We recently had the chance to connect with Eric and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Eric, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about your customers?
When I started Sleepy Peach, I aimed straight for the middle. I thought that if I made designs that appealed to everyone, I would rack in the money.
I couldn’t be more wrong. This year, our most popular item was a cardigan with human teeth all over it. It goes to show you that people will gladly support unique things that haven’t really been done before. The Meet the Beetles Sweater is another good example. Two big brown beetles over a vibrant blue sweater. They aren’t even centered. It shouldn’t work, but it does.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Eric and I think this is my fourth interview with you guys. I’ve run Sleepy Peach for eight years now, which is an incredible amount of time for an independent clothing brand. We make really cool stuff that you can’t find anywhere else and then stress out when our items blow up on TikTok and we can’t fulfil demand. It’s actually incredible. I always think about the final scene in Willy Wonka where Willy asks Charlie, “Do you know what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always wanted? He lived happily ever after.” That’s me. That’s Sleepy Peach.
But it’s been a long and not always great journey. We started out as a 100% polyester pastel streetwear brand and it was not great for the environment or our finances. I did a hard and really expensive pivot to 100% cotton starting in 2023, and it’s really paid off. Our stuff is so unbelievably high quality now. I’m just really proud of how far we’ve gone. You never would have caught celebrities in our old stuff.
We’re keeping it small. There’s a reason why so many clothing brands go kaput. They get big and hire way too many people, then they have to keep making bad designs in order to justify their payroll. Look at Golf and Teddy Fresh. Our staff is tiny and we have a 100% retention rate. We’ve had the same crew since 2021. Quality control is everything, and we’re willing to lose $5 today to gain $10 next year. You don’t randomly stumble into a 40% customer retention. It’s earned.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a teacher working in Compton and living in Long Beach with Juliet, my now-wife. I had gone to CSULB for five years to become a teacher and they threw me into a charter school with literally no resources. I didn’t even have textbooks. You know those promos where Staples will donate backpacks to schools in need? I taught in those schools. I got those backpacks.
So I would spend my days dodging chairs, breaking up fights, and doing real lockdowns. It was very stressful. Then, I would drive home to our awful apartment in Long Beach. There were roaches everywhere, and the ceiling leaked. A possum died under our bathtub, and we had to call CPS on our neighbors constantly. My car got broken into. It was such a bad time.
And I thought to myself constantly, “it has to get better than this.” So, I started chipping away at Sleepy Peach while teaching. It was more of a side hustle at first, but it kept building like a snowball rolling down a hill. We really blew up in 2021 when I switched to cotton. I told Juliet, “If the money I make from Sleepy Peach overtakes my teacher’s salary for an entire year, I’m quitting teaching.” I quit in 2022, and I haven’t worked for anyone else since.
Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Constantly. Absolutely constantly.
The first time I tried to shut down Sleepy Peach was the second month we launched. We sold 4 out of 50 sweatshirts and probably spent $2,000.
The second time I tried to shut down Sleepy Peach was the next year. We made polka dot pants and literally no one bought them. That was probably another $2,000.
Then there was the time UPS lost our entire sweater shipment that we paid to get tagged. And then the next year we had about $4,000 of inventory just chilling with no one buying.
It really changed once we pivoted away from fast fashion and really invested in higher quality products. And that’s really what I tell everyone to do. It’s scary but worth it.
Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I think a lot of really rich people are actually miserable. This isn’t some pipe dream that I came up with to make myself feel better. Sleepy Peach has made me richer than I’ve ever been, and I don’t take it for granted. I could not afford a house in Orange County on a teacher’s salary. I just couldn’t. I tried to work in the system. I got union busted once by my school for advocating for higher teacher pay.
But you look at the guys with millions and billions of dollars and you just think to yourself, “What’s the point?” I have a car and it works. I have a house and it’s nice. I have a loving wife and family. I have friends that make me laugh and think.
Money is great because it can buy you time. I just spent money to take a weekend trip with my closest friends, and it was a great time. But what are these billionaires and millionaires doing with all this money? Just making more? To do what with? It’s an ugly obsession.
A lot of people tell me that we should scale Sleepy Peach and hire more and more people to make it as big as possible. I could be leaving millions on the table. But so what? I like sleeping in. I like being able to take days off whenever I want so I can see my family and friends. I like not being tied to my computer or cellphone. And I think that freedom worth a lot more than a bigger bank account. There’s a great John Lennon song called “Watching the Wheels” that says it better than I ever could.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If you knew you had 10 years left, what would you stop doing immediately?
I’m diabetic so I might literally have 10 years left.
Honestly, Sleepy Peach exists because I’ve had this mentality for a while. When I was getting chairs thrown at me while teaching or hiding kids from gunmen, I would think to myself, “What if I died tomorrow? Is this worth it?”
There’s nothing I would stop doing immediately that I haven’t already stopped doing. There are things that I have to do that bore me, but I do them anyway. All of the spaces in-between life events are still life events.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sleepypeach.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepypeach.clothing
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sleepypeach.clothing
- Other: www.tiktok.com/@sleepypeach.clothing
www.pinterest.com/sleepypeachclothing/
