“Mom, why didn’t I take nine pairs of socks like he told me to!” My nine year old Amelia lamented as she climbed into the back of the minivan.

Only moments before we had been sitting at the Eastlake office of Jake Director and Riley Goodman, co-founders of Strideline.

As we were leaving, Jake pointed to a box filled to the gills with their ingeniously simple, colorful sport socks with the Seattle skyline that is a local favorite saying, “Go ahead, you can each take nine pairs.”

Sophie and Amelia pounced on the box like good-natured kittens and I was impressed by their restraint. Amelia walked away beaming with three pairs and Sophie with five.

At this point you might be wondering if these socks were dipped in gold.

No. But they are really cool socks. And their creator’s story is pretty special too.

Jake and Riley were born in the same local hospital on the same day. They lived on the same block their whole lives and went to the same schools in the Issaquah School district. They’ve been best friends their whole lives and since they were little they’ve been passionate about starting a business together.

A few months away from high school graduation in 2009 they pooled their money together and started their color crew sock business with the Seattle skyline. Four years later their socks now include six new city socks: Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago and New York. Their socks are hugely popular and located around the nation and in retailers like Nordstrom, Champs and for those of us in Renton, most recently the University Book Store at the Landing.

Before I had even heard of Strideline I was curious about them without even knowing it.

Not too long ago I was at a restaurant waiting on a “to go” order when I first noted a kid wearing a football jersey and these intensely purple tube socks in the shape of the Seattle skyline. At the time I had never heard of Strideline.

A few days later, I was at Sophie’s middle school when I spotted another kid, a girl, sporting the same Seattle skyline sport socks…only instead of bright purple the color was an electric orange.

I began to connect the dots of the “cool kid sock phenomenon” a few weeks later after receiving an email from Sally Boni, Talbot Hill Elementary School’s MicroSociety coordinator, inviting me to the fifth grade graduation this past June that featured guest speakers from Strideline Jake and Riley to share their “sock story.”

I had been unable to attend the graduation at Talbot Hill but Sally had sent me details…apparently Jake (Riley had been in Italy searching for a new sock-making machine that would allow for a higher quality product) had made a huge impression on the kids and parents at Talbot Hill.

“The kids and their parents are still talking about how ‘cool’ Jake was and how ‘cool’ it was that he spoke at their fifth grade celebration. The kids and parents all agreed how inspiring Jake was and that he was real proof that kids can do it!” Sally said.

If you’ve never heard of Talbot Hill’s MicroSociety program you might be wondering what the “it” Sally was referring to.

I was fortunate to know what the “it” was because from Kindergarten through third grade my daughter, Sophie, attended Talbot Hill and for those years took part in their award-winning MicroSociety program that simulates a functioning community, with student-run businesses and services.

I also knew first hand that the success of the program comes from the tireless efforts of parents, teachers and volunteers who make the program possible through fundraising. But another huge piece to the program is the support from local business leaders like Jake and Riley who volunteer their time and stories to inspire kids to think big and believe that they can do “it.”

Jake explained it perfectly to Sally when he agreed to be a guest speaker at Talbot Hill, “It has been the ride of our lives running Strideline and we couldn’t have gotten this far without the help and support of people like you,” Jake said. “I love what you guys stand for.”

Even though I missed the graduation, I kept thinking about the Strideline story and their effect on the kids at Talbot Hill. And, I still wanted to be a part of sharing their story and continuing the MicroSociety goals sent to me by Sally Boni of, “Establishing real world, local business connections for each of our MicroSociety organizations, much like the annual Renton Chamber of Commerce Business and Education Exchange. I hope we can make it happen, as it’s a win/win for students & our community alike.”

So when my girls and I had the opportunity to catch up with Jake and Riley at their office I pointed to a pile of their colorful socks and asked, “How did “it” all get started?”

“Jake and I sat in my car one night a couple months before our high school graduation in 2009 and decided that we weren’t going to leave the car until we had a product idea,” Riley said.

They eventually left the car that night with a sock prototype.

“That night we went on line and sent hundreds of emails looking for a company to make our sock with the Seattle skyline. We thought if other people could figure it out…we could too.” Jake said, simply.

Its one thing to read a bio on a website about a success story and quite another to hear Jake and Riley tell their story in real life. I could understand why the students at Talbot Hill were so wowed…Jake and Riley are both articulate, thoughtful and clearly ambitious guys.

And yet they still have the shiny hue of newbies excited to be in the game.