe guy or a sneakerhead or any of those things. I think for a lot of my career, my passion around footwear has been more performance related. What are the soccer shoes that I’m going to get right? Having the best soccer shoes or whatever sport that I was kind of into at the time and really looking at what are my icon athletes that I love? What are they wearing and stuff. I still remember the memories of getting the East Bay catalog or the your sport catalogs and kind of flipping through and circling the next pair of shoes that I’ve wanted. So my relationship with shoes is kind of really evolved of someone that loved them for sports. Right. And then someone who worked in the footwear industry for 16 years with Adidas. Right. So going from kind of loving them to building them for other people. And then now towards a point where I really think that having a good quality pair of shoes is one of the fundamental foundations of your attire. Right. You kind of think about the confidence you get when you walk into a room or a wedding with a perfect suit and a great haircut and your new watch on and shoes are just as important as that. Right. You look down and it completes the outfit. Right. So the confidence you have. So I certainly appreciate that now having kind of lived in this world for five years. And I think the other side of that is you really appreciate a good quality made product, like the experience of getting a pair of boots and breaking them in and knowing that you’re going to own them for 10-20 years, but that they’re going to kind of develop and craft your foot and all that. So, yeah, it’s really evolved as I’ve gotten older and more experienced and come to appreciate finer things.
Michael Canfield: Yeah. It’s interesting you say that, because I think that’s the main reason I wanted to have you on and talk about Helm boots as an example of a company that’s doing those things that kind of honors the memo that boots are important or shoes are important. Right. Both in the context of having a pair that’s good quality, that lasts a long time because there’s obviously a lot of shoes that just are there for fast fashion. They wear out and people throw them in a heap. And the memo that shoes are important for your outfit. Right. Like how you present yourself to the world that people really notice. And I didn’t get that memo until I was much older. Right. And didn’t realize that and had no idea that it was kind of an important part of how you present yourself. I just thought of shoes as pretty much utilitarian or comfort related. So anyway, that’s kind of what I thought it would be nice to talk about and hear your perspectives on from the maker’s side. And before we do that, you mentioned your experience in footwear for 16 years. You said with Adidas, et cetera, what did you learn about footwear at that point? Like, what are some of the lessons or things that when you look back that you really didn’t know before you had that time that say, I wouldn’t have any idea about and then what are those things did you bring when you came to Helm? Like, what do you feel like you’ve been able to apply from that experience.
Brad Day: Yeah. Obviously, the difference between Adidas, which is this massive organization that has every resource known to man available in terms of product and innovation versus helmet, which is still in its infancy, are very different organizations. But I think the biggest thing that I learned around Adidas in my time in that industry was just the desire for greatness. Right. If you’re going to spend your time and you’re going to build a product, do everything in your power to make it a quality product. Right. And that’s very different then to now because you might spend a year and a half making a $200 soccer shoe. Right. But you also spend the same amount of time building a $50 soccer shoe or $25 soccer shoe or a $60 golf shoe. And regardless of how much you’re going to charge for it, take a lot of pride in building quality products because people understand and appreciate when you approach things that way. Right. So people can tell when you cut corners. And as a small brand now we can’t afford that. Right. We’ve got to make sure that every experience that somebody has with our products are a positive experience. Right. And so being passionate about the quality that you build into your products and not cutting corners and doing it the right way, regardless of whether that takes a little bit more time or is a little bit more expensive. Right. Those things pay off in the long term. And so you kind of look at some of these start to finish projects when we’re at Adidas, it could take you 18 to 24 months to take an idea to actually get into the market. Now smaller brand, we can do that much faster. But I always have to remind myself of there are steps along the process that you have to do to make sure that the end consumer gets the best quality product for the money that they’re spending. Right. And you have to make sure that you appreciate that people are spending their hard earned money on a product and they have expectations. And not only do you have to live up to those expectations, you have to exceed them. Right. If somebody expects to have a great boot, you have to make it even beyond that.
Michael Canfield: Yeah. It seems like that’s an element, especially of the smaller brand, in the sense that there’s more to lose. Right. Adidas can make a big push on some random thing and it can flop and they’ll still survive. But I’m curious, too, if you learned anything that surprised you or was a sort of truth about how both people think about shoes from someone that makes shoes in the shoe industry, how do they look at people and think, this is how people think about shoes? What do you know about that? And then also feet. What do you know about how people’s feet fit into shoes? In the sense that what are the important truths that you have to deal with in that context as well that are any generalities you can talk about?
Brad Day: Sure. Well, I think the simplest standard of both those questions is it’s all over the place. Right. And that’s what makes it challenging how people think about shoes in general. Right. I remember my dad, and probably a lot of our dads had a Brown pair of shoes and a black pair of shoes, and that was it. And that’s what their closet consisted of. I think most of us have evolved past that. But there’s still that idea of I have a Brown pair, I have a black pair. When those wear out, I get something new. Now, there’s other people that really on the other end of that spectrum have understand the versatility in having multiple pairs of shoes in their closet, just as you have multiple pairs of pants and it’s become part of their wardrobes ensemble. And they start dressing from the shoes up. And they spend a lot of time researching their products and researching the brands and finding out where they make their leathers and how they construct their products. And so you have this gambit of people that it’s an afterthought. I’ve just got to have some stuff because I’ve got aware to people that really spend hours and days and months researching the product they’re going to buy. And we find that once we get a customer that there are five to ten touch points, and they come back and they ask questions and they ask their friends and they ask their wives or their partners. We get a lot of this in the store of what it’s going to look like. And so people really spend a lot of time when it comes to a higher quality product, figuring out and trying to understand what they’re going to get. Right. And so you have the total spectrum with consumers. But then you also have the spectrum of consumers within the different price points. You just have some people that aren’t going to spend more than, let’s say, $100 on a shoe ever. They’re never going to do that. And you have to be okay with that. That customer is willing to spend $100 every year on a new pair of black shoes because the other one breakdown versus spending 250 to 300 on one that will last you five to ten years. Right. So you just have that gamut. And I think the same thing goes for people’s feet as it’s all over the place. And when I was working on the golf side of Adidas, we spend a lot of time studying people’s feet as they move through the golf swing and looking at some of how your feet respond when they’re flat versus curled up and bunched in shoes and things like that. So people’s feet are all different with their arches. And if they’ve had injuries or if they’re even over the last couple of years. We had talking to our store manager the other day and she said, I’ve got a lot of customers that have bought three or four pairs from us. And now they’re coming in post-covid and their feet have changed a little bit. And they’re now wide or they’re a little flatter because they’ve been working at home and walking around to bare feet or house slippers. And so we’re even seeing some evolution there. And so there is an aspect when you’re a shoemaker, you try and do everything you can to build a product, but sometimes people’s feet just don’t work for the stuff you make. You also have to accept that, just like you have to accept that your price point is just too high for some people, regardless of the value or the quality that you build in your product.
Michael Canfield: Right. In a little bit. I have some questions on your lasts and what feet they’re good for and all that kind of stuff, which is fascinating when you look at your website. There’s a lot of information about that on there which listeners can check out. I wanted to stick with this idea of quality for a moment. How do you think about especially in the boot space. Right. Sort of. And then when I say boots, I mean, sort of the shoes and boots that you do leather, high quality, quote unquote. But if you think about sort of the arc of quality and endurance, which we’ll also talk about, which is one of your sort of standby ideas, I think from the company that things this is going to endure or can be resold, etc. How do you think about the sort of upward curve of price and quality in, say, a standard kind of boot that you’re talking about? It’s not truly a fashion boot, just a fashion boot. It’s a boot that’s meant to be worn. But how does that go up, like $100 price .2 hundred, 300, $400. Does it get to a point, obviously, where it doesn’t get that much better at some point? And what does that look like for you from where you sit?
Brad Day: Yeah. Well, for sure. I think like anything, there is a kind of a maximum cost of what it would take to produce a product, regardless of whether let’s just exclude exotic leathers or some of those things. They’re just fundamentally when you build a product the right way, let’s say, and you use the best materials available and you construct it in the most durable way possible, there’s kind of a limit on what that’s going to cost to make now take out of exuberant shipping costs and all that stuff. So you do have that curve where outside of those costs, you’re paying for marketing, you’re paying for other things that a brand feels like they can demand because of the position that brands in. Right. And I think you’re seeing a lot of transparency in the market with people just showcasing what it costs to actually make a product. Right. And so we certainly look at that when we’re producing our products and we’ve changed vendors a few times of what are the things that we want to build in? What are the things we’re not willing to sacrifice on and build all those costs kind of into our portfolio of costs and then have to shape our prices based on that? We certainly know that at the end of the day, the consumer is really going to decide how much your product is worth. So you might think you can sell a boot for $1,000, but the consumer is really going to decide that your stuff is only worth whatever it may be. But there’s certainly that arc of really product cost to produce versus cost to market cost to do things like that that brands can demand.
Michael Canfield: If I said okay, and I’m just speaking the general from one of your boots, we’ll talk about some specific ones in a minute. But if I said, okay, I really want to spend $150 more to make a much better boot, I basically want it to look the same. I want the same brand. But Brad, I want you to make it better for $150. Do you feel that that’s a reasonable thing, or you’d be like, well, $150 isn’t going to buy you much more? Like we’re not going to put in, I don’t know, like different leather, or do you see the question? And I’m just wondering kind of how you respond to that for a standard, but you kind of have a sense you’re sort of in that 250 to 350 price point ish, which seems like a lot of these it seems like there’s a settling of that range, and then it arcs up pretty quickly from there. So I’m wondering what would you do if anything, or do you feel like that’s kind of where we’re landing and there’s not that much that I would add. Just curious.
Brad Day: Well, I would happy to sell you any of our boots for $150 more than currently price. Yeah.
Michael Canfield: That’s where a scientist meets a business person.
Brad Day: Exactly. I think, again, going back to outside of adding some obscure exotic leathers or materials, there’s nothing I mean, we do everything currently today that we would do to produce the best boot that we possibly can. Right. How we constructed the outsoles we use, the methods we use, the leathers we use, we use Texas hides. We source all of our leather hides from Texas, and then we export them to our facility down in Brazil to produce the leather down there because we know that those tides are the best hides for boots. Right. So there’s not a better leather supplier that we could find. Now if we wanted to get into I was just talking to somebody again about this the other day of like, there is this synergy between quality leathers that have the right thickness. Right. To last and have longevity and meet the customers expectations of a boot. I buy a boot, I expect the last five to ten to 20 years. Right. So there’s a certain thickness there. Right. You can sacrifice some of that thickness for softer. And these buttery feels a lot of times you get with Italian leathers, but the longevity isn’t necessarily there. Right. So we can go source a really expensive Italian leather that’s going to feel really soft and it’s just going to hug your foot right away. That’s very different than having a little bit thicker leather that is going to have a break in period. But once you wear it for a couple of weeks, it’s going to really mold your foot and it’s going to be there. That leather is going to last for decades. Right. It’s the soles you’re going to have to resolve. So I really think it’s that kind of balancing act of the materials and the quality you build. So there’s not really anything that I would say that we would do to produce a boot. Our boots, when I first came on, started about $495. Right. Okay. And so we lowered our prices about four years ago to get a little bit more competitive in the price. And then we felt some price compression as well, going through the pandemic. And so we really have settled into this sub $300, 295 for our best boots. And so we’ve sacrificed some margin and we haven’t changed the way we built. It’s just that’s kind of where we felt the market was for our type of product. And I look at competitors in our space that some sell for less and some sell for more. But there’s not anything different, construction wise, anybody that makes a boot that’s more expensive than ours that’s doing anything different than us. Yeah. In a lot of instances, they are not making as good a booth. It’s just they have a better brand or a bigger brand and a more well known brand.
Michael Canfield: Right. So a question about the challenges, and I’m curious about the challenges to making, say, high quality boots and shoes like the type that you make and how that might differ from different types of footwear. What are your real difficult challenges that might be different than, say, other sectors? And then also are there things that vary as far as challenges within your offerings of these kinds of boots are much more difficult for these reasons, and these are different for other reasons.
Brad Day: Good question. I think the biggest challenge for a product like ours is that it’s very expensive to make after spending 16 years making high performance athletic wear and being in the industry and now for five, six years in the leather goods. And I think one of the fun things we do is we buy a lot of competitor products and other things, and we cut them open to see what’s inside. Right. Yeah. We’ve got some pictures on the website you can see. But we’re very transparent with what’s in our products. Right. We want people to know that when you buy a Helm product, the outsole, the heel stack is actually leather and it’s not Cork that’s got a leather wrap. Right. And so I think one of the challenges is that it’s very expensive to make procs the way we do. And so as a small brand, when we buy 100 boots, it’s very expensive to buy those. Right. And so if we also miss and something doesn’t hit or the customers don’t respond as well, that we feel that pain a lot more. It’s generally slower to produce this way. There’s a lot more lead times in taking weather from Texas and getting it down to Brazil. The outsoles that we use are all crafted and take 30 days just on the outsoles. And so there’s a lot of those things that it takes a little bit more time, just like anything that’s crafted and it’s high quality. It takes a little bit more time and it’s more expensive. I think one of the other challenges is part of the customer education around a product like ours. If you are a boot guy and you’ve had Red Wings and Wolverines and you’ve worn these, you get a pair of Helm boots and you’re surprised at how comfortable they are right off the bat. And you’re used to having a break in period with a product. I was never that guy before I joined here. I wore sneakers for 16 years, and so had a couple of, you know, I had the Brown shoes and the black shoe for when I had to do something. And so there’s something about that step and comfort that when you put your foot in a shoe or a boot or anything, that it’s immediately comfortable. And that’s a different experience. When you’re talking about well made crafted boots that are meant to last 20 years, that there is some work that’s needed. Now, we have certain products that we don’t use that same thickness of leather in that have a little bit more comfort and things like that. But when you’re talking about kind of the core of our business, there’s an education needed with customers around here. A boot, it’s going to take you a few wears for it really to mold and shape to your foot. But when it does, it’s going to be the most comfortable thing you have. Right. That baseball net that you had that you could barely close. But when you treat it with some oil and you wrap the leather band around it, pretty soon the things perfect. There is some work. And once you educate customers on that and the experience, they’ll never go back. But if you’ve never done it, it’s something different. And you just kind of have to kind of battle through educating people on that, but also understanding that some people might not want that. They might not want to do that, and that’s okay.
Michael Canfield: Yeah. So maybe in the sense of that educational vein, I want to ask you a few questions about the boots. Right. And kind of your strategy and designing them and what those features are that people should understand both about boots in general, but especially about these ones that you’re offering. I mean, maybe we can start with the last. Right. Because we talked about the feet. You’d look down at your own feet, at least if you’re me and like, wow, those are really weird, you know, not necessarily exactly the same size. Toes are sometimes longer in the middle, et cetera. So everybody’s feet are different. I understand, at least from your website, that you have several different lasts the 323, the 415, etc. I’m curious how you describe those lasts. What is the last mean, and how do you apply those to the boots that you currently offer?
Brad Day: Sure. It’s a good question. There’s probably nothing more important to the shape of a boot than the last. It really is a huge part of, let’s say, the personality of that booth. And I think as we look at how our brands evolved and where our customers have gone, we’ve really tried to identify with the last that our consumers are looking for based on where we’ve gone. Right. And so I think I kind of look at this as there’s really two different types of boots consumers when it comes to the last. There is more of a traditional Americana boot consumer that likes something that’s a little bit more rounded, and then there’s a different consumer that’s looking for something a little bit more modern and a little bit more tapered. Right. And so not pointy, not square, but just something that’s a little bit more modern looking. And so we really focus on those two. And so as we’re designing a boot or a shoe or a sneaker or something, we try and think of the personality of the customer that’s really going to go into this. And so it’s really unique when we look at the founder of Helm, who I took over from, loves more traditional Americana look. He loves black boots that have a more rounded toe. I, on the other hand, love a little bit more tapered. And I don’t own a single black boot. Right. And so you just think of the personalities between the two people at Helm are very different. And so we kind of look at each project a little bit differently. And there’s usually a specific objective around that project that starts with the last. We’re going to create this project. We think it needs to have a little bit rounder toe shape and a toe cap or it’s going to be a little bit higher and it’s going to go after this consumer and stuff like that. So the last really is where you start with everything. And so it’s really fundamental to have a good perspective and have good lapse to leverage that you think your customers really can identify with. Because if I wear a rounded toe boots and I look down, I don’t necessarily like what I look. What I see for me, a little bit more tapered modern look is really what appeals to me. And so if we go back to that confidence from the ground up and feeling confident about yourself, I have to look down and I have to see something that’s a little bit more modern looking than that classic American dude. But everybody’s different, and you can’t make something for everybody. But we do have a good balance between the different products and the different toe shapes.
Michael Canfield: So does the toe shape that sort of more pointed, more rounded, cater to different sort of shape feet, or is it just the way the end of the toe extends? Do you know what I mean? So with my foot, would I fit into either one or is that how it works?
Brad Day: Yes. Generally, there is some psychology with consumers where they feel that their feet only fit into certain laughs. But both lasts are developed to have very volume of shoe like feet, but also a little bit more narrow feet. We offer wides and all of our laps and stuff to accommodate different types of shapes. But yes, each last should accommodate different types of feet. But you kind of go back a little bit. Everybody’s foot different. I mean, I’ve heard people tell me that Nikes just don’t fit their foot, but Adidas are perfect. And I’ve heard people say, well, New Balance is the only sneaker that I can run in. So people have their perspectives and different shoes are perfect for different people’s feet. But yes, in general, if you found a Helm boots, all of the last would fit your foot.
Michael Canfield: Okay, makes sense. I want to come back to the cross section where you’ve cut boots apart and sort of showing the different layers and pieces, especially on a Helm boot. I’m trying to figure out, like, what are all those pieces? So you have a bunch of things in the layer cake of the soul. And I’m curious if you can describe what’s important about having all those different layers. I know you could probably go pretty deep on that, but I’m curious kind of what you would point us to as important pieces to understand about that particular layer or group of layers that help you have a really good sole. Yeah, I think it is looking at kind of the inside of the sole. It’s always one of the first pieces that I point to is outside of looking at the leather, the thickness of the leather and seeing that this is a grade A quality leather is looking at really how’s the outfall constructed, because if you just assume which you can’t do. But with the Helm product that we are using the best leathers that we can possibly use. And that leather is going to last a long time. The next thing that’s going to break down or cause you problems is going to be the outsole. And so validating and showcasing how we build our outsole is a big part in giving somebody the confidence to purchase a Helm product versus somebody that they’ve purchased from before. Right. And that’s a hard thing to do to get somebody to change from a brand that they understand that leather heel stack. Right. So showing people that when you open up the inside of a Helm boot, the heel, there’s four pieces of leather stacked together to make that heel. Right. And those are going to really shape to your foot, and they’re going to soften versus having a piece of Cork that’s going to break down, that has a piece of leather that’s wrapped around it. When we transition from our last factory to our current factory, the first samples they sent us had Cork on the inside, and we immediately cut them open and found it. And it wasn’t good enough for a Helm product. And so we made sure that they updated. And going forward, all of our products have leather stacks. So I think it’s just partly just being transparent about, hey, we’re not hiding anything. We’re using the best materials. We’re using the best construction methods. And here take a look and ask the questions of where our leathers from and how we produce it. And we’re going to be transparent and honest with you because we’re going to show it to you.
Michael Canfield: Yeah. And then the white sort of rubber layer, what’s that about?
Brad Day: So it’s become really a signature for us. It’s really one of the kind of identifying pieces of a helm boot. So if you’re out there and about and you see that white mid stripe, you’re going to know that’s a helm product, it adds a little bit more comfort and a little bit more durability to the sole. Right. You’ve got a pair of work boots or a really well crafted pair of shoes. You don’t want them to be too flimsy and too flexible. Right. You don’t want them to be so stiff you can’t move. So that adds a little bit of durability and a little bit of stability and foundation to the product. So it is a functional aspect to it, but it’s also really become kind of a unique design feature for a Helm product.
Michael Canfield: I’m curious as well, when you think about this object, and I’ve been thinking about the meaning of objects a lot lately. I had a conversation with James Cox a couple of episodes ago about the watch that Paul Newman gave him. And Paul gave him this Rolex Daytona in the 80s and James Ward for like 30 years for everything, construction, the whole show. And then, of course, it went on to become this icon watch, but it was a nice watch when Paul Newman gave it to him and he just wore it. And I think that’s one of the things that I feel like both from a sustainability standpoint, from just an outdoors standpoint. I don’t mean just like hiking the Appalachian Trail, but I just mean using a product and using something and having it become part of your lifestyle. I think it’s really important to consider. And that’s, again, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about because it seems like that’s part of what you hope to do. And I’m curious if you could sort of describe the life cycle, what you hope the lifetime of one of your boots is not only in years, but what does that look like? And if one got a pair of boots right now, like, if I just put a pair on a new pair, how would you both hope that I would use it and then imagine that it would exist over time on my foot? I think part of the reason I’m asking is that you look at reviews, right. Reviews can be important, but they all say, oh, these boots are great. I don’t mean just on your website, but just people write them like the week or two after they get them. And then you don’t really have the two year, the five year, the ten year reviews, which I think are kind of what we’re talking about. I’m curious how you would map that out for what you hope for.
Brad Day: Yeah. No, I think it’s really important to understand that kind of lifecycle. And we always say our products are built to be worn. Right. Our product is built to endure whatever it is that you want to do in that product. We’re not an extremely expensive fashion boot that’s built to be stored in your closet and just brought out on special occasions. Right. We are built to be worn. And whether that’s out and about, whether it’s every single day or whatever that may be, it’s very different for every customer. But I think it’s like a nice bottle of wine. Right. What’s the point of having a nice bottle of wine if you’re never going to drink it? Right. It’s interesting you talk about watches, because I used to be a big, huge fashion watch guy. And then I kind of got to this point where I was worried about wearing watches in my life kind of evolved with two small kids and activities that I didn’t really want to have a watch that I have to take off. And so I went and found a watch that meets the fashion needs. But it’s a watch that I do everything with. I go swimming, I ski, I do yard work. It just never comes off. Right. So similar to a Helm product, we build these to be worn. Right. And they’re supposed to be beat up and taken on your trips and trudged around whatever it is that you’re doing. And the Helm product should be with you. And that’s a big part of what we talk about is not only going to build the quality to last you ten years or whatever it may be, it’s also that they’re going to look good in ten years. Right. So it’s the longevity of the style. And we’ve been around for twelve years now. Right. And so we’ve seen a lot of this come through. And because we resolve our boots. And I think that’s one of those fundamental things, like if you’re looking for a quality pair of footwear and especially a boot or shoe, and it’s not resolable, but it’s not necessarily built to last. It is built to have one lifecycle where the products we see coming through for resolve, they could be somebody wearing them on a job site, working, beating them up, not doing anything to them, no condition, no cleaning, and they are just beat up. And he needs to resolve to somebody who’s worn them every day in the office and condition them twice a month and shines them and polishes them, it’s just the soul is just ready for a new lifecycle. So the gamut is all over the place of how people use them. And the expectation is that boot, however you want to do it, if you take care of it and if you treat it well and you get it resold when it’s supposed to, you should be able to go through three or four resoles in every product. Wow. And we have them. We have people that are on their fourth or fifth resole and they’ve never done anything to them. Now, the boots, it’s not how I care for my boots or my shoes, but they love that they’ve broken them in and they beat them up and they scratch them and they’re there and they’re super comfortable. And so that’s kind of the expectation you have. When you spend money on a quality product, you expect to put it through the ringer and you expect to take it and travel in Europe for 30 days or a couple of weeks, and it lasts. And when it’s time, you resell it and it’s got another two years, three years to it. Yeah. I love that idea of just getting something like that, putting it on your feet and just wearing it, as you said, condition it here or there, but be able to really use it and see what that’s like and watch the evolution take place. I think where it’s good for us to go more in general, especially for people who want to be active and be outside, sometimes in the office, but also walk the dog and all those kinds of things. It’s nice to have things that can go that whole distance rather than having to have a whole bunch of different things for individual purposes.
Michael Canfield: And would you say that your boots can do that
Brad Day: 100%?
Michael Canfield: Yeah, it seems like it. Again, I’m coming from the outside.
Brad Day: Right. From personal experience, but it does seem like you can walk in them for good distances. They’re not hiking boots necessarily, but you can keep them on your feet for a long time. Yeah. I’ve definitely got my pair of dad boots. It’s kind of my go to pair on the weekends, and it’s just so comfortable that it’s hard to put anything else on. But I also have things a little nicer. And I have a friend who’s in Europe right now, and he texted me from Europe being like, I need a resole. I can’t really help you right now, man. When you get back, we’ll take care of you. But he’s like, It’s my third trip to Europe with these. They just got hundreds of miles. He’s like, I just can’t be without them. But it’s time. Right. And so that’s exactly it. He’s taking them everywhere, and they’ve been his travel companion, and it makes it easy to travel, too. You got a good pair of boots that you can wear with jeans or chinos or whatever it is. Save the room in the luggage. When I travel, I wear a pair of boots that I’m going to wear for the trip, and then I pack my running shoes, and that’s really it for footwear. And it doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.
Michael Canfield: So a couple of clarifying questions. First of all, what are the dad boots?
Brad Day: My dad boots are my Lous.
Okay.
Michael Canfield: All right. Yeah. And then what was the watch?
Brad Day: So my watch is the Sunto. I think I’m saying that right. Sunto.
Michael Canfield: Okay. Cool. You’re happy with it?
Brad Day: It’s perfect. I disconnected all of the notifications, so it does exactly what I want from an athletic performance perspective. But then it also kind of looks cool and tells time. And that’s really all I want out of it.
Michael Canfield: Right. And you’re not worried about bashing something on the stroller or the I don’t know if it’s still stroller time.
Brad Day: We’re past stroller time, but we’re into getting crashed into and all sorts of things. Right.
Michael Canfield: Okay. So turning a little bit to the specific boots that I’m interested in looking at on the website kind of helping us understand the style, especially I wanted to start with, you make the shoe called the Bradley. Right. And given this question is coming from someone who doesn’t have a shoe named after him and won’t ever, I’m curious, how is it to have a shoe named after you? What’s your relationship with the Bradley shoe like?
Brad Day: Well, it was the first shoe that we had ever done. And this is one of my challenges when I first came on was, okay, we’re making boots. Right. But how do we diversify our assortment a little bit? How do you own more of the closet? If a guy loves our boots, he’s also going to be interested if we offer other things. And so just challenging the team to come up with a shoe that is a Helm product that checks all the marks there. It’s a modern version of a traditional dress shoe that is built with the same methods that we used to build boots that’s going to allow it to last quality wise, but also design wise. So that was kind of the challenge. And off they went and they nailed it. I also had a pair of pants named after me after from an apparel company that year. So it was a big year for me that I…
Michael Canfield: So how does that work? How does one get in on that? It seems like you’re like, why do you have pants named after you?
Brad Day: So I’m friends with a guy who owns the apparel company, and I sat on his board and we officed together when I was a back, and he kind of said, hey, why don’t you wear any of our pants? And I wore a lot of his shirts. And I said, because none of them fit. They’re too baggy or you don’t make a Pant that I feel like it’s the modern Chino. And so I gave him some examples, and he went back and they produced the brassica camp. It was kind of a fun year. I had a shoe named after me and a Pant named after me. But the naming convention is a lot of fun because every product is named after somebody, and that’s somebody that is important to us or as individuals within the company or has been important to us as an organization. My daughter’s name is Charlie. We have Charlie shoe. My son’s name is Declan. We have a Declan Shoe, Mallory, who our brand manager. Her son’s name Ryder, the Wilson’s, named after Brock. So every shoe and boots is named after somebody. And we really kind of think hard and long about the personality of a shoe and how it matches with somebody that’s important in our life. Right. I think it’s awesome. It’s nice to have that and understand that the brand and effort isn’t behind this curtain. Just a bunch of people in a boardroom figuring out how can we make money, right. It’s people trying to make shoes and working together to do that. And these are the people. So I think it’s neat.
Michael Canfield: So a little bit about your offerings. I wanted to ask about a few specifics on kind of the boots and what are the differences, but I wonder if even at the beginning of this, can you point to something that you feel like brings all the footwear together that’s like a design ethos or kind of through line? What makes a Helm shoe boot identifiable? What do you feel like in a new offering that it has to have X, Y or Z or is there something that kind of brings it all together?
Brad Day: Sure. I think outside of the white midsole, which is a very easy identifier for Helm product, really, we approach every project with the mindset of modernizing a classic. We’re not looking to show up in New York Fashion Week with boots that grab headlines and have short life periods in chasing fashion cycles. We’re really interested in modernizing classic footwear that’s going to look and be just as relevant in ten years as it is today. It should be cool today, but it should also be cool in ten years. And so finding that balance of the little things that you can do to a classic work boot and that might be just modernizing the last like we talked about. So a consumer that’s worn boots for ten years and probably has owned a couple of Red Wing Iron Rangers, and they’ve just gotten to a point where they’re looking for something a little bit different in their life. And Helm can really fill that need of it’s still a work boot, but because of the way we designed it and because of the outsole we use and the last we use, it’s just a little bit more modern and a little bit more sophisticated in the look that allows you to probably dress it up and dress it down, whereas sometimes you really can’t dress up some boots. And so I think that’s really the philosophy, and that comes about in different ways depending on the project. Right? Yeah.
Michael Canfield: It seems like that makes a lot of sense when you look across the offerings and across the boots that you produce. I wanted to start with the Hollis, and I wonder whether you feel like that’s. Let me put it this way. I look at the different person. I think that’s kind of like not exactly in the center, but it seems like if it’s just off center of kind of the range of things that you produce, but seems like a pretty standard sort of work a day boot that you could wear for walking the dog at the office, etc. Or it has the lug, I don’t know what you call it, mini lug soul. How would you respond to that if I were kind of coming to you and saying that seems like that’s kind of. Right. Pretty close to the middle. Does that make sense to you or is that not kind of how you think about that, where that particular boot fits?
Brad Day: I think you nailed it when I was talking just now about modernizing kind of a classic American work boot. The Hollis is exactly that. It takes a lot of the functionality and the expectations of durability with that lug sole. But when you look at the toe shape, it’s just a little bit more tapered and it’s a little bit more modern. Right. And so that is really the perfect boot for somebody that is a boot consumer that’s coming in that’s looking for kind of an everyday boot. You contrast that with the Zind, which is just a little bit dressier version of that same thing. Right. It’s the same last. It doesn’t have the toe cap. It’s got a little dressier soul. So when people come to me and ask me, okay, I’m looking to get a pair of boots. I asked them a couple of questions. What are you looking for? How do you want to wear it? It’s either the Hollis of his end 95% of the time that I recommend to people whether you’re looking for something a little bit more casual with that lug or something a little bit more dressier with our Fine Line Sole, those are really kind of the perfect examples of modern dress boots. How do those soles work differently? You’re not going to notice them in terms of walking around and wearing, but they are going to provide different things. A lug sole is going to provide more traction. It’s going to probably have a little bit more durability and longevity just because it is a thicker piece of rubber. Whereas The Fine Line really is our answer to a dress sole. We used to have full leather outsoles, but they wear out quickly. And if you’ve ever taken a pair of leather soles and anywhere that’s wet or something, you slide all over the place. Right. So you’ve got to kind of scrape them up and get some traction. So The Fine Line, it has that dress low profile, but we’ve added the rubber into the middle of the forefoot and also on the Hill just for more durability in the areas that you’re going to beat them up the most. And so I’d say that the primary difference really is the aesthetic that you want. Right. Where you live in the winter, you probably need a boot. You need a boot that’s going to have some traction when you’re sliding around on the ice in Austin, where Helms located, and even here in Portland, Oregon. Right. We don’t get a lot of snow, but it’s wet. So in the winter, I wear the Hollis a lot in the summers or if I’m traveling to Austin, I wear the Zind a lot. So a lot of that is really going to be the preference. And look, if you don’t have the functional need for traction because it’s cold and snowy or wet, it’s really what type of look you want. You want a little lower dressier profile, or do you want something a little bit more casual with the look?
Michael Canfield: Obviously, for listeners, those are the ones that go up over the ankle and are sort of a standard boot height. I’m curious if you go sort of more toward a true work boot. You’ve got you go to the Railroad. Right. Which I would imagine is less of you probably sell less of those. Right. But that’s like a true work boot. Is that correct? That’s what it looks like to me, at least.
Brad Day: Yeah. You can look at the railroad, the Marion and the Molars, and those are a lot of the products that we used to create with our main USA products we’re no longer producing at that factory anymore. And so those are kind of at the end of their life in terms of those specific products, but we have new products coming down the pipeline that meet those needs. But those are very much a traditional work boot with the toe shape, et cetera. Right. And it seems like as far as what I’m describing sort of thinking a lot about is those boots that you can kind of put on every day. And we’re at the office where around the house how to do a lot of things with those versatile ones where some of those boots that are even more your Iron Ranger style is a little less so.
Michael Canfield: I’ve never had a pair, but I think those are a little bit more like a work boot that you’re wearing, which is a heavier structure. Okay, so you mentioned I wasn’t going to ask you about Zind. I’m sorry, you mentioned it being a dad boot, etc. And how does that one where again, I’m just curious because it has a very different sole. Can you describe the sole briefly? And like, why do you call it your dad boot?
Brad Day: Well, because I’m a dad. What I wear when I’m just bouncing between activities and things like that, if a customer comes to us and says, hey, I’ve only worn sneakers. I love the comfort, but I need something that’s a little dressier, but I don’t want a dress. The Lou is perfect for that. It has more of a sneaker sole and the comfort. My Lou boots, after five years now, are way more comfortable than any sneaker I’ve ever had. So they are just the leather, the sole, they’re about ready for a resole. It is just the most comfortable boot you could possibly put on. There’s zero break in, and they just give you a little bit more casual jumping around on the weekend type vibe. They’re great with jeans. I personally wouldn’t probably wear those if I’ve got a meeting or a board meeting or meeting with whoever it is that I’m flying out to meet. I’ll usually travel with my Zinds or Bradley or something that’s a little dressier, but that’s just kind of my everyday boot. If I’m running to the market or going to pick up the kids or we got soccer practice or whatever, those are just kind of my go to boot. I used to throw on a sneaker even before when I had boots, I slip on my sneakers and I just slip on those. Interesting.
Michael Canfield: Yeah, I wouldn’t have pegged those as sort of an alternative to sneakers right when I looked at them. And I’ve never had a boot that’s like that before, so that’s an interesting point. I never thought of it as being that alternative, but cool. It does look comfortable, though. The other two that I really wanted to ask you about are the Pablo and the Declan. I’m curious, for example, with a Declan. How does that work as far as, like walking, et cetera? Some chukkas don’t lace over your foot very well. They’re very loose and harder to walk in, et cetera. I’m just curious, kind of how you’ve designed those. Are those more of a casual slip on style chukka? Are they kind of something that you would walk have on as more of a shoe, like what do you intend for those to be?
Brad Day: It’s definitely not a slip on kind of in and out. It’s a very substantial boot. It locks you in and it’s built to be worn. It is certainly a traditional Chuck up pattern, but we built it like a boot. Right. So it’s going to have the same thickness of leather and longevity and the same outsole as the Zind and stuff. Oh, really? Yeah. It’s built to be worn, and we find a lot of customers that come to us who have only owned shoes and have never had a work boot. This is the easiest transition into boots from somebody who’s only had shoes is a good chukka. Right. It’s classic. They’re a little lower. It’s a little easier for people to understand how to style them. They’re a little bit more comfortable. And so this is a key product for us is getting customers from shoes into boots. And we’ve got a new one coming out that we just finalized a new chukka.
Michael Canfield: Oh, really?
Brad Day: Yeah. Unfortunately, the boot that we named after my son is going away here in the next three months, and we’ll have a new one coming out that’s beautiful. It’s even more comfortable that we’re really excited about. So the Declan one’s going away.
Michael Canfield: The Declan is going away. I see. Okay. But in the next few months, you’ll have a new option. Cool. So those are going to be part of your profile, but just a slightly different sort of chukka of style. Cool.
Brad Day: Yeah. And it’s kind of like, even though we approach this with modernizing, a chukka of boot, we felt like we could do more. And so what else could we do to make it more comfortable and more modern? And what are some small little details that we could do? And I think we’ve done a good job, and I’m really excited about it.
Michael Canfield: Wow. Cool. And then the Pablo, I don’t know where that fits in sort of the life cycle of that particular boot, but that’s a really different one. Right. Because it only has a zipper up the inside, which is a really different style boot. I’m wondering one, are those sort of also where do those fit as far as where they are in their life cycle as a product and then also kind of how they work. Right. It’s not the kind of boot I’ve ever had. Obviously. If it’s just a sort of fashion boot, I could see it working. And if it fits well, fine. If not. But you’re trying to produce boots that are like wear a long time, et cetera. So how do you create a well fitting boot with a zipper?
Brad Day: It’s really challenging, and a lot of factories won’t do it and can’t do it. We searched long and hard to find a factory that could do it originally, and then at some point, that factory lost their ability to do it. We had 300 boots that were delivered of the Pablo about four years ago, and five of them passed our inspection. Oh, my God, it was crazy. And so the Pablo boot, when you certainly look at the aesthetic, is very different. And so what we find the ease of getting a zipper boot on and off for the traveler. They really respond to this product, but it also goes back to the toe shape that’s appealing to you, right. For me, I really like having a product with laces in that toe profile. There’s a lot of customers, whether they’ve worn cowboy boots or loafers or products like that, they really love the clean look of not having any laces. And so that’s kind of how we develop that of the option for the customer that wants to look down and not see anything, and then the ease of having a zipper that you can just zip it on and off back before TSA PreCheck and all of those things. A lot of us that travel a lot, like taking your boots on and off. We’d have customers that would come in and had bought the Brown and came back and like, I need the black now because they’re just so easy to travel with and get them on and off. And they just really like how they are definitely a modern boot, but they still kind of tie back into the heritage of some of the things that they liked when they wore cowboy boots. Right. Being a Texas brand, we get a lot of customers coming in that have worn cowboy boots over the years. And so this is something that they really identify with that kind of more appeals to that side of them. Yeah. It’s a really unique combination of sort of more of like that kind of boot.
Michael Canfield: But also it looks a little bit like a Chelsea or something, which is another question I had. You don’t have Chelsea. Is that by design? Is that something you just haven’t done, or where does that fit?
Brad Day: We have had them in the past, and I’ll honestly say we didn’t do them well. And you can see there’s one sneaker called the Morris, which we did as a collaboration with the hospitality group called Death and Co. Which is a Chelsea sneaker, but we have one coming out, I think, in September this year that I love. And so it will really, I think, meet the needs of the Pablo customer and the Chelsea customer because we’ve done them in the past. I think we’ve made a couple of design assumptions that probably were incorrect. And I think we’ve talked to our customer and we’ve listened, and I think we’re going to get it right this time. But a Chelsea boot is really important. It’s kind of like a chukka boot. It’s one of those products you have to have, but you have to do it well because it’s also really hard to fit correctly the shape around the foot and making it so you can get them on and off without too much trouble. There’s a lot that goes into making a Chelsea Boot work, and there are some companies out there that do a really good job in it. So if you’re going to go up against them and offer an alternative, you’ve got to put something out there that’s more compelling than what they’re offering, right? Yeah. And you feel like you’ve got that coming out in September. You said yes.
Michael Canfield: Awesome. Okay, last question. And again, I really appreciate you spending the time and really going through this thoroughly with me. I’m curious, kind of where you’ve talked a little bit about some of the things that are coming out and where you hope to take things like other things you’re excited about other design options or things that you would hope to do at some point or just kind of pie in the sky designs that you’ve thought of before. Where do you see things going and what are your hopes for creating new footwear?
Brad Day: It’s a great question. I think one we’re excited to for the most part, that we feel like the pandemic impact on our business is hopefully in the rear view mirror, as you see, like, a lot of our products are built for people doing things, and whether that’s going to the office or traveling and weddings and events and all those things, those things are happening again, which is good for us. I think the thing we’re really focused on is continuing to modernize what we see as open categories that we don’t currently have. Right. So I think the Chelsea boot is a perfect example of us taking our time and getting it right and then looking what other categories were not quite in. I think there’s a lot of potential with more boots, but there’s also a lot of potential with shoes as well. Right. So you look at the Bradley, we’ve got the Nils, which we’re phasing out, and there might be a few still on the website, but again, we didn’t probably nail that project like we should have, and so taking our time to get those right. So I think there’s a lot of potential in the footwear side with shoes, some more sneakers, and then really rounding out and having a complete assortment of the basic categories that you need to have in boots. So continuing to do that, and then we talked long and hard. We have a lot of women that are fans of our brand, and so looking at exploring women’s footwear and what does that look like and who’s the female home consumer and stuff like that? So I think that’s a huge opportunity as we look to expand and grow and kind of push the brand forward. We’re a twelve year old brand that really is in year three or four as we’ve looked at the iterations of our company. And so we’re still in the emphasis of a lot of these things. And we’ve got to be careful that we don’t get too reckless and try and get too big or try things that are out of our core competency.
Michael Canfield: I’m curious for the listener who’s interested in the brand or learning more about it, how would you, as the CEO, like if I came to you or a listener came to you and say, hey, Brad, how would you suggest I find out more and kind of go about exploring this brand and thinking about what’s right for me?
Brad Day: I think a good way is obviously you can spend time on the website and we’ve got a lot of content and blogs. And I think if you want to know more what’s right for you to reach out and ask us, we are a team that’s pretty dedicated to service. Right. And so send us an email and explain kind of what you’re looking for and kind of what brands you know now. And we’ll point you in the right direction. We’ll get you size the right way, and we’ll get you in the right colors and models. And based on kind of what you’re looking for, because I think a lot of people we have a store in Austin, so people come in and they think they want one thing. Right. But then they get in there and do some questions and some fittings and stuff, and we find them in a completely different style. And so I think being comfortable to ask a question. Right. It’s just like any product, right, unless you live it and breathe it every day, there’s somebody out there making that product that knows more about it than you and ask the question. People love to talk. I still answer a lot of our customer service emails. And when I’m back in Austin, I love being on the floor selling products and ask us if you have a question, just reach out and we’ll get back to you right away and jump on the phone with you or whatever it may be.
Michael Canfield: Well, thank you for that. Again, I think one, I want to thank you for being on the podcast and talking to us, sharing with us so much about both Helm, but also what it’s like to think about footwear and think about especially footwear that both has endurance, as you say, and has some style and real interest. And it’s made in a way that has some high quality. So I appreciate that. And you’ve also, I think, shared with us already a lot of different ways to think about how to approach how to get into these things and it does seem like both the store and your email is a good way for people to just reach out and see. So I encourage people to do that. I really wish you luck with the new models. We’ll be looking forward to what’s coming out and all the stuff we can see and again, I really appreciate you being On the Dogwatch.
Brad Day: Wow. Thanks for having me. It was a lot of fun to chat. I love the curiosity and the questions you came out. It’s good for me to start thinking kind of outside of my day to day and I love your curiosity and how you think about products like Helm. Great.
Michael Canfield: Thanks again and good luck with the new offerings. Thank you.
Thanks again to Brad for taking time to share so much with us today about quality boots and the Helm brand. Our music credit is Whiskey on the Mississippi by Kevin McLaren Courtesy of Creative Commons Until our next shift, this is Michael Canfield thank you for joining us On the Dogwatch.
