SEATTLE — If you want to know how childhood friends Jake Director and Riley Goodman started Strideline, one of the most successful sock companies in the country, you need to go back to the beginning. The very beginning.
"We were born six hours apart in the same hospital, Overlake, and went to the same elementary school, middle school, high school, and college," said Strideline co-founder Jake Director. "And really, from as early as we can remember we wanted to sell something."
After trying their hand at t-shirts at 10, the two turned their attention to socks while attending Issaquah High School and into college at the University of Washington.
"No one was like making colorful crew socks. So, you know, we got our start," Director said. "We said we're gonna find someone that could go do that and found a guy in Istanbul and we were off."
They might have been off, but they admit, they didn't quite know how to get there.
"We really didn't know anything, but our attitude was always like, if someone can figure it out, we can figure it out."
While the two were learning their trade on the job, a few people began to take notice.
"One time, we woke up, and Snoop Dogg tweeted a picture of our socks. And we were like, oh my God, we've done it. So, you know, stuff like that happens along the way,” Goodman said. “I think probably the most notable one is we were watching the Seahawks playoff game. There was a close-up of Marshawn Lynch going into the endzone, and it zoomed in on him and he was wearing our Strideline socks in a game. And we had no idea. We didn't, you know, intentionally pay him to do this. He just did it on his own accord. And it was awesome. I think it really puts Strideline on the map."
Marshawn has gone on to be a spokesperson for Stridleine. That's just one of many changes they've made since starting in 2009.
"We started with a really bad sock, it was really thin, tons of holes. If anyone still has a pair out there, by all means, they're vintage now. And we just made improvements to the sock in every single order. And over time, I think we started developing a really, really high-quality premium sock."
Their commitment to quality has paid off. Strideline now has licensing deals with everything from corporations to the NCAA, and most recently, the NFL.
"I think we sold about 42 pairs our first year, give or take," Goodman said. "And now we sell over 5 million pairs a year."
"It's a small company, it still is, and we want to keep it that way where it's just very close to it," Director said. "And we're close to the product."
Despite all of Director and Goodman's accomplishments, the two lifelong friends are taking their sock success all in stride.
“We’re obsessed with making the best socks on earth,” Director said.
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