About Telic

The true heritage of Telic dates back over a century ago to co-founder Rocco Azzarito’s grandfather Francisco Azzarito. Born in the small southern Italian town of Sant’Agata Di Puglia, Francisco was the son of a shoe cobbler, and although he followed in his father’s trade, he always dreamed of building footwear in America. Francisco landed on Ellis Island in the spring of 1920 when he was just sixteen years old. With no knowledge of the language or culture he settled in Brooklyn, NY. There, he changed his name to Frank because he wanted to be a “real” American. Frank pursued several jobs until he finally began making shoes at the I. Miller Shoe Company and eventually became the foreman of the factory. Telic co-founder Terry Stillman was an elite runner who attended Dartmouth College. He ran track and cross country, was Heptagonal/Ivy champion and a leading member of Dartmouth’s All-American cross country team. After running internationally for a couple years, he then retired from competition and pursued a career at Nike. After leaving Nike, he dreamed of launching his own footwear brand with a concentrated focus on apres-sports recovery. He met Rocco in August of 2009 at a worldwide footwear event and discussed the possibility of launching a brand (now known as Telic), to shake up the footwear industry.Read their story