Vineyard Vines: Brothers and Wildpreneurs

Lookin’ good bros! Those are my brothers (Rhett and Jarrod Jacobi) flying through air. Notice their sweet summer duds? Those threads are the creation of another awesome set of brothers—Shep and Ian Murray, co-founders of Vineyard Vines. There is a bit of a story to tell about these four brothers…

Jarrod (my older brother) was the first to tell me about Vineyard Vines. Decades ago, Jarrod worked along side Shep Murray on the NYSE. Shortly thereafter, in 1998, Shep, and his brother, Ian, realized that they were stuck behind desks in jobs they didn’t like. They were miserable. So, they quit. “We tossed out business suits for bathing suits, got our wisdom teeth pulled while we still had coverage and signed up for every credit card we could. On the same day, within ten minutes of each other, we walked out of our jobs, grabbed a drink and….”

Over 20 years later, their dream business, Vineyard Vines, is thriving across the USA. Shep and Ian grew up spending summers on Martha’s Vineyard—living the good life. The sweet days of summer stuck with them and became the inspiration for Vineyard Vines.

Interestingly, though Shep and Jarrod are old amigos, it’s actually my younger brother, Rhett, who is featured on the Vineyard Vines list of “Real Good People.” Check him out here.

In 2019, as I was wrapping up the manuscript for Wildpreneurs, my brothers were flying through the air in their Vineyard Vines gear on the Baja. They encouraged me to check out the Vineyard Vines brothers. I was delighted by this Wildpreneur story! The stars lined up and at the very last minute I managed to sneak Shep and Ian’s wild inspiration into the final page of my book. Grand finale!! Check out their interview below.

Gracias Ian and Shep for sharing your wild inspiration!