Sometimes the universe sends you a sign, then hits you over the head with it. Like so many Ptown residents, Paul Nesbit’s arrival 9 years ago came on the heels of adversity. His corporate layoff turned out to be a ticket to the end of the Cape, but not the end of the world.

“The only thing stopping me was fear of success,” he said as we sat in his new, freshly painted, fully-stocked store called Mate. T-shirts, tank tops, and long-sleeve thermals emblazoned with Paul’s Ptown-centric designs – landmarks from lighthouses to Spiritus, depictions of the hazardous Ptown bike culture, and the iconic Mate logo that is at once a friend, a partner, and a command – surround us in living-out-loud color.