George Heaton (Represent Founder): From My Garden Shed To $100m Business Empire! "Work Life Balance Is Bullshit!", "That Letter Was The End Of Represent!"
From starting in a shed to aiming to be a billion dollar company, the road to success is a 24/7 mission. George Heaton is the owner and creative director of the British luxury streetwear brand, Represent. In this conversation George and Steven discuss topics such as, why a work-life balance is bullshit, changing his life and writing his rules for success, how Represent was almost destroyed, and why he doesn’t believe in motivation. (02:04) What is the mission you're on? (02:14) What made you obsessed with winning? (02:14) What influence did your father have on you? (04:01) What was your brother Mike like? (04:28) What did your parents do for a living? (04:52) Did you always grow up wanting to be in fashion? (05:36) The influence your older brother had on you (06:33) When was the idea of Represent born? (09:02) Where did that chip on your shoulder come from? (09:35) What was his shedding phase like? (11:31) Starting Represent in 2012 (14:01) Why don't people start? (16:28) How do you feel now about the old products you used to make in the shed? (17:13) What do you say to people who want to start their business? (17:59) Trying to scale the business (19:12) Hiring people (25:15) How do people get the answers they need to take them to the next level? (26:08) What made you step out of the CEO position and hire a CEO? (28:29) A phase where you didn't like yourself (30:17) How did you know you wanted to change? (33:20) Creating those next steps for the business? (39:53) Creating a solid company culture (40:48) Self-awareness (42:06) Staying in touch with the business side of things as a creative (45:47) The letter that nearly ended Represent (50:02) Company lawsuit (53:03) What his experience of it was at that time (55:19) What makes Represent special? (57:33) What is it about Represent that we don't see? (00:59:32) People stealing Represent's designs (01:02:02) How do you view money now? (01:03:47) What it's been like trying to create a life outside of the business (01:05:03) The brand being linked to your self-esteem and identity (01:08:58) How important is it that you surround yourself with the right people? (01:10:25) Romantic Relationships? (01:15:04) Opinions on work-life balance? (01:19:51) Advice on how to run a clothing line (01:23:37) How to get the motivation to go do the thing (01:24:38) What have you learned from hiring? (01:26:07) What if Michael decided he wanted to stop? (01:29:29) What is next for George? (01:31:01) What is the next goal? (01:32:21) What are you good at? (01:35:30) The next guest's question You can purchase all Represent products, here: https://bit.ly/3PyaKoX Follow George: Twitter - https://bit.ly/4cosMDP Instagram - https://bit.ly/3xh1crW Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/3kxINCANKsb My new book! 'The 33 Laws Of Business & Life' is out now - https://smarturl.it/DOACbook Follow me: https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo Sponsors: Shopify: http://shopify.com/bartlett Uber: https://p.uber.com/creditsterms Vodafone V-Hub: https://www.vodafone.co.uk/business/sme-business/Steven-Bartlett-Digital-SOS?cid=psoc-ent_li_ebu_/brnd/Stevenbartlett01/aws/11.23/SB Shop the Conversation Cards: https://thediary.com/products/the-cards Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices