00:00:10another edition of modeling the masters
00:00:12I believe that the fastest and most
00:00:14effective way to grow your business is
00:00:16the model de strategies of people who’ve
00:00:18already done what you’re trying to do so
00:00:21today we’re going to look at how a young
00:00:22entrepreneur had to choose between
00:00:23starting a fashion business and served
00:00:26in a supermarket business
00:00:27he chose the fashion business and went
00:00:29on to create one of the most
00:00:30recognizable names in his industry this
00:00:33is a story of Calvin Klein and the top
00:00:35three lessons that you can learn from
00:00:36his success Calvin Klein is an American
00:00:40fashion designer and founder of the
00:00:42company that bears his name as a young
00:00:44child instead of playing sports like the
00:00:46other kids
00:00:47Klein spent his time indoors teaching
00:00:49himself how to sketch and sew designs he
00:00:52didn’t have many friends and would often
00:00:53accompany his mother on shopping trips
00:00:55throughout the city on her quest for
00:00:57discount clothing after graduating from
00:01:00the Fashion Institute of Technology in
00:01:02New York Klein was practically broke
00:01:04still working part-time at his father’s
00:01:06grocery store and decided he would take
00:01:09his two thousand dollars life savings
00:01:10and start his own business he started by
00:01:13designing a line of coats the company’s
00:01:16first major step to success came by
00:01:18accident a year after its inception when
00:01:20a businessman got off the elevator on
00:01:22the wrong floor and happened to wander
00:01:24in the Klein’s office this businessman
00:01:27turned out to be a coupe wire from the
00:01:28major department store at Bonwit teller
00:01:31after placing an order for $50,000 worth
00:01:34of coats
00:01:34he told Klein tomorrow you will be
00:01:36discovered in his first year the company
00:01:39booked one million dollars worth of
00:01:41business in 2002 Klein sold his company
00:01:44for four hundred million dollars and
00:01:47thirty million dollars in stock before
00:01:49the sale Calvin Klein had nine hundred
00:01:51employees and worldwide sales of over
00:01:53three billion dollars
00:01:58by focusing on one who is passionate
00:02:01about Calvin Klein was able to build one
00:02:03of the most recognizable brands in his
00:02:05industry to help you turn your passion
00:02:07into dollars
00:02:08here are three action items that you can
00:02:10learn from Calvin Klein action item
00:02:13number one be the expert if you’re going
00:02:16to have success in creating and selling
00:02:18your product or service you better be
00:02:20really good at what you do take classes
00:02:23sign up for internships volunteer your
00:02:25time take jobs and get as much hands-on
00:02:28experience as you can to learn about
00:02:30your industry before you start your
00:02:32business the more you know going in
00:02:34about how your industry works the
00:02:36greater your chances of success will be
00:02:38in order to succeed client exposed
00:02:41himself to as much informal and formal
00:02:43training as possible whether it was
00:02:45sewing lessons from his grandmother
00:02:47shopping trips with his mother or an
00:02:49apprenticeship with the esteemed coat
00:02:50manufacturer dan Milstein in the new
00:02:52york fashion district Klein knew that if
00:02:55he was going to succeed in the fashion
00:02:56business he was going to have to take
00:02:58advantage of every single learning
00:03:00opportunity that presented itself the
00:03:02Milstein apprenticeship only paid $75 a
00:03:05week but a gave Kline firsthand
00:03:07experience in the fashion industry which
00:03:09proved to be invaluable
00:03:11according to Kline I learned a lot
00:03:14because he threw me into the snake pit
00:03:16it’s a fiercely competitive business and
00:03:18Millstein was a perfect example of that
00:03:20world people have done it without having
00:03:22formal training in design but I don’t
00:03:24hire people unless they’ve been formally
00:03:26trained I look for people who are really
00:03:29talented creative inventive modern and
00:03:31thinking and hard working because we’re
00:03:34in a very hard tough business action at
00:03:41a number to reach a wide audience you
00:03:44never know where your next customer is
00:03:45going to come from and you don’t want to
00:03:47make the mistake of picking such a small
00:03:49niche market that you won’t be able to
00:03:50make enough money to stay in business
00:03:52make sure the market you’re choosing is
00:03:55big enough for you to create a
00:03:56profitable company now and has room for
00:03:58growth into the future Kline rose to the
00:04:01top of the fashion industry by creating
00:04:03products and advertising campaigns that
00:04:05appeal to the broadest cross segment of
00:04:07the population by not limiting himself
00:04:10to a certain market and creating a wide
00:04:11range
00:04:12product lines accommodate all segments
00:04:14of society Klein helped solidify his
00:04:16position at the top of the American
00:04:18fashion industry the key to his success
00:04:20was his attempt to attract customers
00:04:22from all walks of life
00:04:24the ultimate attempt that brought in his
00:04:26appeal came with the launch of the
00:04:28fragrance line CK 1 the first unisex
00:04:31perfume ever created by allowing anyone
00:04:34to wear the same scent Klein broke down
00:04:36all the barriers between his customers
00:04:38client understood that if his business
00:04:40was going to sustain a significant
00:04:42market and had the kind of staying power
00:04:44he wanted he had to create as broad an
00:04:46appeal as possible
00:04:48according to Klein fashion is about
00:04:50selling clothes I’m in a business where
00:04:53no one cares about anything except how
00:04:55well your very last collection sold you
00:04:58can’t advertise for one group otherwise
00:05:00you end up having a very small business
00:05:02I want everyone I can get Jews Catholics
00:05:06gays straights you name it action item
00:05:13number three stay focused
00:05:16entrepreneurs are easily distracted we
00:05:19see other people launching successful
00:05:20companies and it often raises doubts as
00:05:22to whether your business will succeed or
00:05:24not sometimes we just get bored with our
00:05:26businesses I want to do something else
00:05:28often before we’ve given enough time to
00:05:30make sure our companies hit a critical
00:05:32level of success the entrepreneurs who
00:05:35achieve at the very highest levels stay
00:05:37focused on their goals they don’t allow
00:05:39other opportunities to distract them and
00:05:41to keep working on their businesses
00:05:43until they reach what they set out to do
00:05:45from a very early age client’s goal was
00:05:48to follow his passion for designing
00:05:49clothes for every American every step
00:05:52that he took along the way from
00:05:54attending fashion school to taking low
00:05:55paying internships to launching his own
00:05:57business brought him closer to achieving
00:05:59his goal everything else he ignored he
00:06:03wanted to live his life with no regrets
00:06:05and not be left wondering what would
00:06:07have happened if he gave his very best
00:06:10according to klein the money is not that
00:06:12important to me whether it’s 800 million
00:06:15a billion or two billion
00:06:16I think fantasies are for the birds
00:06:19anything I wanted to do I did if there’s
00:06:22something I want nothing stops me
00:06:27so remember be the expert reach a wide
00:06:31audience and stay focused to finish up
00:06:35this video I wanted to share one of my
00:06:36favorite true stories about Calvin Klein
00:06:38and some of his best quotes in his early
00:06:43days when he was still working for other
00:06:44designers Klein actually considered
00:06:46putting the fashion industry all
00:06:48together and going into the supermarket
00:06:50business his friend Barry Schwartz had
00:06:52just taken over his father’s grocery
00:06:54store in Harlem and had turned it into a
00:06:56successful venture in his first six
00:06:58months Klein was becoming increasingly
00:07:00frustrated with his jobs and when
00:07:02Schwartz offered him full partnership in
00:07:04a supermarket it was hard to decline
00:07:06fine at work at his own father’s
00:07:08supermarket for numerous years so he
00:07:10knew what he was getting into what a
00:07:12conversation over dinner one night with
00:07:14his father would change Klein’s life
00:07:16forever he had gone to his parents asked
00:07:19for advice expecting them to agree with
00:07:21his decision to go into the supermarket
00:07:22business with Schwartz instead Klein
00:07:25says his father shocked him I think you
00:07:28would be making a tremendous mistake he
00:07:30said I don’t understand what you’ve been
00:07:32studying all these years but whatever it
00:07:35is I don’t think you’ve given it enough
00:07:37of a chance Klein’s father warned him
00:07:40that if he didn’t continue what he was
00:07:42doing he would regret it for the rest of
00:07:44his life
00:07:44Klein stuck to his vision and stayed in
00:07:47fashion
00:08:30thank you for joining me for another
00:08:32edition of all in the masters if you
00:08:34like the video and want to see more
00:08:35please give it a thumbs up I’d also love
00:08:38to hear your thoughts and feedback if
00:08:39you want to leave a comment below the
00:08:41video and stay tuned for the next
00:08:42episode
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