While the majority of businesses begin with spreadsheets and PowerPoints, Chris Costa began his life with a rainbow trading card foil. No card, but a 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor with a slender sixth-round pick, Tom Brady. In an EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview, CardVault co-founder Costa dived into how the sale of that rookie card resulted in a multimillion-dollar retail chain, and how the company itself now depends on the man whose card began everything all those years ago.

“I’ve collected since I was a young kid,” Costa noted in our EssentiallySports Exclusive interview. “I got back in around 2017, and I was looking for specific baseball players. It was always baseball for me, at least when I got back in… When I went from chasing for my own collection, and I started looking at this thing as an investment, it was the Tom Brady market. And that’s what’s so crazy about this whole thing is, when I started really buying, selling, and trading Tom’s rookie [cards], and it was specifically the 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor, we realized this was a business… Tom is a big reason this turned into a business for me as a collector.”

Costa’s origin story hits differently because of its relatability. He’s the kid who ripped packs at the corner store, hoping for a good pull. But 2017 marked a turning point. Costa, a Massachusetts native and lifelong New England Patriots fan, pivoted hard. He stopped chasing nostalgia and started chasing value instead. His new target? Rookie cards featuring Tom Brady, in particular, that Bowman Chrome Refractor, which recently fetched $498,000.

The Tom Brady card market was all the rage when Costa started regarding his collection as an investment, rather than a hobby. It was not a planned business; it just developed organically. The irony is striking. The card collector who reaped profits through flipping Brady cards went on to get the legend to share ownership of CardVault 50-50. Now, working with Brady? That was the ultimate pull.

When Brady bought into the company with a 50% stake, the playbook changed entirely. What started as a few regional shops exploded into an aggressive national expansion; franchisee-owned perfect locations close to big sports arenas and malls sharing high pedestrian flow. Outlets are now located at the TD Garden Boston, The American Dream Mall in New Jersey, Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and many more.

The latest addition to this list was the franchise’s biggest flagship store in San Francisco, ahead of Super Bowl LX (the 12th store so far). It was here, on February 7, that Chris Costa spoke about the company’s origins and Tom Brady’s involvement in it in the EssentiallySports Exclusive interview.

But it was more than a brand-name involvement on the part of Tom Brady. Costa made one thing crystal clear to Sports Collectors Digest when Brady came on board: no passive ownership.

“Did we think Tom would be a really great partner, and did we think Tom would be kind of that accelerant…?” Costa had noted back then. “Sure. But there was and would be no partnership if Tom wasn’t and wasn’t clearly going to be an active member of our partnership and part of the operating team.”

Translation? Brady had to show up daily. That requirement wasn’t negotiable. Costa needed the same quarterback who obsessed over TB12 nutrition and film study to bring that intensity to retail. And Brady delivered by giving it his all.

So what does “all-in” actually look like when you are partnering with the most decorated quarterback in the history of the NFL – someone juggling a $375 million FOX broadcasting deal, a minority ownership stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, and countless entertainment ventures? We asked Costa what shocked him the most.

The GOAT’s daily grind in business

Tom Brady doesn’t do part-time, ever. Chris Costa learned that fast.

“His level of involvement in our business and how much he cares and how dialed in he is to our day-to-day operation is the biggest shock to all of us,” Costa noted in our EssentiallySports Exclusive interview. “It’s not that we didn’t expect it. We knew, and Tom has had a reputation for being 100 percent in on anything he commits to, but we’re talking every day.”

Brady showed up every single day. Despite the NFL on-air broadcasting of games on weekends, ownership responsibilities in the Raiders’ search for football identity, and operation of Shadow Lion Studio, Brady dedicated time to the CardVault operations. When choosing the location of stores, he weighs in. He is engaged when it comes to forming customer engagement plans, and he can be called upon when it comes to expansion planning. And at times, Costa still can’t believe it.

“I grew up in New England as a Patriots fan,” Costa said. “I grew up the biggest Tom Brady fan on Earth, and here I am pinching myself that I’m Tom Brady’s business partner.”

And Brady’s daily involvement isn’t limited to ceremonial Zoom calls either. He appears at store openings, engages customers at events, and participates in live Q&As that drive serious foot traffic. His presence alone can convert casual browsers into buyers and fans into collectors.

Costa’s endgame for CardVault goes far beyond transactions. The company positions itself as “America’s Best Card Shop” and offers immersive experiences featuring state-of-the-art break studios, custom vaults displaying the most valuable collectibles, and Fanatics-authorized merch. Each store functions as a marketplace and a museum where sports, collectibles, and culture all collide under one roof.

In the case of Costa, this partnership validates everything that started with selling Tom Brady rookie cards back in 2017. And now, Brady isn’t just the name on the storefront or a 50% owner, but the operational heartbeat driving every decision.

From trading cards to trading daily insights with the NFL’s GOAT, Chris Costa successfully transformed fandom into a partnership. That partnership has since vaulted into a national brand built on one principle Tom Brady perfected over 23 NFL seasons: no shortcuts. That all-in commitment, every single day, is the CardVault difference. Without Brady, none of it exists.