An Untold Narrative

David Raysse is a designer, creative, and cofounder of Los Angeles footwear company BrandBlack. David has held design positions at Fila, Adidas, Sketchers and built some of the most captivating design silhouettes in footwear over the past 11 years with his own label. In this episode we talk about David's passion for design, the struggles of building a brand, what it takes to make it in design,...

In Episode 0097, we host Colin Ridgway, a NYC based creative that shares stories on brand building, photography, and how he has been falling out of love with New York. Colin brings an amazing perspective on how he makes decisions and what he is not willing to sacrifice in life. Make sure to check out Colin's work: https://www.instagram.com/colin_ridgway/ https://www.colinridgway.com/

Episode 0096 features Crocpaints, a muralist and commissioned artist that has a brilliant outlook about balance. In this episode we chat about how we really enjoys his 9-5, manages time for commissioned work, his recent solo show, and what the future holds. Find Croc's work here: https://www.instagram.com/crocpaints/ https://www.crocpaints.com/

If you love hearing entrepreneurial stories - this weeks podcast is for you! Terrance Diggs of D17 Clothing joins us to talk about his brands mission, how giving for free has changed his business, and how he isn't scared to do cold outreach. He is our first guest to join the podcast who sent a message asking to be on! You can find more about Terrance and his brand here: https://www.d17terrance...

Titi Finlay is an artist, designer, and creative director. In this episode, you'll hear about her struggles with crippling anxiety working a full time job but also how she has found happiness through freelancing. She is most known for being a massive voice for women in sneakers, with posts on Instagram going viral during the pandemic. Titi's story is a really beautiful one. If you enjoyed...

Luis Velez is a name you might not know, but a name you'll fall in love with after this episode. Luis is the founder and creative genius behind the brand Guillermo Bravo - a fashion forward footwear and apparel brand out of Seattle. In this episode he guides us through how we started the brand, the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, and what makes him excited towards the future. Find Luis at:...

Defne Yalkut is a technical footwear and sole designer. We actually overlapped employment while at Vibram many years ago. Today, Defne runs her own design studio out of Milan. This episode emphasizes taking risks, betting on yourself, and understanding who you are as a person - more specifically, that Defne is not a workaholic and finds happiness in balance. Check out Defne's work here: https:...

An incredibly inspiring story of perseverance, timing, and trusting the process. In episode 0091, we host footwear designer and creative Dann Forrester. Dan's authentic self is boldly transparent in the way he speaks about not only his career, but those who have helped him along the way. Make sure to subscribe if you enjoyed this, but also share it with your friends. To follow Dann's journ...

In Episode 0090 of An Untold Narrative, we feature the multi talented Jane Park. Jane's creative career comes from the textile industry but has woven its way through apparel design, hand made apparel pieces, and textile sculptural art. In the show, we discuss how balance is a myth and rather focusing on how to find steadiness in your work - - amongst many other deep subject matters. To find ou...

Todays guest, Zac Smit, has an incredibly beautiful story of becoming the person he is today. From being struggling with depression, being laid off, to going full time into his art career, Zac shows you its possible to still be positive and goofy even when youre going through the struggles in life. Check out Zac's work: https://www.instagram.com/z_smit/ https://www.zacsmit.com/ Make sure to li...

Every so often, we host a guest who blows all expectations out of the water - and this weeks guest did just that. Coral Garvey, a multi-faceted creative took the podcast by storm this week. From winning awards at Cannes Film Festival to doing creative direction for Adidas & Calvin Klein, she always seems to keep leveling up her career. Most recently, she submitted a pilot for a film that highl...

From selling zero works of art to a sold out collection in two days, Alyssa Stevens no longer lives a traditional life. She's gone all in on herself as an artist. From being featured on Opensea's front page to Gary Vaynerchuk owning one of her artworks, she is just getting started. In this episode we talk about everything from death, art, and the process in between. Make sure to show Alyss...

Episode 0086 is live with Francis Almeda. Francis and I had a chance to meet at Veecon and immediately clicked. He's not only an amazing creative for Veefriends, but manages multiple side businesses and projects. This episode deep dives beautifully into how to manage time, be around the right people, and how to be present with your family. Make sure to check out Francis's pages and busines...

In Episode 0085, Daniel Cocking shares unexpected stories of working on the first 3D printed midsole shoe in the market for Adidas to the WHY behind building Laceless Design and Laceless Talent. With over 10 years of experience at Adidas from China to Germany, and now residing in Scottland, Daniel highlights a truly beautiful life full of purpose. Check out his journey: https://www.instagram.com/d...

In episode 0084, we host an entrepreneur with a story that twists and turns through struggle, trying new things, to figuring it out as he goes. Jairus Morris explains how SUPLMNT, his water bottle company, targets underserved communities to highlight how important hydration is. A ton of learnings in here from from taking what you learn in the corporate world and applying it to yourself, finding yo...

In Episode 0083, we have return guest, founder & ceo, Sarah Sukumaran of Lilith. NYC rejoin us on the show. This episode is PACKED with learnings from the past year and a half of being in business. From why the data shows that the male consumer were more supportive of her brand than females, to how to bootstrap a budget, Sarah offered a ton of transparent advice.  Make sure to check out L...

Kicking off Season 12 (!) - we have an absolute gem this week featuring the lovely Solene Roure to not only celebrate her journey, but also International Women's Month. Solene is a french footwear designer who has had a seriously beautiful yet challenging journey throughout her 20+ year footwear career.   From being the FIRST sneaker designer for Louis Vuitton to currently Co-Founding Ci...

In episode 0081, we host two individuals who come together to create a platform called Kickstory. From interviewing legends like Jeff Staple, to going to Nike's Headquarters, to supporting 'sneaker culture' in their native country of Brazil - - this episode is incredibly unique. Not to mention Thais and Ian are two of the nicest humans you'll meet!   Find out more : https://www.instagram...

In episode 0080, we welcome back good friend Izzy Lugo. For those who have been with us a while, Izzy is our second return guest, and recently featured on episode 0065.   I've asked him to come back on the show because of how much has changed in his life. I wanted his perspective on that change, what drives him, and how he is finding peace in the chaos.   Learn more about Izzy:...

From tearing his achilles and drawing sneakers everyday to working with J.Cole - this episode is not one to miss!  Jeremy Sallee joins us in episode 0079 to talk family life, entrepreneurship, writing a book, and heading up Puma Hoops and Apparel.  This episode is so jam packed with the blueprint on how to 'make it' in footwear.   Make sure to show Jeremy some love: https://www...

We found another Polish footwear design brother!  On a very serious note, there are not that many Polish born footwear designers and even less that have had an amazing career thus far like Kuba Blimel has.   On this weeks episode, Kuba talks about his upbringing and support his parents gave him, to working on amazing products at ECCO, but ultimately feeling unfulfilled as his passio...

One of the most interesting guests this podcast has hosted, someone with more self belief and conviction than most people on this planet - - Austin Pietrobono  In episode 0077, Austin talks about taking early roles at Hasbro and IBM, to taking the leap to work for a Chinese based phone company and moving 8,000 miles away in Shenzen, China.   This is one of my favorite episodes to da...

Ladies and gentlemen - we have a BEAUTIFUL conversation on our hands today with the legendary designer, creative, maker, and recent entrepreneur Omar Bailey.   In this podcast we cover everything from his time at Yeezy to starting up a footwear innovation company called FCTRY LAB. Make sure to check out Omars Journey here:  IG - https://www.instagram.com/theomarbailey/  Fctry L...

In episode 0075, we highlight our three-quarter century mark of episodes with our Host (me), David Filar, to talk about the 5 things I've learned from recording so many episodes.  Those include: 1. Media is permissionless 2. Podcasts are both Selfish and Selfless 3. Fuck the blue check mark 4. Your voice is our most powerful tool 5. Thank you  Lets keep going to 100. Like, subscribe and...

We have a living sneaker legend on the show today, Sean "Paper Chasr" Williams. Sean is probably someone you haven't heard of, but has had massive impacts within sneakers, culture and education over the years.   His precise messaging is powerful throughout this episode. We discussed incredible stories from his education platform Solecial Studies and what he thinks is the future of sneake...