Products-wise, what's the next step for Shinola? I know you’re making turntables.

There are a number of exciting things that we are coming out with in the future or have recently launched. One of the product categories we recently launched at the end of last year was audio, with the Runwell turntable, and later this year we're going to be launching other incredible pieces of equipment. We'll be opening up the Shinola Hotel the fall of 2018. One of our big initiatives is, as you can imagine given our mission, is to continue creating jobs. We'd love to go to the South Side of Chicago and open up some sort of light manufacturing operation in the near future as well.

What other products do you see as working for Shinola in the future? Is it just "cool stuff"? Or would you one day make shoe polish again?

We do actually sell shoe polish. It’s produced in small batches in Chicago by a family-owned company who has been making it since 1905. It’s a lighthearted homage to our roots.

Otherwise, it has lot to do with what we can find, where we can find people to help us. Whether it's audio engineers or bicycle designers or leather designers. It's about being able to find people who can teach us to do and make things that we want to make or build here in the United States. As we look to new categories, we look for people and we look for ways in which we can create more jobs and continue focusing on our mission.

Back in the day, Apple got into trouble when they moved away from their core sales items. Why do you think your strategy is different? How will you avoid diluting your brand?

Our intention with Shinola Audio, like everything we do, is to create a business built on skill at scale, creating high quality American manufacturing jobs, and products made to last. Audio, like all the categories we work in, is an industry where the jobs and the skills have gone elsewhere over the years. While I can't comment on other brands, I do know that there is a hunger in this country for authenticity, quality, and for things made here by American workers. We’ve seen it with every product category we’ve introduced. Many people know us as only a watch brand but our other categories, like leather for example, are quickly playing a larger role in the mix of goods.

Since you have such a strong social mission, have you ever thought about doing a hybrid business model thing? Like a B-Corp situation where you have a dual mission?

We are a for-profit company and that’s not going to change, but our mission is one that has purpose. Still, the fact of the matter is we have to get profitable to continue on our mission of creating jobs. It's that fine balance of purpose before profits or profits before purpose and that balance is something that we work on every single day.

How did you decide how to price Shinola products?

Our focus is delivering immense value to the end user, the consumer. For example, in the watch category, we're the only company in the world that has a lifetime guarantee on our time pieces. All of our products are designed, developed and manufactured to deliver an incredible amount of value.

I'm trying to put myself in the room when you decided exactly how much a Shinola watch would cost.

We wanted to be priced underneath where the Swiss guys are, but at the same level of quality, and priced above the fashion brands, the $250 watch brands and below. That holds true in all of our product categories. Whether you're buying a leather bag that’s in the $595 to $895 range, you're getting a bag that is cut, sewn, stitched, tanned, you know, et cetera, here in the United States from people who pour their heart and soul into everything they do.

Why do you think the American consumer is suddenly more willing to pay a premium for American-made goods?

I don't know that they're finally willing to pay more. I think the American consumer is being offered more and more products nowadays that carry a narrative similar to Shinola, a narrative that is about doing things here in the United States. Again, we're not an American made play. We are a job creation vehicle. With that in mind, we have a beautiful narrative. I think globally consumers are interested in products that have a clear answer to the “why.” Why does this exist?

I do feel like that narrative, that product narrative, is something that wasn't always as important as it is now, though.

No, I completely agree. I think we're dealing with a consumer that has a mindset that is more conscious and more aware of where their goods are coming from. I think a good analogy is the food industry. We have all become more conscious and have demanded that food purveyors be transparent about where the food comes from. I think we're seeing that similar sort of mindset come to the surface when someone's buying into a consumer good, a watch or a leather bag or a journal book, something that you can look at and pick up and understand why, where, what, and who is behind it.

A hundred percent. Why do you think that is, though? Why has that become important to the consumer?

I think that's become important to the consumer because we have, in so many instances, so many cases, been duped by brands, been told one thing but delivered another. Now we demand transparency, we demand real, we demand pure, we demand this ability to understand the "why" within all of our products. Brands should be able to deliver that. We should demand that of brands, not just Shinola. I think it's very, very important that we give the consumer the level of transparency that allows them to really peer into everything that we do.

Since you’re making so much already, have you thought about doing original content?

What do you mean by that?

I mean like a Shinola channel or Shinola podcast, something like that.

We don't have anything firm. We're always creating content, we're always sharing story. With the launch of audio, we have an incredible video that talks about how we made our turntables and all the collaboration that went into it. As we get further down the path of audio and the audio story, you can begin to imagine there being some sort of Shinola content play where we're curating a channel of musicians or makers or entrepreneurs or guys like Farber.