In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews Adrian Thompson, the young CEO of Suri Threads. Adrian shares a formative story from his childhood, describing how growing up with an abusive, alcoholic father led him to find refuge in soccer, where relentless practice taught him grind and grit and earned him a Division I scholarship. He reflects on entering the highly competitive clothing industry, emphasizing that his success demonstrates that youth can break into the market. Adrian offers broad business advice: always have every detail planned before launching a product or event, citing personal setbacks when he didn’t. He stresses the importance of not wasting time, balancing his roles as a full‑time college student, athlete, and entrepreneur. Regarding happiness, he argues it should be tied to a concrete activity—particularly taking responsibility—so one can control happiness levels. He mentions reading Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great, noting the lesson of vigilant mistake‑identification and correction. His favorite quote, shared by his middle‑school soccer coach, is “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity,” which he interprets as the power of readiness. Finally, he provides his online locations: Suri Threads on Instagram, his personal Instagram, and the brand’s website.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode. All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Adrian Thompson with us. He's the CEO of Suri Threads. So welcome to the show, Adrian.
Thanks for having me.
Of course, man. Thank you for joining us. Uh, we'll dive in. The first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, so growing up, I kind of have one of those stereotypical backgrounds where like the dad was an alcoholic, abusive drug addict. And like many others, I decided that I wanted to dedicate a lot of my time into sports. And what I would do was I had these pairs of indoor soccer shoes I would take outside and take a broken up soccer ball and shoot against this one, those big trash can containers that they put like excess construction work and whatnot into. And I would shoot on for hours a day just to kind of like get out. And when you do that, you know, day after day for, you know, 2 or 3 years, you start learning how to shoot. But like just going in there and being able to put that work in and on something that's so tedious, which is just kicking a ball. I mean, it taught me grind and grit, which are two things that have gotten me so many more things in my life. And then second of all, it's that you really are rewarded in life when you put in hard work. I mean, it got me a Division I soccer scholarship, and that was the foundation of my training when I was in middle school.
What's the most valuable piece of information that we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so I'm young, so I wouldn't necessarily say that I am an expert of anything, but the clothing industry, which is what Certain Threads is a part of, is one of the most competitive industries outside of maybe app making, right? So a lot of people think it's impenetrable, but since I'm— I think what I represent is a possibility that you can really do anything because I am so young and I have kind of wedged my way into this, into the clothing market, trying to make a name for myself and my team. So yes.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Yeah, so I mean this goes across almost every type of business you can have, is make sure you have everything figured out before you put something out there. If you're launching a date, make sure that, like if you have an event, make sure everything in that event is planned out before you launch it, 'cause I've learned, it's happened to me twice, I've made claims before I had everything figured out, and it kind of bit us in the butt, to say the least. So just make sure you have all your ducks in a row and all the iron, or all the kinks ironed out for every situation you're part of.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
So I'm young, but I would say that never waste time. And, you know, I'm a full-time college student, full-time athlete, I run this business, and I still find myself having free time. And it's up to you to how much of that free time are you going to put in for your business or your work, and how much time are you gonna put in for leisure, and finding that balance where you're happy, but you're being the most successful that you can be at the same time. So just don't waste time.
And in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Yeah, so I would have to say finding a way to make happiness synonymous with another activity, and that activity can be different for each person. It might be chasing success, It might be parenthood, it might be just working hard, it can be whatever you want it to be, but that way when you connect happiness to— I like success, or success and personally I like taking responsibility, so when I connect happiness with the amount of responsibility I have in my life, I now can control my happiness levels by taking on responsibility, by unloading excessive responsibility, and that way you can manage your happiness. So to me, that's the key to happiness. Is understanding that it has to be connected with something you do in your life.
And what's the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Yeah, so I'm actually a really terrible reader. I grew up watching YouTube on 2x speed. I listen to an insane amount of podcasts. And I just think those are better ways to learn. But one of the books I have read is Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great. And a lot of people might not agree with what the book says. But what it taught me is that when you see a mistake, you have to be vigilant in correcting it, whether that's a moral mistake or whether that's a business mistake. You gotta identify where there's a problem and then do everything you can in your power to fix it.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
So in middle school, I started playing soccer really young, or really late, and I told my coach, my middle school coach, Brendell, who is a father figure to me. I told him all the other kids were lucky 'cause they started younger. And he told me that's essentially BS. And what he said to me that day was, "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity." And a lot of people hear that. And to me, what that quote breaks down to say is, as long as you're prepared, when the doors are presented to you, you can now open them being fully confident walking through it, so.
[Speaker] Yes, man, thank you so much for coming on. And the last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, so my business is @SuriThreads on Instagram. That's S-U-R-I-T-H-R-E-A-D-S. And then my personal Instagram is @thompsonal13. And then you can visit us at surithreads.com.
Perfect, man. Thank you again for coming on.
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