2018-12-04
55 分钟So I'm kind of fascinated by people who have decided to opt out of college and then ended up building really substantial companies, enterprises, brands that make giant differences out there.
Today's guest, Rebecca Minkoff, is one amazing example of this.
Growing up in San Diego, in Tampa, she learned at a really young age if she wanted something, she'd have to work for it or make it herself.
And that ethic led her to begin making her own clothes in her early teens, then eventually leaving Tampa behind to head straight to New York where she wasn't feeling college.
She actually tried it for a few weeks worth of evening courses, and it just wasn't working for her.
So she went into the world of fashion and design, learning every aspect of the business that she could, eventually started making her own things and working just relentlessly to find her way.
She created a single t shirt that would eventually see the launch of a company that would grow an iconic line of handbags, apparel, accessories, footwear, jewelry, and really build it into a global enterprise.
More recently, she is actually even heading into an entirely new territory with the launch of her own podcast, Superwomen, which celebrates the multidimensionality of women, from CEO's to chefs, entrepreneurs, and all sorts of different people who shape culture, change the world, and really lift each other up along the way.
We talk about all of this along with myths and truths about founding and building a company.
We dive into the choice to opt into or out of secondary education and so many other different places.
We talk about building a mega brand around a personal name, around a set of values and transparency in the world that we live in today, and building something where you're really adopting and standing behind a larger set of public values as well.
Really fascinating.
I learned a ton from this conversation.
So excited to share this with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields and this is good life project.
Right now you're riding atop this empire, but you had to start from something.
And I'm always curious, when somebody builds a substantial company that seems to be very passion driven and deeply connected to something that you love to make or create, when do you remember the earliest seeds of that taking root?
I have a very clear memory, which is kind of the beginning origin story of desperately wanting this dress when I was eight that I saw in a store window and my mom was like, nope, I'm not buying that for you, but I will buy you a pattern and I will buy you the fabric of your choice and I will teach you how to make it.
And one would be like, oh, that sounds so great.
But as an eight year old, you're like, no, I just want the dress, mom.