Cut From the Same Cloth

Working with Luke has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. He’s been my best friend for as long as I can remember, and now, somehow, he’s also my business partner. It still amazes me that the same person I grew up collecting bugs, travelling across the world, and sharing inside jokes with is the person I now sit across from in meetings about manufacturing goals or content calendars. Our relationship has always been the priority, and that won’t ever change.

Of course, growing pains happen. Luke and I are both visionaries, which means we’re not afraid to clash passionately over ideas. Sometimes it’s about creative direction, sometimes it’s about strategy, and sometimes it’s just the stubborn streaks we both carry. But we’re not new to this rhythm. We’ve been debating each other’s opinions since we were young so we’ve become accustomed to this routine: shake hands, laugh it off, and keep moving forward. 

I think part of what makes working together so special is that we know when to compartmentalize. After long days, we make the effort to step away from the grind and just be ourselves again. Whether it’s binging Rick and Morty, watching movies, sneaking in a basketball game, or getting outside for a walk or bike ride, we carve out time to be best friends first, business partners second. Even at lunch, when we promise not to talk about work, we still find ourselves debating environmental topics because, well, it’s us.

Luke and I are also similar in so many ways. Our love for the environment, our video editing skills, our writing and public speaking strengths, not to mention our devastatingly photogenic genes which help make our tees look all the more better. These parallels make it easy to divide work between us, to trust that either of us can take the lead in meetings and projects… or modelling gigs. Naturally, our shared traits sometimes spark tension, because we’re both ambitious about what we believe will work best. But what could be seen as friction is really just passion, and passion is what fuels Human-i-Tees.

This isn’t our first run as a duo either. Before Human-i-Tees, Luke and I worked side by side filming weddings, music videos, and freelance projects. That history gives us a shorthand that’s rare and we can see it in the way we build content together, the way we edit side by side, the way we toss out ideas until one lands. While it’s just the two of us at the helm right now, we’re not navigating alone. We constantly surround ourselves with people we trust for feedback, new opinions, and fresh perspectives. And yes, we also recognize the importance of leaning into AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to help us sharpen ideas, track progress, and keep pushing forward. Secretly, I even use AI to discuss ways I can be an even stronger partner in my relationship with Luke. 

At the end of the day, though, what matters most is that Luke isn’t just a co-founder. He’s family. We’re “brothers from another mother”, best friends, and now partners building something that matters. After graduating college, a time that can feel isolating as you try to get your feet on the ground, I can’t express how grateful I am to spend my days working alongside someone I’ve shared a lifetime with. We’ve always been cut from the same cloth, and today, that cloth has been sewn into a Human-i-Tees shirt.

~Landon Highbloom