by Julia Perez (@wolaco)
Born in NYC and made in the USA, Wolaco is hitting the streets with the best compression pants in the game, complete with pockets and functional details that let the design and quality stand out among the rest. If you’re an active dude who’s looking to improve the life you live through fashionable, functional athletic wear, this is for you.
Words below from our interview with Wolaco founder, Terry White.
Confident To The Core…
We asked Wolaco’s founder, Terry White to define what’s at his core and what’s at the core of the Wolaco brand. “It’s gotta be confident to the core. The word confident is something I have thought a lot about. Having started my own company, a lot of this is rooted in my own personal pursuit to become my most confident self. In the world we live in today, the word ‘confident’ is a something that gets thrown around a lot and in my opinion is misused all the time by young guys in particular.”
“Understanding yourself comes down to being your most confident self. “
By pursuing what was near and dear to me, I think I’ve been able to begin developing that true form of confidence. It’s something I want to be central to our brand. I would love for the brand to inspire our customers to live that way. Finding things that are really aligned to what’s important to you. I think a lot of people are chasing other people’s definition of confidence.”
Designing the best athletic wear for today’s millennial…
“I think one of the things that we’re most excited about is the opportunity to address the millennial market. There is an opportunity here to go against the popular approach within our industry as active apparel providers. One of the most fundamental differences between our approach and that of other established brands is that we want to be a relatable brand versus an aspirational brand. We think this is one of the reasons our customers are responding so well to what we’re doing. With all of the marketing outlets we have available today digitally, we can project ourselves in a way that we hope is a little more refreshing, real, and in many cases, more relatable. Our goal is to actually understand what goes on in the lives of an active millennial. Relatability versus unattainability. “
The city run that started it all…
North Moore short was the first product we created, I named it North Moore because that’s where I was living at the time in Tribeca. It was soon after I graduated from college – having been a competitive athlete, upon moving to the “real world” I found myself searching for the purpose behind the active component of my life. I knew I wanted to stay in shape, healthy and active. I found myself developing a real passion for keeping active and started to realize how integral it was in enabling me to be the best me as a young professional. Then, quite simply, I left my NYC apartment to go for a run, carrying my phone in my hand, and stuffing my keys in my socks. Like I said, I knew I wanted to stay active, and I thought… ‘I can’t really see myself doing this every time I go for a run.’ It doesn’t seem smart or logical. I got back to the apartment after that run and was chatting with my roommates and asked how they usually deal with holding their necessities when they run. And my best friend said.. “I’ve always wondered why there aren’t pockets on compression shorts”. That is when it clicked for me, from that point forward I obsessed over the idea. It turned out, there weren’t any other brands with pockets built-in to compression shorts. I did patent searching to make sure there wasn’t a product or patent that would hinder me. From that point on, I couldn’t help myself, it consumed me. I also felt strongly that as a young guy I wasn’t represented very well from a brand perspective; there was so much to address. All those things collectively drove me to get this first prototype made. I conducted a small pre-sale on this website I built with my brother, we sold 500 units to friends and family and then graduated to Kickstarter, we sold 2,500 to 1,400 customer from around the US and the world. This was great jumping-off point for us.”
It’s about not getting comfortable in your current situation…
“Being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, but I’ve learned that there’s definitely something to be said for having an entrepreneurial mindset and seeing things more creatively. Be willing to challenge your current situation by exploring new opportunities, constantly open your mind. We all come from our own respective networks and usually what we are exposed to in life is limited by that network. My personal background and network definitely wouldn’t suggest that I ultimately end up founding and running an apparel brand. So I would encourage others to explore new worlds as much as we can, as soon as we can. Because you never know. I also believe that finding a career that you love will actually keep you physically active, you will have more energy and passion for every day. You’ll make better decisions regarding your personal health and overall allocation of time and energy. There’s a wide world out there, don’t get too comfortable.”
Models: Aristotle Polites and Mat Forzaglia.
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