Deals & Dollars: Real Estate Investors and Entrepreneurs
Welcome to the Deals & Dollars Podcast, hosted by David Choi, Eric Panecki, and John Libretti, three real estate executives from the New York City metro area. Every week, they bring on the best real estate investors and entrepreneurs they know to learn about how they got started, how they source their deals, and -- most importantly-- how they make their dollars.
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Deals & Dollars: Real Estate Investors and Entrepreneurs
How to Grow a $30 Million Fashion Brand w/ Daniel Park
On today's show, we have an entrepreneur in the fashion industry and the Executive Vice President of clothing brand XIOS: Daniel Park.
Daniel Park has an incredibly story, one about a drastic career shift, a multi-generational company, and developing success through integrity and core values. Daniel transitioned from a 15-year career in the NYPD to becoming the executive vice president of XIOS, a reputable fashion brand. Dan reveals the ethos that underpins XIOS's business operations and the importance of fairness and maintaining relationships in the industry.
The conversation evolves to explore the core values embedded in XIOS's business model and marketing strategies. Dan shares his experience of working in his father's company and the quintessential role of informed decision-making. He credits his father's Christian values for their success and explains how XIOS thrived during the pandemic with their unique approach to fashion. The journey zigs and zags between contrasts of fast fashion and XIOS's focus on data and travel to stay ahead in the industry.
As we navigate towards the end, we dive into the trials and triumphs of running a retail business. Dan sheds light on the art of managing and expanding a business while preserving its values and legacy. He gives us a glimpse into the challenges faced by each XIOS store and the resilience it takes to overcome them. Let's get into it!
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Every company operates in like a different, like model right. For example, like Zara Zara huge company. It takes Zara like on average, like two weeks from drawing to floor, which is super fast. All they do is focus on R&D and trend. They push it and they pop it up, as opposed to like Uniglo, which takes them like a year. But they own the entire process. They own that mill, they own that cotton field, like that ships, my ship. It's a complete different model and it's a complete different kind of business style and their products are different but that's how they operate.
Speaker 2:All right, today we have a very unique guest. He's not from the real estate industry, but he's got a hell of a story to tell. Dan Park operates as the executive vice president of ZEOS, which is a clothing brand company. They have 20 locations across the US and, for those that don't know, I believe my stepdad actually worked at this company at one point selling. But the quality of the clothing is so good and it's at an incredible price point, and so this is a unique business model that Dan's father had initially founded, and now Dan is taking over and currently operating the business. But, dan, thank you so much for taking the time today to come on the show. How are you doing?
Speaker 1:First of all, thank you for having me, and I'm very honored and humbled, and transitioning from one completely different career to another has been a crazy and wild experience. I still feel like I have a ton of knowledge I need to learn and experience. The last two years have been very, very full. I can imagine so to speak, so I'll give a quick background, maybe.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely Please.
Speaker 1:I was in the NYPD for 15 years. I've worked in several boroughs. I'm very open-minded and open-voiced against. You know that's not okay. You have to be quiet, really, just say yes, sir, and I'm like I'm not good at that, all right. But my father approached me and he says listen, I need you. And you know, as a Korean, when your father says that, it's like okay, you got it you say you need me, I'm coming Right. And some people like are you sure this is a big transition of careers? What about? Like, what makes you happy? What do you want to do? I was like listen, my dad needs me. Right, we talk about it.
Speaker 1:Like he says nothing else Come you know this is for the family and also, of course, the employees. He has a very he has a very big focus on being fair. His reputation is he's tough as far as like negotiating is concerned. But once his promises are made and once, like you see his goal in mind, his view is if we make a deal, you make a little bit of money, I make a little bit of money, we play the long game. That's, that's his style and I'm trying very hard to emulate, like his, his ethos.
Speaker 1:So it's been, it's been amazing to finally spend more time with him. I mean, he's a very busy man. I could imagine, oh, and he's been a machine for the past 40 years. And when he walks into a room and when he goes into like, let's say, we go to Las Vegas for the magic show for sourcing, people come out of their booth to like shake his hand. I've I've learned that the sourcing for most clothing companies now they don't operate in this way Direct relationships with the, with the factory owners having long standing relations, just trying to help each other out when there's when there's issues right.
Speaker 1:The reason why my father's reputation is so good, despite being more of a mid sized company, is that people know oh, mr Park, he would rather like die than not pay. He will pay, yeah, he will maintain his promise you will keep his word.
Speaker 1:So in this industry it's very common I won't mention like certain brands, but certain very powerful, very large brands. They'll place orders, maybe a couple of million dollars. This is for the spring collection or the summer, and then, as you know, fashion is very quick. Maybe colors change, fabrics change and they're like you know what, in like three weeks they'll say they'll call them back because they make that half and that means you eat the difference, which means now you're out of business and your factory's done Right. So there are certain brands that are not allowed in certain countries because of this horrible practice and they're like you know what? I'm big enough, I don't need to go to China. I can go to India, bangladesh, pakistan, vietnam, morocco, egypt, whatever. And it's not right. And my father's there. My father has been the kind of guy where they'll call one of the factories hey, this product that you made, fantastic. I quartered in rock. And how are you? I'm Mr Park. It's not good. What do you mean? He tells him what happened. You go.
Speaker 3:Oh my God, why do you?
Speaker 1:call me. Why are you the money that you and me were old dogs and we can't just give up?
Speaker 1:Wow we're going to maintain this business. You have to call me when you're in trouble and we'll make a deal. We'll figure it out. There's no need for this. What a guy, yeah, and I'm like Dad, that's. How do you make deals with these guys? Because it's scary. You can't put a deposit. If you're going to give a deposit to some guy you've never met before and then like bang the dash, they'll just take your money. You know you have to try to like build a rapport, right, and most companies, but they'll do more modern companies, they'll build, they'll open up a line of credit with a local bank. You guys make your deal, whether it's like FOB, ddp, stuff like that, with shipping and with my father, the factories that know him. They don't even go through that process. But oh, mr Pogni's in order, make it. What about the contracts? It's him. Yeah, 30 years this guy's been like on time and he would. He would never break his word.
Speaker 3:Not pay.
Speaker 1:So chances are, in the very near foreseeable future, it'll be me flying to these countries and like hi, I'm the sun. And this is a very big difference between like Western and like Eastern business. So in Western business if there's two companies working together, let's say, the buyer changes, or whatever. Business resumes as usual, business as usual. But with like Asian cultures it's like all right, I'm the new buyer. We have to make a new relationship.
Speaker 2:Who are?
Speaker 1:you. I need to know who, I need to know how you operate. I need to know what you like to eat, like let's see how you hang out and that's they're going to be observing me with like a magnifying glass. I'm going to be like hi, how are you? I'm here as a representative and I'm going to maintain the good reputation that we have. That's amazing.
Speaker 3:Wow, there's a lot of directions you could take this. But I mean for me, I think a lot of our, a lot of our listeners. They're either aspiring entrepreneurs or they're getting started, or maybe they have a small business and I think there's a lesson to be learned in you're coming into an already successful business, probably going through a lot of the bumps in the road that a new entrepreneur would make, but also trying to implement. You know new practices, maybe up to date. You know social media, whatever that is. Talk me through that transition from NYPD right to where you are today and kind of some of the challenges you face In the NYPD, despite how good your work ethic may be or your results.
Speaker 1:Like in my unit, I was number one, but that doesn't mean anything, because am I best?
Speaker 3:friends with you, or do you like?
Speaker 1:this guy better? Or does this person have an aunt who you know? And the NYPD? That's a very, very common thing If you just scrape by and who knows who and whatever.
Speaker 1:Fine, I mean, don't get me wrong, there are units that are merit-based, thank God, like we need them. But for the most part I just didn't matter what I thought, I just did the best I could and I was trying to help the general public and any investigation I had. And then in this job, people are looking to me to make decisions, or looking to me to learn their division, their department, well enough that I can make informed decisions that will take the company in a positive new direction. And the first thing I've noticed is, yes, the products are amazing. The one in the world makes this quality product at this price point.
Speaker 1:My father has no competitors. Covid was probably like record-breaking for us and, like you know, all these other companies went under and when you have kind of like, I guess not the best intentions in your business practices, covid revealed that and then they all just went under and my father, he survived it. And, of course, what's also cool about him is when he first started in like clothing and textiles, there was like over 500 Korean businesses in the Tristate area, and now it's just him. So you know like, wow, I'm impressed by him, wow.
Speaker 2:That's incredible. Can you tell me about well, I'm guessing your dad's Christian, yes, yeah, that those those fundamentals just Just making sure you always pay when you owe someone money right, having integrity with your word, I mean, those are that's just proverbs, that's the wisdom that you get right from the Bible. I'm so glad that a man like him has a son like you. That's really winning big in this world, because that's awesome. I gotta love to.
Speaker 1:You know, I gotta Like. All I want to do is just one of two things is gonna happen either I'm gonna do awesome and he's gonna be like, oh god, I can relax now and sit back or, knowing my father, he'll get really excited. Oh, what's this? We get involved, right, yeah?
Speaker 3:and then that's even more scary.
Speaker 1:No, no for me. For me, that'd be fine, you know, because this company is his baby. Wow right and to see him have that energy which will keep him young.
Speaker 2:Yeah, right and nobody.
Speaker 1:I love this. What have you done so cool? And he's, he's got. He's a, he's a, even though he's over 70 years old.
Speaker 2:He's very like hip.
Speaker 1:You're pretty trendy, you know and even though I'm trying to teach him about Marketing and social media and the internet, and like SEOs and SEOs, which I'm still in the process of learning about Bringing it all together he, he can sense that there's opportunity here, right? And he's being very Korean and conservative in the manner of like not gonna say anything, he's gonna sit back and watch me do it. He's like you have the green light, you go ahead, wow. And then he's like waiting, waiting. So then this way it's very smart, because if I do, awesome is like see, I told you, and if I don't do good, he's like which is totally fine.
Speaker 2:I got it. He's got a lot of wisdom. This guy, no, he definitely does the the trend? You said that during COVID, you guys had growth. Yes, which is just Crazy because most retailers just went completely out of business. Man, yes, what was it? Was it the relationships with the supply chain? Like what? How did you guys boom in such a difficult time?
Speaker 1:Well, one of the more important things would be and my father, he like he talks about how these other businesses they borrow when they make their buys right. My father's against this. He's like, oh you crooks, you're borrowing someone else's money. That's not right. Pay you, pay yourself, do it yourself, cover it right and, and you know just, he's savvy about how he wants the inventory to be and how every every company operates in like a different Model right, for example, like Zara Zara huge company. Mr Ortega is in charge of that.
Speaker 1:He's pretty amazing, he knows he's been doing this for years and it takes Zara like on average, like Two weeks from drawing to floor, which is super fast. It's ridiculous. All they do is focus on R&D trend, push it and they pop it up, as opposed to like uniglo, which takes them like a year. But they own the entire process, they own that mill, they own that cotton field like they hit that ships, my ship. It's a complete different model and it's complete different kind of business style and their products are different. But that's how they operate and then that means you have to kind of foresee what trends will sell. You'll notice, you know go every year.
Speaker 1:Yeah, of course uniglo sells more basics, but they don't, they don't take those risks right some graphic stuff here and there, but very safe, decently fashionable clothing that will not go out of style, right, right. Whereas Zara is like we're pushing the envelope. We're ahead of everybody with fabrication and color All right, right, there, they're purely a fashion brand. But with that, speed comes cost comes price, and sometimes at the detriment of quality and Our company. We do it kind of the old-fashioned way, which I think is smart, because now I'll learn about it. Like we, we travel to different countries, mostly like Europe, because Europe's kind of ahead of America in regards to men's fashion and and we'll look at the colors, we'll look at the fabrications, we'll get ideas and we'll we'll have our own designers Come up with ideas based on this data Right, which I guess.
Speaker 1:I guess a lot of people don't want to do anymore because it's a lot of traveling, it's a lot of footwork, it's hard, you know, I take in the red eye. It's like you'll do three countries in like five days. That's not fun, but you get the information and that can put you ahead. Sometimes, like our company is more of a fashion brand. So we have been ahead in certain like designs. Wow, like we won. This is cool.
Speaker 1:How come no one knows who we are, though. This is not okay, so that's where I step in. So I just told them the marketing is it's mandatory. The company is 30 years old. Only the locals of each exact store location know who we are. As much as I love them for their loyalty and their and their faith in keeping us up and going, there's other people who can benefit from this. Hmm, right, and the website. We relaunched it it's a like only three weeks ago on Shopify, and I got the Instagram and the tiktok and Pinterest and I got Facebook up for the older crowd that's I guess that would be me and it's, it's moving, it gets moving. So it's not bad, but I think the SEOs and the SCMs are what's necessary. That's what's gonna tie it all together.
Speaker 3:Talk to me. Every successful business leaves, leaves, clues, right and and being around your dad, he's been doing this for 30, 40 years, right and quite clearly is a success. What are and you've been around him your whole life, obviously what are some of the fundamental, I Guess, business values, core values that he's implemented throughout the organization, that's, that have proven successful over time.
Speaker 1:My father is all about trust. He'll take his time and he's slow to anger. He's definitely he's got a calming energy about him, but there's a charisma, so there's, there's a power in him. You can see it when he walks into a room. Whether he's smiling, it's pissed, it's there and he's the. He's the kind of guy where, when you see him, you just want to, you want to make him proud, you want him to like you and he motivates this and he instills this.
Speaker 1:Right, our company is mid-sized, so there are certain things that skilled employees can attain elsewhere. Why? Why work here? And they? They see this in him and they see what. He's built from scratch.
Speaker 1:It used to be a VP of like a wholesale company and they're like you're nuts to quit, you're nuts to start over. You'll fail? No, I won't. I have a dream. I see it. I'll get it. And he's come this far and I want to. I want to, like, put the cap on it.
Speaker 1:All right, look, here's the social media. Here, let's go national. Your, your products are good enough. They will compete, they will win, like I'm thinking, as the economy is being crazy. All right, zara and H&M they're not cheap anymore, you know. And our clothes. I think my personal opinion our quality is better and it costs. It's much more affordable. I, we sell a hundred dollar jeans for 30 bucks. Who does this? And it's all because that sense of fairness in him he's like. You know, we could mark it up, we could make more, but it's not right. And and why would we do that if I, if I pay this, then I'll charge this. That's fair and he sticks to that. So he has all my respect and more. And the workers the workers respect him too. They want to make him proud. You can see it in their faces when they see him walk by. You know he's here, the boss is here. We got to do this. We're it's not like we're my old boss, he's here, you know it's different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I, I love that man, I love that. I'm sure you've had an insane transition right from just learning Operations, figuring out and re-implementing marketing, creating long-term strategies, right Traveling and meeting all different types of people of different countries, shadowing different, you know, department heads. I mean, tell me, tell me about what that transition looked like and, and I guess, now that you you're, you're in and have completed transition, what you wish would have been different, oh, Wow hmm, you know, I wish.
Speaker 1:Probably the only thing I would wish would be I wish I'd started this sooner. You know, because when I go with like the head buyer and the head designer and we go to like Amsterdam, for example, which is like men's fashion capital, and you see what they've got, I'm at the beginning I was like I have no idea what I'm looking for. How do I, how do I sell clothes? How do I know what's gonna sell? I can't just pick out what I like. I had to think about what our customers would like. And what's this fabric, what's? I can't tell this. What is this? I have no idea. Right, and the buyer would pick it up is I see? Then this is interlock. This is a different kind of weave. I'm looking at it like I have no idea what you're saying I have to.
Speaker 1:Google this and then the head designer would explain the techniques for the dying of the jeans and denim and the cut. Look at this cut. This is designed for this, this is designed for that. This is this particular look and it was a gross overload of information. And Two years later now I'm much more confident, but still there's just. This is like a wealth of knowledge that they've been doing this for 30 years. So I will always, always rely on their suggestions, their experience, but it's nice to know that I can pick stuff up like I think this is good and they're like I agree.
Speaker 2:Like yay.
Speaker 1:Like okay, so this is like the proper, like French Terry brush finish right. And he's like it is oh good, You're doing your homework of course so.
Speaker 2:So, like I Guess, I'm asking him because one of my best friends he just put out an Instagram reel and he's a young man, he's 29 years old, he runs a successful business and he just had a baby. Well, right, and he's like holding his baby in this video and saying I really hope Maverick takes over the business. What kind of wisdom, what kind of plan would you give? How would you trans? Give him a transition plan for his child when the time comes?
Speaker 1:That's tricky, you know. I have two daughters myself and I think it's gonna be a clash between the current modern Norm of how people are raised as opposed to traditional. The problem with the modern view is they view tradition as oh, it's old. They don't think about how it came to be or why it's there right, when I was 30 and Married with this career and the first baby, I was thinking something was missing. Right, I'm doing the best I can, I'm headed in the right direction, but there's like a. There's like a, like a gap somewhere. And now, with my father saying I need you, you're gonna lead this family and you're gonna protect all these employees and make sure that they have families.
Speaker 1:There's, there's a certain Weight to it and there's a certain purpose right.
Speaker 1:There's more to you in your life than just you in your little circle, right, like that's very selfish and never mind it. Yeah, it's like the longevity and the legacy is there and I didn't really understand it until very recently and it makes the way I view my father, changes everything. Wow, you've been thinking about this the whole time. Yeah, come on, boy. Okay, I'm sorry, I'm still learning dad, you know, and it's very humbling that he has this kind of drive and this discipline and this, this long-term view. I mean, he comes from a huge family, like six siblings, right, and he's the youngest son and somehow he's led this success and he's kept an eye on them all, he's protected them. It's amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah and the like at first I was like, man, I'm gonna was a kid.
Speaker 1:He's not a hassle like it was coming to you and now he sees it as like this it's amazing gift that he has the ability to give to them. He doesn't feel bad about it at all. Like that love that privilege.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a privilege, right. He's like I have this gift, god help me out, and I can do this. Yes, he's like I'm I'm a businessman. It's the best kind of person to be. Yeah, even the president has someone telling him what to do not me, right? That's true? I don't think it's very true. And he has the ability to build whatever, depending on, like you know, like the work of his own, the quality of his own work.
Speaker 2:That's. That's the secret, man. The secret is when you're raising kids and you want them to take over your business, or you want them to not be spoiled brats, or you want them to not be Like just throwing the family business to shams the secret is you yourself need to just be a good man.
Speaker 1:I think that's the best example.
Speaker 3:I think, I think Beyond that right. The secret is actually not making it about yourself right.
Speaker 3:I've noticed in my own life. The moment I take the focus off like me making money, or me being successful, and like how can I make sure that my employees succeed? Or my future family is set up, right, yes, that's when I see success. And the same is true. I had a friend come to me and they're like dude, I got to speak in front of like a hundred people. What do I do?
Speaker 3:And the minute you take it off yourself like, well, how can I provide the most value to these hundred people? Right, how can I make sure that they have the best experience that they possibly can? The anxiety is gone, right, you're no longer feeling. Oh, my god, what are they thinking about me? You're like how do I provide the most value? Right, and I think that that actually is a secret. How can I give? Hmm, how can I set my future family up? And that sounds like. Or your employees right, I have an obligation to my employees, and it sounds like that was the focus for your father. Or his vendors, right, his vendors has partners. Everybody did business with you. Just focus on doing the right thing by them, right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, always, that's. That's always been like certain details that he focuses on. He focuses on value of time, on what you're making, being proud of it, right? My father tells me that every penny is valuable. Hmm, you put in time and effort to make that. Don't just throw it away. I think about what it took and you have to value this. And this is like your journey, right? And he's still very humble, despite all the success that is that he's amounted to. Right the way he treats people. No one is beneath him, right. He's like, his attention is there, speak like, you'll hear you. And this is something that I think is very amazing and I think it's missing in the world, like where people need to treat each other in this manner.
Speaker 2:I love that man.
Speaker 1:I love that.
Speaker 3:You're faced with a tough challenge which is taking the old school way of doing business, which has proven successful and probably lost in a lot of ways, and applying the new school way of doing business and merging the two. I imagine that's kind of what you struggle with consistently.
Speaker 1:It's tricky to try to explain certain things to people that don't quite get it. If I say, hey, do you know what a viral video is? They're like no, okay, see, that's a small problem. This is what's driving the market now. People don't sit in front of the TV anymore. It's different. There's streaming services, there's their phones, there's social media. One of the regional managers was complaining we don't have young customers anymore. Where are they? I told them they're not on the street, they're on their phones. You have to reach them there. And social media, from what I've learned, takes anywhere from six months to a year to really build a proper following. I'm pushing it as hard as I can because I think, as the transition continues, as the years to come, that online presence is mandatory. You need it.
Speaker 2:It's vital.
Speaker 1:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Operating 20 stores across the East Coast is no small feat. What are some challenges that you faced in managing and expanding this business?
Speaker 1:Let's see. The first challenge is I'm the owner's son. Everyone's watching me. Every little mistake I make, every decision I make, everything I say. It can be analyzed. That's just the nature of the beast. No one's looking to be malicious. You're on stage, so everyone's looking at you. It's tricky when everyone in retail, I think, is taking a hit. It's a tough time. Every store has its own unique situations. For example, maybe the electrical doesn't work in this one. This other store is flooding for some reason. I had one store with a sign collapsed because New York buildings, they're old. That's a unique problem. I call FD. I got to get disposal. Then I need to call the city to bring out inspectors. You have to OK new designs. I have to call the landlord who doesn't want to see my face. I understand he's like oh, you want more money. No, no, let's just figure this out. I make money, you make money. This is how it's going to work. One store is next to a fish market, so it attracts rats. Oh my God, what is this.
Speaker 1:Keeping them out. Construction employees, sometimes some of the younger generation. They don't understand the value of what we have. It's not their fault, not at all. I try to explain it to them. You're a part of something very, very cool and you get to dictate your level of involvement. You sell an amazing product. I'll tell you about the fabrics. I'll tell you about the guy who sold them to us.
Speaker 1:People want to feel good about their purchase In this store. They have every right to. They have every right to. It's a steal what they're getting. You need to show that to them. We're not here just to put on a song and dance and swindle these people, the customers. They're so important. Without them there's no show. I try to explain to them how important sales are, how important it is to treat the people like anyone. I have this weird homeless lady come in. I'm like hi, how are you? Is there anything you're looking for? She looks at me. She's like oh, are you going to treat me like a human? You bet I am. Come on, let's go, let's see what I can do to help you. Why not? All these relationships are really important. At least maybe she doesn't buy anything. So what, she'll go outside. She'll be like you know what that store? They're cool. Those are good people. That's what I want to push.
Speaker 2:I love that man. I love that there's a lot going on in your store. From prior conversations I know that you're vertically integrated. You guys handle design, manufacturing and retailing in-house. Yes, I mean, it sounds like a logistical nightmare.
Speaker 1:How do you?
Speaker 2:handle every step of the process.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of shouting and you know everyone. I think this is the most intricate part of this, of any kind of business. Right is managing the people right. Every employee, from top to bottom, has their own perspective on what's going on and what their particular skill set is right. If you're the buyer or your head of production or you're doing like logistics and data, what you're doing is the most important thing to themselves. Naturally, and being above, you kind of have to try to like manage this. Okay, listen, you're all important. Everything is vital here. So let's just try to work together. Let's keep the personal feelings out of it. Let's be careful with the tone, like I think, one of the tricky things in the NYPD that I've noticed, which is probably any like office setting, there's always some people who communicate in a way where other people don't quite get it and they can come off wrong, right?
Speaker 1:No, they don't hate you. That's what this is, you know, and let's just like I'm trying to like me. I like to empathize with everybody. I want to hear everyone's story. I want to hear what their concerns are. You can't just listen to one person, right, and you got to just watch, and people will always show you who they are and what they can do. So just give them that opportunity and you'll just like hand. I think it's best to always handle each situation on a case-by-case basis. It's tiring, but it's fair.
Speaker 2:It sounds like you're the kind of guy that treats the janitor the same way that you treat the CEO Of course.
Speaker 1:When I see the janitors, I tell them thank you. The floor looks amazing. How's your family? Everyone's doing good. It's all that matters, I love that brother.
Speaker 2:I love that, dan. What's the future look like for Zios?
Speaker 1:You know, what's interesting is, as I've started, the social media and the internet business people, the new people who are seeing us now, are new customers. They view us as like a startup, like, oh, I've never heard of you guys. This is a great product. What do you mean? You have 20 plus stores. That's crazy. So actually it's very exciting. I'm trying to push it fast because I'm afraid of what the economy is going to do. But and then there's two wars going on and it's affecting everything. Right, but I think it's an exciting time. There's so much opportunity here. If the internet business does what I expect it to, it changes everything how the clothes will fit, who will be our target audience, the older quantities, everything will change from there. And then the expansion. I expect this internet aspect to knock it out over the park compared to all the other brick-and-mortar stores. I don't know how long it'll take. Sooner is always better than later, of course but I know the potential is there.
Speaker 1:They look at Fashion Nova. They're worth $500 million. They have three stores like that. They just recently made and everyone knows Fashion Nova and what they're creating and it's like okay, this is an outfit that you're gonna wear one time. You're gonna spend this much on it, but if you need it in a pinch, it's there. I'm thinking we make stuff so much better. You can wash it, it won't shrink, it'll like last, and quality and the workmanship is there. How can we not succeed? Yeah, it seems impossible to me. Just have to keep pushing. Be smart. That's how I view it. The sky's the limit.
Speaker 3:You gotta get the VP of marketing over at Fashion Nova.
Speaker 1:Their marketing is fantastic.
Speaker 3:It is.
Speaker 2:It has their geniuses.
Speaker 1:Wow, truly impressive.
Speaker 2:That's a power poach move. It's amazing so.
Speaker 1:I'm like, hey, you want a job.
Speaker 2:I'll reach over there. What's the story with Apple CEO? I'm blanking right now Steve Jobs. How long did it take him to recruit his executives?
Speaker 3:Like two years. He would like go after like the best in the business and recruit him for like two years on average. That's smart.
Speaker 1:I know, I think definitely. One thing I believe as being in a supervisory role is look for people who know more than you and then get them.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Don't be humble on the worries and charges. We already know this. We don't know shit about shit. We just need to know somebody who knows shit about shit Absolutely.
Speaker 1:If you're smarter than me, you know more about this than I need you Exactly.
Speaker 3:I think you guys have a great story Really is, honestly, if you could figure out a way to distribute that through social media, through your website, through everything you know old-school way of doing business. Quality right, like that's not something. You see, these pants, I think I bought off Instagram. They're pieces of shit, but I bought them off Instagram Right. So I think if you could see that market but also deliver a quality product, that's gonna keep people coming back and back and back. I think this guy is the limit for you guys Really.
Speaker 1:Thank you. I think we can do it too.
Speaker 2:It's so. It's like it's a breath of fresh air to see how much you believe in your product. Really, I was just doing a sales training this morning. All the sales guys I said look, if you believe in what you're offering so much, right, the sale becomes really really easy. Man, eric, you told us in like the last two pot thing, like a couple pods ago, if you could go back to your, back to like 2000, and go to your the old version of yourself. But your old version does not know who you are how convicted will you be to say, bro, buy Bitcoin, buy it right now everything you got doubled down right and I bet you're, as you would convince old you to buy a ton of Bitcoin.
Speaker 1:I know what I would say to my old self Idiots, stop trying to play hero. No one cares.
Speaker 3:But you are, that you are convicted and you believe in the product, which I think is super refreshing because a lot of people you know in the business world and maybe they're selling something I'll believe in and you know you could do that with marketing and sales. But it's so much easier if you believe in the product or you have a quality product.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does make the whole process much smoother, much easier. It's amazing when, when we have sourcing, come by maybe a new sourcing guy wants to see what we've got. We show them samples. He's like this is what you sell. That's insane. Why don't you charge more, right? I think there's a? We have this like pu, like bomber jacket 60 bucks, and I brought it to this one sourcing guy hey man, can you uh Make this? Wow, there's a lot of like bells and whistles on this. This is probably like 80 bucks to make 80 bucks to myself for 60.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:What do you mean? How? You just tell me.
Speaker 1:Wow, and it happens and it's like the hunt that the buyers what my father has done. I remember when I was a kid he was traveling all the time. I had no idea what he was doing, but now, seeing it in building these relationships and saying, listen, I know what you can do, you know what I can do, like that it's amazing because we don't have the buying power that some of these huge brands have, but they prefer us Because they're like I trust this guy. They'll always be there.
Speaker 3:I knew you deal with the, the, like, the, the consumer mentality, right, that that price equals quality. Right, because I think At least I can speak for myself if I go to the grocery store and I see one of the items is more expensive than all the others. Like that one's probably the best you assume so naturally, of course, right.
Speaker 1:So what I've been trying to do is is train the employees To just know more about the company, because most people, when they work for a company and they're just like, and they're younger and this is like a transitional job, they don't care. But they don't understand, they don't do the research as to what they're, where they're working and what it's all about. And then what they need is to see someone who's driven and motivated by it. And I tell them listen, if you want to be the salesperson, to the cashier, to the manager, to the regional manager, to a buyer who comes with me to Amsterdam, india, bangladesh, egypt, that can be you if you want it right, but understand what's here. So when I talk to the customers, they'll say, hey, they're holding something and like you know what that is? No, that denim is made in Pakistan.
Speaker 1:We gave this guy the contract he provided us like a quality product. I'll show it to him. See, this is woven, this is knit like, feel the stretch here. They look at the color and then they can tell out this guy, like he's the deep hardcore into this, like yes, I am Our, my name is behind this and I'm gonna show you? Why Try it on. You know whether it's your style or not. Understand what the quality is there. Take a look. And then the customers they, they want to, they want to speak also and they want you. They want to be heard, but they want to be informed of what they're there for. And then, lo and behold, the sales are up. People like I, like this store, who's in charge of this? This person, who are you like? All? I'm the owner, son on the VP. Wow, and you're like making sales on the floor.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, okay, like what are you talking about? Of course, that man.
Speaker 3:I guess I guess putting my VP hat on. If I was you, the struggle would be that makes sense in a retail store, right, and you can inform your customer and they, you teach them about the quality and then they buy your product and they love it and they keep coming back. How do you do that on social media, where Tiktok, sir people two seconds. Next, how do you inform your customer that this is a quality product for a cheap price? That would be I would have a hard time with that.
Speaker 1:My plan would be like as we just got started. So my plan would definitely be next, to Make some kind of like about video. You'll see a quick flushes the office, my father will say a few words and and I'll just bring it all together and explain to them that this is not like, because I'm afraid I was afraid at first. Like what if people think we're like a team who are a sheen? Like what if they think we're just making some cheap product?
Speaker 1:right because based on price right and we're gonna need Probably to give out samples and maybe, like some micro influencers, give their honest to sense we're gonna have to get reviews like this is why we need to expand and reach as many people as possible. Yeah, I think when people say, hey, it's a family owned vertical company, how many of those are around anymore? No one, no one, trusts big corporate at this point and If they see people actually care about their product and they've been working hard at it and these old relationships are still there, I think they'll give it a try you know it's good, you know that's a great idea.
Speaker 2:The videos I think captivating videos always do a great job. There's this one website called cadre. It's a real estate crowdfunding platform where accredited investors invest in these, these investment deals. They blew up, they like, over a very short period of time, I think they they have a couple billion under management and what they do that I just absolutely love is that each video has no, each Investment offering has a video, and it has their executive team, it has their CEO, it has their chief investment officer giving a little background on why this is such a great deal. And it's short, sweet to the punch three to five minutes and when you leave that video you're like whoa, this is a. This sounds like a great investment opportunity. But, dan, I want to. I want to wrap this up with, I guess, for the audience is the aspiring entrepreneurs, the people that are Interested in the fashion industry and want to get their own businesses, or even just me, just regular operators that want to grow their businesses to, to a company like yours, what kind of advice would you give us?
Speaker 1:You're definitely gonna come across adversity and people who doubt you. But if you have something in mind, right, like whether it's Investment and you've done the research and you believe in it, or it's a product that you've made, or you bought product that you found and you know there's potential there, you have to be tenacious. You just you can't give up and you can't Be disheartened by like trials and tribulations. This is this is a big new shift for me. Am I gonna mess up? I'm sure I am. I've been pretty lucky so far, but it's coming. You've messed up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, nothing. I've been very careful.
Speaker 1:Yes, because honestly, in my situation, I'm very, I'm very fortunate as far as I'm concerned, like, let's say, the internet business kills it right which I'm sure it will and it changes the company and transforms and it becomes like ten times the size that it was. As far as I'm concerned, 90% of the hard work has been done already. Yep, right, you guys have already done this. I don't really deserve the credit. I'm not looking for the credit, I just want to make everyone succeed. You know you make money, I make money, we make money. Great.
Speaker 2:Everyone's good family, everyone's good food. You have a nice car, beautiful, that's what.
Speaker 1:I want. I would love to see my workers coming in and like a hot car. Well, you just bought that. Yeah, it's nice.
Speaker 3:It's very nice.
Speaker 1:No problem, that's what I want. Everyone wins, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:I Love that. Brother. Listen from what I know about you, what I know about your family and even the gentleman that made the introduction, you guys are good people, it's a great company and we wish you nothing but the best. And you know, god bless you, brother. Thank you so much for coming on the pod. If the people want to meet you, reach out to you, buy some inventory. What's the best way to get touch?
Speaker 1:Oh, that would be. Let's see, instagram is zeos, where that's our handle, x ios W ear. Same for tiktok and Pinterest. And then we've got the website zeosamericacom and Reach out there. I'm actually reading all the emails anyway. So everyone who reaches out to us, I go. I stay up all night. I answer everybody's as best I can Wow, that's crazy. Like. What do you think about this size or anything about this club? Oh, I think you have great tastes. It's fantastic. I don't like, don't worry about it.
Speaker 2:And then they're like who are?
Speaker 1:you? Oh, I'm just Dan, don't worry about that he's in the guy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, whatever you, whatever you need, oh, you're great.
Speaker 1:AI like I'm not a bot you know, I think it's like whatever you need.
Speaker 3:I love that. Well then, thank you so much, man. This was awesome, inspiring and and, honestly, just that like refreshing conversation for coming from someone that has you know younger, we get transitioned.
