Is this the birth of a totally new kind of retail concept — and a sign that retail, 20 years from now, might look (and feel) completely different? It’s The Phluid Project —the "Ph" references "balance".  

Founder/CEO Rob Smith shares his vision with host Chris Hansen (IgnitionOne) and Rebecca Fitts, along with a look inside this unique apparel concept that reflects realities of identity within today’s changing society -- retail with no gender attached to it --  no gender or size, everyone shops in the same section. It is nothing like the retail norms we know -- a kind of "choose your own retail adventure", and it is a direct result of what the customer brings to it.

In this episode:

• How Phluid challenges boundaries and societal norms to let people be their authentic selves, and the challenges a retail company faces when its core ethos is about shaking up societal norms
• Rob breaks down how he built up the Phluid brand to be welcoming to all potential customers by not creating products for a specific gender, and to avoid sizing systems that could be body-shaming and discouraging to customers
• How an experience at Burning Man opened Rob’s eyes, led him to quit his job and go on a spiritual trip where he found his calling to start a non-binary clothing store inspired by the concept of the third gender two-spirit shamans
• The interest piqued by putting up a sign in the window of the first SoHo location that stated “The World’s First Gender-Free Store”
• Why Rob focused on building a community and a group of people who embodied the brand’s vision, and to build trust to ensure that it was clear that Rob, a  white cis-gender gay man, was not trying to capitalize on a movement
• How Rob built the store with the intent of creating not just a storefront, but also a non transactional space where people can meet and feel safe and part of a larger community where events and activism groups can meet
• The Gen-Z mentality of finding brands that stand for issues with conviction, and how Phluid found this market organically when many brands are trying to find ways to build that perception around their already established brand
• Phluid’s plans for the future, creating its own branded content, and building the online presence to make the online community feel connected to the community built around the brick and mortar store
• How Rob keeps engaged with the Phluid community, and how that community that is employed by the company and the brand’s identity have found a common voice, and why the generational gap isn’t the big deal people make it out to be
• Why Rob doesn’t see turnover as a bad thing, and how the community around Phluid has grown and continues to grow because it is a built around people working together to create something new
• What it means for a brand to be “Phluid-ready” and how Rob and his team decide whether or not a brand is inclusive and giving voice to minorities and should be brought on as a partner
• How phones and other tools we have at our disposal make content creation easier and a more continuous and organic process than ever before
• Why the younger generations give Rob hope for the future in terms of inclusivity, open mindedness, and positive change
• Why Rob doesn’t recommend ayahuasca to everyone, but why that journey has made him who he is today

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.