GS Interview: Dicks Cottons CEO Rich Amundson (Part 2 of 2)

Rich. (Pic from dickscottons.com)

GoodSports presents Part 2 of our interview with Rich Amundson, founder of Dicks Cottons, which keeps sunglasses always on the face and in the wardrobe of new WWE surprise stud Snooki, who's also on some TV show called Jersey Shore. Apparently it's pretty popular. Rich talks with us about how his brand went from a joke—his words—to the international sensation it is today.

Part 2 wraps up our conversation about everything from his simplistic logo, The Stickman, to The Situation's simply awful performance during the Trump Roast (and how he's bouncing back), to partying in Cali and NYC, with everyone from the Jersey Shore crew to Keenan Cahill. And he even gives us some tips so you can be like him, too.

If you're new here to GoodSports—which pretty much all of you probably are, since it just started—make sure to check out the intro here. 

Anyway, swell guy, this Rich. Enjoy.

So who all else is into the shades?

Lindsey Lohan wore them although we just missed getting a picture. Tons of reality starts from Bachelor/Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad have them and wear them a lot. They tend to look good on everyone so they're starting to spread virally.

I've given them to Tedi Bruschi and Wes Welker. Connor Barth and Garret Hartley (both NFL kickers) have them. I was with Lamar Odom and Luke Walton when they tried them on, but their heads were too big for the shades. A lot of the Phillies players have them. A lot of the Lakers have them, although I don't have any pictures of them wearing them. Joel Lindepere of the NY/NJ Red Bulls has them and wears them a lot. He's given them to his teammates and Thiery Henry. 

Your shades were in a video or something with that YouTube kid, Keenan Cahill, who does the hilarious lip synching, right? And you guys totally partied in Vegas for his 16th birthday, right? How was that?

Yea, so someone sent me one of his videos a few months ago. I saw all the attention he was getting and that he wore sunglasses in one of them so I sent him an email to see if he wanted some shades for his videos.

I never heard back so I started following him on Twitter just to see what he was up to. One day I randomly saw a tweet from him "go here to win a contest to make a video with me in Vegas!" so I went to the link, and it was a "Guess the number of candies in the jar" contest on the Palms Las Vegas FB page. There were only like 50 entries and the contest ended the next day, so I did some back-of-the-envelope math and came up with a guess.

I forgot about it. Then at 9 p.m. the next day I got a tweet from the VIP director of the Palms telling me I had won. I guessed 302 and the right answer was 303.

The next day I flew to Vegas and filmed a video with him and gave him a bunch of sunglasses and t-shirts. He was there for his 16th birthday. He was doing videos with me, Pauly D, Nick Cannon, Joey McIntyre, and Little Jon. I went to dinner with him and his crew, and Pauly D, Vinny, and Deena happened to be there too so we all partied together to watch Pauly D spin that night at Rain.

I had made Keenan custom Italian Swarovski Crystal shades for his birthday so he wore them in his video with Pauly D. Keenan got a key to the Playboy Club for his birthday. I was definitely super jealous but I did get a picture with it! George Maloof was there (I may have made a few Anaheim Kings jokes), and everyone made sure to accommodate Keenan and make his birthday extra special. It was a great day and night and he has a great family and crew.

He seems cool. Is he? What’s he like?

He's very cool.  For a 16 year old, he takes everything in stride. For those that don't know, he has a pretty serious disease that keeps him from growing too much and gives him other serious problems. He is a brave kid, and making the most of every day of life.  He's definitely an inspiration and has a great head on his shoulders.  Definitely lucky I got to meet and hang out with him.

Your brand is all about having a good time and being comfortable while you do it. Where have you had your best times, and who were you with? Celebrities? Friends? Dogs? Strangers?

Anytime I'm with my friends and family we have a great time. Bonus points if we're traveling or at the beach. Work hard, play hard. 

We have an annual Vegas trip that I look forward to every year. All of my friends tend to be like minded. They love life, business ideas, and having a great time.  

How about that logo? Why a stickman?

I need a logo. My friend made a logo in five minutes. I thought it was perfect. Simple, easy to remember, and I couldn't think of any other brand that really had a sort of stickman as a logo. We changed it a little bit to give him some character, and boom, we were good to go.

The stickman symbolizes the basics in life. We aren't anything fancy, but we love life, enjoy partying, friends, and stories....the stickman is the perfect representation of our brand. Anyone can wear it.

You’ve given a bunch to charity, too, right?

Yeah, I've donated a bunch of stuff to a ton of different charities, most recently I raised $1,000 on behalf of Chris Lambton (made it to 2nd place on The Bachelorette and is from Cape Cod) on behalf of ALS (Lou Gehrig Disease).

What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

Scared money doesn't make money. If you have an idea that you think can work, go for it. With all avenues of social media and word of mouth these days, it's a lot easier to gain traction and attention.  Plus it’s more fun than working for someone else. 

Give three reasons why we should all rush to DicksCottons.com to get your gear?

1) We're selling out of a ton of colors! Don't miss out!

2) We represent a certain lifestyle. If you love life, partying, friends, traveling, and beaches, you'll love our brand.

3) Everyone who buys them emails me that they've never gotten so many questions/compliments about their sunglasses. I love that our product makes people feel and look good.

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GoodSports extends a hearty Thank You, Good Sir, to Rich Amundson for his time. Check out the video below of DJ Pauly D with Keenan Cahill, featuring the customized Dicks Cottons shades.