I sat down with Aaron "Arroz" Goodwin with the intention of asking him about the tie-dye creations that have become a pillar of our Slow Yourself Down brand. I went in thinking I'd learn about what colors he chooses, and maybe gain some insight on where he pulls inspiration from. But Aaron insisted that he couldn't talk about tie-dye without the story.
So here it is. The story.
It Starts With a Son
The story starts not with a passion for art, but with the birth of Aaron's son, Aamion. The moment Aamion was conceived, it became clear to Aaron that the most important thing in life was raising his family within a culture of freedom, something he felt wasn't available where he was. Guided by that conviction, Aaron and Aamion's mother left for the rural mountains of Mexico, where they chose to welcome their son into the world.
Aaron often felt ahead of the curve in those years. His generation was among the first to really start traveling the world by plane. People and cultures could cross paths in ways they never had before. The world seemed to be opening up. Cultures were blending, old boundaries were shifting, and people were beginning to imagine entirely different ways of living.
A $99 One-Way Ticket
Continuing his journey to raise his son as freely as possible, Aaron bought a $99 one-way ticket to Fiji. With no visa and no long-term plan, the father and son eventually made their way to New Zealand, where they lived in community for some time. The story winds its way back through Fiji, Maui, and Kaua'i, with enough adventures along the way to fill a novel of their own. There were revelations atop Egyptian pyramids, and questionable pirate-like voyages by boat to Fiji.
At its heart, this chapter was about living off the land in its truest form, trusting deeply in the universe and the divine, and choosing to live and love as freely as possible.
The Old Ching Young Store
On Kaua'i, Aaron secured a 20-year lease on the original Ching Young Store, built in 1907 and once the heart of Hanalei. Much like the first half of his story, he was willing to try just about anything to make it work. The space became home to the first Lappert's, early shave ice, and whatever else might keep the doors open. As Aaron put it, "I am a spiritual man, not a businessman."
It was also inside this store that some of the first tie-dyed silks on Kaua'i were sold. The same silks whose story continues in our store today.
Freedom You Can Hold
And that is why we couldn't talk about the tie-dye without telling the story behind it. Because the tie-dye was never just tie-dye. Woven through it all was Aaron's pursuit of true freedom, for himself and for his son. From creating batik designs in Mexican markets while living on $10 a week, to learning in New Zealand that he could actually make a living through art by dyeing silk, each chapter brought him a little closer to turning that freedom into something tangible.
Slow Yourself Down Is Born
Flash forward to 2011, and Aamion was traveling the world with a family of his own. He and his wife, Daize, carried stickers with a simple message: Slow Yourself Down. Everywhere they went, they watched people connect with those words. What began as a simple reminder soon grew into something bigger, and from it, Slow Yourself Down was born.
The business has evolved quite a bit over the years, but the heart of it has remained the same. The message Aaron spent years instilling in a young Aamion, to slow down, live freely, stay present, and choose a life that feels true to you, is now being carried far beyond their own family and shared around the world. This is what our tie-dye represents. The tie-dye carries the spirit of our whole mission.
Still His Hands
So now, in 2026, you can find tie-dyed silks and T-shirts in our Hanalei shop, carrying the story that began decades ago. Aaron is still the one dyeing them today. He laughed as he admitted that the T-shirts themselves aren't his true artistic passion. They're physically demanding to make, but people love them, so he keeps doing it. His heart as an artist has always been in his dyed silks.
Wearing one of our tie-dye shirts is a small nudge to wake up to your own truth, a reminder to slow down, pay attention, and remember just how much is possible. We could tell you what makes our tie-dye different. We could talk about the process, the colors, or the history woven into each piece. But we think that when you put one on, you'll feel it for yourself.
For the First Time, Online
For years, the only way to bring home one of Aaron's tie-dyes was to walk into our Hanalei shop. That changes now.
This is Dye Drop No. 01, the first of a new tradition: small batches of Aaron's hand-dyed tees, released online for the first time ever. Fifty-three tees. That's the whole batch, dyed by Aaron himself on Kaua'i's north shore, one at a time, in a colorway he'll never repeat. When the last one finds its home, that's the end of this chapter.
$99, by the way. Same as the ticket.
