Primitive Skateboarding Founder Paul Rodriguez on Building a Brand That Outlasts You

Maradith Frenkel left her dream job as a film studio executive when her son's eczema sent her searching for a better baby sleeper. She couldn't find one, so she built Little Sleepies instead—bootstrapped, ad-free for over a year, and now beloved by a community of more than 2 million loyal customers. For more on Little Sleepies and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Siblings, the refillable candle brand from a brother-sister duo, is rooted in a simple idea: a candle worth keeping forever. Six years in with hundreds of thousands of candles sold, the brand is proving that slow, bootstrapped growth might be the smartest kind. Cofounder David Bronkie shares how they’ve built a loyal customer base and earned a spot on premium retail shelves. For more on Siblings and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Coyuchi is proving that a 35-year of press is a brand’s ultimate asset in the age of AI search. By continuously optimizing site schema for LLMs and selling “feelings over features,” the organic home textiles leader is turning AI discovery directly into revenue. For more on Coyuchi, in show notes, click here. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Driven by a streetwear-inspired model of weekly drops and deliberate scarcity, Last Crumb built a viral $120-a-box cookie brand without spending a dollar on paid ads. By spending a year obsessing over every detail—from custom boxes to cookie angles—founder Derek Jaeger generated explosive organic clout, and celebrities took notice. The brand eventually moved away from the scarcity model in 2023 to expand into evergreen retail and long-term scaling.  For more on Last Crumb, in show notes, click here.   Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Pro skater Paul “P-Rod” Rodriguez built Primitive Skateboarding from a Nike-exclusive sneaker shop into a $20 million skate and apparel empire, and almost none of it went according to plan. Here he breaks down the mindset he learned on a board and applied to building a brand designed to outlast his career. For more on Primitive Skateboarding and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

NEOM founder Nicola Elliott built a global wellness brand organized entirely around four core wellbeing needs: Sleep, De-stress, Energy and Mood Boost. Starting with a single candle and a £15,000 bet, the company used essential oils to create a global business. Nicola shares how centering customer emotions shaped NEOM’s product line, retail strategy, and expansion into the US. For more on NEOM, in show notes, click here. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Tessa Cohen and Sara Sebastjanska built Benjie—a clean, chemical-free bandage brand—with no outside money and no product development experience. They launched by crashing Coachella with handmade posters and pitching strangers in festival bathrooms, selling out their entire inventory within a week, without spending a dollar on ads. For more on Benjie and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Ethan Glenn never set out to launch a clothing label. Every Other Thursday began as an Instagram archive of vintage aesthetics until a single self-made hat sparked massive demand. By skipping wholesale margins and keeping operations lean, Glenn scaled the company drop by drop into a thriving apparel business with a New York retail footprint. For more on Every Other Thursday, in show notes, click here. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Chloe Sapienza built Telescope Studio on a simple but radical idea: A single well-sourced gift tells more of a brand’s story than a bag full of forgettable gifts. Starting from her living room during the pandemic, she grew Telescope into a full-service creative studio—designing, warehousing, and shipping gifts for companies with teams of hundreds—by betting on local makers and the power of intentional design.  For more on Telescope Studio and show notes click here Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.

Galey Alix had spent 13 years building a career at Goldman Sachs when her life changed in a single day: she lost her job, her fiancé, and her health. In the middle of that grief, the home she had been renovating for a future that no longer existed became the start of something else.  What began as a way to heal turned into viral weekend room reveals, a TV show, and Galey Alix Design, a business built around emotional transformations, product partnerships, licensing deals, and a Shopify storefront where fans can shop her projects.  In this episode of Shopify Masters, Galey shares how she rebuilt her life through design, what Wall Street taught her about storytelling and sales, and why the best brands make people feel something first. Subscribe and watch Shopify Masters on YouTube!Sign up for your FREE Shopify Trial here.