In this episode, you’ll hear a detailed Water The Bamboo story featuring Portland Gear’s founder, Marcus Harvey, on what it has taken to build the brand, his passion for product, managing anxiety, and why he invests time in relationships and community.
Marcus Harvey had a dream one day that he would open a retail clothing store and have a line of customers and brand fans around the block, just like Johnny Cupcakes had. In May 2015, that dream came true.
Don’t miss this incredible conversation with one of Portland’s most exciting young entrepreneurs, Marcus Harvey.
Episode Highlights:
02:13 - Marcus’s Bamboo Story
07:51 - The scary parts of building a business and self-doubt
09:33 - Passion behind the Portland Gear brand
11:37 - Early relationships that helped Marcus build Portland Gear
14:39 - Mistakes made along the way
17:12 - Day in the life of Marcus Harvey
20:55 - Anxiety and other challenges about separating work and life
25:53 - Appreciation from others after talking about anxiety
28:04 - How Marcus is supporting the community
30:09 - Advice Marcus would give to his 15-year-old self
32:40 - Unforgettable moment in business
Guest at a Glance
Marcus Harvey’s passion is product. Since he was young he has been consumed with the process and how things are made from conception through production. In starting @portland on Instagram, with over 350,000 followers, he developed a new social media-based community around the city he loves. Using the @portland Instagram page he designed Portland Gear, an apparel brand to show and share his passion for the city. Utilizing the concept of pop-up shops and his experience in apparel design and branding, his team has shipped pieces of Portland to over 35 countries and every state in the country. His team opened their first flagship retail store in March of 2015 and have seen exponential growth since, opening two more locations in downtown Portland and Beaverton’s Washington Square Mall. Graduating from The University of Oregon with a degree in Digital Arts and Business in 2012, Portland is where he calls home.
Notable Quotes
“There was six, seven years of screen printing and not making much money and living in low-income housing with a buddy in Portland, just so we could live downtown.”
“What is seen as a quick success or what is seen as this Portland Gear thing came out of nowhere, was actually years and years of making ugly t-shirts and making bad shirts for people in printing stuff wrongfully for clients and learning what graphics sold good.”
“I think I just have confidence that if I continue to do things that feel right consistently, then it just keeps leading me to kind of the next thing or the next opportunity.”
“I'd already had this business entrepreneurial blood inside of me that all of my art had to have a business tie to it.”
On Marcus’s team: “It's my job to make them feel valued when they're doing those things that allow me to come over and speak to the Greg Bells and work on what's next for us.”
On reflecting on a Halloween shirt design snafu: “We should really pay more attention to groups that we're marketing to or products that we're speaking to, and really having a different set of eyes on that.”
“I think we've probably avoided more mistakes than had them, because we have open communication and we're all so close to what's going on.”
“I've learned that when I started into this kind of entrepreneurial thing, years and years and years ago that I was only going to get as far as how hard I was willing to work and how much I was going to invest in myself.”
“I've always just been interested and found value in like investing in friendship and relations.”
“We're not going to get anywhere alone. So all the people that I have here are people that I've invested in with time.”
Greg on investing in relationships: “Giant timber bamboo roots will go deep in the ground and connect. We're connected that way. The roots are invisible. If we don't invest in each other and our relationships, the bamboo fall over.”
Transcript
Greg Bell: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Greg Bell. Welcome to the Water the Bamboo podcast. After years of watering, giant timber bamboo will grow over 90 feet in 60 days, I believe there's a bamboo farmer in all of us. This podcast is designed to help you unleash your potential and help you create success. By hearing stories from some of the most celebrated entrepreneurs in America, along with some of the most respected people in their field.
[00:00:42] And some of the top leaders in the world who have watered their bamboo to enormous heights, it is often said that when people share their stories, others find something in that story for themselves. That's what we are doing here. Sharing stories of learning success and triumph. So no matter where you're listening, make sure you subscribe so that you don't miss anything.
[00:01:04] Our guest is the founder of a phenomenal company called Portland Gear. Because of a passion for a city and a savviness of its founder, the owner, Marcus Harvey. The company, which has over 400,000 Instagram followers, and there's an amazing story of growth and deep love for the city and a passion for gear and design.
[00:01:23] Here is my conversation with Marcus Harvey, creator and CEO of Portland Gear.
[00:01:30] I was just like, I gotta have Marcus. If I had ever did a podcast, Marcus would be number one. And part of the reason I thought I wanted you on, you know, I wear the Portland Gear hat everywhere. I do a speech you know I take a photo in St. Louis, I say, look...this is my thing.
[00:01:47] So, but part, part of the thing for me was I'm super excited about having you on. I know that you are, you know, you're, you know, amazing social media guru, you got, you know, 400,000 or more Instagram followers. You built this brand, Portland Gear. It just sort of like came out of nowhere, like, wow, how did you know, how did he do that?
[00:02:08] And our audience are trying to build their businesses and their brands too. The first question I have for you to sort of, you know, tell us your Bamboo Story. I mean, you grew 90 things in 60 days. How the heck do you do that?
[00:02:22] Marcus Harvey: [00:02:22] Well, first we should go back to the story of us, Greg Bell.
[00:02:25] Greg Bell: [00:02:25] Yeah, I like that.
[00:02:27] Marcus Harvey: [00:02:27] I was a big fan of your book for years. And I remember reading it and this was before I had started any of my businesses. So this was back in 2012. I don't know if I got it from school at U of O or someone gave it to me or something. But I remember reading this and I was living in my sister's house at the time.
[00:02:42] I had nothing really going for me. I was just hustling and I read your book and I remember I would just tell any and everyone I'm just watering my bamboo. You might not see it yet, but I'm just...trust me, I'm just watering it. Trust me, trust me. And they're like, what are you talking about? Think about it. Like, it's this book just, I'm watering this bamboo one day, it's going to grow and you're going to see it.
[00:02:58] And so fast forward a few years and you know, Portland Gear stuff. And I get involved with TEDx Portland, and obviously you are the king of TEDx Portland, and we were up in, Mount Hood Silcox Hut about two years ago now. And I think you, we walked into this room, we were all around the corner and you sat next to down from me and I didn't know who you were.
[00:03:16] And we ended up chatting and we chatted for a while. And then I think we went upstairs and had a drink and we still didn't really know who each other were. And then it came out that you were the author of that book. And I think I about lost my shit there cause I was so excited that you had found interest in me and that the only reason that I was there is because of the book that you had wrote. And so I thought that was pretty cool. And so then since then we've obviously become friends and see each other at the Mac Club and stuff quit a bit. But, yeah, you know, my story with Portland Gear was it's a, it's a bit of, You know, kind of a progression of a lot of the same things.
[00:03:43] You know, I've always loved clothes and shoes and sports and basketball and Nike and I was a Nike kid and I was a Duck kid and I loved logos and how the Nike swoosh and the Oregon "O" were like my symbols for what I believed in. And I wore those things and they were my kind of combining agent of what made me as a kid and as a young adult.
[00:03:59] So going off to University of Oregon, you know, wanting to go back and work at Nike and do sports marketing and do something. But then, you know, I got this entrepreneurial bug where I started printing t-shirts in the dorms and walking the hallways and trying to sell shirts to friends. And then I started learning Adobe illustrator because I needed to learn how to print these shirts.
[00:04:16] And then I get an internship at a screen printing company, and then I start to learn the business of screen printing. And then I come back to Portland and I get fired from my first job in screen printing. And I remember driving back and being like, I'm never going to work for anyone again, because I don't want anyone to be in control of my creativity or my ideas or what I want to put into the world.
[00:04:33] And so when I came back to Portland, I just kept screenprinting and making stuff for people. And then instagram was getting big at the time. And so, I've found that there was a hole for a Portland Instagram page. So I started @Portland and just started posting pictures of the city and events and didn't know what I was going to do with it, but knew that I understood social because I was a user of it.
[00:04:51] You know, I was on Instagram every day as a 22 year old. And so getting to post pictures of Portland and the bridges and roses and cities and events that I was going to and Blazer games was cool. And you know, that page legitimately grew from zero to 60,000 followers in like three months. So all of those things combining where, you know, I had learned screenprinting I ended up switching my degree and had a degree in graphic design, basically. I loved brand, I loved sports. I loved wearing the product and the things that I believed in. And then I had this page of 60,000 people that also loved Portland. Mixed with this other thing where I didn't have anything to wear my Portland pride. So I still wore my Oregon O and my Nike swoosh, and I loved the Blazers and Timbers, but I didn't have like, like we didn't have a baseball team, you know, there's not like a hat of Portland.
[00:05:35] And so I just, all of those things, this whirlwind kind of combined together in 2014 and came out with the P logo and printed a couple of t-shirts and posted them on social media and built a quick little Shopify website. The first day did $5,000 in sales and didn't have any clue how I was going to ship $5,000 worth of shirts or what I was going to do.
[00:05:54] And so printed more shirts at my local shop here in Portland. And, you know, instantly you got customer service and instantly you got people that want to return that want more shirts and are asking you where they can get it. So, you know, I attribute a lot of it to, you know, right time, right place, you know, did I invest lots of hours in watering my bamboo to learn skill sets and things that allowed me to have that quick success, absolutely. You know, there was six, seven years of screen printing and not making much money and living in low income housing with a buddy in Portland, just so we could live downtown and, you know, paying, paying rent for, like office space that I would make a thousand dollars a month in profit and my rent was a thousand dollars, but it was important for me to have an office that legitimizes me and made me feel like I was actually doing something. And so there was years and years and years of that. And so I think you would probably attest to it too, and I mean, that's the whole concept of your book, is that what is seen as a quick success or what is seen as this Portland Gear thing came out of nowhere, was actually years and years of making ugly t-shirts and making bad shirts for people in printing stuff wrongfully for clients and learning what graphics sell good. And what didn't sold good. And so to have this kind of overnight success in a way was years and years of years of having no success and was just learning.
[00:07:05] I was just getting tossed around in the waves, you know, and, but all that kind of, you kind of come up for air at some point and you're like, wow. I've got this skill set that I've learned. Now, I've got these connections that I have. I got this passion that I've found, I've got this community that I've created and now I can kind of put something into there and find my way.
[00:07:20] And it made a lot more sense than if I had just tried to do this seven years ago, you know?
[00:07:25] Greg Bell: [00:07:25] Well, one of the questions that, you know, sort of just, it's just burning for me. I mean, I hear the, sort of the hustle, right? That, that sort of drive and that you have, but one of the questions, even the audience would just sort of really be curious about is at some point you got to have some doubt, like you're sleeping on couches, you're trying to figure it out.
[00:07:43] You know, it's, it's kinda, you know, like kind of scary when you sort of step out like you did. Like, I don't want to work for anyone. I want to control my own destiny. Talk about like some of the scary parts of that, like where you thought, man, maybe I should go get a job. Did that ever come up?
[00:07:57] Marcus Harvey: [00:07:57] I never didn't think I could do something if I wanted to, but I didn't always have to know what that thing was. So I always had faith that I could figure it out. I always had something out that I could do something that my ideas would be somewhere and that my ability to talk to people and create community and to have friends could get me somewhere. And these things that I would be doing would lead to something, but I never really had like a guiding light as to be like, this is what I'm working towards. I was just constantly waking up every day being like, does this feel right? Am I, am I good at this? Am I liking this? Am I liking the direction that I'm on?
[00:08:31] But I'd never had to be like, if I'm not here in two years, I didn't make it. If I didn't, if I don't sell this, then it's not a success. Like I had no other option than just trying to sell 10 t-shirts a day. You know? Like that was just what it was. You know, and so like, I've never not thought that this wasn't going to work or I've never woken up a day being like, Oh my gosh, what happens if Portland Gear doesn't work tomorrow? Or what happens if it doesn't? You know, I'm surrounded right now by six awesome employees who are headphones in grinding right next to me and trying to figure this thing out. And I would've never ever thought we'd get to this point when I started this thing. But it's sitting in this moment right now am I surprised? No, but. Five years from now, will we be doing something totally different? Yes. Do I need to know what that is right now? No. And so I think I just have a confidence that if I continue to do things that feel right consistently, then it just keeps leading me to kind of the next thing or the next opportunity.
[00:09:20] Greg Bell: [00:09:20] I just love that answer. I mean, I could just hear the passion in your voice, the passion in your brand, and all of that, that's, that's one of the reasons I, you know, really connected with you in that way. And I think a lot of your fans connect that way cause they can sort of feel that passion.
[00:09:33] So one of the things though that I always sort of caution people is, you know, be careful of a passion play because you don't know if it's going to be profitable, you know, you gotta make sure you're, you know, can, pay the rent and live your life. So it's just cool that you combine all these passions with a profitable sort of thriving enterprise. It's really remarkable.
[00:09:53] Marcus Harvey: [00:09:53] I think maybe the most transformative thing that ever happened to me, was my senior year in high school. I got to run the student store and I was in charge of ordering the stuff and filling the store and opening it up at lunch and playing music and having employees and depositing cash and paying bills and invoices.
[00:10:09] And it was just this thing that was really transformative. So I learned some basics of business, which I still do to this day. A lot of those same things, but I kind of had this understanding of business as I went into art. And so I had some friends that were in my art program that were really freaking good at art.
[00:10:25] But are still really freaking good at art, but not doing anything with it because they never understood how to turn that into a business or a framework for marketing or for financial frugality or anything like that, which were some frameworks that when I ended up switching to become an art major, I had already taken business classes and I'd already had this business entrepreneurial kind of blood inside of me that all of my art had to have a business tie to it. So if I was making a poster for something, well, how was that event going to make money? Or if I was making a t-shirt, how could I cost that t-shirt so I could make money, or if I'm making stickers, how much does the cost of that sticker? So I can sell it and still make some money.
[00:11:01] So everything that I've ever done with art always had a business undertone to it. Cause I'm not an artist. If you give me a pen and paper and paintings and stuff, I'm not good at any of that type of stuff. I've always just been able to connect art with business somehow or with product or with a story, and then have that somehow try to make money.
[00:11:20] Greg Bell: [00:11:20] You just mentioned your six employees and sort of you're growing there. But I always know that, one of the things that even happens to me, that people think I'm sort of this sort of solo preneur, like I stand on a stage 25,000 people, Greg Bell, you're so great, but there's this huge team around me or, or great relationships.
[00:11:37] Tell us about your relationships. I think we need a bust this idea of the singular genius when we talk about our entrepreneurs. Talk about the early relationships for you that he helped you grow?
[00:11:48] Marcus Harvey: [00:11:48] One that I should speak on is, I met my wife the week I started Portland Gear basically through, through mutual friends. It was the week I started Portland Gear. So you can imagine a 22 year old male trying to find his way through the world, wanting to go out on weekends, be social, looking for a significant other. So to have both of those things happen in the same week, really allowed me to put more focus on the business and not on running around, trying to meet people and have fun and go to parties and do stuff.
[00:12:14] So like meeting new all of that first week. And just investing in her and then having like that peace of mind in that half of my life allowed me to focus on this other half. So I'm incredibly appreciative that God gave me her on that week too. And having Eli, my best friend from college, being with me from the very beginning has been incredibly important.
[00:12:30] And you know, Zach coming in as a young kid in high school and still with us to this day and I'd go around the room, you know, it's just like everyone has just kind of bought in early in has wanted to grind and figure it out along the way. And I haven't shipped an order in a long time. But my team does that every single day and takes so much pride in that. And they're so good at it. And it's my job to make them feel valued when they're doing those things that allows me to come over and speak to the Greg Bells and work on what's next for us. How do we stay relevant in two years from now? And, and so all of the team here has really bought in on their roles and what they need to do and what we all need to do collectively and the trust in each other that we're going to get there.
[00:13:03] And so. Yeah. You know, although it may be one name, one face, whatever, you know, like you just said, there's, there's a quartet of people involved in what it's like to have that store open at 11 o'clock, you know, someone getting here early and making sure that it's full and making sure the customer service emails are done and making sure that when USPS comes at five o'clock, that all the packages are packed and ready to go to them and making sure that the content is planned for the day.
[00:13:25] Like that's a big undertaking that, that everyone collaboratively works on.
[00:13:32] Ad: [00:13:32] And now for a quick break, With a message from Greg's team let's work together on a customized virtual event. Greg's keynotes are now available in a virtual format. And Greg and his team are ready to get to work on your next virtual event. With updated stories, humor, a charismatic style, audience interaction and unique elements based on his two popular books What's Going Well? The Question That Changes Everything and Water the Bamboo: Unleashing the Potential of Teams and Individuals. Greg's virtual keynote sessions are highly engaging and guaranteed to be much more than just a traditional keynote talk delivered online. Greg Bell and his team will partner with you to bring a unique and engaging customized virtual experience for your organization. To learn more about Greg's virtual keynotes, visit GregBellSpeaks.com to learn more. Now, back to the show.
[00:14:27] Greg Bell: [00:14:27] One of the other questions I have is one of the chapters in the book is I called it's "Messy in the Garden." You know, you can plan your day, you can plan your life, but it never really works out exactly as planned.
[00:14:39] Can you share like any sort of quote, unquote, big mistakes you made, you thought this was going to work and like, it was, it just totally turned into a flop. And then how, how did you spin it or turn it around when it did?
[00:14:50] Marcus Harvey: [00:14:50] You know, I get asked that a lot. I think we all do, you know, what are your mistakes? And, you know, fortunately knock on some wood.
[00:14:56] You know, we haven't had any huge things with Portland Gear, but I think that's because I have such a close grip on everything and we've never paid for something that we couldn't afford. So we've never like overextended ourselves. And then we had to like reel back because we can, so it's like, I have been incredibly on top of the finances from even before I started Portland Gear.
[00:15:15] So it's like, we've never made a huge financial snafu, I suppose. You know, have we ordered some product that didn't sell and we had to sit on? For sure. Have we ordered some stuff that had a typo on it and we had to eat that cost? For sure. But those are like little things and every time that happens, yeah you learn. So, okay, this thing has got a typo on it, well let's make sure two people look at it before it's ordered. Or we've done some stuff, you know, with everything going on in the world right now, you know, we've done some stuff that in retrospect, you know, we did a Halloween shirt four years ago and we did it with Bella organic farms. We were doing a collaboration with them and we did this like day of the dead design on the back of a shirt. And then we had a white model model it and we tossed it up and we said "Happy Halloween." And the Hispanic community came out and they were like, this is not a Halloween shirt, this is totally wrong. This is cultural appropriation. You have a white person modeling the shirt and the comments and everything has went up and we were all defensive to start. You know your first reaction is, we didn't do anything wrong, we were just making a shirt and it's for Halloween and stuff. And then you kind of get out of the day or two of defensiveness, and then you're like, okay, maybe that wasn't right.
[00:16:14] And maybe we should really pay more attention to groups that we're marketing to or products that we're speaking to, and really having a different set of eyes on that. So now we, you know, whenever we do something, we have people from all walks of life, try to approve of something or say that it's the right message that we're going for, and there's times where maybe we get something close to going out the door and someone's like, well, that doesn't look right. This isn't the right wording this isn't, this isn't what we need to do. Let's talk about this a longer. And when we have conversations all the time about messaging and how we want to be perceived and what we're saying and all that type of stuff.
[00:16:44] And so, I mean, I think we've probably avoided more mistakes than had them, because we have open communication and we're all so close to what's going on.
[00:16:55] Greg Bell: [00:16:55] You know, for me, it's always like if you're not making mistakes, you're not learning. But it sounds, sounds like you have sort of a learning culture at Portland Gear. That's really what I like to have people think about because a lot of times people define themselves as their mistake and they get stuck versus like, what can I learn?
[00:17:12] The other thing I thought about that would be just helpful for the listeners is sort of, what's a typical day in the life of Marcus Harvey. I mean, somebody who's sort of running this cool brand like what's your, like give us a typical day. What's your day like?
[00:17:26] Marcus Harvey: [00:17:26] Well, there's a day when I'm trying to focus on myself and then there's a day when I wake up and I just have too many things on my mind. So I would say a blended normal average of those is up 6:15 am, 6:30 am try to chug some water in the morning. You know, to Water the Bamboo, you have to have water, you know, so I have to wake up, chug some water. If I can convince myself to go downstairs and get a workout in or go for a bike ride in the morning, I'm generally on the computer by 8:00 am, 8:15 am. Regimented in the morning.
[00:17:55] The first thing I do is QuickBooks. Every morning, I've never skipped a beat. Since 2013, I have accounts, accounts in and accounts out. I know exactly how much money we have. I know exactly how much product we have in inventory. I've looked at yesterday's sales. I know what sold. So before I even check emails in the morning, the first thing I always do is QuickBooks.
[00:18:13] Then I'm kind of looking through, what are we doing today? What's getting posted? What needs to get ordered? You know, we have lead times, so certain things take two weeks to get done. Certain things take three months to get done and, you know, pre COVID we're planning events. And we're working on summer camp with our high school kids.
[00:18:29] And we're working on more like outward facing things right now. It's a lot of inward product and systems and stores. And how would you, how do we open safely and stuff, and generally, you know, handfuls of emails and stuff, and then the team calls or we're all in here together. And then. Hopefully a team lunch during the day where we can get out of the office and go walk somewhere and stew on the things that are going on and kind of lay the foundation for what needs, what we're posting that night or what our new product is.
[00:18:54] Or are we on schedule where you ahead of schedule? You know, leave around 4:30 pm, 5:00 pm, go home for a few hours, eat and then definitely jump back on the computer at some point in the evening. Get the stuff that came up in the last few hours out. Try to end the night by reading a book. I read, read lots of books and, you know, from boring stuff about Small Business Taxes Made Simple all the way up to the fascinating stuff about Watering the Bamboo.
[00:19:16] I read it all. So a lot of reading and, you know, I've learned that when I started into this kind of entrepreneurial thing, years and years and years ago that I was only going to get as far as how hard I was willing to work and how much I was going to invest in myself. And so reading books and listening to podcasts, like I don't have a boss, I don't have someone pushing me. I don't have someone saying, if you don't do this this month and you guys aren't going to make, like, that's all has to be intro motivation. I have to find it in myself. So I'm constantly investing in knowledge and reading things and trying to figure things out. And what stories can I hear from X Y Z, that I can apply to my story. And so, yeah, you know, the day consists of work time, personal development, time, wife time, dog time, trying to eat good, try to drink water, you know, try to take a day or two off a week, but that never really happens because when you're on your phone, there's always a post that needs to go up or, something that needs to be approved.
[00:20:08] And so, yeah, I mean, it's a constant grind, you know, I, haven't not posted on Instagram in seven years.
[00:20:13] Greg Bell: [00:20:13] What? Really? Just never taken one day off of it?
[00:20:18] Marcus Harvey: [00:20:18] Maybe on my honeymoon I didn't post for like three days.
[00:20:21] Greg Bell: [00:20:21] Oh, that's amazing. Well, yeah, one of the things you mentioned though is like books and podcasts. I know you're a fan of Water the Bamboo. Really appreciate that. And I like this idea that you said about investing. I always tell people to water themselves. You know, it's not just about watering your company or your career, but how do you water yourself? You mentioned some really interesting things there, from exercise to making sure you drink water, you know, to hang out with your wife, so it sounds like you have some routines around taking care of yourself. And I think that's so important because a lot of times people get burnt out in this sort of entrepreneurial journey.
[00:20:55] One thing I just sort of want to see if you wanted to talk about, back in July, 2018, I saw you give a talk that so moved me. You were really vulnerable about anxiety and some challenges you had.
[00:21:07] I think it's just an interesting thing. When I think about that for me, how I have to kind of take care of myself too, so I don't send out, cause I have a lot of people that are relying on me as well. Talk a little bit about that, just to sort of help us understand that a bit.
[00:21:22] Marcus Harvey: [00:21:22] Yeah. So I lived upstairs. This is my office down here in Northwest Portland. And, I bought a condo upstairs, like three or four years ago because I wanted to be close to work. I wanted to always be here. I wanted to be in the weeds. I want it to be always around and always accessible. And I had this little store, which my store is around the corner, so I never left the building and I would be upstairs and on my computer and I'd come down here and work. And there was a time where yeah, I started suffering from anxiety and I started fainting randomly at the airport, or when I was giving a lecture, I'd get nervous about fainting or all these things. And then I'd catch myself, you know, coming out of the door right here and I'd legitimately go like this and I'd walk past the clubhouse, because if I looked in there and then someone needed me or something, I had this law, basically, where if I crossed the threshold of the door, I went to work, and my mind just was like in work mode. And so if I had an off Sunday with Noel or I needed to go do something and I had to come out the building, I would not look in because if there was someone in there that needed me, or if there was someone that I wanted to talk to and I walked in and then it wasn't considered an off day and then I'd have to wait six more days till my next off day.
[00:22:28] So it just became this like bad thing where I was just like always in the elevator going to work in the store, back to here upstairs to work to down to the end, we were in this little 700 square foot condo. And so it just all kind of caught up to me and, went to therapy and got on some medication.
[00:22:42] And luckily got off that medication and, spent a lot of time kind of slowing down and focusing on other things and trying to intentionally create that separation between work and not work. And we ended up moving out and now we're in north Portland and we love it and I have a yard, but I get to water and I legitimately have bamboo that I get to water back there and so that really helped a lot. It was like two years ago, getting to move out of here really kind of helped settle me down. But yeah, you know, I gave that speech down at U of O as part of the wings program. And I sat the whole time because I was scared of fainting. You know, I said, I asked Dave Rae was a good friend of both of ours, asked if I'd speak.
[00:23:16] And I'd say, I'd love to, I, I feel like I really am passionate about speaking. I really enjoy doing it, but I suffer from anxiety and I really could think I can only do it if you let me sit in the chair and he was like, of course, he's like, let's actually just talk about that. And I said, great. I think I have a complete open book about everything in my life, and I think maybe, hopefully employees and customers, people appreciate that. I don't have anything to hide. And so, you know, speaking about that, if that's, you know, I got that confidence to talk about it because Kevin Love (NBA Star) talked about it. And now hopefully I talked about it and some other kids can be like, well, I have anxiety too.
[00:23:45] And however it manifests in their life, you know, for me, it just was this weird fear of fainting when I was speaking. And it was like, it was like, I had this like, and I still have it sometimes too, but it was like, I had this kind of like handcuff on my interpretation of anxiety. Was it comes after the things that matter to you, you know, I could be anxious about playing soccer.
[00:24:04] I don't play soccer, so it wouldn't matter to me. But my anxiety came when I would give lectures, which is something I really loved doing. And so it kind of handcuffs you into these things that you used to find joy in, and it just kind of changes your mind and stuff. And so I've you know, lots of work on myself and creating that intentional space, like I talked about, but it's something I still deal with.
[00:24:25] And I think it's coming from, you know, maybe a by-product sometimes of when your bamboo grows too fast was that I didn't like all of this stuff came out of nowhere. You know, I was living at home, living with my sister for a while, living at home for a year, moved downtown into some, some cheap housing, then Eli and I get a cheap apartment and I'm just hustling, not making any money, just trying to sell stuff.
[00:24:47] And then all of a sudden Portland Gear blows up and you get a store and you're selling hundreds of thousands of dollars of stuff. And you know all the Blazers and you have this pressure to post every day and you got to pressure. It was just like, it was such a fast increase and all that stuff compounded with living upstairs that I think my body just like was fainting just to slow down.
[00:25:04] Greg Bell: [00:25:04] That's an interesting point, like the bamboo growing too fast. I sort of can so relate to that. I remember I was on vacation in Hawaii with my wife and my texts are just going crazy. I didn't know what was going on and Chip Kelly had gotten hold of Water the Bamboo and was talking about it. And the Oregonian wrote an article and I started getting all these requests for speeches and it just, all this stuff just happened.
[00:25:26] And, and I honestly kind of like what you're saying, I wasn't ready for it. It was way, way too much. It sounds like that's sort of the feeling you have. But one of the things that I noticed though, when I was in the audience, was that the first time you talked publicly about having anxiety?
[00:25:42] Marcus Harvey: [00:25:42] I mean, I think I maybe did like an Instagram post, which are really good, but a little easier to type out your feelings and post them, you know? But I think that was the first time that I sat there and talked about it. Yeah.
[00:25:53] Greg Bell: [00:25:53] I don't know if you remember this, but there's a woman in the audience ask a question, but are actually had a statement about her son relating to you and you were her son's hero. And, she was so eloquent, but how she appreciated you just talking about that. Did you, do you recall that?
[00:26:09] Marcus Harvey: [00:26:09] I do. Yeah. I never ended up hearing from them after, but yeah. I mean, that's, that's super impactful. I definitely had forgotten about that since then. And, there are certain moments that happen when you're kind of, again, I talk about like, you know, getting washed around in the waves right now where it's just like, you're in this thing, you're in COVID and you're in trying to figure this stuff out and, and stuff happens in life happens and you're selling and you're doing stuff.
[00:26:29] And then another event happened like a month ago where unfortunately, traumatic that family passed away that crashed in that plane in Coeur d'Alene. And then I ended up getting this random phone call from a family friend who said that the son who died was a huge Portland Gear fan and was like wanting to start his own t-shirt brand because of us and like wanted to come down to our brand camp.
[00:26:48] And like one of the pictures they were using and the paper, and he was wearing a Portland Gear T. And it's like, you have these kinds of moments sometimes where it reminds you, it's kind of a humbling experience where you're like this isn't just t-shirts and face masks and hats and stuff. It's like people really find interest like how I look up to Tinker Hatfield and how I look up to Johnny Cupcakes.
[00:27:03] Like people look up to Portland Gear and what we do. And so they're infrequent, but when they happen, it's kind of a solid reminder of like, there's more to this than just, for you too, you know, it's more than just selling copies of books and speaking to a lot of people. It's like, when you realize like, wow, that book actually helped someone and maybe you get them a lot, but then there's probably that exception where every so often you get one that you're like, wow, that's different than the ones I hear all the time. This one is like, wow, I hear all the time that, Hey, I love your book and I read it and it helped me. But then maybe you get this one that's like, hey, this book changed me.
[00:27:35] Greg Bell: [00:27:35] It's always about 2:00 AM. Some 2:00 AM email, you know, and you pick it up, you read it. And you're just like, you're just crying, going, oh, my word, like I had no idea that would have that impact. And I really felt that in the room when you were speaking and everyone sort of knows somebody that sort of challenged by anxiety or have it themselves. So it was really interesting for you to be so vulnerable and just being a person you are is just super helpful. So, you know, kudos to you.
[00:28:04] But I also noticed that you contribute to the community a lot. I see you volunteer coaching, you do all kinds of stuff. Tell us about that.
[00:28:11] Marcus Harvey: [00:28:11] I've always loved kids and sports.
[00:28:14] You know, summers I'd work, sometimes if I wasn't working at the Nike employee store, I'd work as a summer camp counselor. I just loved playing sports in the gyms with kids and hanging out and doing stuff and making them have fun. And then when we do our brand camp down here with high school, college kids, like, it's just, I always try maybe unintentionally, but I try to be, and to put things out in the world that I would have wanted to experience and be a part of, not like I didn't have fun coaches or anything like that, you know, but it's like with brand camp that we do, like our summer internship program with high school, college kids down here, like it's a week that I love putting on because.
[00:28:47] I think subconsciously like I would have loved to have been part of, I would love to go to some Nike warehouse and have a week with designers and employees from Nike and learn about Nike shoes and do this stuff. And now we get to create that for kids. And it's just really cool. So, you know, volunteer like coaching basketball, like that is love basketball.
[00:29:04] And it was a few years ago, got approached to help coach team at the Mac. Didn't have a lot else going on outside of just work. And so I was like, yeah, I'll do that. And you know, getting to invest in those kids and then have them like you and then have them like Portland Gear and wear it to practice and think it's cool that the Portland Gear owner is their head coach, like that stuff just makes me smile.
[00:29:20] Like I, I enjoy bringing them bags of stuff and they just think that's the coolest thing in the world. Like I like to use kind of some of these access to things that I have and try to make cool moments for other people, because I would've wanted that if I was a sixth grade kid and I can get a video message from Zach Collins like that would've been frigging sweet, you know, like it would have been rad. And so if I have the ability to facilitate those things, like I like to do that.
[00:29:44] Greg Bell: [00:29:44] Yeah. You're a relationship guy. I noticed some, you really connect the relationship and it's really cool how you have taken your brand and it feels like people can really relate through you through that brand. And it seems like there's some intention around it for helping a lot of people, but you're not casual about this. It seems like you are doing a lot of thinking about it. What advice would you have to your 15 year old self, let's say you're a freshman in high school.
[00:30:09] What advice would you give yourself based on all your experience, all the things you know, and how fast you've grown, your company, all the things you've gone through, what like two or three pieces of advice would you give your 15 year old self, knowing who you are and who you were back, then?
[00:30:24] Marcus Harvey: [00:30:24] Keep building relationships, keep texting your friends. In high school I had, I was a popular kid, not like most popular, but I knew everyone, you know, I was just short little brace faced kid, you know, I wasn't the hottest guy in school. I just had lots of friends and I enjoyed hanging out with people and I enjoyed people. And so I carried that into college with me and, you know, I was the t-shirt guy and I didn't mind that name because people at least remembered me and I joined fraternity.
[00:30:49] And you got friends and I mean, I could tell you what, every one of my friends is doing for a job. I can tell you what their parents do for a job, I could tell you what their parents used to do it for a job. I can tell you where their siblings live, what they do. Like I've always just been interested and found value in like investing in friendship and relations.
[00:31:05] And so I think that's helped get me here obviously is that you know, I've got great employees and stuff, but I know just as much whether I should or shouldn't. I know as much about them personally, as I do professionally. And it's just, I enjoy being part of people's lives and having people be part of my life.
[00:31:18] And so yeah, when it comes to relationships with Blazers or Timbers or something, you know, it's not just, Hey, Zach Collins, you're seven foot and you play it for the Blazers. It's like, Hey Zach, you like clothes you like going to Mexican food for dinner. You like playing pop a shot. Like I like all of those things too.
[00:31:33] Like, let's just go hang out and grab dinner. I can come to you, like bring them a bag of gear and then he wears it everyday down in the bubble right now. It's like, it's just fun for me, you know? Because as a 15 year old kid, I'd be like, wait, I could, I'm going to be friends with Blazers. Like, that's going to be cool.
[00:31:48] And it's, if I could just tell myself, you're just going to get there from being human and investing in relationships. Like that's, I would just give myself that advice, because like you just said like 10 minutes ago, like we're not going to get anywhere alone. So all the people that I have here are people that I've invested in with time.
[00:32:04] Greg Bell: [00:32:04] Yeah one of the phrases I always use is that relationships will get you all the results you want. You got to water the relationships. You know, part of this idea for me is, you know, the Bamboo Circle. And what's interesting about a Bamboo Circle. People like the 90 feet of growth, but what's really important is about what the roots do.
[00:32:21] Giant timber bamboo roots will go deep in the ground and connect. We're connected that way. Like the roots are like invisible. If we don't invest in each other and our relationships, the bamboo fall over. So it's just really, really cool to hear you talk about that. Like in terms of being deeply rooted to your friends and your relationships.
[00:32:40] What's a specific moment with your business that you can't forget.
[00:32:43] Marcus Harvey: [00:32:43] When I opened up the store and I had a line of people around the block. I had this dream Johnny cupcakes was this brand I followed for a long time. And he has this picture where he's in front of his retail store and there's a line and he's like, and I've always looked at it as like, man, one day, I want a picture in front of a retail store with a line around it. And I got that picture.
[00:32:59] Greg Bell: [00:32:59] What was the date of that photo? Do you remember?
[00:33:02] Marcus Harvey: [00:33:02] May, 2015.
[00:33:04] Greg Bell: [00:33:04] 2015. Oh, wow. That's really cool. That's a, that's definitely growing 90 feet and 60 days. And this is a question I should have started with, but I'll ask it now. My second book is What's Going Well? So I want you to tell me one thing going well for you personally. It doesn't have to be big. And then what's going well for you professionally in your career and your business
[00:33:27] Marcus Harvey: [00:33:27] Professionally, I'm getting to do more things outside of just Portland Gear. So this has been, and always will be my baby, but it's afforded me the ability to look at other businesses and try to take what I've learned here towards other things.
[00:33:41] So being able to get involved in other projects and stuff has been really fun. I think that's what keeps me really engaged and interested as you know, this is my engine machine, but being able to add some different trains cabooses on the back has been kind of fun. And something personally, that's going well? I mean, spent a lot of time with my wife and dog over quarantine, and that's been really great and, you know, getting to be at home. And, it was, it was like kind of a pseudo sabbatical in a way where, like I felt like the first month I'd really been thinking about that before. COVID I was, you know, I'm five years in five and a half, I mean, seven years into this now.
[00:34:16] And I was just kind of starting to feel a little burnt out. And I was just thinking like, man, it'd be really nice to just have a month to just kind of work from home, work remote, not have to go in every day, just reset the gears a little bit. And then COVID happened. And I had a three month sabbatical.
[00:34:31]Greg Bell: [00:34:31] I had that same thought about, I guess for the last three years ago, I need to take a sabbatical.
[00:34:35] You know, it's in like 70 talks, just traveling everywhere with my Portland Gear hat. And, going and it was interesting, I've been telling my wife, I need a sabbatical. I need a sabbatical. And then when it was happening, I was going, no, no, not like this. This is not how I planned it.
[00:34:50] But it's been pretty interesting from that perspective. I like that like, sort of looking at the positive side of that, spending time with your wife and sort of settling down.
[00:34:59] Hey Marcus, I know that, I wanna, I know you got things to do and I want to also just ask just how can people get ahold of you? How do we find your gear?
[00:35:08] Marcus Harvey: [00:35:08] Yeah. Portlandgear.com. Portlandgear on Instagram.
[00:35:11] My email address. Mark@portlandgear.com. We're all just first name@portlandgear.com. If you want to get in touch with anyone. Yeah. You know, we, we're not doing any sort of community events right now, cause it's usually a great way to come out and see Portland and see product and be part of the community.
[00:35:24] So right now it's kind of, you know, Portlandgear.com. Our retail store by Providence Park in downtown Portland. And we've carrying on a pop-up at Washington square, which has been really successful. Yeah. Just follow along on the page. You know, we don't expect you to buy anything, but follow along and watch what we do and see the product we make and the organizations we support and the content that we create and stuff. We'd like to think it's fun to follow along with, and that we're telling a good story. And so that's probably the easiest and best way to be a part
[00:35:51] Greg Bell: [00:35:51] Really, it really, really appreciate having you on it's just like, it's just like incredible. I mean, when I thought about podcasts, your name, cause like I got to have this guy on, I just love your passion for Portland, your passion for the product.
[00:36:04] And I know you ship stuff nationally and all over and it's just really cool. And if we can support you somehow, that's what we want to do. Appreciate having you on.
[00:36:12] Marcus Harvey: [00:36:12] Well, you do by wearing it every day and including me in all this stuff that you do, that's the, that's the biggest way to support. So I appreciate you a ton.
[00:36:18] Greg Bell: [00:36:18] All right. Love you. Love you a lot. Actually. I got to have you do the Water the Bamboo oath before we go. I know you might not have your Water the Bamboo band on, but you've got to repeat after me, okay?
[00:36:28] No matter what challenges come my way.
[00:36:31] Marcus Harvey: [00:36:31] No matter what challenges come my way,
[00:36:32] Greg Bell: [00:36:32] I will.
[00:36:33] Marcus Harvey: [00:36:33] I will.
[00:36:34] Greg Bell: [00:36:34] Continue to water the bamboo,
[00:36:35] Marcus Harvey: [00:36:35] Continue to water the bamboo.
[00:36:37] Greg Bell: [00:36:37] All right, man. Great to see you, right.
[00:36:40] Marcus Harvey: [00:36:40] Thank you very much for you guys.
[00:36:41] Greg Bell: [00:36:41] Yeah. Thanks for being on. Supporting each other is another benefit of the Water the Bamboo podcast. Thanks so much to my friend, Marcus for joining us and sharing his great story. Again, make sure you subscribe to the Water the Bamboo podcast on YouTube, Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:37:03] I'm Greg Bell and we'll talk. See you next week.