I have been wearing Reyn Spooner Aloha shirts since 2008. The first one was a blue floral print. I still remember how it felt. Seventeen years later I have over 400 of them and I wear them everywhere — client meetings, speaking events, podcasts, London, Las Vegas, Indonesia, every country I have traveled to for work. This is not a clothing preference. It is a deliberate choice about who I am and how I show up.
Why Reyn Spooner Specifically
There are a lot of Aloha shirt brands. Most of them are not Reyn Spooner. What separates Reyn Spooner from everything else is the material — their original 60/40 blend fabric. It feels different the moment you put it on. It moves differently. It holds up differently. And it looks the way an Aloha shirt is supposed to look — fun and festive without being loud for the sake of being loud. Their older fabric is the best they have ever made. When you find one in that original blend it is something you hold onto.
I Have Been to Every Reyn Spooner Store in Hawaii
When I am on the North Shore or in Honolulu I make time for the stores. My favorite is the Hawaiian Hilton location. I work with David there. He knows what I am looking for and we have built the kind of relationship that comes from years of genuine shared interest. That is not a shopping transaction — it is the kind of connection that happens when you take something seriously enough to go deep on it. If you are ever in Hawaii and you want to understand what Reyn Spooner actually is, the Hilton Hawaiian Village store is where to start.
What 400 Shirts and a Dedicated Closet Looks Like
I have a whole closet. Not a section of a closet — a closet. Over 400 shirts collected since 2008 means roughly 25 per year on average, though it has never been that evenly distributed. Some years you find more than others. Some patterns do not come back. The collection is not organized by color or pattern — it is organized by what I reach for first, which tells you everything about what matters in a collection. My holy grail is a custom print made specifically for me. That does not exist yet. It will.
Why I Wear Them Professionally — In Every Country
The deliberate choice to wear Reyn Spooner to every professional engagement is not accidental. When everyone in a room looks the same — the same suit, the same shirt, the same presentation of professionalism — nobody is memorable. The Aloha shirt makes me different and it starts a conversation. Most people love Hawaii. Most people have a feeling about Hawaii before they have ever been there — warmth, ease, something that is the opposite of corporate tension. That feeling transfers. It is one of the easiest forms of genuine rapport because it is not performed. It is just true.
Mr Hawaii at The Savoy in London
At the EPIC Board UK event at The Savoy in London — High Tea, one of the most formal settings I have ever presented in — they called me Mr Hawaii. Not as a joke. As a genuine recognition that the shirt said something true about who was in the room. In a building that has hosted royalty and heads of state for over a century, the Aloha shirt was still the most memorable thing in the room. That is not an accident. That is seventeen years of wearing what you actually are instead of what a room expects you to be.
What This Has to Do With Business
Jay Abraham taught me that when you sound like everyone else you are not special. The same principle applies to how you dress, how you present yourself, and what you make people feel when they are in the room with you. The Reyn Spooner shirt is not a gimmick — it is a brand signal that is consistent, authentic, and immediately differentiating. Every business owner preparing for an exit needs to understand this principle at the company level. If your business sounds, looks, and operates like every competitor in your category, you are a commodity. If it is genuinely distinct — in its culture, its voice, its customer experience — it commands a premium. The shirt is just the most visible version of a principle I apply to everything.