We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Benjamin Snedecor. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Benjamin below.
Benjamin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?
The missions of Anywhere Shirts:
-Facilitate a positive culture in the spaces around fitness, outdoor expedition, and action sports.
-Provide a finished product that’s hands-down the best multipurpose graphic tee on the planet.
-Contribute to the re-ignition of the American textile industry.
Benjamin, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Back in 2018, my buddies and I found ourselves working low-level enlisted jobs in the US Navy. This mostly involved busting rust, tugging lines, and chipping paint in the San Diego shipyards and out at sea.
Work was work, and adventure was pretty much mandatory; for kicks and for sanity. We’d get off base whenever we could to explore all the mountains, surf breaks, bouldering spots, and cheap burrito joints in the area.
Whatever time we had off the ship was lots of fun, but it was also more than that. The crew became aficionados of weekend warrior road trips, fireside beers, jerry-rigged roof racks, and discount tire repair.
Misadventures ensued. None of us had a whole lot of money, or really knew what the hell we were doing, but we somehow made it work and lived to talk about it. Our trips were blatantly disorganized, mostly unsafe, and amateur at best.
Gear became a big thing for me. I wanted equipment that I could trust on the road AND score some style points. But most of the time, the stuff I really wanted was either too expensive at the local REI or straight-up didn’t exist.
Necessity gave way to invention. The idea that kept coming back to me, was to make my own t-shirts. I knew I wanted them to be simple, non-political, and cool but not too flashy. AND, I knew they would hold up against the competition if I only printed on shirts that were high-quality material built for anything, and sourced ‘em in America. But how?
The spark to really start making these things happened on the way to a rainy surf sesh at Tourmaline Beach, when I struck up a conversation with my buddy Wyatt about some dope t-shirt designs we both had in mind. And just like that, the journey that became Anywhere Shirts kicked off.
And it snowballed from there. Whether I was working on the ship, catching waves in IB, climbing at Mission Gorge, or figuring out the barbell at the base gym, “the t-shirt thing” was always in the background, never enourmously successful but constantly improving.
And in 2021, my four-year contract with Uncle Sam came to an end. The Navy was over for me and it was time to get out of San Diego. I said my goodbyes to the original Anywhere Shirts crew, took off my ship’s coveralls for the last time, and headed up the coast.
My pursuits, misadventures, and personal blunders after the Navy have been all over the place since then, too bizarre for anyone to explain concisely. Vagabonding through the powder keg of Eastern Europe, some vanlife experimentation, an emerging “career” in screen acting, and sampling a smorgasbord of dayjobs to get by. It’s been a ride.
So at the end of the day, what even IS Anywhere Shirts? Up-front, of course it’s a BETTER graphic t-shirt. No one can hold a candle to tees that are only made in America, spun from soft and durable fabric, and shipped right to your door with sick but subtle designs.
But what is this actually about? Is it an invention? A brand? Outdoor gear? Street wear? An attempted solution to an explosive post-military existential crisis?
Well sure, I guess it could be all of those things. But to me, Anywhere Shirts is really just about having dumb adventures with my friends and figuring it out along the way. It’s about hopping in a Jeep on Friday and breaking out of the Google-mapped, orange caution taped micro-world of your 9-to-5, and getting away to someplace where YOU write the story.
So check ‘em out! I’m positive you’ll find something you like.
We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.
Right after I got out of the Navy, I briefly lived in San Francisco and spent most of my time taking college classes with my GI bill and running Anywhere Shirts out of a 300 square foot apartment in the Marina district. I reconnected with my old buddy Jeff Poindexter who was getting his own little film and media empire off the ground (midnightboardwalkproductions.com) and we decided to join forces to make a viral commercial for the brand. The two of us cranked out a “screenplay” and spent a day running around the city with a camera and a boom mic. By far, this was the most fun I’d had since I got out of the Navy.
So Jeff and I forged a pact as collaborators and made a shortfilm called “Burnouts” featuring cartoonish versions of ourselves. This part of the journey is a whole separate story for another day.
After production of “Burnouts” wrapped up, Jeff and I decided to move to Austin, Texas; a Rennaissance of the American dream for freaks, struggling comedians, and want-repeneurs such as ourselves. Jeff currently works a dayjob at a Delta 9 shop and me as a mainenance guy at a high-rise condo in East Austin. The grind continues.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
Many times, but the pivot to Austin, Texas is the first example that comes to mind. I knew that staying in my hometown would stagnate me and this place seemed to be the right move for re-vamping my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://anywhereshirts.com
- Instagram: anywhereshirts
- Youtube: AnywhereShirts
