In short
Bradley Mountain’s “authentic brand” approach—no early ad spend, adventure-as-metaphor, long-lasting materials, free repairs, and community-driven retail/hospitality. Founder Tyler Axtell explains how the brand grew from making bags with his mom to a lifestyle destination in Columbia, Tennessee, including events, a coffee shop, and store design that sparks curiosity.
Guests
This episode features Tyler Axtell, founder of Bradley Mountain. No other guest is interviewed in the transcript (the host mentions future coverage of Tyler’s wife/manager).
Key claims
Bradley Mountain built via word of mouth for six years; adventure is personal growth, not just outdoor activity; customers shouldn’t be “data points”; buy-it-once durability plus free repairs; scaling was resisted to preserve maker freedom; product experimentation is embraced (about 1 in 10 hits big).
Notable examples
first Instagram photo (2012) of five early items made with his mom; chalkboard “dream destination” in the first store; Sweden/Nordic “uncharted” destination metaphor; Columbia store with grass deck, fire pits, curated Christmas trees, and canoes on the ceiling.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOThe Unique Origin of Bradley Mountain
0:45 to 2:06
Discussion on the origin story of Bradley Mountain and its founding principles.
“How would you, in your own words, describe it to somebody without even mentioning a product?”
The Philosophy Behind Adventure
2:06 to 4:25
Exploration of the brand's deeper message about adventure and personal growth.
“But that's just a place I haven't been to.”
Building Community Through Events
4:25 to 6:28
Insight into how Bradley Mountain fosters community through events and interactions.
“Um, so ever since I started, we've always thrown events.”
Commitment to Quality and Longevity
6:28 to 7:39
Discussion on the importance of high-quality materials and customer relationships.
“And, um, as many, uh, like high quality, uh, as many high quality materials as we can use and find, um, those things are going to make the product last longer.”
The Challenge of Balancing Growth and Authenticity
7:39 to 10:40
Tyler shares his thoughts on the difficulties of scaling while maintaining authenticity.
“And so we're like, yes, let's pull it out.”
Experimentation and Brand Identity
10:40 to 14:01
Exploration of how experimentation shapes the identity and offerings of Bradley Mountain.
“He was like, we can get your stuff into this store and this store and this store, you know, we can scale it, we can double your whatever.”
The Journey of Experimentation in Branding
14:01 to 18:18
Explore the importance of experimentation in branding and product development.
“Well, you're touching on something that means a lot to me, which is experimentation is like a big word for me.”
First Post and Memories of Creation
18:19 to 19:16
Tyler shares the story behind Bradley Mountain's first Instagram post and its significance.
“Is there anything that's like, not directly, um, call outs of things.”
Learning the Craft: The Early Days of Bag Making
19:17 to 22:54
Discusses Tyler's journey of learning to sew and create bags without formal training.
“Um, so I had a, this is more of a memory than anything, but it, um, it gets to something I think really important.”
Challenges of Building a Brand and Business
22:55 to 28:00
Tyler reflects on the unexpected challenges faced while building his brand.
“Um, since, you know, seven generations ago.”
Show all 21 chapters
E-Commerce vs. Retail Dynamics
28:00 to 29:53
Explore the balance between e-commerce and retail in a unique business model.
“Um, I mean, there's just tons of stuff that you go like, this is actually what it means to You take, like you said, your art, make it a business.”
Choosing Columbia: A Unique Location
29:53 to 32:09
Learn about the motivations for choosing Columbia, Tennessee as a business location.
“I mean, it's, it's hard to think of Columbia and not think of Bradley mountain.”
Creating a Community Space
32:09 to 34:28
Discover how Bradley Mountain creates a welcoming community environment.
“And that was a huge inspiration to a moniker actually, who a friend of mine, Ryan Sisson started a really cool coffee shop in San Diego coffee retail bar.”
Themed Decor and Branding
34:28 to 36:58
Discuss the innovative decor choices that enhance the brand experience.
“They were all cut down in Canada or something.”
Work Culture and Team Dynamics
36:58 to 39:49
Examine the unique work culture at Bradley Mountain that fosters creativity and flexibility.
“it is that kind of extra attention to curiosity.”
Leadership and Trust in Teams
39:49 to 42:01
Understand the importance of trust and autonomy in managing teams effectively.
“Um, he, uh, and I live together and we were both doing our own brands.”
Creating a Culture of Ownership
42:01 to 43:04
Learn how a flexible work culture fosters pride and productivity among the team.
“Will, um, comes in before me and TJ and he's like hitting the emails and taking care of customers really early.”
Future Aspirations of Bradley Mountain
43:04 to 44:10
Discover Bradley Mountain's plans for expanding their apparel line and factory ownership.
“Um, Um, so let me ask you this final question here.”
Expanding into Hospitality
44:10 to 45:34
Explore the potential of Bradley Mountain entering the hospitality industry with unique experiences.
“We still make bags in Tennessee, but we also have our team in California.”
Understanding Brand Identity
45:34 to 46:08
Learn how to recognize strong brand identity through examples from Hyatt and Nike.
“But if Nike decided to make a hotel, you have a great sense of what that hotel is going to be like.”
Conclusion and Reflections
46:08 to 46:32
Wrap up with reflections on brand identity and appreciation for the discussion.
“If Bradley mountain opened a hotel, you know exactly what that hotel is going to be like, what it's going to feel like, what that experience is going to be like.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00Chris Cruz:Bradley Mountain has been defying conventional business with them for over a decade. And the crazy part is they didn't spend a single dollar on advertising for their first six years, purely relying on word of mouth to build their now thriving brand. Tyler, the founder, started by making bags with his mom using belts from his grandpa's wardrobe. When most brands chase rapid growth, Bradley Mountain deliberately chose to stay small and hands-on. They're crafting an entire lifestyle around adventure and community. While most brands chase growth at any cost, they chose authenticity and created something truly special in the process.
0:33Chris Cruz:If we had to describe Bradley Mountain, if you had to describe the brand and the company that you run and founded, Bradley Mountain, without describing a single product. If you're like, I'm not going to tell you what the product is, I'm not going to tell you what it even is that we do, but I'm just going to describe the company to you. How would you, in your own words, describe it to somebody without even mentioning a product? Okay, that's cool. Um, it's a little different angle. I wanted to pull in cause you guys have an abundance of things and I'm like, I want to pull it a little deeper going like if you couldn't describe any of these things, what would you describe it like?
1:07I would probably paint a picture like a mountainscape in Sweden and just a bunch of people hanging out, having fun and making things. um yeah having meaningful conversation and and talking about how they uh came there how they got there where they're headed and kind of like a touch point um what is it about the Sweden part
1:36Chris Cruz:and what is it about like the people coming together part for you like because also we we know that Bradley Mountain has this community aspect which we'll get to but like when you're describing it you're going Sweden but you're so Cal guy like you're from Southern California You're like Sweden. We're not like talking beachfront, Malibu, all the way. You're like, no, Sweden, somewhere in a Nordic country. And people are kind of gravitating there, finding their way there. What is it about that that makes you think Bradley Mountain? I think for me, the Sweden part, you know, you can probably put in a number of different countries or places or things.
2:13But that's just a place I haven't been to. Oh, so it's this kind of this idea that it's uncharted area.
2:21Chris Cruz:And does that resonate with the Bradley mountain brand? Is that like that? A hundred percent. Yeah. Um, early on, we used to have this, um, like in our first store we had this big chalkboard put up and it just said, right, like write your dream destination. And so we would have customers or friends or people come in and write down like, you know, maybe it's Antarctica or my grandma's house or, you know, it could be anything but um that was always like part of the dna um taking it away from the apparel and away from the commerce experience and really just giving people this chance to kind of like the the goods are a vehicle for people to experience um adventure i guess especially in our modern day yeah so the adventure is at the center of all of that bradley mountain ethos it's yes it's sitting inside like because you can see it when you look at aesthetically all the the out but you could almost if you're not careful someone could quickly who's not going to think just oh like it has like this outdoor element but you're like no no there's we literally want people to think about adventure we want them to think about and is there a specific part of adventure that your brand is like we want this to like we want you to go is it like that uncharted things or like is it just we want you to dream about going places?
3:38It's totally about the person. So the, the mountain is just a metaphor. Um, and so I'm actually way more interested in people's like personal growth, their, um, ability to believe in themselves and try things. Then I am about travel or actual like backpacking or fill in the blank. Right. Um, adventure to me is like just this metaphor to live life to the fullest, use everything you have in your tool belt and, um, and do something with it. And so, um, that's the message behind the brand and it's kind of painted with this, you know, beautiful outdoor thing, but it's not really about outdoors. Does that make sense?
4:25Okay.
4:25Chris Cruz:So if I love that because you were, it's in that same vein of what we're saying when we're like, okay, if we were to talk about your brand and not talk about it from the perspective of the products and goods that you make, but there's this deeper message that the, those goods are a vehicle for you're like, part of what you guys do is this community part. Like you guys, the way your store, your retail store, which we'll get to a little bit, a little bit more, but could you in, in a nutshell, when you think community and what, cause you'll hear people talk about brands go, we want to build community around the, for you.
4:59Chris Cruz:What do you mean when you say that? Yeah. I mean, we're kind of falling into it. Um, so ever since I started, we've always thrown events. We've always brought people together, had little like concerts and stuff, but, uh, and camping, done camping trips and whatnot. Um, all through your brand, like we're brand camping trips. You're going to like, okay. Yeah. So you have these activations where you're pulling people into adventure too. You're not just like selling goods. You're actually creating some momentum. Some. Yeah. I'd like to do it more, but yeah, we've tested some things. That's cool. Um, But like during COVID, we closed our store down and we were online only.
5:33Okay. And that kind of made me realize that we were missing a core part of like who we are as a brand. And so part of like moving to Tennessee and opening our store here was to get back to that like reality of interacting with people face to face, you know, selling people our goods, but also hearing their story, getting together, getting families together. and just creating a place for people to hang out in a safe way.
6:00Chris Cruz:I heard you say one time you had said, we wanted our customers to be more than a data point for us. Like we wanted them to actually, we wanted to know them. Yeah. And that's what drove your kind of retail kind of drive again to Columbia, Tennessee, where you're like, we want to know these people, which doesn't feel like the normal, like we're going to start a retail because we want to know our customers. Right. But for you, there's something there. What is that that drives you like that? Well, so the product, if we go back to the product, um, you know, we're, we're working with leather, American made canvas.
6:35And, um, as many, uh, like high quality, uh, as many high quality materials as we can use and find, um, those things are going to make the product last longer. So yeah, that's a simple concept, right? Buy it once. It's going to be expensive, but it's going to last you forever. um but in that we are basically honoring the person's life after the purchase by creating the best thing we can oh um so we also offer free repairs and the reason for that is not because it makes us more money it actually doesn't yeah i was gonna say that feels like it's gonna cost you um but what it does is it it says to the customer like we've we've now come into this agreement where we built something for you and we want it to enhance your life.
7:26And so there's something in that for me. And I, I don't know if I fully fleshed it out, which I think this is a fun, you know, the amount of times we have that kind of moment with our
7:36Chris Cruz:guests where they're like, I didn't think about it. I haven't really thought that deep about this thing yet or in a while. And so we're like, yes, let's pull it out. Yeah. It's cool. Cause yeah, it's usually like, what's your story? Yeah. Um, but I think that there's something there with people um and watching something age with time whether it's a piece of leather wallet or uh you know your bag or your jeans materials you didn't pick easy access materials either no it's kind of like i'm i'm not gonna lie it's kind of like sounds like you like hard it's so hard and you kind of i'm like this dude likes the heart of it he likes the like that it takes some grit to do the stuff that they do that it's not easily manufactured that it's not quickly assembled, but that there's some actual like person on the other side and making this and sweating to make it like, or I actually have to put my hands to this.
8:26Yeah. I know. I think a little side note on that is I'm constantly looking, kind of looking in the mirror, mentally looking in the mirror, like, why did I pick this? This is so hard. You know, this stuff is really, it's hard to make profit. It's hard to, you know, uh, it's just a challenging,
8:45Chris Cruz:what's what's the hard like if you could describe the hard that like others could be in the grind with you in whatever industry they're in but for you what is the hard when you're like this is the thing that's hard for me probably I mean a lot of it has been figuring out how to make this a viable business because it started making I was making wallets in my garage I had no overhead yeah um And then, you know, slowly like raising the prices to a point where I could actually make a little bit of a living and then quit my job and stuff like that. But it's been, uh, and that part was really fun and really exciting.
9:21And, um, it's all been fun. Actually, no, it's all been, it's all been, um, exciting. Yes. It hasn't all been fun. Um, it's, there's, there's hard stuff to running a business. Yeah. Um, and creating a brand that says something more than just the thing you're buying, you know?
9:39Chris Cruz:Do you have to wrestle with that? Do you ever find yourself having to get back to your North Star? Absolutely. What does that look like? Well, one thing, I was talking to Jordan about this the other day. One thing that we're kind of experiencing is hitting this ceiling. And you constantly are, as a business owner, you're constantly going through this question of, do I scale to the next rung? Or do we break the ceiling? or do we, um, do we take what we have now and steward it and just like enjoy it, make it better, make it, um, sweeter, whatever. Is it like, there's, is this, is it, is it safe to say that there's this allure of like I need to grow?
10:21Chris Cruz:Yeah. That's, that's kind of like both you're trying to assess, is it healthy to think like this or do I need to like not think like that? Absolutely. Okay. So there was a point in like 2016 where I was working with a, um, uh, uh, I was working with a brand rep that we had brought on and he was helping me grow. He was like, we can get your stuff into this store and this store and this store, you know, we can scale it, we can double your whatever. Yeah. And I just felt this weird, like resistance to that. Um, because I knew that that was going to change my life. It was going to take me from being a maker to a logistics guy.
11:00Whoa. Um, or at least someone that oversees logistics. Yeah. Um, so, and I was like, you know, I just don't know if like making, I would make more money. I'd have more people under me. We would have probably a bigger audience where we would need to. Um, and it was this kind of crossroads for me of like, and I was like, you know, I actually think I'm good. and I kind of took this sidestep and kept running my brand out of pocket, like grassroots, just grinding, um, but enjoying it and having a ton of freedom in my creative decisions. Um, and for me that this brand has always been a lifestyle choice.
11:39It's like if I'm going to take on the risk of the financial burden and the payroll and taking care of people's, you know, giving people their, their paycheck, um, like that's hard. to do. Yeah. Um, it's a big responsibility, but if I'm going to get rid of the fun part, I might as well go do something else.
11:59Chris Cruz:Wow. So that was, for me, it's always been like, how can I make sure to maintain the lifestyle in my job that I love? And part of that is making goods and like designing and actively still making goods. Yep. And I, and like, I shouldn't be, um, from like a team perspective, it's probably not just from a actual, like I to better workflow probably i shouldn't be doing this yes um but i i still get in there i'm gonna sew this afternoon some bags um but the there's also the design side of it where like yesterday i got in really early uh i was the only one in there and i put some music on and it was like i was back in that first garage and it's just i need that i and i enjoy that i'm gonna okay i'm gonna ask you about something there because when when someone goes to bradley mountains the store in columbia there was there's so many brand touch points and everything is so dialed and intentional from the like little moment of like fragrance on this shelf coffee beans on this shelf and at first glance you might go oh this is like a retail store that's carrying products from a variety of brands right and they've positioned all these brands well but then you look and it says bradley mountain on the label and then you look and you're like that's oh candle i wonder what company this candle is said bradley mountain on the candle yeah and then you're like oh okay i'm gonna look at this this coffee bag i wonder who is this like is this someone from like portland and he's bringing a coffee this is bradley mountain on the coffee bag you're like damn i'm like you're like this dude these guys they're like they are making everything yeah what like for you why why are you doing that Like, why are you going, we're going to, we're not just going to outsource fragrance.
13:43Chris Cruz:If we want to do it, we're going to make it. And we're going to make the labels. We're going to design like, like you're saying, you're getting in the chair and you're still designing on a, on a, on a brand that's doing really well and growing that you could easily outsource so much stuff and not even have it outsourced to like, Oh, somebody else on my team did it. Like outsourced to like, you don't even touch it. White label. Yeah. White labeled everybody else's stuff. Well, you're touching on something that means a lot to me, which is experimentation is like a big word for me. Um, and it's, it's kind of using this, this brand, which I would say is a vehicle.
14:18Um, a brand is a vehicle for people to touch and to remember and to check back in on, they're watching it and it's this like unit, but people do different things with different brands. Some people go super vertical and they pick one product and they're like, we make razors and it's like the dollar shape club model. And that's, they do one thing and they go huge. Really cool. But to me, that type of business, it's probably very profitable. It provides for a lot of people. You can give people a lot of jobs, but that's not the, that's not exciting to me because that to me becomes a logistics company.
14:59okay it's ad spend it's conversion and that's kind of it yeah that's all you're doing it's a number game it's just math at that point yep um and they're providing a service yeah no no shade yeah yeah um for me i'm like i think falling out on the side and just going as wide as possible
15:14Chris Cruz:okay um it is super complicated it is um does it drain you no no i love it it's the idea that you've got 18 different skis i don't know how many skis you actually have like 600
15:30Chris Cruz:I love it. You're, but you're like, some of these things don't sell at all. And some of them do. Yeah. Have you had to kill products or you're just like, we got to kill that. Oh yeah. All the time. And does it hurt? No, not anymore. Not anymore. Um, what do you, not anymore. It did at one point. Yeah. So there was like a period where, you know, I would launch something and I thought it was this, you know, my, this is it. This is what I'm saying to the world today. You know? Yeah. You're like, I am proud of this and get ready world. You are going to love this. Yes. And then crickets, nobody buys it.
16:03Um, but I'm, I'm, I'm okay with that now. Like if I'm going to throw things at the wall every day, um, I have to be okay with a lot of it not sticking. And for me, that's fun. Yeah. Um, I get to experiment and a lot of times I find something really cool in there. Um, I'd say one out of every like 10 things we do is like huge. Okay. Does it frustrate your team? I think they enjoy it. They enjoy it a lot? Yeah, yeah.
16:29Chris Cruz:We like the diversity of this, the kind of variety, like creative energy, something new. Okay. So let me show you a picture of something. I'm going to show you a picture. And I want you to give me your kind of like, I want you to describe, when I give it to you, the photo, I want you to describe what the photo is because no one knows what this is. Is this going to be like an inkblot thing? Yeah, no. No, you know this photo. You know this photo through and through. but I actually want you to look at it and tell us what you feel when you see this photo and then what comes to your mind after you feel it.
16:56Chris Cruz:Like what is, what's coming to mind when you see this? Okay.
17:02That's cool.
17:04Chris Cruz:So tell people what this is. Was this the first post? That's the very first post from Bradley Mountain. It's not even Instagram. It's a screenshot. How long did it take you guys to get down there? That's funny. I don't know how long, how long it took us a minute. It took us a minute. That's cool. So the very first photo of Bradley Mountain's Instagram account. and it's a photo of... Can I keep looking? Yeah, yeah, of course. That's cool. Did something happen for you viscerally there in that moment? Yeah, yeah. This is cool because this is a picture of the first five items that I made. The bag I made with my mom, we took some belts from my grandpa's wardrobe.
17:39He was getting rid of them and we used those to make the straps and then my mom helped me sew the bag together And I like drew it and kind of piece it together. Um, but she's the one that taught me how to sew. So that part was cool. And then, yeah, I made a watch strap for some watch I had and, um, a wallet and then two journals. But I love that I posted a picture that, I mean, there's nothing else besides what's in this photo that existed beyond that. So, but that was 2012. That's when I started the business. And so it's really cool to, yeah, that just takes me back to like the unknown and the adventure of it all.
18:18Chris Cruz:And like, is anything still in the Bradley mountain world from that photo? Is there anything that's like, not directly, um, call outs of things. You're like, we still do this. The bag, um, it probably does. No one would know this, but that bag essentially evolved into the biographer, which was like our first bag. but it also has kind of elements of the Wilder, um, which is our best selling bag. Okay. So, I mean, some of that, just like early, kind of early. Yeah. And so for you, for you and the, one of the questions that we wanted to ask you was, was like, so this Instagram post, we see what, where you started.
18:56Chris Cruz:Is there anything that like from those early days, you're like, this really stuck with me throughout the history of this brand that I, that is, Is it the, is it, I won't even feed. Is it the, I'll ask like, was there anything that you're like, when I think about those early days of those few products of me making that with my mom, is there anything that you would go, this has stuck with Bradley mountain, whether it be a product or a mindset, whatever it may be. Yeah. There was one time, this was my like second, this was probably my first shop that I had like my own garage where I was renting with some college roommates and I asked them if I could pay a little extra to like take over the garage.
19:36Um, so I had a, this is more of a memory than anything, but it, um, it gets to something I think really important. Um, I had bought a industrial sewing machine and I was just learning how to sew. And I was like buying materials from like Joanne's fabric and, um, different websites and trying to just figure out like, how do I even do this? Like zero training.
19:59Chris Cruz:I was gonna say no history in bag making. This is you just being like, I'm going to just go and see what happens. Absolutely. Okay. Um, my only, you're not a graduate from FIDM going over here and going, I want to start my own line. Now I've graduated from design school and I'm fashion school and I'm ready to start my line. You're like, nah, I'm correct. I was just, I was a sociology major at point. And I would actually just didn't like the classroom. And so I would kind of leave, uh, the campus and then go like work on leather goods. and I just hated school. I mean, I got, I got through it, but like, I was just not a academic, academic guy.
20:37Um, so this was sort of my like therapeutic, uh, release, I guess. Okay. But anyway, I was, um, trying to learn how to make this bag. I had this idea for a bag that is now the biographer bag, uh, has like a leather bottom attached and I was using instead of canvas, I was using like, um, felt and like wool. Cause I just, I didn't know anything about fabrics.
20:57Chris Cruz:Okay. And so I'm like stitching it and the um the thread tension was wrong and I just kept getting this machine jammed and I'm like on YouTube and I'm calling trying to call my mom FaceTime my mom and ask her because she she knows how to sew um from long distance I'm like mom what's going on with the machine and I was putting all the money I had into materials um and I there was this one moment where I had the garage door open and I was, I had been in there all day and I made this bag that was just horrible. It was like, it was just disgusting. And it wasn't what I was going for. It didn't land.
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21:37And I threw it. I like took the bag and just threw it out into the street. And I was like, this is ridiculous. And it was kind of this inner challenge for me of like, the thing I'm trying to do is, is hard.
21:51Chris Cruz:Yeah. Especially with no training. Yeah. Um, but it was almost like a pick your heart a little bit. Cause you're like, school's hard and I hate it. Yeah. Like, Oh yeah. It's hard too. But yeah. Yeah. But there was something I was like, no, but you're going to find something here. Yeah. And, um, and there was this, this turning point for me of like, no one's asking me to do this. Like my, I don't have any customers at this point. My parents are like, that's cool. But like, you know, no one's, no one's saying like, you got to start a business. Um, Um, and so it was really this choice of like, this is going to be a long, hard adventure for me of like designing goods and releasing them.
22:29Um, and I was like, all right, let's try it. And so I went and got it, threw it in the trash and then started over, made a new one and slowly five or six iterations later, like I had a bag that I could actually wear. And that was the first bag I had made on my own without anyone's help. um and then i just slowly learned how to like develop patterns which materials to choose how to fix my own sewing machine why are you picking those wax canvas like leather good materials like why go that route for me at the time like i didn't have any access to um great outdoor gear okay um like the stuff that i was aware of um sure like filson existed and stuff but they weren't really well known, at least to, to me.
23:15Yeah. Um, there was just this kind of curiosity for, uh, and that's why I go back to like Sweden and like a lot of these, um, old European countries, they have like local bag makers and local leather shops that are still doing this stuff. Wow. Um, since, you know, seven generations ago. Um, and so there's kind of this like extreme boutique thing where they're doing the highest level work and nobody knows about it.
23:45Chris Cruz:Wow. And I just find that really curious and cool. Um, and so material wise, um, wax canvas, I just first, for the first time been exposed to, and I was like, this stuff is cool. Um, it naturally, uh, it was designed to, uh, replace, um, sail cloth to prevent water from weighing down sales. Is it more expensive than other fabrics? Yes. Yeah, it's very expensive. But did you come to a moment where you're like, I could go cheaper, but I'm not. Yeah, there was just this, it never was about the cost. It wasn't even about the cost of it. You're like, this is the material. I want to make something new that for me, I hadn't seen before.
24:26Okay. And now come to find myself in this industry, you know, that I had no idea that existed. And I think it's, I think awareness has grown And as people have become a little more consumer conscious, like people are looking for well-made goods and they want to know where it was made and how long it's going to last them.
24:45Chris Cruz:So, okay. I'm going to ask you a couple more questions about the brand and then I'm going to ask you about the brand moving from California to Tennessee. Now, when you're building this brand, what was one of the most unexpected parts of it? like for you, like building this brand, what was like something you either found that was unexpected, that was fulfilling or unexpected. And you're like, I didn't anticipate this. And this was hard and I had to figure that out. Like what was something you just didn't have in your, wasn't on your bingo card, but you're like, yeah, that's great. Or that was really freaking hard.
25:20Chris Cruz:And I had to figure it out. Yeah. I'll start with the, the sad, the negative. Um, Um, I literally every day, there's something that you're like, I just, as a business owner, that you're like, Oh, I didn't know I had to do that. Or I didn't know I needed to know how to do that. Um, whether that's jumping through hoops with the, you know, setting up your business with the government, banking, applying for loans, uh, just all that. I don't want to call it BS cause it's not BS, but like, it feels like it's taking away. is taking something away from the creative side. Um, and I've just had to learn how to be, how to just put on my belt and, and just do it.
26:03Chris Cruz:Do you think that's the reason a lot of people don't? Absolutely. A hundred percent. I don't want to do the grind like that. And they did like, they view it. Like you said, I can't be creative anymore. Therefore I don't want to do this. Yeah. Yeah. Which is okay. Maybe that's art to them. Yeah. Um, but turning your art into a business is tricky. Yeah. And if you don't have like a angel investor or someone alongside you, a brother or sister, like parent that is gonna, and my parents are a great resource to me, but, which I'll get to more, but, um, but a lot of it's just been, you know, you get hit with a letter or you, or something happens and you're like, okay, this is like, this is part of it now.
26:39Um, and there have been so many times where I'm like, I don't know if this is worth it. Wow. Um, there was a time when I had a few too many employees probably for the size we were at I was like hiring all my friends and um which comes with sometimes great things and headaches yeah I mean we're having a great time yeah but I was looking at the bills you know and it was like we're I was borrowing cash I was running my credit cards up and um I got in a bind okay and it really that but that moment like chiseled me into the man I am today in terms of finances um where I've had to just get really savvy and I still have a lot to learn but like it was it allowed me to get from that horrible place to now where I understand like borrowing money from as a from a business perspective and strategy and annual like the annual picture of everything um because we are heavily, like most of our income comes in at the end of the year.
27:38And so it's like a, it's a long game. And so, but that moment, um, pushed me to get to where I am. So I guess the point I'm trying to make is like getting back on the horse and just, it's like those things are constantly unexpected. Um, moving to Tennessee was like a whole nother thing. I had to get a new EIN number.
28:00Chris Cruz:Okay. Um, I mean, there's just tons of stuff that you go like, this is actually what it means to You take, like you said, your art, make it a business. And if I'm in it for that, this is just part of the process. I just have to. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so the fun part. Yeah. Just the customer loyalty is like insane. We don't do any ad spend. We haven't for probably six years. Wow. Which is rare. Yeah. For an e-commerce business. um we are we are full uh like word of mouth grassroots and when you say that really really quick and we'll focus here for a little bit and then we'll we'll hit a little bit of the story of the traveling of the company from one place to another when you say rare for an e-commerce company you have both a retail expression and e-commerce but the e-commerce like what is the ratio there what are we actually dealing with like so that we can get a kind of a little bit accurate picture when someone's thinking of, Oh, they're, how does their brick and mortar even work?
29:03Chris Cruz:How did like, cause you're in a really unique space in Tennessee, but like, is it that it's a 50 50 split for you guys e-commerce to retail? Like what? Yeah. Um, so we moved here with like the retail business being our vehicle to even come out here. Um, so e-commerce was a hundred percent before we came here. Cause the pandemic shifted you guys to a hundred percent e-commerce. Yep. Okay. Um, and then we opened our store and it's probably shifted to like 70, 30. Okay. Um, the store's done really well. Um, we're in, for those of the listeners who aren't local, um, we're in Columbia, Tennessee, which is the small, we'll get into that.
29:40It's cool. It's, it's small growing town. Um, we love it. Um, but yeah, that's been kind of a, uh, uh, an incredible joy to watch us open our doors and it's just flooded with people.
29:55Chris Cruz:I mean, it's, it's hard to think of Columbia and not think of Bradley mountain. Like those two are starting to become synonymous for a lot of people. Okay. So you let's, let's actually, let's dive into that part of it right now. So you've your San Diego, orange County. What, like, where does it, where were you living when you started Bradley mountain in San Diego? So you go San Diego to Columbia, Tennessee, which probably even people who know about Tennessee and Nashville, they know Nashville, they know Franklin. And then if they're kind of like investment minded, they might know Columbia. Right.
30:26Chris Cruz:Because they're talking to other investors and they're like, where do you want to invest? Yeah. The next place they want to go. But you're like, we're going to pick Columbia. And you said something to me one day. You're like, because there's not a lot of noise there or something like that. And I'm like, that is fascinating. Why the heck did you pick Columbia? It's like, and for context for people, Columbia is about an hour and some change from Nashville. Yep. And Franklin is about 40 minutes ish. Yep. That's about right. Um, if you don't hit the spring hill traffic, but the, the, so you're in a developing city.
30:58Yeah. And it really was getting back to that lifestyle piece for me of like, I want to live close to my job. Okay. I want to walk my dog and hang out with my daughter and it's in the commute. I just, I'm not a commute guy. Um, and so that was an element of that, but also we, my wife and I moved here. So my wife is now a huge part of the company. Okay. Um, she runs the front of house.
31:23Chris Cruz:All right. Um, and so her and our manager take care of all that. When you say front of house, people have no idea what that retail looks like. Cause you guys, your retail was before you were doing stuff in retail before it was even like a trend for retail to combine cafes into the retail. Like that's what you started with almost. If not, we, yeah, we opened with the coffee shop. Yeah. Um, yeah. So my wife deserves to be here. I mean, she's a huge part of it now. Um, we met after I had started the company, but, um, but yeah, she, she makes it look beautiful. She helps run events. Um, she's big part of the feel of the place.
31:58Chris Cruz:We're going to get her on the next episode of the podcast and then we're going to reference her up against you and go, tell us how you actually, tell us how this business actually runs. Um, but she keeps me grounded. That's for sure. Um, I want to like fly off into the sky, but, um, but yeah, so the, what was the question Your retail experience is different than other retail that makes goods, but you have like a whole restaurant basically functioning inside of your retail space. Yeah. And that was a huge inspiration to a moniker actually, who a friend of mine, Ryan Sisson started a really cool coffee shop in San Diego coffee retail bar.
32:36And I was like, that's, this is cool.
32:39Chris Cruz:It was incredible when I saw it for the first time, I was like, this is amazing. Yeah. So, you know, tons of credit to them for just even inspiring me to think that way but yeah like Columbia has some cool spots it has some anchors yeah but there was room for more and we wanted to move to a city that like like you said there was less noise as far as like not noise and written the audible sense but the amount of businesses competing for like attention and trying to be the best and trying to be, you know, if you go to some white space, 12 South. Yeah, exactly. 12 South in Nashville is like, it's just popping off and it's cool.
33:19It's awesome. Highly competitive. Super competitive. Yeah, exactly.
33:22Chris Cruz:You're like, you're dealing with a totally different animal at that point. Yeah. And that's great. I mean, I'd love to have a shop. I was like, I was like, and Bradley mountain at this point could compete in that market. That would be very fun. Um, but for us, it was like, let's go take the next step as a family in our business to, um, keep doing what we're doing, level it up, but not like blow the lid off too far to where we're super stressed out. We're commuting, we're in a new place. It was kind of this cool, like way to put it all together and have, um, our family close to it. We love Columbia.
33:53We love the square and it's just like this cool, like small town feel.
33:57Chris Cruz:So, and Columbia, you, you guys, you guys do some stuff because the, your, the way your store situated, it kind of has like, I remember the first time I went to Bradley mountain. It was a, it's actually become a core memory for me in Tennessee moving because it was around the holidays. I'd gone to Bradley mountain for the first time I'd heard about it. I was like, all right, we're going to go, let's go check it out. Family goes, kids, mom and dad, we all go down to check it out. And there's a Christmas tree lot happening, but it's not like a Christmas tree lot. Like you would think like, it was like, it was more like a boutique one, like curated trees, like, like more natural looking trees.
34:31They were all cut down in Canada or something. Yeah.
34:33Chris Cruz:Like something like freshly cut where you're Like these people are not doing the big truck of 300 trees in the middle of the Costco parking lot. But then there was also these fire pits stationed around. And then you got Bradley Mountain that's hustling and bustling with this kind of like warm energy of like, hey, come get a drink. Take your drink out. Like there's all this energy. How like how are you guys doing that? And what is the what is the kind of driver of that kind of stuff? Like, what's the reason you even think about doing that for Bradley Mountain? Because you could just be like, hey, we serve coffee and we're good.
35:10Chris Cruz:Like, we're fine. We have a retail, but you guys do more than that. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, there's so much to that. The location is really cool. The doors open and there's the grass and there's a big deck that we built. Yeah, you do have a beautiful spot. We really wanted that. We didn't want the, like, shotgun-style retail where there's doors in the front and it goes way back and there's nothing. That's kind of how, like, the main street shops are. Yeah. um great really cool stuff but like we wanted a place where we wanted it to feel like a campus okay um and so which it does feel like now that you say that that's like you do get that vibe there yeah and we wanted it to be a destination okay um so rather than kind of getting getting on the main street let's like let's just do something over here and let's create a place where people can park and walk around and have a have a moment wow um and that is something that's lacking in this area i feel like um it's just like a place you can have a beer or a coffee and like chill with your kids.
36:05There's just not a lot of that.
36:08Chris Cruz:Cause everybody's maximizing space. Like they're doing, we can put another store here and make more money. You're like, yeah, we're going to keep the grass. Yeah. Like we're not going to throw another store here. We're going to keep the grass cause it does something. It breathes. Yeah. It's very true. And then another thing, you know, when you walk into the store, we were, we want people to look around and be curious so that we were putting things everywhere. We have like photos of our grandparents in there. That's awesome. We've got canoes on the ceiling and stuff. But the canoes on the ceiling, I want to call it out.
36:38Chris Cruz:Because I love it so much from a brand perspective. The canoes on the ceiling have, is this a Bradley Mountain canoe team or something? Yeah, like outdoor club or canoe club. You're not just throwing up a canoe. You're like, I'm going to spend a little bit more time and throw a custom branded thing that doesn't even exist. There's no canoe club to my knowledge. No, there's not. But you're like, I'm going to put it on there. Why are you doing that? Just throw the canoe up, man. Yeah. Yeah. it is that kind of extra attention to curiosity. It's always like pulling people in. Like, man, what if there was a canoe club?
37:10Chris Cruz:Yeah. Like that would be sick. You know, that'd be like, I want a canoe club. Yeah, exactly. Can someone start a canoe club? Yeah. Everything, everything we do is like this nod to this world that may or may not exist. Right. It's this, it's this, the summer camp you went to as a kid. It's like the, the boy scout trip or it's this trip you, you hope to go on that you're exploring what's around the corner. and it's all just a metaphor. It's just all a metaphor for, Oh, you haven't seen that yet. And we want to pick things in the store that people haven't seen before. We're constantly bringing in new little things, um, here and there.
37:42And that's why we keep designing. We keep creating new things. We keep the core stuff, uh, and we improve it, but there's always like the other day we, I brought in a bunch of Palo Santo, like, you know, those wood sticks you can burn. Um, Um, cause I just love the smell of them. And I was like, I should make like a leather tray for it that like keeps it off the ground and then the ashes go into the leather. So it's not getting, it doesn't get on your table. And I like, I made it in like five minutes and it was just like this fun little, you know, just, I don't want to keep, I don't, I don't want to feel like I've done everything.
38:17I want to keep trying new things and having fun with it.
38:20Chris Cruz:How do you run your team? Like how, how does that work? Like, do you guys have a weekly staff meeting, a cadence? No. You're like, nah, dude. Don't put me in that room. Get out of here. We have like zero meetings. Okay. I love it. No meetings over at Bradley Mountain. There's two kind of things. There's a cafe team, which we have logistics meetings. We have trainings. We have team hangouts. You guys also serve like great natural wines and beer and all that. And that also makes you guys – I think your burritos have duck eggs? They used to. We had to switch vendors. Yeah, that was fun. But, but yeah, we, and we make like all of our own syrups in house for the coffees and stuff.
38:59We have a really good food program and Caitlin, our manager does all that. Okay. Um, but the, so we have like, you know, meetings that are necessary to like run a cafe and get on the same page. Um, but I'm really big on just being around. Um, and so it's me and the back of house team, which is like right now it's myself, Will and TJ, um, doing the design.
39:25Chris Cruz:Okay. And then we have a sew shop in San Diego. And the roaster's there too. And then our roaster, Colton, he's back there with us. On bags you designed. Again, it's like every touch point has you in there somewhere. Yeah, which, you know, some of that's not on purpose. It's just how it is. Yeah, yeah. I get it. When you're like, I can do this, I'm going to do it. Yeah. Yeah.
39:48But I've found that, first of all, meetings are usually a waste of time. um at least like weekly yeah you know i'll call a meeting if it's like guys let's get on the same page here yeah um but it's usually just a call out like that it's um a lot of it's just being around each other building relationship and then it's like hey you guys good you need help do these
40:08Chris Cruz:leather makers come to you with knowledge on making bags like i'm like where are you finding all these craftsmen we for a long time would just train up uh people from scratch um tj who's who's like my main production manager now. Um, he, uh, and I live together and we were both doing our own brands. He was doing his own leather goods company. I was starting Bradley mountain. And so he's self-trained as well. Um, but I've known him forever and now we get to work together. Um, but yeah, we, we usually just train up in house. Um, it's really not that hard. It's just muscle memory and knowing, knowing the stuff you could, you could learn to do what we do in like three months.
40:50Wow. Um, and then a lot of it's just having the tools and the design sense of creating something that people want. Um, that I think is the harder part. Um, but I was going to say something good. I interrupted you at some point. No, no, it's, this is all good. Um, but
41:09Chris Cruz:so let me ask you this question. It may come back to your mind in there. When you're the notes, there's no team meetings. You're kind of like, you're big on everybody being in the same space you're i got it got it we found it it was yeah it's it's similar to like building trust running and this is a leadership yeah angle more so but um everybody comes in whenever they want so whoa so people the cafe's got to open yeah the cafe's got to start yeah but the the back of house like my roaster makes his own schedule um tj and will both make their own schedule. Um, and that's just something I shifted.
41:48Um, I used to be like ring the bell, turn the machines on, you know, eight 30, let's go. Um, and I've just shifted everything to be a little bit more like, dude, you, you, you're not a morning person. Like come in at nine. Yeah. Will, um, comes in before me and TJ and he's like hitting the emails and taking care of customers really early. And then he goes up, goes home at four and hangs out with his family. um so there's just you know we don't have any like drastic things like we're together most of the day but i think just creating a culture in the shop that feels it's not dictated it's like i'm gonna i'm gonna get in and get my stuff done yeah each person feels that ownership as long as
42:30Chris Cruz:as long as you like even a phrase we say as long as you get the job done i actually don't care when you do it yeah all right just get the job done yeah absolutely um and that's been a really cool culture shift for us as a, as a shop. Um, and then there's just a ton of pride. Like they literally walk around on the weekends, just telling people about it. Um, and it's just such a gift to have, I mean, they're like two of my best friends as well, which is really special. Um, and then, um, yeah. And then we have a team of sewers in California that are highly experienced. They've been doing it forever.
43:04Um, that do quite a bit of stuff. Um, Um,
43:08Chris Cruz:so let me ask you this final question here. Let's wrap us up with this. Yeah. If you had to describe the future of where you're going as a brand, where are you going? Like what's you're this adventure. We're going into the unknown. We've there's an, uh, even for us, like some of our energy is like refuse to settle. Like even our team, like our kind of our ethos is like, Hey, let's pioneer. Let's refuse to settle. Let's keep looking on the horizon. What's that? You have a similar kind of heart. Is that like, what's next for Bradley mountain Mike as a brand, what are you thinking? So, um, we just took over our sewing factory in California.
43:45That was like a kind of a thing we, we posted about it a couple of weeks ago. Um, so that's opening doors to grow our apparel line. Um, so we're starting to do pants. We're going to get into some women's chore, chore coats and stuff.
43:56Chris Cruz:Um, and probably when you say you took over it, meaning like you bought out a company that was manufacturing it for you. Yes. Okay. Yeah. We had been working, we were like their main client for a little while. a couple years and we took over recently. So that's expanding our abilities a lot. We still make bags in Tennessee, but we also have our team in California. So I think apparel, like growing that very selectively and carefully, we're going to grow that. It's opening up opportunities for brand partnerships and manufacturing for others as well. Okay. So we're really leaning into like this is where you get your stuff made in America.
44:34Oh, let's go.
44:35Chris Cruz:So you guys are almost going to start becoming your own manufacturing for other brands. Yeah. Yeah. And we're already starting to do that, which is really cool. And kind of using what we know in terms of design to help uplift other brands, give them really special things or, you know, allow them to sell those. And then so there's kind of two prongs. There's the manufacturing side and then the hospitality side. So that's back to the people, giving people memorable experiences that are going to change their life for the better. Um, and so our hope would be someday to kind of get into like hotel and like stays.
45:10Um, so having like either Columbia or somewhere else, I don't know.
45:13Chris Cruz:Oh, you're like, I don't know, man, I'm going to Sweden. We'll see. We'll see. Um, we're not working on this, but I think the, if, if we were to extrapolate like who we are as people, my wife and I, um, on our passions, we just love getting people together. So whether that's like music venue, bar, restaurant, and like a small boutique hotel, type thing like that would be super fun what's what's cool about what you're saying here we'll wrap up here is because i heard seth godin say this one time he was talking about how to know if somebody has a brand or doesn't have a brand he's like he said something i don't know yeah no you do because the way he describes it he goes if hyatt hotels decided to make a sneaker you would have no idea what that sneaker would look like or feel like or be like you wouldn't know what the campaigns would look like at all because Hyatt doesn't have a brand.
46:02Chris Cruz:But if Nike decided to make a hotel, you have a great sense of what that hotel is going to be like. That's cool. If Bradley mountain opened a hotel, you know exactly what that hotel is going to be like, what it's going to feel like, what that experience is going to be like. Cause you've harnessed that you've harnessed that ability to go. We understand how to exchange this pairing of who we are with some kind of feeling. And you guys have done that. So well done, man. Well done. That means so much. And thanks for coming on and talking with us, bro. I love it. Thanks for these questions. This was a good time.
From the publisher
What does it look like to build a brand where adventure is the ethos, not the product?In this episode, we sit down with Tyler Axtell, founder of Bradley Mountain, to unpack how a garage project turned into a lifestyle brand rooted in curiosity, craftsmanship, and community. We go back to the beginning of the brand and explore the hard lessons of building by hand (“the hard way, on purpose”), the tension between scaling fast and staying true, and why Bradley Mountain refuses to white-label or take shortcuts. If you’re a founder, maker, or creative wrestling with growth, identity, and experimentation, this episode is packed with insights on building a business that lasts. 00:00 – Intro: The Hard Way, On Purpose02:15 – From Garage Project to First Bradley Mountain Bag07:40 – Throwing the Failed Bag into the Street (and Trying Again)12:25 – Why Adventure Became the Brand’s Ethos18:10 – Building Community: From Chalkboard Dreams to Gatherings23:50 – Choosing Craftsmanship Over Shortcuts30:35 – Why Tyler Turned Down Scaling Bradley Mountain37:20 – Experimentation as a Business Model45:00 – Moving from California to Tennessee51:15 – Creating a Retail Space That Feels Like Community58:45 – Free Repairs and Products Built for Life01:04:30 – Christmas Tree Lot & Offbeat Community Moments01:09:50 – Tyler on Freedom, Grit, and the Future of Bradley Mountain01:15:00 – Closing Thoughts: Exploration as the Real Business Model