This week we are talking sneaker culture with Cory Pennington from Penny Kix, a local sneaker shop. Cory is a retired Marine, police officer, and teacher. Since his childhood, he has had an attraction to sneakers. K mart jeans and shirts, no problem, but he had to have some good shoes.

As a Marine, Cory was a TOW Gunner, (anti-tank missile man) but since they weren’t many tanks to shoot at in the middle east, he spent the rest of his career as a machine gunner. After 8 years, Cory left and became a police officer to fill the gap as he transitioned back into civilian life. As a fill-in for the school resource officer, the principal approached him with the opportunity to become a teacher in the criminal justice program. It didn’t take long for Cory to make that switch since he knew being a cop was only temporary.

During his time as a teacher, Cory was buying and selling sneakers on the side for some extra cash. As his house became filled with hundreds of pairs of shoes, he made the jump and opened a retail location, giving birth to ‘Penny Kix’. Now with a second location and retiring from teaching, Cory is all in on his own business. Take a dive into the often misunderstood world of sneakers and sneaker culture on this episode of the Tactical Baby Gear® Podcast.