What Opie Way's Justin James Lost in Hurricane Helene—and What He Found

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In 2019, Justin James started Opie Way, a recraftable sneaker brand made right in Asheville North Carolina, USA, using incredibly high quality materials—something that basically didn’t exist previously.

Then suddenly, Justin's factory and brand didn't exist. In 2024, Hurricane Helene brought six feet of rampaging water tore through the Opie Way factory. Machinery, records, inventory, supplies—destroyed in a literal flash.

What’s it like to lose everything? How do you build back in the face of cataclysmic challenges? When true disaster strikes is there, somehow, a positive, just waiting to be uncovered?

Check out Opie Way's site: https://opieway.com/

And here's the Pearl Boot Company website, Justin's newest footwear venture we discuss quite a bit: https://pearlboot.com/

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