episode 062: Dario Phillips

There’s something about the energy of Dario Phillips that makes you feel instantly comfortable, like you’re hanging out with an old friend. The cofounder of Slowtide started his career by following his interests before landing firmly in the action sports industry, leading marketing at Quiksilver and HUF. He was born in Toronto, into a big family with five kids. His father was successful in the development industry for a time, while his mother was a wonderful spirit. After the family spent some time in Los Angeles, Dario did most of his growing up in Vancouver, where he found himself deep into sports, skating, and snowboarding. For the first part of adulthood, he followed his own path: working retail at @boardroomshop, being a sous chef in Whistler, surfing in Australia, working in bars for his uncle, and doing a DJ stint in Barcelona. After launching a maps company during the 2010 Olympics and landing a position at Colour Magazine, he eventually found himself in marketing at Quiksilver and then HUF, cutting his teeth in the corporate world. Then, in 2016, he launched Slowtide with his friends and business partners Kyle Spencer and Wylie Von Tempsky. . In this conversation, we explore his unconventional childhood; how unconditional support from his parents shaped him; learning the art of negotiation from his father and how he’s applied that to business & personal life; his chapter at Quiksilver; what one should understand about an athlete’s psychology when developing brand relationships with them; how Slowtide came to be; what he hopes for his children, and much more.