[00:00:00] Kim: [00:00:00] Extraordinary athletes doing extraordinary things, featuring Soj, founder of Varlo Apparel.

[00:00:18] Okay. Hey everybody. Welcome back to another episode of The Run Wave Podcast. I am your host Kim. If this is your first time tuning in, welcome to the show. If you are a return listener, welcome back to the show. I truly appreciate you tuning in week after week, if you haven’t already done. So please be sure to subscribe to the show on your favorite podcast app.

[00:00:43] So you are notified each and every time I upload a new episode. Also make sure you’re following us on Instagram. It’s @therunwave, Twitter @therunwave, Facebook @ The Run Wave. And if you want to watch the show on YouTube, you can search for the The Run Wave, [00:01:00] but it’s on my YouTube channel straight Kim. So you can find the show there.

[00:01:04] It is February. And as we all know, it’s black history month. Although we celebrate us each and every month, but for this month, I wanted to highlight extraordinary athletes who are doing extraordinary things. And first up on this show, I have.  he is the founder of Barlow, a pero, which is a cycling and triathlete brand.

[00:01:30] So they mainly sell clothing for triathlons and cycling, and they also have a line of accessories as well. They have a pretty dope ambassador program, which we will chat about on the show as well as they have sponsored athletes, which is great for a new up and coming brand. So. Let’s get into the interview.

[00:01:54] All right, please. Welcome SIJ Jabbar, founder of Varlo Apparel to The [00:02:00] Run Wave Podcast. How are you?

[00:02:01] Soj Jibowu: [00:02:01] I’m doing really well. Thanks for having me. This is awesome. I

[00:02:04] Kim: [00:02:04] appreciate it. Of course. Thank you for being on the show. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where are you originally from?

[00:02:14] Soj Jibowu: [00:02:14] Yeah, so I was born in Nigeria.

[00:02:17] And then my parents, we migrated to immigrated to the country where about five years old. And we were in Huntsville, Alabama. Uh, they were in college, ended up in Michigan and then, um, where I went to college myself and then moved to Philadelphia, probably like right around six, seven years ago. I know

[00:02:38] Kim: [00:02:38] one person in Huntsville, Alabama.

[00:02:40] No one person. She’s like my online friend, we read books together, but that’s crazy. But how did, I’ve never heard of a Nigerian being in Huntsville, Alabama? How did that come about?

[00:02:52] Soj Jibowu: [00:02:52] It’s it’s really funny. Like I asked my parents the same thing I go, why Huntsville, you know, um, And it actually turns [00:03:00] out that at the time when my parents were, um, in Nigeria, there were all these agricultural scholarships for, um, for students abroad.

[00:03:09] And so my father had applied for them and he was one of the ones that selected to go to Alabama a and M university. And so I remember being, I remember actually being, um, in Alabama and just seeing a lot of Nigerians, there’s obviously like a lot of Nigerian friends that. You know, you called everyone uncle.

[00:03:29] And, um, and I thought it was normal until I grew up and I would tell them like, Oh yeah, I was in Huntsville, Alabama. And they were like, what? Like, why are you there?

[00:03:41] Kim: [00:03:41] Yeah, because that’s like a, that it’s a pretty small, not a huge town, not tiny, tiny, but pretty small town. Right.

[00:03:47] Soj Jibowu: [00:03:47] It’s a fairly small town. I mean, it’s, um, I think nowadays, if you tell anyone know Huntsville, Alabama, they say, Oh, that sort of space and rocket center is that’s where NASA is.

[00:03:55] Right. You, uh, kindly reply. Yes. That’s exactly where it is. [00:04:00] So, um, but, um, I mean, it was, uh, you know, I think ultimately going to Michigan where I did a lot of my growing up where I went to college, but my collegiate career, and then afterwards, um, you know, still lived for probably like eight years or maybe it was.

[00:04:19] Nine years after college to eventually move to the East coast. It’s been fun. It’s been a pretty fun road of travel and getting to see and explore and meeting different people from different areas. It’s been fun. So

[00:04:31] Kim: [00:04:31] how long have you been in Philly?

[00:04:33] Soj Jibowu: [00:04:33] Uh, I’ve been in Philly roughly six years, seven years.

[00:04:37] I’d say, um, I remember when I moved, it was like in January because my birthday was right around the same time and it was super cold and, and Philly has been awesome. I think the East coast in general has been awesome. And Philly you you’re in between DC, Maryland, and New York. So you have all this like cross migration of like a culture from these like cities.

[00:05:00] [00:05:00] And, um, you just don’t get that in Michigan. And so it’s been awesome. It’s really been a lot of fun.

[00:05:06] Kim: [00:05:06] One of my good friends that I met through running she’s actually from Michigan. And she always tells me these little stories about, you know, the city and things that, cause I grew up in New York. So we really don’t know anything about the, like the Midwest.

[00:05:19] So it’s, it’s interesting to see how different people grow up in different areas. And we all come together somehow.

[00:05:25] Soj Jibowu: [00:05:25] Yeah. It’s it is funny, right. Because, um, And it’s funny you say like the Midwest, because I think nowadays, like when I, when I do meet people, I’m talking to them about like Michigan or anything in the Midwest, or they’re very like aloof, like, Oh yeah.

[00:05:40] At somewhere like anything like, uh, West of Pennsylvania to like Las Vegas, like all that stuff. Like no one really knows where it is. It’s like, you know, like where’s Missouri somewhere in the middle, somewhere in the middle, but, um, but yeah, that’s funny. So,

[00:05:58] Kim: [00:05:58] what is your background in [00:06:00] sports? Because I know you’re a triathlete, but a lot of us segue into triathlon from another sport.

[00:06:06] So what did you do prior to becoming a triathlon?

[00:06:10] Soj Jibowu: [00:06:10] Yeah. Um, so prior to trapline in college, I was, I ran track and field and, um, I just, I, I loved it. I wasn’t always good at track and field, which is so ironic. I, I actually remember running when I was in junior high and was terrible, like the slowest kid on the team and like the guy that was like, the coach would be like, ah, let’s put you in the four by four.

[00:06:35] Right. And, um, somewhere right around high school, I don’t know what happened. Like body just kicked in and, um, the lights started to work and was fortunate enough to go to central Michigan on scholarship, which was great. Uh, learned a lot. Um, you know, you know, I, I, you know, just discipline, um, regimen, you learn all these skills and like collegiate sport and, um, [00:07:00] post-college for me, I, you know, you just can’t go, you can’t go to the track and be like, Hey, you own a ratio, a 400.

[00:07:09] So, so I was just picking up like running five Ks and, um, 10 Ks, just community runs and, um, Eventually, I think someone, um, when I moved to, well, I, I remember seeing a race in Chicago once. Like it was, um, an ITU event. I was there to visit a buddy of mine and there was this huge event going on. I had no clue what it was, but I remember seeing people with like these bikes that look like spaceships.

[00:07:37] And I was like, what is, what is that kind of like, I want that, you know, and these people with like negative, like body fat on them. Right. And I’m just like, who are these people what’s going on? And, um, I dunno, just, I remember watching the race like these, you know, all these athletes are common names now.

[00:07:56] Like, uh, the Brown Mola, all these guys, they, you know, jump in [00:08:00] Lake Michigan, they swim and I’m like, Oh my goodness, this is insane. And eventually said, I’ve got to try this road. It off eventually found myself in, uh, in Philly. And you know, obviously you, you end up meeting like-minded people that are in sports.

[00:08:15] And here, a lot of my friends that I had met were in triathlon, so eventually got into it and, um, you know, uh, I had some struggles early on, but stuck it through and here I am. Um, you know, years later I am right.

[00:08:31] Kim: [00:08:31] So what type of events have you participated in, in triathlon?

[00:08:36] Soj Jibowu: [00:08:36] Um, I think my, my first race was a super sprint.

[00:08:40] Um, I’ve done, you know, super sprint sprints, Olympics, um, halfs I’ve I’ve yet to do a full, um, I, you know, I will do a full, but just to have yet to, and, um, you know, it was just, it’s been fun. I think. If I were to say what I’ve enjoyed the most. I [00:09:00] think that balances training, um, hours and commitment with just like, again, that, that being that speed demon person in the back of my mind, I love going fast.

[00:09:11] Love, love going fast. So, um, I love sprints just because it’s like. I don’t know, like, I feel like you can actually sprint in a sprint. Like you can be like mile two of the run part and you are like spreading against someone racing them. I, I liked that. I I’ve just not built that endurance yet for long course.

[00:09:30] So, um, I think Olympics and sprints are just awesome. They’re just fun to me.

[00:09:36] Kim: [00:09:36] I think when you’re doing a sprint as well, like your adrenaline is just constantly going, like when you’re doing like a 70.3, you had that break on the bike and you’re going, but you’re like cruising, but like a sprint is like, you’re on it.

[00:09:48] Nonstop.

[00:09:49] Soj Jibowu: [00:09:49] It is. It is go, go, go, go, go. And, um, I think like in a sprint, for instance, a sprint is the only out of the, the, [00:10:00] the, the courses or the, the lengths. The sprint is the only one where I feel very, very confident going all out in the swim because I can, I’m not, I’m not, um, a swimmer by, um, by background.

[00:10:15] So typically I can serve like energy and just kind of like, you know, Like kind of walk it until later on. Yeah. The swim is the only, uh, the swim in a sprint. Like the only distance that I feel like I can go all out in and I can go out on the bike and then, you know, sprint over, put on my shoes and just put it in the fifth gear and just have some fun.

[00:10:37] Right. So yet to feel that confident in a, an Olympic or a, a long course race.

[00:10:43] Kim: [00:10:43] Now I saw that you did, um, AC 70.3.

[00:10:49] Soj Jibowu: [00:10:49] Yes. Yes, yes.

[00:10:50] Kim: [00:10:50] That one as

[00:10:51] Soj Jibowu: [00:10:51] well. Oh, goodness. Yeah. You were there. Okay.

[00:10:54] Kim: [00:10:54] No, I did the inaugural. I think he did it like last year, the year before, right? Correct. Correct. Correct. Yes, [00:11:00] I did the inaugural.

[00:11:00] How did you like that course?

[00:11:02] Soj Jibowu: [00:11:02] Um, the course is great. Like, um, so the course was great. I think for that particular, for that particular race, it was raining for the bike. Um, and so that was. That’s that was not fun. Um, stretch. I remember like after the race I had like, um, like water inside of my tires. So like I had to, like, you had to do this funky thing to drain the water out of your carbon tires, you know?

[00:11:31] And, um, but the other than that, the course itself is awesome. Um, because it’s the, the bike is super flat. You have one little technical. Portion. Um, and then the run is great because it’s your majority of it’s on the boardwalk. So you have great spectators. You can pull some energy from the crowd and, um, it’s, it’s awesome.

[00:11:53] It’s fun. It’s AC right. And so it draws a lot of people and it’s good times.

[00:11:57] Kim: [00:11:57] See, when I did that run on the boardwalk, it [00:12:00] was so hot that day I was miserable. It was like what I did, um, Ironman Eagle, man as well in Maryland. Yeah. That one was like 95 degrees as well on the run. I was miserable on both my races.

[00:12:14] So yeah, I’ve heard, I’ve heard

[00:12:16] Soj Jibowu: [00:12:16] that I’ve heard, um, in Maryland, uh, that is a very, very hot course

[00:12:21] Kim: [00:12:21] is absolutely miserable. And there’s no shade. It’s like, it’s a great course because it’s flat, you know, you can go fast on the bike and if you’re, if you can deal with the elements, you can succeed in the run.

[00:12:32] But yeah, it’s a little bit too hot for me.

[00:12:40] Soj Jibowu: [00:12:40] I actually signed up for it in 2020, but in lieu of COVID it was canceled. And I remember asking around, um, just, you know, in the triathlon community asking friends, I think I posted on Instagram, like, Oh, I’m signed up for this race. And everyone’s like, Oh my gosh, you’re going to burn up. It’s so hot. Like you so hot.

[00:12:58] Kim: [00:12:58] I remember my sun [00:13:00] burned, like. It was so bad. It was hurting. That’s how bad it was like two weeks after I was that that race was miserable. But if you, if you’re looking to do a full, they have the full as well on the same course. Oh, wow. Yeah. So that’s like a great first full to do.

[00:13:17] Soj Jibowu: [00:13:17] Yeah. I, you know, it’s funny.

[00:13:19] I was talking to someone and they were asking me like, Oh, do you have any long courses planned? Um, you know, And I, I go, man, you know, I think like in just everything going on, especially with like the brand and just running around. And, um, I probably have some time before I can muster up the, um, the time balance to train for a, like a proper long course race.

[00:13:45] Um, but you know, it’s definitely on my mind for the future to, to jump back in a 70.3 or tackle a long course for

[00:13:52] Kim: [00:13:52] sure. So let’s get into Vara. Lo lots of fun. Yeah. So when did [00:14:00] the idea come about to start a cycling triathlon apparel line?

[00:14:06] Soj Jibowu: [00:14:06] Um, it, that the idea probably came about like over like maybe over two years ago.

[00:14:12] And, um, I remember being, um, gosh, I think I was in, I was out West at an event. And I think it was like in, um, I want to say Boulder, Denver was where it was an Oregon. It was an Oregon that was in the vet in Oregon. And I think it was, uh, I remember being at the event. I remember like just looking around and I was like, man, like, huh, like.

[00:14:40] I wonder how many people are here. I wonder how many people come to them this event consistently. Right. And that was it. But then I remember also being at like, I think it was New Jersey state triathlon, or somewhere else, or maybe it was New York, it was New York triathlon. And I remember just, it really started to hit me where I was going.

[00:14:57] Okay. How many people come to this? What is the [00:15:00] global market? Like? What is the retention rate? Um, what, what is a trend for participants in this sport particularly, and then. I, you know, again, sort of asking like, um, product-related questions. Um, and I said, okay, like this, this could be something. I remember calling Jake my partner.

[00:15:20] I remember exactly I was in, um, I was in, I was in this office and I was talking to him about it and I go, and I was just rambling on rambling on. And he said, Hey, let’s do it. He goes, let’s do it. And, um, it kind of like snowballed to where we’re at right now.

[00:15:36] Kim: [00:15:36] Did you find it difficult, like to get into the door of starting a brand like this?

[00:15:43] Because there’s not that many, um, clothing brands, you know, for triathletes out there. So how was it for you guys starting up? Um,

[00:15:52] Soj Jibowu: [00:15:52] I think it was. It was, um, I think if I look back at it, like if we look back at it and we really go, okay, Hey, how did [00:16:00] we get to where we’re at right now? We can go, man. That was hard.

[00:16:02] Like, that was, it’s still hard. It’s still hard. It’s still crazy hours. It’s still zombie moments where you’re like, I don’t know if I’m awake or if I’m asleep, what’s going on. Cause I, cause you’re like sleep is a rent. It doesn’t happen as much. Um, but you know, it was, I think the hardest part. It’s actually, it’s not even fair to say the hardest part.

[00:16:24] There’s a lot of hard parts, but, um, I think it was everything from like sourcing a manufacturer, building a relationship with the manufacturer, um, understanding the, um, the needs, understanding technical components of fabric. Build Garnet build, um, dyes to be used different, um, uh, styles of stitching. And that’s just on like the, uh, the product side, like the product technical side.

[00:16:51] The other side is like the actual marketplace itself to understand where you should allocate resources, how, um, how the [00:17:00] community will absorb product. Um, And, you know, the whole, gosh, the whole trend of it. It was it’s, it’s been, it’s been an interesting road, but I think ultimately we’re so like we’re so ingrained in it and we’re so just dug into it that we, you almost want to say, man, this was easy, but it wasn’t, but it wasn’t, it feels just natural though.

[00:17:22] I will say that it feels very, very natural.

[00:17:24] Kim: [00:17:24] So what’s the mission behind the brand.

[00:17:27] Soj Jibowu: [00:17:27] Yeah. Um, that’s a good question. And you know, the ultimate mission, um, is to build the will of athletes. Um, I think if you look at triathlon, triathlon is very, very interesting. It’s an interesting sport, uh, where you have these amazing talented athletes, like just.

[00:17:47] Insane talented. You can jump in Lake Michigan and you can swim, you know, um, you know, just about a mile and a half, you can, you know, um, turn around, get on a bike bike 20 [00:18:00] plus miles, you know, put on some shoes and sprint like, um, um, 6.2 miles to be able to do that. Um, at that level that you are able to see with athletes.

[00:18:12] It’s it’s astonishing. And I I’m from the field of like running a 446 seconds and people going, Oh my God, that’s so amazing. It’s so cool. And I’m like, nah, you got to look what these guys can do. And the one thing it’s, it’s difficult, it’s, it’s very, very difficult for athletes. Um, even if you’re a age group, amateur athlete, or you’re a, um, uh, a pro athlete seeking sponsorship, it’s just a tough road.

[00:18:37] So, um, The brand’s job is to instill the will of athletes to conquer those goals. Um, that’s what we focus on. Very, very, um, um, deeply, um, you know, with the brand, we always say like, Hey, if we, if we focus very, very narrow and deep, we’re able to really do what we want to do. [00:19:00] And as long as we focus on making the athletes, um, you know, empowering them, encouraging them, putting them on a platform where they can share their story.

[00:19:09] They can share, um, um, their, their path and continue to build upon that. I think that, you know, we’re going to have a very, very long road ahead of us and a very bright future.

[00:19:24] Kim: [00:19:24] So I was cruising your socials and I am loving just the whole aesthetic of your socials of your site, your brand as a whole. So are you. Heavily involved in the design process of your products?

[00:19:41] Soj Jibowu: [00:19:41] Yeah. Um, I would say, I would say yes. Um, especially as a startup, right? Like as a startup, it’s it is, um, we’re, we’re always looking at ways to become, like, to be efficient and, um, execute very, very well.

[00:19:56] So fortunately, um, I, I love design. [00:20:00] I love aesthetics. I love like the, the, the little minor details. Um, Jake, my business partner, um, he is a digital designer. Like that’s what he does. He’s an artist. And so when we first came up with the idea of the brand, um, there was a lot of thought that went into like the aesthetic.

[00:20:18] What, what emotion do we want people to feel and take from the brand? That’s really important to us. Um, And, you know, to make sure that we stay consistent with that. So we’ve, we’ve built mood boards after mood boards, after mood boards, and even coming up with the name of Barlow, it was not like a simple, it wasn’t like, Oh yeah, Barlow means this.

[00:20:38] Like let’s, let’s, you know, coin it, this, that, it was definitely a process behind it. And, um, you know, it’s just, it’s just been fun. It’s been, it’s been, it’s been a lot of fun. It really has been.

[00:20:51] Kim: [00:20:51] So since you brought that up, what does Barlow mean?

[00:20:55] Soj Jibowu: [00:20:55] Yeah, absolutely. Good question. So, um, Varlo can [00:21:00] be, you know, it’s derived from Valor, which means, you know, um, having courage, um, in, in the face of adversity, always staying forward for what’s to come for tomorrow.

[00:21:11] So one of our, um, if you look at, if you were going to our website, you’d probably see the word tomorrow mentioned like, I don’t know, like probably overviews, like tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, you know, conquering the goals of tomorrow, you know, the future awaits, you know, what’s to come tomorrow. Um, we’re, you know, we really want to just focus on, you know, achieving what is to come.

[00:21:34] And making sure people are empowered for what is to come the goals ahead to come the challenges ahead, staying the path of what’s to come tomorrow. Um, but when, and we also came up with the word Farlow, we, we, you know, there were some things that we wanted to make sure that we could, um, we would stick with, with the, with the word itself, we wanted to make sure that it was.

[00:21:54] Um, you know, short, we wanted to keep it as for, you know, four to five words or letters, excuse [00:22:00] me. And, um, a word that could be synonymous with the brand and synonymous with the, um, the aesthetic of the brand. Um, that was also important.

[00:22:12] Kim: [00:22:12] So I, you know, I spoke of the aesthetic, but I just love the way the clothes looks because so many brands they’re just, everything’s black.

[00:22:22] With extreme of dark color on it. And you know, I like to look good while I’m working out. I like to look good while I’m competing and your clothes make people look good. You have that pop of color in there. You have the different, you know, angles and, you know, just. And the camel I love, I love camel any color.

[00:22:40] Cammo like, I’m down for camera. And I saw that Ray camera. I was like, if I’m going to do another race, I need to be in that camera.

[00:22:47] Soj Jibowu: [00:22:47] Yeah. All right. Um, no, thank you for that. Thank you. And, um, It’s it’s really, it’s really funny. I will say that when we first launched, we said, okay, [00:23:00] we had an idea. We actually wanted to launch in 2020 in lieu of COVID.

[00:23:03] We did. And we said, we’re going to launch in September for the spring of 2021. And we figured like, okay, by, by the spring or September til, um, excuse me, by September, till the spring. We can, we can execute a couple of things. We can, we can release product, right? Our initial product, we can, um, we can gain a pretty size community.

[00:23:26] So we started an ambassador program. We could, uh, bring on some pro athletes, which we did. Um, we can, um, also try to expand our reach and getting a few publications. So we’ve been in world, textile, America. We’ve been in, um, triathlete magazine, Philadelphia magazine, and Durance biz. Out of the UK and, um, all things to get ready for the spring.