The Price Bio
While he may be the co-founder and creative genius behind BN3TH, Dez Price’s impact on the business extends well beyond his job title.
Price originally started his journey as a sponsored snowboard athlete.
He then grew his professional talents and connections he made as an athlete into a business career in retail, marketing and distribution.
The Price Story
As a kid, the process of learning to skateboard and snowboard taught me valuable lessons. Falling down and continuing to pick myself back up taught me to persevere in life. As long as you love what you’re doing, you’re happy to push through the falls and get to where you want to be.
Skateboarding and snowboarding continued to shape my future. It led me into my first job and into subsequent industry marketing and leadership roles.
Through this journey, I’m constantly reminded of the lessons of patience and that nothing will come quickly. It takes dedication and persistence to keep getting up and moving forward every day.
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What was the genesis for BN3TH?
The idea for what has become BN3TH started in 2010. I was living in Kelowna, British Columbia at the time with my good friend and BN3TH co-founder Dustin Bigney.
We were pondering what our next project would be. Lots of ideas were discussed, but we kept coming back to the current state of men’s underwear. Underwear wasn’t cool and it still didn’t solve many of the issues men have.
Being athletes ourselves, we wanted something that supported and kept everything in place while we were riding down a mountain, spinning, flipping, etc. The other main ideas were to compliment this design technology with sustainable raw materials and feature designs that were eye-catching.
So, we took other underwear apart and had Dustin’s mom sew us up a prototype that we would take to a factory.
What differentiates BN3TH from your competition?
Our biggest difference is the patented 3D MyPakage Pouch design technology. This design keeps ‘everything’ separated and supported in activity, and daily life. There are other brands that have pouch designs, but they are all 2 dimensional and don’t solve for support like MyPakage does.
The fabrics we use are also key differentiators for BN3TH. Most all of our products use a sustainable, recyclable or biodegradable raw material. We have been very fortunate to partner with amazing vendors that are changing the fabric game for the betterment of the planet.
We continue to innovate with different and new ways of thinking to keep the brand on the forefront of doing better for the planet.
What was the main reason to be involved heavily in the golf industry?
We all play as often as we can. We test our product performance while on the course. As we are growing the brand, it just seemed authentic for us to help golfers become more comfortable too.
Some of our newest styles have been designed around helping to keep golfers comfortable and dry. We use super-soft, sustainable TENCEL Modal fabric blended with our Repreve recycled sport fabric which helps with wicking. We also use Ionic+ tech that is anti-microbial.
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Who is your customer?
We only make next-to-skin comfort solutions for men. We are focused on supporting men who value quality products that are responsible to the planet.
In what specific ways are you seeking to expand your overall profile and market share?
We want to be the most positively recommended and referenced underwear in the world for everyday use and every activity imaginable. We are a brand that designs for the outdoor enthusiast, so product extensions catering more to all the different channels is where we know we can win.
Our technology is the best in the game. By including that with our planet-friendly fabric stories along with different fits and price points, we will be able to continue to expand our market share.
In approximate percentage terms, what are your sales figures via online efforts, green grass shops and brick and mortar retail outlets?
Our wholesale vs DTC is around 40% to 60%. But already this year we are forecasting for that to be closer to about 50/50.
Plenty of companies tout the importance of customer service. Define the term and the approach you follow.
Customer service leads our company from a Values standpoint. “People First” is on the wall in our office, which is followed by “Be Good, For Nothing,” which means we always try to put ourselves in the customers’ shoe to completely understand what it is we can do to make their day better.
We are grateful to have this reflected in thousands of customers' 5 Star reviews about our products and service.
A number of companies hire professional athletes to endorse their products. What's your position on doing so?
We currently have a lot of athletes/ambassadors rocking BN3TH throughout a lot of different sports. As a former athlete manager, I know the importance of having the right people representing the brand. All our athletes are so amazing at giving back too. They take the time to be outside the sport, to give talks, hand out product, organizing events for kids.
They understand that helping the next generation and getting them excited is all part of the fun. Now that the world is opening back up after COVID, we’re back out on the road popping up at different events around the country with our athletes/ambassadors to give some high-fives, swap some stories, drop some product knowledge and, of course, introducing anyone and everyone to the best underwear in the game.
Biggest challenges, short and long term, are what?
The biggest challenge we face both long term and short term is finding a better way to manage inventory. Stores are changing the way they buy. We need to accommodate them and be cautious of our factory’s timelines.
What specific steps are you taking to deal with both?
We are switching to bring a lot of our production onshore and closer to our warehouses. This will cut down on shipping timelines, production quantities and the emissions it’s taking to transport our product from the factory to the customer’s door. This will allow us to have tighter inventory and be more nimble production timeline.
If the last couple of years have taught us anything, it's that production can all change very quickly. Creating more ways to adapt and switch gears faster will be key.
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