This week on the podcast we continue our Business of Outdoor Recreation series with Kile Graves, Director of Operations at beardedgoat and Walton College alum, an outdoor apparel brand that is based in Northwest Arkansas and quickly expanding nationally. They discuss the burgeoning outdoor recreation economy in Arkansas and Kyle shares about his transition from the corporate world to the startup space with beardedgat. He discusses his passion for the outdoors, the challenges of establishing a brand in a growing sector, and how beardedgoat has capitalized on the growing popularity of outdoor recreation in Northwest Arkansas especially.

The mountain bike scene I don't think it was as

large as it is now. And just that side of outdoor recreation

is growing in popularity, we've definitely been able to ride

that wave. Because we were already leaning into that scene

anyways, it just wasn't as popular. And so as it's grown in

popularity, we've been able to just tap into it and say like,

hey, we're here.

Welcome to the Be Epic podcast, brought to you

by the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of

Arkansas. I'm your host, Brent Williams. Together, we'll

explore the dynamic landscape of business and uncover the

strategies, insights, and stories that drive business

today. Well, today I have with me Kile Graves. Kile is the

Director of Operations at Bearded Goat and alum of the

Walton College. Kile, thanks for joining me today.

Yeah, thanks for having me excited to excited to

be here.

Well, I'm super excited that you're here. And,

you know, I know you're engaged in the outdoor recreation

economy in Arkansas, which is really growing and exploding. So

I kind of want to, I really want to center us on that. But first,

maybe your story a little bit. I know you were you graduated from

the Walton College, but come to tell us all about you.

Yeah. So I grew up here in Fayetteville went to

Fayetteville High School before they tore it down and built the

new one. I think we were the last class in the old high

school. Yeah, came here. Went to the U of A, studied supply

chain, and marketing and economics were my minors, and

then interned at Walmart, between my junior and senior

year, got a job there right after graduation. And had these

like training development programs. And I was in the one

in merchandising, so I did that for about two years, and kind of

realized it wasn't my my speed, and got an opportunity to help

start something, Bearded Goat, from the ground up and so got

approached by the guy that had kind of raised some money. And

his name is Terry and decided to jump ship from Walmart at the

time, had learned a lot in kind of just big, big retail space. I

was in a planning role. So it's basically intro of in control of

the budget for a buyer. I was over hangers and laundry baskets

and things not so outdoorsy. But no, it was great. I learned a

lot and did that. And yeah, jumped ship. I think it was the

end of 2017. Like December of 2017. And yeah, been at Bearded

Goat ever since. So it'll be six years, six years is fall.

Well, those training development programs at

Walmart and specifically in merchandising are tremendous in

what you learn, right? I mean, just like the the span of what

you learn in a really short period of time, is pretty

It's crazy. It's the phrase drinking from water

tremendous.

hose. You know, people say it's, it's so true. I remember coming

home. And I was with three roommates at the time. And I

think two of the three were working at Walmart. And we'd

come home and our brains were just like fried, and we're just

like what was happening? But yeah, you you know, I don't know

if they've changed it since but you would do 10 or so weeks in

like a replenishment role. And then you do a buyer role,

sourcing, product development, planning. And then at the end,

they'd spit you out into a full time position. And so yeah,

it's, it's amazing. I'm really grateful for what I learned

there. And just kind of understanding how retail works.

You know, retail math works, you know, in a day to day setting,

how to analyze a business, I think I learned a lot of my

analytical skills are definitely there. I honed them in there for

sure. So it was good. But I did not love the cube farm is what

we refer to it as in the startup world, but was not a fan of that

so.

So the transition to Bearded Goat, to

work and working with Terry helping start this company up. I

guess outdoors is something personally you're passionate

about.

Yeah, for sure. You know, we grew up going to the

Buffalo River every summer, going to the lake every summer,

running on the trails, mountain biking wasn't as big of a thing

growing up, I played basketball growing up. So I was kind of a

jockey and a sports guy. And so, but in the summer, you know, we

were outside in the fall, you know, we're outside. So that's,

that's kind of how I was raised and how I spend my time. You

know, my, my dad and I would fish throughout the year every

year and that was kind of like our thing and got into fly

fishing towards the end of college and skiing every chance

I could get. So any chance I could get outside we were doing

it basically. So that was always kind of a part of who I was and

my interests have always been there and so yeah, when Terry

approached me and I was still Walmart with the opportunity to

come kind of like help him launch the thing and he

explained, hey, I'm gonna create a brand in the outdoor world,

didn't really know anything else than that I was kind of like,

yeah, like the outdoors. And I've learned some stuff about

retail. So let's, you know, let's do it.

Yeah. And the purpose of the company, I don't

know if I'm going to get this exactly right. But basically,

boil it down to you guys are really trying to help more

people get outside, and I guess align the gear and apparel

between technical and everyday.

Yeah, yeah, I think, you know, that's our

website, I'm pretty sure at this point, and we've, you know, a

brand is a brand identities for us has kind of changed a little

bit as we've, we've grown and, you know, certain things will

take grip in the market, and other things won't. And so you

kind of have to adapt a little bit, but yeah our identity from

the start was, hey, if we can, it was me and I Owen Bell was my

counterpart of the company. He's our Creative Director, and then

McCain Martin, is in charge of our product development. He's

also a UARK alum at the Walton College, so yeah us three, we're

all from, and we kind of run the we run the company day to day.

And so us three all grew up in Northwest Arkansas, we all have

a little bit different interests. You know, McCain has

family in the west coast. So surfing was big in his

upbringing and interest. And I spent time on the river and

camping and Owen was also in Rogers growing up outdoors. And

so us three, kind of blended our interests in the outdoors and

how it's authentic to this area, which, for us, shows up either

on a trail of some sort or on the water of some sort. And

that's kind of where we've boiled it down to those two

environments. And then we said, hey, let's, let's just make an

outdoor lifestyle brand, clothing brand that we make

stuff we can wear doing any of that. That's kind of the idea.

And so it's, it's loose enough, where we can create products

that don't necessarily fit into a specific water category. It's

it's more than just lifestyle, but our inspiration and the soul

of our brand lives, lives there so.

If if you're asking you maybe to reflect on

the last, what, five, six years that you've been there, you

know, today, where the company and the brand is at, and maybe

the products versus when you started five or six years ago,

what, what is still the case? Or what's still true, and maybe

what's different?

Yeah, that's a good question. What's different, you

know, I think we started probably trying to make products

that were way more technical than we do now. And making

clothes is really hard. Like, it's, it's us three, we have an

idea for a piece, and then we turn it into reality. And so

it's, it's a long process. It's an expensive process. But I

think originally, we were trying to make, you know, pretty

intense, outdoor, you know, stuff, you could ski in really

technical pieces, water resistant clothing and rain

jackets, and more high end on the technical side. And I think

we've shifted over the years into more of a lifestyle brand,

we still have hits of technical pieces, and our our products are

really, really high quality. And they're designed with a lot of

intentionality. But the technical aspects aren't as

important to the product, I would say now. And that's

allowed us to reach just kind of a broader market, you know, and

guys that are like, hey, I'm not in the rain every day hiking,

but the one time I am a year, I'm gonna grab this jacket, you

know, and all the other weekends, I'm not hiking in the

rain, I can wear this jacket. So we've kind of shifted our focus

there. But the focus on being outside and spending time

outside has remained constant for sure.

The purpose clearly is the same. Just the

business pivoted just a little bit.

Yeah, the assortment, the offering has

kind of changed a little bit.

For someone that's not been engaged in

apparel, you know, you mentioned apparel is hard, and it's very

hard, right? You know, you've got short selling seasons often.

And then for one given product, you've got multiple sizes and

colors. And it's a it's a big challenge to go from an idea to

execution and execution well. Talk us through a little bit of

that process.

Ah man, yeah, it's, you know, so you, you'll come up

Yeah, and lots can change in a year.

with an idea for for the silhouette. You know, like the

pants I'm wearing or are launching this fall, they're

heavyweight cotton canvas, kind of like a work wear type of

pant. So we'll have an idea in our head of like, hey, we want

to pant that's a little bit baggier fit, heavy duty cotton.

You know, in the beginning, you don't know what different types

of fabrics they are, at least I didn't. So I was like, alright,

we also have to durable what does that mean? Well, it

probably means it's cotton and it probably has a little bit of

like a canvas aspect to it. So you start sourcing fabrics until

you feel the one you like and you think is the right style and

then you get a prototype made which is always way off, you

know in fit and how it looks and colors are always random, you'll

have like a bright orange work pant, that we would never make

that color. But that's what you have until you're closer to

placing your orders. So you refine the fit over a couple of

months and you get the fit, right. And then you choose your

colors. And you know, you're selecting Pantones and then

you're dyeing fabric, and you have to wait for that sample to

come in. And then you're approving a color decision, you

know, months in advance, before you get to see the, the finished

garment. And so it's a lot of kind of deciding on the fly. You

know, we're we're making really calculated decisions, but we

have to make them quick. Because you're, you're making the

decisions, basically a year out for when the product gets here so.

For sure.

So big, big challenge managing an apparel

supply chain.

Yeah, yeah, it is. And it's, you know, we have, we

have some really good partners that help us make this stuff.

And they're really flexible. And I think because our team is so

small, we're able to make decisions quickly. And if us

three can kind of get aligned on an idea whether it's a color, or

a fit or style of a piece. We know it's pretty much a home run

hitter. So yeah, that's kind of the grid we we push it through.

Well, you know, as we, as we mentioned at the

outset, you know, the outdoor economy, outdoor recreation

economy in Arkansas, has, you know, what, one I guess we've

had the natural assets for forever. But it seems like we're

really getting aligned as a state and as a region on I would

say leveraging those assets. You know from, from a quality of

life and from an economic development standpoint, just you

know, you're a native here, what do you see? How are you guys

participating in all that?

Yeah, no doubt. Like, I think the the Greenway

was the first, Razorback Greenway, it was kind of the

first piece that I recognized, I was like, Whoa, this is, this

was legit. You know, it runs all the way from downtown

Fayetteville to Bentonville, and it's continuous and you can ride

your bike. I can't remember when they when they completed that.

But that was the first piece to me that I recognized the growth

and then obviously, the mountain biking, that's the biggest piece

for our brand. And me personally, you know, it has

been a couple times a week, I'll go in the mornings and ride on

the trails. But that's, that's been the most obvious is just

the the growth and the development around the mountain

bike scene. Specifically in Bentonville and Fayetteville and

Northwest Arkansas, and then even across the state now it's,

you know, there's a lot of trails being developed, and

people look for ways to get on them. Whether it's first time on

a bike, or people are traveling here from all over the world

now. We'll run into people in Bentonville, you know, in their

vans, and they drove from Maine to Bentonville, Arkansas, and

they're parked outside camping. And, man, we heard about

Bentonville we got to get down there. And I was like,

Bentonville, do you? How, why are you coming to Arkansas, you

know, because we've known is great. But the the development

and the building of the trail system and how it connects to

the culture of the cities I think is really cool. And then

the the lake is another big piece of our brand, which, you

know, we've we've grown up on and because it's controlled by

the Corps of Engineers, it's not as commercialized, which is a

good thing. It keeps its natural beauty there. So yeah, that's

and that's even grown though to you know, wake, wake surf boats.

That's kind of where our brand lives and we were surfing behind

the boat. If you've ever done it,

I have

We need to take you out sometime.

Yeah, I'll go again though.

Yeah, let's go. It's a it's a blast. But you

know, those, they're way more popular than when I was a kid.

You know, it was like, you go on the lake, and it'd be pontoons,

and maybe one cobalt, you know, or something. And now it's these

super nice wakesurf boats everywhere. So, you know, and I

think that's, you know, probably credit to a lot of the big

corporations and up north that are cultivating the region. And

you know, the involvement of the Walton College here and how it's

connecting students to those job opportunities and making this

area just more of a desirable place to live. I think it's like

you said, it's always been desirable, but they're starting

to tell people about it, which has its pros and cons.

Yeah, yeah. Well, you know, and building a

brand like yours and a company like yours. I mean, I'm sure.

I'm sure there's a benefit of just being here around all in in

that ecosystem.

For sure.

The relationships with other

entrepreneurs and companies, there's a lot of support for

entrepreneurs building companies here as well.

Yes, yeah, there is, you know, we, when we

started, you know, five years ago, the mountain bike scene I

don't think it was as large as it is now. And so from just what

we were talking about earlier, just that side of outdoor

recreation is growing in popularity. We've definitely

been able to ride that wave. Because we were already leaning

into that scene anyways, it just wasn't as popular and so as it's

grown in popularity, we've been able to just again, tap into it

and say like, Hey, we're here. This is what we're about

anyways, we've been able to ride that wave. But yeah, the startup

scene is way more connected than I thought it was, you know,

going here, I studied supply chain and interned at Walmart,

like I said, and so my exposure to the business world was always

in the biggest of settings in Walmart. And so I didn't, I

didn't have a lot of exposure to the startup world, until I left

to help start Bearded Goat, but since then, you know, it's

amazing the connections across small businesses and founders

that are trying to figure out ways to help each other and come

up with ideas and just kind of cross pollinate almost.

Yeah. As, as you sort of look for look forward

for the company. You know, what's kind of the hopes and

dreams? And then, you know, maybe even, you know, your your

hopes for our region and our state as it relates to outdoor

recreation?

Yeah, that's a good question. Yeah, I think dreams,

hopes and dreams for Bearded Goat would be, you know, we kind

of have this, this internal argument with us three, where

we're kind of like, we want to brag and make it known where

we're from. And we're from Northwest Arkansas. And that's

where our inspiration and our identity for the brand comes

from. But you also don't want to be too specific to a region

because you can limit the size of your potential market. And so

we kind of have this debate of back and forth, like, how do we

wave our flag where we're from, but not put us in a small box

of, you know, a specific demographic. And so I think

continuing to find that balance as we grow and find more people

that just enjoy spending time outside, and they like, spending

time on the lake, and they like spending time on trails, and

they like the clothes that we make because it supports this

lifestyle of adventure and creativity, and just getting

outside in creative ways. So I think if we can continue to grow

and find more and more people that like this lifestyle that

we're promoting. That's the vision, it's not very specific.

But yeah, just growth man, just seeing people. Like I saw

someone this weekend wearing a pair of our swim trunks at the

farmers market. And every time I see someone wearing a piece,

like we always take a picture and send it to each other. And

that never gets old. It's really fun. Because you spend so much

time and thought creating like a pair of swim trunks. And then

you see someone wearing it, you're like, man, you chose to

buy that, you know, and wear that today. And so it's just

cool. But yeah, for the region. You know, you hear the sayings

of like, this is the next Austin all the time, at least we know

we hear those. And I think it's real. And I think we have a

unique setup here. I guess it is similar to Austin with, you

know, biggest corporation in the world. And then you have Tyson

and JB Hunt, and all the resources and energy that

they're pouring into the economy here. But then you also have a

SEC school that's in the same area. And so you get the energy

and the youthfulness of the college world. And you blend

those together with a unique outdoor market that's growing in

popularity. It just has this really cool, unique hub that

isn't like and we're in the south. So you know, it's not a

coastal city, which is also unique. But I think people are

desiring that, you know, it's cheaper to live. I don't know

the stats on like, how many people move here a day, but I

know they're keeping track. But I think if we can continue to

grow and figure out a way to accommodate for all the people

that are moving here but not lose sight of what made

Northwest Arkansas unique in the first place. That'd be cool.

I agree. I agree. Well, we were

reminiscing, before this, I think I met you when you were a

freshman in 2012. And maybe kind of shifting gears just a little

bit as you think back to your time in the Walton College and

at the University of Arkansas. You know, and now you're six,

seven years post that, you know, helping run and build a company,

what are some of the things or experiences that really stand

out to you that you think gave you an advantage in that?

That's a good question. Yeah, I think you

know, taking your taking your classes seriously is a really

important thing. I think trying to maximize what you're getting

out of class is important, which is hard to do when you're 18 you

know, like, hey, what you're learning is really important and

will apply to you and six years from now, but telling that to

six years ago me it's hard to like hammer home. I think that

and networking and making relationships is really

important. I feel like everyone says that looking back but it

really is you know, the people you meet you know if you can

build a relationship and build a little bit of trust and network

as you continue your career and get into your career. The

people, you know, is so important, you know, being able

to ask questions and bounce things off of them, especially

in the startup world, like so much is, is leveraging your

network for everything, from fundraising, to marketing, to

product testing, to feedback, it's, you know, it's everything.

So if you have a large network of authentic relationships, and

you can really leverage them, and it gives you a gives you a

leg up, I think.

I couldn't agree more, you know, when when you

think about when I think about our students, you know, I want

them leaving the Walton College with, you know, with knowledge

and skills. I mean, of course, it's maybe one of the first

things you think about when you think about going to college.

But then layering experiences of any kind, you know, you

mentioned an internship at at Walmart or an internship in any

size company, can be super beneficial. And, and then you

cannot understate this the power of the relationships that you

form, you know, and and that network that you really start to

build, and then that network starts to expand over time. Like

those are real real value.

Yes, yeah, they're invaluable. We, I studied

abroad, in between my sophomore and junior year with Molly

Rapert. And Sam Porkstad who we mentioned earlier in the

podcast, and I had so much fun, like, just from an experience

standpoint, you know, if you're listening to this, and your

student, go study abroad, it's awesome. Like, it's the most

fun, free will you get to learn and experience things and be in

a different culture. And I think that experience of getting

outside my comfort zone was really important. Because I'm

from Fayetteville, and you know, go here, and I see people I've

known forever at the coffee shop. But going and living in a

different country for six weeks really did push me out of my

comfort zone, which I think helped transition into bearded

goat where it's like, hey, there's no rules here, sink or

swim. If you're trying to make this thing work, you got to, you

got to grind. And so I think that was an important piece that

I didn't realize, probably until the past two or three years

where I was like, man that that experience in college definitely

helped me now. And even some relationships, you know, Anne

Velliquette, I think our first or second year at Bearded Goat.

I don't know if Molly connected us or what. But we, me and Owen

somehow ended up coming and doing like a presentation for

one of their classes. And we were, Owen was redesigning our

logo, and we're getting feedback on that. And then also some like

guerilla marketing efforts, and we actually got an idea from one

of their classes for like a college rep program. And we ran

it for a couple months to kind of get some boots on the ground

in the early days. And, you know, we implemented that idea,

from a class from a student and it helped us kind of get over

the first hump of the first couple of months of business.

And since then we repositioned it and pivoted a couple times.

But yeah, if I wouldn't have had connections still at the Walton

College probably wouldn't have happened.

Well, I love that story, your story of in

some ways, the University of Arkansas and Walton College kept

you here. Right, you know, you worked for a really, really

large company and got some tremendous experience there.

Now, you've been in a startup for five or six years, and

you've still kept yourself engaged. And you know, the two

faculty members in marketing in our Department of Marketing,

Molly Rapert and Anne Velliquette, that you just

mentioned, are they do a great job of engaging business of, of

all size in with our students.

Yeah. And I think it really helps the students,

you know, when you have someone from the real world business

setting come in, and they're not that much older than you. And

they're talking to you about their experiences, and they're

asking you for your advice. I think that's when the, the brain

has like a different chamber, you know, and when you can

activate that chamber of thinking in a business, real

world business setting, that's where the learning takes place,

you know, and they do a great job of, of doing that. For sure.

They sure do. Well, you've hit on this a

little bit. You mentioned, study abroad, is something you advise

students, but just as you think about our students today, all

right. What are some of the pieces of advice that you know

from where you sit today that you would give to our students?

Yeah, I would say, this might be kind of lame, but

I would say just go get a job.

Like if you're working, if you're in the business college,

and you don't know what you want to do, which I didn't when I

was, you know, and I knew I liked business and supply chain

was interesting. So I was like, hey, I'll major in that. Go get

a job where you can work in addition to your studies, and

you can learn what you like and don't like and you can figure

out what you're passionate about and what you're interested in.

Not everyone, you know, is fortunate enough to do something

that they love. But if you can, then you should pursue it. So

yeah, I would say, just get a job, just work, figure out what

you like, figure out what you don't like, check things off the

list, compare that to what you're studying, and try and

connect the dots as much as you can between the classroom and

then your real world job, you know, as much as you can. And

the more you can do that, the four years, you're here, I think

the transition to working full time will get easier, and you

might be able to pick up speed quicker, so.

Kile, I couldn't agree with you more, actually, I

really couldn't. You know, I think about I think about

education. You know, a business school education is so enhanced

when you're learning and applying. And, and, and it

doesn't matter, I agree with you doesn't matter what job you're

doing, what company you're with, as long as you're learning and

applying and back and forth. That's how you get the most out

of out of education. But then, you know, it does teach you

what, you know, what you're interested in what you're not

interested in. And, you know, a typical student, not every

student, but you know, a typical student, you mentioned an 18

year old coming in as a freshman and leaving as a 22 year old.

There's a lot of change and transition in your life during

that period of time. So you want as much experience as you can.

Yeah, I mean, I remember I worked at Walker

Brothers through college and other

Yeah, John Cole.

John Cole, another professor. Is he still teaching?

He's not teaching, but he's still

Okay, nice. Yeah, I worked there, freshman year, all

involved.

the way through school. And I was in a fraternity too, and so

we'd go and I worked on commission. So I was like, hey,

the more of my buddies, I can get here to come by jackets and

stuff, the more my paychecks gonna be. So, you know,

inadvertently, I learned how to leverage my connections in my

job. And, you know, I was I was interested in clothing, and I

had a good outdoor clothing section in the store that was

kind of in its early stages. And so, you know, I was able to go

do that from noon to five every day after class, and then come

back and learn about supply chain. And after I did that, I

went to Walmart. And I was like, man, I really, I really enjoy

the sales and networking and marketing parts of Walker

Brothers in clothing. And then I really did enjoy the analytical,

big data, Walmart, in a retail setting type of stuff, but feel

like I wasn't able to make the impact in such a big company. So

when I came to Bearded Goat, those two things kind of clicked

or I was like, man, I like sales and guerrilla marketing, small

business. But, you know, I also like data and making projections

and analyzing stuff. And so I was able to marry those two

things up. But I didn't realize the value of a part time job. I

don't think until now, where I'm like, man, I enjoyed that. I

just didn't really know. That's what I was enjoying until I got

into Bearded Goat probably.

Well, it seems like you've taken advantage of

all of those experiences and combine them in a way now in a

role at Bearded Goat that seems to be just a great fit for you.

Yeah, it's been really fun. It's it definitely

is a good fit. You know, I wouldn't, I wouldn't change it

for anything. It's, you know, I think it's the best job in the

world because it's us three and we're, we're creating and it's

hard and the markets hard and starting starting an outdoor

apparel brand that's nationwide out of Arkansas is pretty hard.

But it's really fun so.

Well, we're glad you're here in Northwest

Arkansas. The Walton College is super proud that you're one of

our alums.

Thank you.

And so we wish you the best and wish Bearded

Goat the best and thanks for joining us on the podcast.

Yeah, of course. Of course. It's awesome.

On behalf of the Walton College thank you for

joining us for this captivating conversation. To stay connected

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