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After the release of Brother Scooters' owner Matt Ogle's new video we were extremely curious to hear more about his new venture with Brother. Matt Ogle is a longtime OG & pioneer of Scootering and its great to see him creating a movement & brand to give back to the scene. Read more to hear about Matt's story and vision with Brother & be sure to check out his insane new video that just dropped.
1) What is Brother Scooters?
Brother Scooters is a scooter design company based out of Austin, TX.
2) What is your purpose & vision in creating Brother Scooters?
Our purpose is to create quality scooter parts, apparel and accessories that have a simplistic design and clean aesthetic. The vision gets much more complicated. I am looking ahead in waves. In the short term, I would like to stir up the Texas scooter community by sponsoring local riders, hosting events, and making efforts to round up groups of riders in under-looked cities that desire a larger scene. It has always been a complete mystery to me why Texas has had such a small number of crews/groups of riders. I've always felt like the riders were there, but the mentality of riding and filming as a crew has been small/absent. I think the new generation would benefit from having a local company catalyst a movement of community and fun, encouraging rider comradery instead of progression in isolation. Moving out a couple years, and assuming we gain traction within the scooter community at large, our vision shifts from Texas to the United States. We would begin sponsoring groups of riders in under-looked regions to push them to build a scene where they live. Obviously by then our discography of products will have scaled and can truly bring momentum by the reputation/brand awareness that will be attached to the brand of Brother. The long term is a bit too far out, but I truly see it to be the same concept on a greater scale, including more frequent global travel and maybe another large scale event similar to the Austin Street Jam.
3) Why the name, “Brother Scooters”
HONESTLY, because Theo (co-founder) and I have been shouting "BROTHERRR" to each other for like 5 years. It just fits who we are and the way we saw ourselves branding this thang.
4) Give us the backstory: How have you arrived to here now, with the official launch of your brand?
[Matt] It's been over a year in the works, with the help of so many friends on and off the scooter. Months of design, manufacturer prototyping, not quality enough, new manufacturer prototyping, not quality enough...rinse and repeat. A few more months for production and shipping. And now we have arrived with our first batch and are working to get our products into domestic scooter dealers. We are always looking to improve our products and that takes time, especially when you are starting out. Not to mention we both work full time at other corporate jobs. Now that we are here though, progress seems much more fluid. I personally feel much more comfortable with the process. I have been extremely lucky to have had the support from my local Austin scene and my wife along the way - without their patience and perspective I'd become too Type-A.
5) Who else has been involved?
Theo Kotyk (@theotis) is my right hand man with most things, primarily design and aesthetic. He brings a lot the table with his interpersonal kills and salesmanship. He has also filmed and documented so many of our trips. Andy Koke (@andy_koke) has been amazing with generating ideas for future products and company visions, as well as with taking on social media. The team riders - Austen Hailey (@yerrlocalpoolboy), Ian Hotchkiss (@ihotch_), Adam Gregg (@a.____.g), Michael Farrington (@poonington), Mike Dejong (@dejong_mike), Justin Cordischi (@justincordischi) have all supported the effort since day 1. Also shoutout to our media guys for doing so much work for us while we started out; Zack Guerra (@zackguerrilla), Jared Allen (@_j.views), Bobby Biedinger (@mr_fotography) & Chris Fume (@chrismrhume). And me - Matt Ogle taking on the primary role of CEO (product design / execution / long term vision).
6) Where do you hope to see Brother Scooters in 5 years?
[Matt] I am 100% a dreamer. So I'd like to see Brother absolutely prospering and reputable within 3 years. By then we would have grown our brand to the point where it can sustain us to take financial risks, like changing the scooter integration formula or creating large budget films (you know like millions of dollars right) that invent a brand new style/form of what a full length can be. As long as Brother can accelerate the sustainability of our sport, within Texas and the US, than it was a success from my POV.
7) Any last words?
[Matt] Thank you Jared, for letting me share some insight on your Ohlay channel. Thank you scooters for being in my life for nearly 20 years now. And thank you to all of the support we have gotten from friends, family and riders. We will not survive without this type of support.
~ Matt Ogle
Support rider owned brands like Brother Scooters: https://www.brotherscooters.com/