An Inspired Chat with Taylor & Tanner Barkin

We recently had the chance to connect with Taylor & Tanner Barkin and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Taylor & Tanner , it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What is a normal day like for you right now?
Our days are highly regimented—owning a business doesn’t mean you get to slack off without a boss; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It requires relentless commitment and discipline. Without a routine, everything would fall apart.

We’re up at 6:00 AM sharp and start the morning slowly—with coffee at home and a simple breakfast. We always make our lunch; going out is an expensive and unhealthy distraction that pulls us away from our goals. By 8:05 AM, we’re in our Denver workshop, mapping out the day together.

While the core rhythm is consistent, each day brings something new. We always prioritize getting orders out, then carve out time for creative work, planning, and development. We’re fully hands-on—designing, making, packing, and shipping everything ourselves. Our postal pickup is at 4:30 PM, and after that, we head home.

Evenings are low-key. We cook a quick dinner, hang out with our dog, and often spend an hour doing light creative work—usually sketching or refining ideas—before we wind down. Then we rest up to do it all again the next day.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
We’re Taylor and Tanner, the husband-and-wife team behind Moore Collection. We met when we were just 14 and 15 years old, became best friends, and eventually life partners. Not long into dating, we realized that building a business together was what we truly wanted out of life. Tanner has always gravitated toward creativity, and Taylor has always loved the business side—it was a natural match.

Fast forward to today, and we’ve just celebrated 10 years in business. Moore is an outdoor-inspired apparel and goods brand rooted in craftsmanship, storytelling, and creativity. We handcraft most of our products in our Denver workshop and personally draw every design by hand.

We’re passionate about the outdoors, making things with our own two hands, and building a business that reflects both our values and our relationship. It’s not just a job—it’s the life we’ve chosen, and we feel lucky to live it every day.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. Who taught you the most about work?
Taylor: I’m not sure why exactly, but I’ve always had the drive to build something. While other kids were watching cartoons, I was setting up lemonade stands and figuring out how to sell things. My parents taught me early on that if I wanted something, I had to earn it. They’d say, “If you want that, you need to work for it,” and I’d respond, “Okay—how do I do that?” They’d offer me $5 to wash the car or help with something around the house. I’d do the task, get paid immediately, and stash the money away for something bigger.

Eventually, I saved enough to ask my dad to help me build a little stand so I could sell toys to kids in the neighborhood. He agreed, and I invested everything I had into that idea. From there, the concept of working for every single dollar became second nature. Every summer I worked hard, saving and reinvesting in the next opportunity—until one day, that mindset allowed me to help start Moore. We’ve been turning those dollars over ever since.

It all started with a few bucks for washing a car—but what stuck with me was the value of earning an honest dollar and what it can grow into.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I don’t think you can run a business without hitting points of burnout, exhaustion, and doubt—moments where you wonder if it’s worth it, or if maybe you should’ve taken the safer path everyone told you to follow in the first place. Business is hard. And the pandemic nearly broke us.

It wasn’t just the lockdown—it was the millions of dominos that fell for years after. Everything came crashing down. Sales stopped. Bills kept coming. The supply chain collapsed and then inflated beyond recognition. The rent on our dream workshop tripled. Utility costs soared. And to make things harder, we watched people around us—people who once inspired us—give up on their own dreams. There were moments where we truly asked ourselves if we were crazy to keep going.

But we couldn’t walk away. We didn’t come this far just to quit. We had worked too hard, saved too much, built too carefully to throw it all away. And that’s when we realized: we had built a solid foundation. We weren’t flying by the seat of our pants. We had structure. Systems. Persistence. And most importantly, belief in what we were doing. Without that foundation, we probably would have crumbled.

Getting through that time didn’t just keep our business alive—it made us prouder of what we’d built. If we could survive that chapter, we know we have what it takes to keep going.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Honestly, I think it’s a gift that we weren’t academic geniuses. School was hard for both of us—we had to fight for average grades. Our brains were always running in a million directions, and solving a math problem with no personal connection felt impossible. We were the kids who needed extra help just to get through.

But looking back, that struggle gave us something far more valuable: we learned how to work hard for every single goal. We also learned that we weren’t built to fit into the traditional mold of corporate America—and that’s okay. It’s not where we thrive.

What we’ve seen is that sometimes, when things come easily—especially in school—people don’t always develop the muscles for critical thinking or long-term problem solving. If you’ve never had to figure something out the hard way, you might not know how to when it really counts.

For us, every idea begins with a question: “How do we make this happen?” And then we go step by step—thinking critically, working hard, and figuring it out ourselves. There’s no shortcut. But that process has helped us build a slow, steady, rock-solid foundation—a business that’s not only sustainable but adaptable as we grow.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
If we were doing what we were told to do, we’d probably hate our lives—not to be blunt or anything, but it’s true. At every checkpoint, society nudged us toward the “safe” path. You know the one: go to college, get a traditional job, follow the rules, don’t rock the boat. And any time we deviated from that path, it seemed to make people uncomfortable. Like we were doing something wrong just by choosing differently.

It took a huge amount of willpower to first recognize that we didn’t want that life—and then to actively resist it. We had to rewire our brains to believe it’s okay to follow your heart, not just expectations. We built something that went completely against the grain and had to prove—through hard work and persistence—that it could not only work but last.

The truth is, we’re lucky. We both know what we were born to do. For Taylor, it’s running a business. For Tanner, it’s being a creative. And now, we get to do both—together. We’ve built a career that reflects who we are and even bought our first home because of it. That’s something we’re incredibly proud of.

This path isn’t easy—especially when the world keeps telling you it’s not the “right” one. But it’s the one that fills our souls. The conventional route might have been easier, but it wouldn’t have made us happy. And we wouldn’t trade that for anything.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://moorecollection.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moorecollection/

Image Credits
Grant Lemons Photograph/Videography