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How I Built This

Sun Bum: Tom Rinks. The Secrets of a Master Brand Builder (2023)

July 13, 20261h 15m

Show notes

Tom Rinks got his start in the commission-only "shark tank" of midwestern furniture sales. That’s where he learned what makes customers buy. Decades later, those instincts helped him grow a joke of a side hustle into a $400 million success. In 2009, he created the iconic branding for an obscure sun tan lotion, drawing on a mish-mash of surf culture, Scandinavian furniture, and Japanese streetwear.

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