[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cart guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get you through your Friday.
[Voiceover]: Today's checkout features Ben Sandu, co founder at Ida Sports. They've designed the first football boot, which has been specifically designed for women's feet. Only a couple of years old, Ida Sports has already sold out of their first range, got a distribution deal with Dick's Sporting Goods, and had Isabelle Dawes kick a winning goal for them in the AFLW grand final.
Nathan Bush: All right, Ben, we are going to hit you with five quick questions for the checkout. To learn a little bit more about yourself, we'll get straight into it. Number one, what is the weirdest thing you've ever bought online?
Ben Sandhu: I thought about this question. I was going to say 1250 pairs of football boots, because that's true. But more personally, I once bought an antique map of southeast London mounted on a wooden block.
Nathan Bush: Because you like maps in London.
Ben Sandhu: I was living in the area at the time and I bought it as a Mother's Day present. It was just like, this is where I live.
Nathan Bush: That's awesome. Very cool. All right, number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Ben Sandhu: So much like Laura, Patagonia was definitely up there the first thought. But I want to give a shout out to a Melbourne brand. Homie. I'm sure a lot of your listeners are familiar. Great brands, great business model supporting those in need. So Homey is definitely up there for me.
Nathan Bush: If you can. Do you want to give listeners just a little bit more around what they do? Because they do have an incredible story.
Ben Sandhu: Yeah. So Homey is a streetwear brand that gives money with every purchase to people at risk of experiencing homelessness. It's grown super quickly. They definitely, you know, we launched the business in Melbourne a couple of years ago and I used to live in Collingwoods. I was right near their store and I just love what they do and it's really simple, classic stuff, looks great. So they just, they strike a really good balance, I think, for the way business can be done.
[Voiceover]: Yeah, agree.
Nathan Bush: And I think they just go really under the radar in the retail community in Australia for the impact that they're having, for sure.
Ben Sandhu: And, you know, ultimately, like, that's what Laura and I sought to do is just let's really deliver on what we promise. And I think they do that really well.
Nathan Bush: So, yeah, good stuff. Good stuff. Number three, which retail fad do you wish was history?
Ben Sandhu: I couldn't remember the name But I looked up, I think it's like the Coles minis, but I think, I think they're dumb, but it speaks to, you know, getting rid of these pointless things that just add to waste. In preparation for this podcast, I looked up Coles Minis. Are we still doing that? Like, I hope not. And the entire set is going on eBay for $750. And I was like, that's a problem. So whether the Kohl's is still doing them or not, please can we stop making pointless little plastic toys that are just going to end up, know, rotting away or not rotting away for thousands of years.
Nathan Bush: Well, I think it's similar to what we're talking to Laura about too, is that obviously there's, there's a responsibility for us to manufacture the right stuff, but it also comes back to the customer in saying no to things that aren't sustainable.
Ben Sandhu: Yeah, I think honestly that's the challenge for us is you want to educate consumers to make active choices about this kind of stuff. And like, you know, when you're, when you're producing things, they're not always easy decisions to make. Like, you know, for example, often we have people say, why did you pick kangaroo leather? Why don't you make it out of synthetics? But some of the synthetic materials that are out there are just as, if not more harmful than sustainably sourced kangaroo leather. So it can be really tricky. But there's some clear cut examples of just like, you know, little plastic toys. I need like to do it especially just giving them away as well.
Nathan Bush: Oh, we'll look back on it in 10 years. It's crazy.
Ben Sandhu: Yeah, for sure.
Nathan Bush: Number four, can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Ben Sandhu: So I'm going to go away from like how I built this, which Laura mentioned. Great answer. I'm just going to go super silly with this question. Two silly podcasts. One, if people haven't heard it, podcast called Finding Drago, which is a sort of mockumentary style podcast about tracking down an author of a book. It's called On Mountains We Stand, and it's an unauthorized fan fiction novel about Ivan Drago, the villain from Rocky. 4. It is hilarious. I listened to it. I was on a bit of a road trip recently and I just laughed like my keyster off. So good.
Nathan Bush: Awesome.
Ben Sandhu: Finding Drago is a good one. And then the other one, there's a podcast by the guys from Arrested Development called Smartless. They do it with Sean Hayes, who's from Will and Grace and really funny Good guests like really light listening. So they're my two, which is not maybe on brand, but no, they're fantastic.
Nathan Bush: I think smartless I've listened to, and it's great. But you need those ones just to break it up, because if you just listen to the same stuff over and over again, you go nuts for sure. All right, the last one I've got for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is inclusive. Nice. And you're talking more than female participation.
Ben Sandhu: 100%. Another really interesting book, actually, that was a manifesto for what we're doing. There's a book called Invisible Women by Caroline Criardo Peru. And, you know, it talks about how women are overlooked in design in all sorts of things. Like the first all female NASA spacewalk had to be delayed because they didn't have enough spacesuits for women. But, you know, that could apply just just as much to people with disabilities, people of color. There's such a lack of provision for all of us in design. So I think, yeah, the future of retail for sure is inclusive.
Nathan Bush: Well said, Ben. Love it. Thank you so much for joining us on Add to Cart. Ben, love your story. Love what you're doing with Ida Shoes, and we can't wait to see what's next.
Ben Sandhu: Thanks so much for having me, Nathan. Cheers, mate.
[Voiceover]: To hear more from Laura and Ben, jump back into episode 80 where Laura and Ben share how they designed the first football boot with no previous footwear experience. They even called it the Franken boot. They also dive into how they got international wholesale distributions with the likes of
Nathan Bush: Dick's Sporting Goods in the US and
[Voiceover]: how they onboard athletes as a key part of their marketing strategy.
Nathan Bush: Thanks for listening.
[Voiceover]: And until next time, keep adding to cartoon.
