WEBVTT NOTE Created by CaptionSync from Automatic Sync Technologies www.automaticsync.com 00:00:00.106 --> 00:00:05.556 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] Looking for fascinating conversations with industry thought leaders? 00:00:06.096 --> 00:00:09.976 align:middle Want to get the inside scoop from local legends? 00:00:10.046 --> 00:00:14.566 align:middle Interested in the stories behind the stories from celebrated visionaries? 00:00:17.116 --> 00:00:21.106 align:middle This is your home for the best our university has to offer. 00:00:22.446 --> 00:00:24.136 align:middle Welcome to We Are IU. 00:00:29.046 --> 00:00:30.606 align:middle Hello there! 00:00:30.606 --> 00:00:35.406 align:middle I'm Galen Clavio, and happy to be hosting another episode of We Are IU. 00:00:35.616 --> 00:00:40.006 align:middle And I'm here with our guest today, Connor Hitchcock from Homefield Apparel. 00:00:40.006 --> 00:00:43.516 align:middle Connor, it's great to have this time to sit down and talk with you here 00:00:43.516 --> 00:00:45.746 align:middle in the Homefield at Track store on Kirkwood. 00:00:46.026 --> 00:00:46.626 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Yeah, Galen. 00:00:46.626 --> 00:00:51.316 align:middle Great to see you as always, as now seems like once a week for some IU-related thing, 00:00:51.316 --> 00:00:54.436 align:middle typically football, but happy to be here in the store. 00:00:54.436 --> 00:00:57.976 align:middle It's been a fun month since we launched, so excited to have you here. 00:00:59.056 --> 00:01:02.116 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] You've got a long affiliation with Indiana University. 00:01:02.116 --> 00:01:04.906 align:middle Where did that start, and how did you find your way to campus? 00:01:05.416 --> 00:01:09.416 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Yeah, I grew up an IU fan because my parents went here, 00:01:09.416 --> 00:01:13.426 align:middle my dad for grad school, my mom for undergrad, which is where they met here. 00:01:13.426 --> 00:01:17.286 align:middle For the longest time, it was that they met at the Union, but it turns out they met 00:01:17.286 --> 00:01:21.976 align:middle at what was then Hooligan's, what's now Upstairs, in some chance encounters. 00:01:21.976 --> 00:01:25.906 align:middle One of them may not have been 21 yet, based off of the stories I've heard. 00:01:25.906 --> 00:01:27.136 align:middle That I learned when I was 18. 00:01:27.456 --> 00:01:31.966 align:middle But I grew up a huge IU fan, memories of watching Antwaan Randle El 00:01:31.966 --> 00:01:36.166 align:middle in my parents' kitchen, of course, Indiana men's basketball growing up as well. 00:01:36.516 --> 00:01:42.006 align:middle So I always rooted for IU growing up, even as we lived in different parts of the Midwest. 00:01:42.196 --> 00:01:48.176 align:middle Family settled eventually in Carmel, grew up there, went to high school there, and, 00:01:48.176 --> 00:01:51.576 align:middle like all good Carmel High School graduates, came to school at Indiana University. 00:01:51.886 --> 00:01:56.266 align:middle So, you know, I loved my time at IU. 00:01:56.266 --> 00:02:00.336 align:middle I graduated from here in 2016 with a degree in marketing. 00:02:00.336 --> 00:02:02.796 align:middle Really had no idea what I wanted to do. 00:02:03.276 --> 00:02:08.936 align:middle I just knew, okay, I want to go to IU, and I got into the business school, and I was like, 00:02:08.936 --> 00:02:13.586 align:middle this is a safe degree, so I'll just study marketing, and a lot spun out from there. 00:02:14.476 --> 00:02:17.736 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] One of the things that spun out, obviously, was this whole concept 00:02:17.736 --> 00:02:23.086 align:middle of what became Homefield Apparel, but it wasn't Homefield Apparel initially. 00:02:23.086 --> 00:02:25.416 align:middle How did that whole venture get started? 00:02:25.416 --> 00:02:29.416 align:middle What was the initial impetus behind it, and what was the process 00:02:29.416 --> 00:02:30.976 align:middle by which the business kind of got going? 00:02:31.526 --> 00:02:31.806 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Yeah. 00:02:32.166 --> 00:02:33.966 align:middle So initially, what you're referring 00:02:33.966 --> 00:02:36.456 align:middle to was a side project I had in college called Hoosier Proud. 00:02:36.886 --> 00:02:42.756 align:middle State of Indiana themed apparel, stickers, accessories, those sort of things. 00:02:42.946 --> 00:02:48.656 align:middle I had started it because my then-girlfriend at the time, now wife and co-founder, Christa, 00:02:49.716 --> 00:02:54.756 align:middle she had a cousin who had this very successful sticker company in Michigan. 00:02:54.756 --> 00:02:57.526 align:middle If you drive up to Michigan, I mean, anywhere in the Midwest, you'll see these stickers 00:02:57.526 --> 00:02:58.846 align:middle that are the outline of the Great Lakes. 00:02:59.146 --> 00:03:04.776 align:middle He was talking about trying to do some similarly related things 00:03:04.776 --> 00:03:07.776 align:middle in other states, and so I thought it'd be fun. 00:03:08.206 --> 00:03:13.516 align:middle So he and I started this little side project of making stickers for the state 00:03:13.516 --> 00:03:15.996 align:middle of Indiana, and I took those door-to-door. 00:03:15.996 --> 00:03:20.926 align:middle I remember literally walking door-to-door here on Kirkwood and on The Square. 00:03:20.926 --> 00:03:24.336 align:middle I think I actually even popped in tracks one time to try to sell these stickers. 00:03:25.276 --> 00:03:29.996 align:middle And eventually, some stores started carrying it when I was a sophomore here at IU. 00:03:30.576 --> 00:03:34.286 align:middle And from there, these stores started to ask, you know, hey, 00:03:34.286 --> 00:03:35.576 align:middle these stickers are selling really well. 00:03:35.576 --> 00:03:36.456 align:middle We like the design. 00:03:36.566 --> 00:03:37.456 align:middle I wasn't designing them. 00:03:37.506 --> 00:03:39.416 align:middle Christa, then girlfriend, was. 00:03:39.416 --> 00:03:41.526 align:middle I would just ask her, "Hey, I have an idea. 00:03:41.526 --> 00:03:42.556 align:middle Can you mock this up for me?" 00:03:43.396 --> 00:03:48.866 align:middle So then from there, these stores started saying, "Okay, can you make us T-shirts?" 00:03:48.866 --> 00:03:49.696 align:middle I was like, "Yeah, totally. 00:03:49.696 --> 00:03:50.596 align:middle I know how to make T-shirts." 00:03:50.596 --> 00:03:52.356 align:middle I had no idea how to make T-shirts. 00:03:52.716 --> 00:03:55.956 align:middle So I went, and I got some of the shirts made, asked Christa to mock up some designs again, 00:03:56.456 --> 00:04:01.526 align:middle and then eventually taught myself how to screen print with the help, actually, 00:04:01.526 --> 00:04:03.546 align:middle of a local screen printer here in Bloomington. 00:04:03.546 --> 00:04:07.546 align:middle And so I started literally screen printing shirts in my apartment using water-based ink, 00:04:07.546 --> 00:04:09.516 align:middle so you can cure it if you want to. 00:04:09.516 --> 00:04:11.216 align:middle Like, typically, you use a big conveyor dryer, 00:04:11.576 --> 00:04:14.186 align:middle but I was putting them out in the sun for 24 hours. 00:04:14.186 --> 00:04:17.546 align:middle I was putting them in my oven for 45 seconds, which is not advised. 00:04:17.966 --> 00:04:20.586 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] That apartment is still there. 00:04:20.586 --> 00:04:21.726 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] It is still there, yes. 00:04:21.726 --> 00:04:22.736 align:middle Yeah, it is. 00:04:23.566 --> 00:04:25.396 align:middle Drove by it just the other day. 00:04:25.396 --> 00:04:32.126 align:middle And, you know, so by the end of my time at IU, 30 or so stores in Bloomington, in Evansville, 00:04:32.126 --> 00:04:35.776 align:middle Indy, Fort Wayne, all over the state were carrying this side project I have, 00:04:35.776 --> 00:04:36.976 align:middle which is a lot of fun. 00:04:37.406 --> 00:04:42.206 align:middle The pivot came with -- in the 2015 Pinstripe Bowl, 00:04:42.406 --> 00:04:45.476 align:middle as you well know, Indiana went and played Duke. 00:04:45.476 --> 00:04:47.746 align:middle I was born in 1994. 00:04:47.746 --> 00:04:49.796 align:middle Indiana's still not won a bowl game in my lifetime. 00:04:50.166 --> 00:04:58.236 align:middle So any bowl game, big or small, matters here at IU, and we line up for a field goal 00:04:58.406 --> 00:04:59.856 align:middle to send this game into triple overtime. 00:05:00.106 --> 00:05:01.876 align:middle And as you know, the kick looks like it's good. 00:05:01.986 --> 00:05:02.826 align:middle It's called no good. 00:05:02.826 --> 00:05:03.896 align:middle We lose the Pinstripe Bowl. 00:05:05.016 --> 00:05:09.296 align:middle At the time, the Indiana Internet just kept yelling all offseason, "The kick was good. 00:05:09.296 --> 00:05:09.976 align:middle The kick was good." 00:05:10.106 --> 00:05:11.776 align:middle I'm sure you were part of that chorus. 00:05:12.136 --> 00:05:16.346 align:middle And I took that verbiage. 00:05:16.476 --> 00:05:18.116 align:middle I designed the shirt, so it looked terrible. 00:05:18.406 --> 00:05:23.976 align:middle But going into the 2016 season, like an -- a couple hours before kickoff, this side project, 00:05:23.976 --> 00:05:28.476 align:middle Hoosier Proud, I just tweeted out a link to a shirt that just said "The kick was good." 00:05:29.036 --> 00:05:33.366 align:middle And in that hour sold more of one shirt than I had sold 00:05:33.426 --> 00:05:35.496 align:middle on the website for the previous year combined. 00:05:35.926 --> 00:05:41.106 align:middle And again, look, it was a small side project, but what it gave was validation to the idea 00:05:41.106 --> 00:05:47.446 align:middle of taking what is -- what we now call at Homefield thoughtful ideas, collegiate apparel, 00:05:47.446 --> 00:05:53.436 align:middle things that matter, not just name across the chest, to a fan base and shows that you're part 00:05:53.436 --> 00:05:57.926 align:middle of experience and putting it on comfortable garments, fashionable-looking garments. 00:05:57.926 --> 00:06:01.976 align:middle Again, this design stunk, but still the garment was nice, right? 00:06:02.086 --> 00:06:05.476 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] You know, one of the big resonant things early beyond 00:06:05.476 --> 00:06:09.406 align:middle "The kick was good" shirt, which I remember buying two of, and I still have them, 00:06:09.676 --> 00:06:15.696 align:middle was the Bison hoodie, which you could kind of directly point to that as perhaps 00:06:15.696 --> 00:06:20.556 align:middle where the Bison reentered the public consciousness of IU fans. 00:06:20.556 --> 00:06:22.896 align:middle Do you remember anything about the origin of that one? 00:06:23.316 --> 00:06:29.706 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] So, I remember, in wanting to have apparel that spoke to my experience 00:06:29.706 --> 00:06:34.266 align:middle as an IU fan that felt different, I remember lamenting that it all looked the same 00:06:34.266 --> 00:06:35.726 align:middle because we didn't really have a mascot. 00:06:35.726 --> 00:06:41.216 align:middle And the more I was digging into the history of IU, which is what our designers do 00:06:41.216 --> 00:06:44.546 align:middle for every school is, I mean, talking to key stakeholders, 00:06:44.546 --> 00:06:48.746 align:middle getting feedback from the school, archive deep dives, all of that. 00:06:49.216 --> 00:06:52.046 align:middle I remember stumbling upon this Bison mascot. 00:06:52.296 --> 00:06:56.246 align:middle And so -- and this is in 2017, IU licensing. 00:06:56.246 --> 00:06:59.756 align:middle I said, "Hey, can we put this on a shirt?" 00:06:59.756 --> 00:07:00.696 align:middle I haven't seen it before. 00:07:00.946 --> 00:07:03.216 align:middle And they said, "Yeah, sure, you can do that." 00:07:03.216 --> 00:07:07.236 align:middle And so, to my knowledge, we were the first brand to print that Bison, 00:07:07.236 --> 00:07:10.136 align:middle an officially licensed piece of merchandise, in decades. 00:07:10.776 --> 00:07:16.136 align:middle But that piece speaks of a larger scale of what we try to do with Homefield, is finding items 00:07:16.396 --> 00:07:22.176 align:middle or designs or pieces of history like that that matter to a fan base that feel like you -- 00:07:22.176 --> 00:07:26.096 align:middle our hope when you go and buy something for Homefield, whether it's IU or other schools, 00:07:26.096 --> 00:07:28.686 align:middle is that when you pick something up, you think, "Oh, somebody must work 00:07:28.686 --> 00:07:29.706 align:middle at Homefield that went to my school." 00:07:30.066 --> 00:07:33.036 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] Like, where did your interest in that come from? 00:07:33.036 --> 00:07:37.596 align:middle Because, I mean, normally what you see in the apparel space, it feels like is new designs, 00:07:37.596 --> 00:07:42.026 align:middle new sorts of things that make you feel like you're representing your fandom. 00:07:42.226 --> 00:07:46.166 align:middle But you've hit all of these retro designs for all of these schools. 00:07:46.466 --> 00:07:50.686 align:middle It seems like almost like a labor of love a lot of times to find the most obscure things. 00:07:50.686 --> 00:07:54.566 align:middle Where did that come from in you and Christa and trying to figure these things out? 00:07:54.876 --> 00:07:59.266 align:middle And what kind of response do you get from people when they're finding them for the first time? 00:07:59.586 --> 00:08:02.216 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Our love for it comes from a love 00:08:02.216 --> 00:08:04.346 align:middle of the college experience and college sports. 00:08:04.446 --> 00:08:07.606 align:middle It's really different than pro sports fandom. 00:08:08.076 --> 00:08:11.026 align:middle And I think the reason is the community aspect of it. 00:08:11.356 --> 00:08:14.876 align:middle You know, our best-selling shirt last year after the Bison was our Cignetti shirt, right? 00:08:14.876 --> 00:08:15.586 align:middle Very current. 00:08:16.186 --> 00:08:18.496 align:middle But it speaks to that experience that the current students are having, 00:08:18.496 --> 00:08:20.106 align:middle the current fans are having, right? 00:08:20.106 --> 00:08:25.366 align:middle So for us, it felt important that college isn't just I live in this town, 00:08:25.366 --> 00:08:29.556 align:middle so I'm cheering for this team, but there's this communal aspect that feels like I'm, you know, 00:08:30.036 --> 00:08:35.656 align:middle my dad can have a shirt representing the years he was here, which was the late '80s. 00:08:35.656 --> 00:08:37.686 align:middle Good time to have been here, right? 00:08:37.826 --> 00:08:41.876 align:middle And then his mom in the '50s, right? 00:08:41.876 --> 00:08:47.086 align:middle And so we have a shirt from, you know, a blue IU shirt from the '58 season, right? 00:08:47.086 --> 00:08:49.976 align:middle So all these items are just -- it's so much more personal. 00:08:49.976 --> 00:08:52.346 align:middle That's what we really try to capture with collegiate. 00:08:52.546 --> 00:08:54.976 align:middle It's just a different experience than a pro sports team. 00:08:55.566 --> 00:08:58.156 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] You and I first connected over football. 00:08:58.156 --> 00:09:02.446 align:middle You making all of these great designs, many of which captured football. 00:09:02.616 --> 00:09:07.536 align:middle It almost felt like, for the first time again, the oval helmet logo, 00:09:07.536 --> 00:09:11.196 align:middle which was verboten for a long time, and IU circles. 00:09:11.196 --> 00:09:12.256 align:middle You guys brought that back. 00:09:12.256 --> 00:09:18.266 align:middle You mentioned the Dickens era shirt, that light blue, which has its own fascinating backstory. 00:09:19.046 --> 00:09:21.796 align:middle What was it -- you were born in 1994, as you said. 00:09:22.026 --> 00:09:23.846 align:middle I was born in '79. 00:09:23.846 --> 00:09:27.606 align:middle So I at least got to remember the Mallory era and some of those great times. 00:09:28.066 --> 00:09:31.866 align:middle Being born in '94, what was it that drew you to IU football fandom? 00:09:31.866 --> 00:09:35.736 align:middle Because, as we know, that's been a lonely corner, more often than not. 00:09:35.916 --> 00:09:36.756 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] It sure has. 00:09:37.106 --> 00:09:39.096 align:middle The first piece was Antwaan Randle El. 00:09:39.216 --> 00:09:42.316 align:middle I mean, it felt like you were watching a video game happen in front of your eyes. 00:09:42.316 --> 00:09:47.536 align:middle The things he would do as a quarterback or wide receiver or a player 00:09:47.536 --> 00:09:49.786 align:middle for Bob Knight or a baseball player, right? 00:09:49.786 --> 00:09:54.126 align:middle The things he would do just didn't feel real, and it felt fantastical. 00:09:54.126 --> 00:09:58.056 align:middle And as a five, six, seven-year-old, that just caught my attention right away. 00:09:58.296 --> 00:10:03.146 align:middle And the reason I love this, there's obviously mixed feelings on the oval logo. 00:10:03.496 --> 00:10:08.626 align:middle But for me, it captures this point in time, which was I'm falling in love with the sport 00:10:08.626 --> 00:10:11.646 align:middle of college football, and there's this unbelievable player on my team. 00:10:12.266 --> 00:10:16.266 align:middle And so that was what really gripped me at first. 00:10:16.626 --> 00:10:19.136 align:middle And then -- so I always had this love of IU football, 00:10:19.136 --> 00:10:22.496 align:middle even though Randle El had never made a bowl game, even though they're losingest program 00:10:22.496 --> 00:10:24.086 align:middle of all time, all these things we all know. 00:10:24.786 --> 00:10:28.586 align:middle And then when I went to college, there were some really fun teams. 00:10:28.806 --> 00:10:32.676 align:middle When I was in college, I was there during the peak Kevin Wilson chaos team era, 00:10:33.176 --> 00:10:36.096 align:middle where we were the best five and seven football team you've ever seen. 00:10:36.096 --> 00:10:39.616 align:middle It felt like a little subversive, but really fun because there was 00:10:39.666 --> 00:10:41.966 align:middle so much potential as we've seen now. 00:10:42.166 --> 00:10:44.706 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] It felt like kind of an exclusive club for a while. 00:10:44.706 --> 00:10:44.926 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Right. 00:10:45.016 --> 00:10:47.876 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] It doesn't feel that way anymore, but that's great. 00:10:47.876 --> 00:10:52.586 align:middle And that's -- I know my own emotions after the season that they had last year, 00:10:52.586 --> 00:10:54.066 align:middle the season they're having this year. 00:10:54.506 --> 00:10:58.046 align:middle As someone who's at the epicenter of college football fandom 00:10:58.046 --> 00:11:04.546 align:middle to watch Indiana football be the central point of conversation, not just last year, 00:11:04.546 --> 00:11:07.796 align:middle but the last four days before we're recording this, 00:11:07.796 --> 00:11:10.336 align:middle it almost feels like you're in an alternate reality. 00:11:10.736 --> 00:11:11.526 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] It really does. 00:11:11.526 --> 00:11:16.726 align:middle It's really strange to see Indiana football be the focal point. 00:11:17.046 --> 00:11:21.296 align:middle I mean, it is the -- right now, our quarterback is arguably leading the race 00:11:21.296 --> 00:11:22.216 align:middle for the Heisman Trophy. 00:11:23.426 --> 00:11:27.426 align:middle National media can't shut up about Curt Cignetti, whether they love him 00:11:27.426 --> 00:11:30.376 align:middle or they're trying to antagonize him. 00:11:31.146 --> 00:11:33.416 align:middle It does -- it just doesn't feel real. 00:11:33.416 --> 00:11:35.166 align:middle At some point this offseason, I was sitting there. 00:11:35.166 --> 00:11:38.046 align:middle I was talking to Christa, and I looked at her, and I go, 00:11:38.046 --> 00:11:40.896 align:middle "We went 11 and one in football last year." 00:11:40.896 --> 00:11:44.916 align:middle We went to the college football playoff, and then we lost. 00:11:44.916 --> 00:11:49.266 align:middle Our only two losses were Notre Dame on the road in the playoff and Ohio State on the road. 00:11:49.266 --> 00:11:50.486 align:middle You know, the two teams in the national title. 00:11:50.486 --> 00:11:52.196 align:middle It just didn't feel real. 00:11:52.386 --> 00:11:55.736 align:middle And so coming into this season, it did just feel like, okay. 00:11:55.806 --> 00:11:58.516 align:middle They're going to be -- I thought the team was actually better, but I was like, 00:11:58.516 --> 00:12:00.586 align:middle they're probably going to be, you know, have a worse record. 00:12:00.586 --> 00:12:01.606 align:middle And look, we're four games in. 00:12:02.536 --> 00:12:04.466 align:middle But boy, I don't think they're going to have a worse record anymore 00:12:04.466 --> 00:12:06.556 align:middle after the way they dispatched Illinois on Saturday. 00:12:06.556 --> 00:12:13.036 align:middle And so it is just -- it does just -- it's funny how quickly you adjust to a new normal, 00:12:13.036 --> 00:12:16.286 align:middle because I do have to, like, kind of throw cold water on myself sometimes and be like, I was -- 00:12:16.716 --> 00:12:19.456 align:middle I remember having a coffee with one of my good friends and saying, 00:12:19.956 --> 00:12:21.866 align:middle "If we could only just be six and six every year, 00:12:21.866 --> 00:12:23.326 align:middle three out of four years, that'd be awesome." 00:12:23.326 --> 00:12:24.716 align:middle That was only three years ago. 00:12:25.106 --> 00:12:30.196 align:middle And now I'm upset when we only beat Old Dominion by 17, you know, where -- 00:12:30.196 --> 00:12:33.516 align:middle I watched them lose to G5 and FCS teams in that home stadium. 00:12:34.596 --> 00:12:39.416 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] We're surrounded by apparel that you and your company have designed and produced 00:12:39.416 --> 00:12:42.846 align:middle on a iconic storefront on Kirkwood Avenue. 00:12:43.406 --> 00:12:46.246 align:middle That's a big leap for your business. 00:12:46.246 --> 00:12:49.046 align:middle And it's been -- it looks like very well received. 00:12:49.046 --> 00:12:50.266 align:middle I see people in here all the time. 00:12:50.266 --> 00:12:51.746 align:middle My office is just down the street. 00:12:51.896 --> 00:12:58.296 align:middle What's it feel like for you as someone who was here at IU as a student to be right in the heart 00:12:58.456 --> 00:13:01.376 align:middle of the commercial district, essentially, that students 00:13:01.376 --> 00:13:03.546 align:middle and alumni are back here on a regular basis in? 00:13:04.396 --> 00:13:05.206 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Yeah. 00:13:06.536 --> 00:13:10.076 align:middle I don't have any great adjectives other than it's pretty cool. 00:13:10.076 --> 00:13:13.366 align:middle You know, we see a lot of different college campuses in our job. 00:13:13.616 --> 00:13:18.656 align:middle Travel as a product -- try to make it to six to eight every fall. 00:13:18.866 --> 00:13:21.226 align:middle Different ones to just try to understand that experience, 00:13:21.226 --> 00:13:24.826 align:middle so we can make product that meets that experience. 00:13:24.826 --> 00:13:29.736 align:middle Of all the campuses I've been to, there are very few Kirkwood Avenues in the United States. 00:13:29.736 --> 00:13:31.016 align:middle This is -- it is a special place. 00:13:31.016 --> 00:13:33.456 align:middle It's not just because we all went here, and it's burning our brains, 00:13:33.456 --> 00:13:35.636 align:middle and there's good memories associated, and therefore, we inflate it. 00:13:36.046 --> 00:13:43.226 align:middle It is -- the campus here in Bloomington and in Kirkwood is in a top tier of campuses 00:13:43.916 --> 00:13:46.386 align:middle and student experiences and town experiences. 00:13:46.386 --> 00:13:49.576 align:middle And so, one, that's special to me from just a big view. 00:13:49.706 --> 00:13:53.736 align:middle It's cool to be stepping into what has already been here, you know, 00:13:53.936 --> 00:13:56.936 align:middle and not making it something that's us. 00:13:57.096 --> 00:14:00.946 align:middle It's us partnering with what's been here for decades, 00:14:00.946 --> 00:14:02.786 align:middle what was here when my parents were here. 00:14:03.076 --> 00:14:06.786 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] You guys had a pop-up store outside the stadium before 00:14:06.786 --> 00:14:08.786 align:middle that Illinois game last weekend. 00:14:09.256 --> 00:14:13.146 align:middle You got IU fans going on their way to the tailgate fields, which are right next door, 00:14:13.146 --> 00:14:15.046 align:middle but walking through and buying things. 00:14:15.046 --> 00:14:21.256 align:middle I mean, how surreal is that, having been that student walking through those tailgate lots -- 00:14:21.256 --> 00:14:25.006 align:middle and in your case, I'm guessing getting to the stadium, but being with many people 00:14:25.006 --> 00:14:30.296 align:middle who didn't -- to now be a fixture within the landscape of IU athletics? 00:14:30.296 --> 00:14:30.596 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Yeah. 00:14:30.596 --> 00:14:31.716 align:middle It's pretty humbling. 00:14:31.906 --> 00:14:39.336 align:middle When I was in college, putting shirts in a oven and then laying them out over all my couches, 00:14:39.336 --> 00:14:44.396 align:middle I'd be lying to say if I ever expected Homefield to be this ingrained in the experience 00:14:44.396 --> 00:14:46.586 align:middle that we're part of the tailgate lots 00:14:46.586 --> 00:14:51.676 align:middle that we have our own pop-up inside the stadium, the Memorial Stadium too. 00:14:52.096 --> 00:14:55.656 align:middle It's humbling in many ways, and it just -- 00:14:55.656 --> 00:15:02.926 align:middle I'm very, very grateful to IU for how much they have supported us in this. 00:15:02.926 --> 00:15:06.686 align:middle Because it's not just, you know, we have great retail partner and legends who made 00:15:06.686 --> 00:15:07.906 align:middle that possible in the tailgate fields, 00:15:07.906 --> 00:15:12.196 align:middle but it was IU as a university really throwing their support behind us. 00:15:12.196 --> 00:15:17.636 align:middle So it sometimes, you know, it can be a job, and it can just, you know, you just adjust to it. 00:15:17.876 --> 00:15:21.456 align:middle The job is similar to like -- I've just adjusted now to Indiana being a wagon in football. 00:15:21.936 --> 00:15:27.526 align:middle But there are some moments when I'm sitting there this past Saturday for Illinois, 00:15:27.526 --> 00:15:30.456 align:middle and like you said, the tailgate fields were hopping as they always are, 00:15:30.456 --> 00:15:34.956 align:middle but that we are just now a part of that experience integrated 00:15:35.076 --> 00:15:39.556 align:middle into the tailgate fields, integrated on Kirkwood here. 00:15:41.126 --> 00:15:44.336 align:middle You do sometimes have to take a step back and throw a little bit of cold water on yourself, 00:15:44.336 --> 00:15:47.476 align:middle be like, "Wow, this is -- this is pretty -- it's pretty cool, pretty humbling." 00:15:47.886 --> 00:15:49.716 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] I guess bringing it back to something 00:15:49.716 --> 00:15:53.856 align:middle that we started with, your legacy here at IU. 00:15:53.856 --> 00:15:54.876 align:middle I'm the same way. 00:15:55.296 --> 00:16:03.346 align:middle Now looking back 10 plus years from when you graduated, you know, was there a standout lesson 00:16:03.346 --> 00:16:07.226 align:middle or feeling that you left here with that's helped to be a guide for you 00:16:07.226 --> 00:16:09.196 align:middle as you've moved forward in your career pathway? 00:16:09.486 --> 00:16:12.826 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] I was reflecting on this the other day because I was talking to someone 00:16:13.156 --> 00:16:18.516 align:middle from CLC, the Collegial Licensing Company, that Indiana just became a CLC client in July. 00:16:18.516 --> 00:16:23.776 align:middle And we work a lot with CLC because they represent hundreds of schools. 00:16:23.776 --> 00:16:27.896 align:middle And this guy at CLC kept saying like, "Everybody at Indiana was just like so nice." 00:16:27.896 --> 00:16:29.236 align:middle And said like 10 times. 00:16:29.636 --> 00:16:34.976 align:middle And for me, when I was a student at IU, there was -- it's a massive school, obviously. 00:16:34.976 --> 00:16:36.236 align:middle It's the largest living alumni base. 00:16:36.236 --> 00:16:39.136 align:middle And so you feel like you can get -- there's a potential to get lost in the cracks. 00:16:39.536 --> 00:16:43.436 align:middle I had three or four different professors, though, who really took an interest 00:16:43.436 --> 00:16:47.876 align:middle in what I was doing and made themselves very available to me and supported me. 00:16:47.876 --> 00:16:50.006 align:middle And still I talked to one of them all the time. 00:16:50.056 --> 00:16:52.166 align:middle I was just trading emails with them two days ago. 00:16:52.676 --> 00:17:00.626 align:middle And so, for me, it was seeing how those people helped me when I had nothing to give them. 00:17:01.326 --> 00:17:07.196 align:middle I was of no benefit to them other than I was a student and they wanted to help me. 00:17:07.626 --> 00:17:12.406 align:middle That, more than any of the other lessons I have tried to carry forward with Homefield. 00:17:12.406 --> 00:17:17.796 align:middle I have a two-hour block on my calendar every other week that is meant for basically 00:17:17.796 --> 00:17:22.096 align:middle if a college kid reaches out, I'm going to -- especially going to IU -- 00:17:22.356 --> 00:17:26.846 align:middle but I will make sure I have a time that I'm not just saying I'm too busy right now. 00:17:27.436 --> 00:17:31.866 align:middle I make sure that I can schedule time with that person to talk with them, 00:17:32.076 --> 00:17:34.866 align:middle despite all the stuff we have going on, because so many people did that for me. 00:17:34.866 --> 00:17:40.116 align:middle And so that's one small piece of the IU legacy that I have. 00:17:40.496 --> 00:17:43.146 align:middle I gleaned when I was a student, and hopefully, can help perpetuate. 00:17:44.086 --> 00:17:46.946 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] Well, Connor, I think the entire IU community is proud of both 00:17:46.946 --> 00:17:50.046 align:middle of what you've done, what Christa's done, this entire experience. 00:17:50.046 --> 00:17:52.386 align:middle You've really ingrained yourself in the IU culture. 00:17:52.756 --> 00:17:54.636 align:middle And I'm appreciative of it. 00:17:54.636 --> 00:17:57.176 align:middle It's been great to watch it grow over the course of the last decade. 00:17:57.176 --> 00:17:58.686 align:middle So congratulations and thank you. 00:17:58.886 --> 00:17:59.696 align:middle [Connor Hitchcock:] Thank you, Galen. 00:17:59.696 --> 00:18:03.276 align:middle You are a massive part of the IU experience and a big part of our story, 00:18:03.276 --> 00:18:04.656 align:middle getting into the IU football fandom. 00:18:04.656 --> 00:18:06.586 align:middle So appreciate you sitting down with me today. 00:18:06.586 --> 00:18:07.356 align:middle [Galen Clavio:] Absolutely. 00:18:07.356 --> 00:18:09.526 align:middle Connor Hitchcock from Homefield Apparel. 00:18:09.526 --> 00:18:10.566 align:middle I'm Galen Clavio. 00:18:10.566 --> 00:18:12.756 align:middle Thanks for watching another episode of We Are IU. 00:18:13.356 --> 00:18:20.496 align:middle Thanks for joining us for another episode of We Are IU: your home for fascinating conversations 00:18:20.496 --> 00:18:25.696 align:middle with thought leaders, legends, and visionaries from the university we know and love. 00:18:27.366 --> 00:18:30.846 align:middle New episodes available monthly at myiu.org.