Founder Story
For most of my life, I never thought about my clothes.
After college, I was in the worst shape of my life. I was overweight, eating poorly, and rarely exercised. My doctor recommended cholesterol medication, but instead I decided to make a change. I committed to eating better and exercising consistently, and over time it completely transformed my life.
Once I pulled that thread, I couldn't stop.
I started paying attention to where my food came from and reading ingredient labels. Then my wife, Nicole, and I began looking at the products we used in our home and on our skin every day. We swapped out cleaning products, changed our skincare routines, and became more intentional about the things we surrounded ourselves with.
Eventually we asked ourselves a question we had never considered before:
What are we wearing against our skin every single day?
The deeper I looked, the more surprised I became.
The athletic apparel I loved was almost entirely made from polyester and often treated with chemical finishes like PFAS for stain or water resistance. On the other hand, many brands using more thoughtfully sourced materials weren't designed for an active lifestyle. They looked nice but weren't built for movement.
I found myself choosing between clothing that performed the way I wanted or clothing that aligned with the healthier lifestyle I was trying to build.
I wanted both.
At the time, I worked in oil and gas investment banking and had absolutely no experience in the apparel industry. I didn't know how to source fabric, manufacture clothing, or design garments. I simply knew the kind of product I wanted to wear.
So I started learning.
For the next year and a half, I spent countless nights researching textiles, speaking with manufacturers around the world, ordering samples, rejecting samples, and starting over. There were plenty of moments where quitting would have been easier.
I refused to launch anything until it met the standards I had set for myself.
Our goal was simple:
- Comfortable enough for everyday life
- Built to move whether you're in the gym or on a weekend adventure
- Made with thoughtfully sourced materials
- Free from unnecessary chemical finishes
- Dyed using OEKO-TEX® certified dyes that are tested for harmful substances
Only then did I feel comfortable putting my name on it.
As this journey unfolded, I realized that making clothing had been part of my family's story long before it became mine.
My grandfather owned a clothing company in Mississippi that served customers for more than sixty years. Long before I was born, clothing was how our family made its living. His company became a fixture in the community and represented decades of hard work and entrepreneurship.
Part of me feels like Mellow Mile is a resurgence of that legacy.
But there's also another side to the story.
His company did all of its dyeing at in their own facility. Like many manufacturers of that era, my grandfather worked around chemicals every day that were later found to be harmful. He eventually passed away from a rare form of cancer at age sixty six.
I can't tell you those two things are directly connected. Nobody can.
But it makes you wonder how often we assume something is safe simply because it's common.
That thought stayed with me throughout the entire process of building Mellow Mile.
We can't eliminate every exposure in modern life, but we can make better choices where we have the opportunity. That's why we avoid unnecessary chemical finishes and use OEKO-TEX® certified dyes that are tested for harmful substances. We believe you deserve to know more about the products you wear every day.
Nicole and I run Mellow Mile together, and every decision we make is guided by the same question that started this journey:
How can we make healthier choices without sacrificing the life we want to live?
We don't believe health has to be extreme or perfect. It's built through thousands of small decisions—what we eat, how we move, what we put on our skin, and what we wear.
That's why our mission is simple:
Adventure are your own pace.
We believe everyone is on a different journey toward better health, and we're here to make one of those choices a little easier.