Hi! I'm Charlie, one cold winter day in Duluth Minnesota, I was sitting with my roommates on the cracked leather couch of my college house. I was holding this cool neck gaiter. Earlier that day, I had beat my friend George in a game of rock paper scissors for the rights to buy it at the thrift store (we saw it at the same time). Feeling excited about my purchase, and wondering what company had made it, I couldn't find a tag. It was in that moment that I had an epiphany that people can just make stuff.
I got so excited about this, that we went back to the thrift store and bought a sewing machine. After a couple hours of trying to figure out how to thread a sewing machine and sew without help (we were way too confident back then), we FaceTimed my roommates mom. She gave us a good rundown and off we were.
The first thing I made was a replica of that neck gaiter that I found at the thrift store. I started making more of these in my bedroom and selling them to friends to make a little extra money to fund snowboard and surf trips with my roommates. The first one, sold to my friend Kayli for a whopping $5 because it was made from a sweater that I had worn for years and the stitching was already falling apart (i've come a long way with my sewing abilities).
I eventually made a little instagram account and named it Synch Tec (thinking spelling cinch really wrong would be funny). Without thinking anything of it, my life was changed forever. People went crazy for them, and a dumb boy like me who still didn't really know how to sew was freakin' out. Because each of the hats took multiple broken sewing needles and a few hours time, I couldn't make enough of them.
This has kind of been the story for the past 7 years. Growing a funky little seasonal business has been the biggest challenge of my life, even when there is a ton of support for it.
Synch Tec is this crazy little thing that I love doing, and it means the world to me that you might love it too. We make them all in the USA, either in Washington or Minnesota (I move around a lot lol) and try to keep them inexpensive so that y'all can spend your money getting to the mountain, trails, crag, ocean, or wherever else your sweet little heart desires.
Your support is so incredibly appreciated. <3
love u lots,
Charlie!
