A little over two years ago, a growing beer belly and boredom led me down the a rabbit hole and resulted in the Dad Bod By t-shirt design. At that point, I didn’t intend to build a business. I set up a simple eCommerce store under the name Relateeble, mostly with the intent of continuing to hone my web development skills, and I “set it and forgot it.”
Fast forward to this year, when I started adding button down shirts with bold prints centered around my many (and sometimes nonsensical interests): outside of weddings and funerals, and gameday, I haven’t worn a shirt I haven’t in public in months. About 7 public appearances out of 10, I get a comment about my shirts, and people often ask how they can purchase a shirt for themselves or a loved one.
The comments got the mental gears turning, but the more I pondered, the more I realized that “Relateeble” just wasn’t a name or brand I could get excited about. I could also feel it when I talked about the prospect of building a serious business with my friends + family: nobody could buy in. I knew the brand had to change.
After more reflection, I also realized that I didn’t want the new brand to be hollow. As a former entrepreneur (a few times), I’m well aware of the effort launching a successful company in the apparel industry will take; I wanted that effort to be about more than turning a profit. The new venture had to have a purpose, as well as a set of guiding tenets.
Enter Vybn
Surprisingly, the Vybn name was born over just a few beers couple of hours. After a furious night of trademark searches, the domain was registered. A few sleepless nights of logo design and reprogramming later, the updated website launched and Vybn was launched. We’re off to the races.
So Why Vybn?
I wanted to center around the concept of “vibes” because I felt that the button down shirts (and now polos, dresses, casual blouses, and more) showcased my aura: quirky, approachable, and unapologetically authentic. The bold nature of the designs
I wanted to make this brand about sparking conversations and connecting people with similar vibes.
I’ll talk a little bit more about what envision building at Vybn:
The Vybn Vision + Purpose
Vybn’s long-term vision is to:
- Build a brand that empowers our community to dress (and live) boldly
- Create an ecosystem that generates US-based jobs
- Build a business balances commerce + compassion
Vybn exists to create gear that sparks conversations, draws attention, and most importantly: oozes bold, confident vibes.
If you made it this far through these ramblings, thank you! I hope you’ll join me on what’s sure to be a long and wild ride!