Ep. 4: Blenders Eyewear CEO Talks about The Hustler Mindset
In this episode, Darren Reinke chats with Chase Fisher, founder and CEO of Blenders Eyewear. Chase talks about starting his sunglasses company with only a $2,000 loan from his roommate, the importance of being a hustler, competing with the titans of the sunglasses industry, overcoming adversity, how he almost quit, and how surfing has influenced his leadership style.
The Blenders Eyewear Story
Chase believes in the hustle, he started a grassroots effort buoyed by social media and his SDSU network, selling shades out of his backpack while doubling as a surf coach. He leveraged his background as a sponsored athlete to develop sunnies with scintillating style and adventurous spirit.
It’s been this steadfast self-determination—and the combined efforts of the San Diego-based company’s team—that’s established Blenders as one of America’s fastest-growing sunglasses brands today.
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SHOW NOTES
The Genesis of Blenders Eyewear [1:00]
Taking on the Giants in the Sunglass Industry [1:47]
How to Develop the Skills to Be a Successful CEO [2:35]
What It Means to Be a Hustler [3:42]
How to Instill the Hustler Mindset within the Team [4:50]
How He Persevered During Tough Times [6:13]
How He Translated His Natural Style into the Organization and Culture [7:43]
How Bootstrapping Blenders Eyewear Impacted the Company’s Mindset [9:40]
How to Let Go and Delegate [11:05]
How Blenders Stays Innovative [12:40]
How to Foster a Mindset of Getting Better [14:50]
Chase’s Mentors and Advisors [15:48]
The Influence of Chase’s Dad [17:30]
How Surfing Has Influenced Chase and Blenders [18:45]
What Does the Future Hold for Blenders [21:40]
Advice to Other Leaders and Entrepreneurs [22:45]
SHOW LINKS
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For additional leadership tips, be sure to check out Darren's book - The Savage Leader: 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader from the Inside Out.
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT
Darren: Today's guest on the Savage Leader podcast is Chase Fisher. Chase is the founder and CEO of Blenders Eyewear. Chase, thanks so much for coming on today.
Chase Fisher: Thanks Darren. Stoked to be here, man.
WHAT IS BLENDERS EYEWEAR?
Darren: Hey, so for people who don't know Blenders. Obviously, I'm a San Diego guy I'm well-aware of the brand. Talk to us about Blenders, where it came from, how you started it, all of that?
Chase Fisher: So, Blenders spawned when I was actually a surf coach down here in San Diego. I was a broke college student. Didn't know what I was going to do with my life. And I was working as a surf coach and I basically just saw a real need in the market to create a cool brand at an affordable price. You know, I couldn't find sunglasses that I could afford and that I resonated with. And so, I saw a need to just kind of create my own. And yeah, so we're a fast-growing sunglass company here in San Diego. I've been in business since 2012 and we really specialize in, you know, fresh, vibrant stylish sunglasses at a great price.
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TAKING ON THE GIANTS OF THE SUNGLASS INDUSTRY
Darren: So obviously you looked into the face of the Titans of industry and what was that mindset? What do you have to be thinking about in terms of going after some of those big guys?
Chase Fisher: I mean, for me, it was more just about like, okay, I couldn't find sunglasses that I could afford, so there was a real need for me. And then I started seeing like a massive need in the market in general. So yeah, when you look at the sunglass market, it's massive, it's owned by, you know, huge corporations that pretty much monopolized the whole industry. And so, I wanted to smash that formula, you know and it was a really big kind of task ahead, but I believe that. You know, here in San Diego, I was developing a cool brand at a, in a cool price point. And, yeah, it was just a great place to start it. So, dove in head first had no experience and borrowed $2,000 from my roommate and jumped in head first.
HOW CHASE DEVELOPED AS A LEADER
Darren: One of the things that I love to follow is in terms of leaders and how they develop, you know, they started in the early days. And then obviously you being a very successful CEO. I know in the early days you were grinding selling shades out of your backpack I think if I recall correctly and how have you evolved as a leader? How did you develop some of those skills so that you could be the leader of a successful company now?
Chase Fisher: For sure. Well, I mean, I think my background in general, right? Like I was always kind of a hustler in high school. I was hustling up the coast doing surf contest. I was hustling brands for sponsorships. You know, and then I was hustling shades out of my backpack on the beach. So, I kind of, you know, the foundation of my work ethic, I think kind of prepped me for, for this in some sense, however, I had no idea how hard it would be to actually build a business and become a successful sunglass company, the hardest thing I could ever imagine. So, I think for me, it's just evolving, you know, and leadership is definitely the hardest skill in business, in my opinion, at least for me. So, it's an endless process and it's an everyday kind of commitment and just learning and evolving and just trying new things and trying to become the best person I can.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A HUSTLER
Darren: You hear a lot of people talk about being a hustler, but what does that exactly mean? What were the things that you did? What were the mindsets that you had that to enable you to be successful in hustling?
Chase Fisher: Good. Yeah. Great question. You kind of hear the hustle and bustle, like, you know, it sounds pretty trite in the entrepreneurship world, but at the end of the day, it's kind of an inevitable for success, right? I mean, you have to hustle if you want to succeed in today's day and age. So, I really look at it as, you know, an unbeatable work ethic having no regards for rejection and having a knack to get noticed, you know, and I think that was what I was able to do pretty well personally throughout my surfing career, as well as just, you know, as a brand, you have to stand out in today's day and age. So, I think its that everyday commitment working really hard and developing that mindset that you, that you cannot fail it, you have to make this happen. So yeah, it's hard for sure, but if you're passionate about it, I think that's what makes things, it makes it all worth it at the end and knowing that hard work produces great results is really fulfilling.
HOW TO INSTILL THE HUSTLER MINDSET WITHIN THE TEAM
Darren: Yeah. So, hustling in the early days is obviously different than when you've got a well-established company. You've got sales numbers get a team. How have you been able to continue to be a hustler and also instill that mindset and work ethic within your team?
Chase Fisher: Yeah. Look, I think from our bootstrapping mentality of Blenders, like I said, you know, we started from nothing. Everything we've done has been built brick by brick and I think that bootstrapping mentality really taught me so much invaluable lessons and fundamentals of business that I never would have got if we would've started say with a large investment. So that really keeps me grounded and that really keeps our team grounded. And really like it came at a time where I almost quit, you know, six months in, I was like, I don't know what I'm doing. This isn't going to work. And I forget who told me this, but somebody said, Chase, the only way you're going to fail is if you stop. And from that point forward, the whole life in forward motion motto for Blenders was built. And I knew that no matter what we did every single day, we had to move forward and we had to be the best we could. And in order to win, it's going to take a tremendous amount of hard work and grit and resilience. And so that's just been part of our DNA. And I think that just comes from building a business, bootstrapped, you know, learning how to do more with less and getting beat up a million times and pushed around. So, it really was our bootcamp to prepare us for, for the future.
HOW CHASE AND BLENDERS PERSEVERED IN TOUGH TIMES
Darren: How did you get back off the mat? How do you keep persevering? So, I think that's hard and you talked about almost quitting and talked about life and forward motion, but it's like, what'd you go through? How did you actually persevere during those tough times?
Chase Fisher: Oh man, it's so hard. And it's like, it's one of those things where everyone's laughs at you until you start making money. And you're kind of looked at like this outcast and you're trying to talk to people like, yeah, I'm going to start a sunglass company. They're like, what? Go get a real job, dude. You know what I mean? And then you start to succeed and then people start to kind of recognize it a little bit. And for me, I was so passionate about it and I knew that this was my calling because I had experiences in the past for jobs that I hated that I never wanted to go back to. So, I was doing whatever it took to make this work and that was kind of my mentality. And I just knew it was going to be hard, you know, I've overcame adversity, my entire life. I'm dyslexic. I was in special education. I struggled through school. So, on paper I was set up to fail and I was always believing that you had to be smart to be successful and the entrepreneurs were like the 4.0 students. And the further I kind of progressed and persevere, the more I learned that the entrepreneurship space and the most successful leaders in today's day and age are just like me, you know? So, I think that really resonated with me and I just never gave up.
HOW TO BUILD A BRAND THAT IS AN EXTENSION OF YOU AND YOUR STYLE
Darren: Yeah, I definitely don't have to be just pure book smart to be successful. So, I think it's just fascinating, just how you've been continuing to hustle and take me back to some of the early days and how have you trained the way to that natural style, the vibe, the brand, and to building a successful, not just a company, but really to infuse that within the organization?
Chase Fisher: Definitely. I mean, in terms of like vibe style and culture of Blenders, like it's very much a resemblance of me and that comes pretty natural, right. But when it comes to building a team and managing a team around that, that's by far been one of my greatest challenges over the years. And although I've come a long way, I still have a lot more to go but it all comes from personal experience, right? I mean, I've ran the gamut of hiring friends, hiring friends of friends hiring people on social media, hiring recruiters to find people like finding good people is very difficult. I've made a fair share of bad hires and a fair share of good hires and I've learned to, you know, hire slow and fire fast, unfortunately, but cultivating talent that beats to the same drum and really drinks the same Kool-Aid as you, is a lot easier said than done. But I also think starting the brand from nothing like, you know, I've worn every hat in this space, you know, I've worn every hat in the business because we couldn't afford to hire people. So, on one hand it's a blessing and a curse because you can really understand all facets of the business before you hire out for them. On the other hand, it really prevents you from delegating and it can kind of falter your growth and that was really hard for me. So, I think for me, like it's finding people that I resonate with, that I can connect with on a, on an everyday level. It's less about how much experience and skill they have about more, just about like their connection to the brand and what they're passionate about, what their values are, what they like to do for fun, like really hiring our customers. So, to say is kind of like how we've been able to do it and really hiring for positions that are only needed when we absolutely need them to keep things really lean and mean
HOW BOOTSTRAPPING IMPACTED THE MINDSET AND CULTURE OF BLENDERS
Darren: You've mentioned lean and mean in bootstrapping and not taking on outside funding, which is remarkable. And what kind of mindsets did that instill within you, but also within teams, that's obviously a different approach versus when you're spending someone else's money per se?
Chase Fisher: Absolutely. You know, when you bootstrap a business, right, you really learn how to manage your money and you really learn the value of a dollar, which I think is extremely important in business. You know, we operate as if we have a dollar in the account and we're going out of business every single day, you know, and I think that scrappy mentality really makes you earn the success, right? Because everything you do in today's age can be very expensive or it could be very problematic, you know? More money, it just means more problems in a sense. And so, for us, it was about figuring out the hacks, figuring out, you know, new tools, networking, and like unlocking new business, you know, hacks for us to kind of get to that next level. And that's where the fun stuff comes from, you know? And that's where you learn all the stuff that you can never read about or learn from if you haven't actually gone through that process. And you also learn what you're good at, you really learn what your core competencies are what you love to do and what, and what you hate to do. And so, you know, I think that's incredibly important as you grow a business or as a leader, you need to be able to understand when to pull back and when to throttle.
HOW FOUNDERS CAN DELEGATE TO THEIR TEAM MEMBERS
Darren: How have you been able to do that? And what are some of the lessons learned in terms of course, it's sometimes hard for a founder and CEO. Who's got every, their hand in all the different pots, but how have you been able to let go and to delegate and to allow some of your team members to thrive?
Chase Fisher: Oh man, I've had the hardest time with that because I'm so particular on how I wanted the brand to look. And I think because I was so close to it for so long and I've kind of did every position it was really hard for me to let go of those positions. So, for me it was like, it was just trial and error. You know, it was finding good people, putting trust in those people really like keeping a tight leash on them, but also giving them proper objectives to hit and, you know, kind of managing it along the way, you know, and I'm still learning like managing people is very hard. I've never managed in my entire life until this. So, you know, you have to somehow let go and you have to also let people kind of drive the wheel a little bit and if they crash, once it's not going to bury the business and it's okay. But I think for so long, I was so protective and I wasn't allowing people to really create a unique space for themselves to really kind of take initiative. Where now I'm like, okay, our team has grown or positions or departments are really strong. How do we let this team kind of flourish? How do we let them, to be super creative? And that's always the goal. So, I have a long way to go with it. I'm not where I want to be, but I've definitely come a lot longer than shipping shades out of my backpack and selling them on the beach.
HOW TO PUSH YOURSELF OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Darren: Yeah. We're all working progress. Obviously, you guys are now quite successful and you talk a lot about pushing customers out of their comfort zone in terms of wearing some of the styles and shades that you guys develop, but how do you as a team, how do you stay innovative? How do you keep pushing yourselves out of your comfort zone so that you can stay out in front of the competition?
Chase Fisher: Yeah, I mean, look, I think it goes back to our origin story of just how we started, right. I mean, we had no options, you know, it was like it was kill or be killed sort of thing. And we had to put everything out there to succeed. So that's just part of our culture of Blenders. Like it's a be faster be last mentality and you know, getting behind that life and forward motion motto, which basically is our survival. You know, we know that as a brand, as in this day and age, like we're up against Goliath in the industry and we need to be at the front row at all times. And that means continuing to evolve the brand, making better products, expanding our customer base, like it means moving forward every single day.
And that's kind of how I just built my life, right. I mean, I think complacency is the fastest way to die and I've seen it a million times as a kid growing up. All the cool brands that I used to look up to are all broke and they all didn't make it because they focus on being cool and they didn't focus on evolving and adapting. So, you know, Blenders is really built in that sense where we're digitally based and you know, in order to win and stay and stay winning, we have to evolve and we have to get better every day. So, our team knows that and our team's behind that. We also have a very transparent culture too. I mean, we're very open about how the business is doing, how the business is performing, what's working, what's not. And so, everybody on our ship really, you know, serves a purpose and when they're not doing their job, it's a direct impact on the business. So, I think that culture, that buy-in, and that sort of like passion and connection to the brand has allowed our team to really help rocket us.
Darren: You mentioned evolving and getting better and having known you to seeing that evolution over time, but how do you foster that mindset? What are some of the things that you do to keep that, that mindset in terms of evolution and getting better in terms of your team members?
Chase Fisher: Like for me, it's letting that inner child, you know, shine. Right. I think it's just being always curious. And in entrepreneurship you have to have curiosity, you know. We hire on curiosity, I'm very curious about certain things or teams curious, and that keeps us learning that keeps us engaging in conversations that keeps our network large, that keeps our relationship stronger. So, for me I'm really networking with other brand founders. I'm, really connected in the space. I'm really trying to, you know, put myself out there in ways that allows me to have more opportunities. So, I've always been that guy kind of my whole life. So, I think that kind of comes natural to me and as long as I'm passionate about what I'm doing, it's going to continue to get me up out of bed and you know, continue to evolve. Because, you know, I'm nowhere where I want to be, I've come a long way, but there's still so much more to go.
MENTORS AND ADVISORS
Darren: Oh yeah, definitely. In terms of us evolving, it always helps to have outside mentors, advisors. Who have been some of the people that have been really crucial for you either before starting Blenders or even during Blenders, like who are those mentors? Who are those advisors?
Chase Fisher: You know, that's a great question. You know, I'm a big believer in surrounding yourself with the right people. And what I mean by that is like building a network of connections and people that you trust, that you admire, that you look up to and that you aspire to be and are where you want to be. You know, I was fortunate to find those people at San Diego state and surround myself with successful entrepreneurs that were doing things that I wanted to be doing. You know, Paul and Griffin from Pure Vida Bracelets are some of my best friends.
We all went to school together. They started two years ahead of me. That was super inspiring for me. I also have a leadership coach slash backup CEO, which he calls it which I talked to on a weekly basis just to kind of keep my head in the game and to challenge my thoughts and to kind of keep my perspective strong. And I also network with tons of other founders, you know other brands that are in this space across multiple different categories, trying to do the same thing. So, you know, it's hard, it's sort of a lonely space because not many people are in the game, but it's up to you to kind of find the right people. And you know, if you're aspiring to be an entrepreneur, like I can definitely say, you need to find somebody that's done what you want to do and learn from those people and surround yourself with them and just insert yourself into that circle because eventually it's going to rub off on you in a very positive way.
THE IMPACT OF CHASE’S FATHER ON HIM AND HIS LEADERSHIP STYLE
Darren: And you also mentioned your dad in terms of having a bit of a big influence on you. How has he been influential in terms of you and you're starting your company and being a great CEO?
Chase Fisher: Yeah. So, hats off to pops because I mean, look, I think I've learned a lot from both parents, for sure. You know, at, at age four, my parents had a pretty gnarly divorce and both went completely different directions in their life. They also have two completely different parenting styles. You know, my dad was an entrepreneur when he started his business in the nineties and his style was much more loose and flexible and basically, he was kind of a dad that was like Chase, you could surf as much as you want, as long as you get your homework done. Right. And my mom pursued a career in court reporting and she came from a much like structured and discipline style and was like, Chase, you can't surf until you get your homework done. So, I think I learned a lot from both of them and I kind of got the mix of both of them. I got to kind of like think big and unconventional from my dad and sort of the discipline and teamwork and structure for my mom. So yeah, I would say it's been very positive and they've been a huge impact on my success.
HOW SURFING HAS INFLUENCED THE BLENDERS BRAND AND CHASE’S LEADERSHIP STYLE
Darren: Yeah, our parents and all the people around us are obviously incredibly influential in terms of determining who we are. Especially as a leader. To me, surfing's a metaphor for life in terms of pushing yourself to go bigger, to overcoming your fears, achieving that sense of stillness when you're in the ocean. How is surfing influenced either the brand or who you are as a leader?
Chase Fisher: I love your metaphor by the way. I think it's great. I might yank that one Darren. It's pretty good. I definitely connected with it. I mean, look for me, surfing's always been sort of the compass to my life since day one or ever since my grandparents dragged me to surf camp at age six, right. It was my first passion in life. It was the first time I felt cool doing something. It was the first time I was exposed to action sports and it was the first time I was really humbled as a kid, you know, just out there and nature and experiencing the force of nature. So, surfing to me really keeps me connected to the business in so many ways as its kind of is an endless world of exploration, you know, and that really is entrepreneurship too. There's no ceiling with this game. There's no threshold you can hit. It's just, it's this open white space for you to discover as much as you want to discover and learn as much as you want to learn.
So, I think when I compare surfing and entrepreneurship, they're very much the same. You know they're both contact sports and they both kind of demand an extreme amount of ownership, right? There's no one else to blame, but yourself for when things go wrong. It's also taught me an immense amount of aggressive patients and kind of what I mean by that is to be good at something. It takes a lot of hard work and it takes a lot of time to build a business doesn't work on day one to be a good surfer, doesn't work on your first wave. Like you have to put in so much time to get good. And then knowing that, you know, when opportunities come, you need to be ready for it and be in the right place and position yourself in the right position. So, in that white belts are just inevitable, you know, and that's part of the game. So yeah, there's a lot of correlations that I bring into the ocean into my real life. It's pretty much the closest thing I can relate anything to. Life, business relationships, friends, girlfriends, whatever, it all ties back to the ocean and somehow some way,
Darren: Yeah, it's the ultimate act of humility as one day you're doing great and next day you're wiping out.
Chase Fisher: And that's the thing too. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it keeps you humble, extremely humble. And in entrepreneurship you get destroyed, you know, and you get humbled every single day and so does the ocean. You know, just when you think you're a good surfer, you're, you know, you have a bad wipe out and you're like, wow I'm not as good as I thought, or I got to be more careful or I've got to you know what I mean? There's so many checkpoints along the way that allow you to you know, reset paddle back out, get up dust, wipe it off and keep going. And that's life.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR BLENDERS
Darren: So, chase, you guys have had a brilliant first couple of years in the industry and what does the future hold for blenders?
Chase Fisher: Yeah, so BlenderVille's got a lot of exciting stuff in the future. You know, we have new products coming out from our snow category that we're expanding. We're coming out with a new Goggle this year with a torque lens. We're expanding into helmets as well as accessories, beanies, face masks things like that. We're also launching prescription, which has been a huge project that we've been working on backstage and we're super excited for that as well, as well as international expansion. You know, now that we've partnered with a larger corporation called Staphylo we're able to kind of reach a lot bigger of a demographics. So, we're going to be going in Australia, Canada, things like that and yeah, we're going to continue our quest to become the coolest and biggest leader in affordable eyewear and we're on our way,
ADVICE FOR LEADERS AND ENTREPRENEURS
Darren: Exciting times. You've obviously been through a lot in your life and your career what's one or two lessons or pieces of advice you would give to either aspiring leaders from an entrepreneurship perspective or even just leaders in larger organizations?
Chase Fisher: I would say I mean the biggest lesson that I've learned over the years, or at least just with this whole journey is you don't have to be smart to be successful. And that hard workout pace is being genius minded any single day. And I never would have known that without starting Blenders. You know, like I said, I was on set up on paper to be the kid that failed. Right. And so yeah, I mean for me that's the biggest lesson I've learned and I know that I can, there's nothing I can't accomplish without putting in the hard work to do it. So yeah. Follow your instinct, put in the work and the result will be there.
Darren: Great advice. Where can people find out more about blenders where they want to pick up a pair of cool shades?
Chase Fisher: Absolutely, check out our website blenderseyewear.com. Check us out on Instagram at @BlendersEyewear on all the socials and yeah, hopefully we can grace your face pretty soon.
Darren: Fantastic. Well, chase, thanks so much for coming on the podcast today. I really appreciate it.
Chase Fisher: Thanks, Darren. I really appreciate it as well.