Final week on How Success Occurs, I spoke with achieved actor, producer and entrepreneur Lois Robbins to debate her UPF 50+ protecting clothes model, Watskin. The corporate has grown exponentially since its launch final yr, and I needed to take a seat down with Robbins to learn the way all of it occurred.
You possibly can take heed to our complete dialog above, and I’ve pulled out three key
takeaways.
Solutions have been edited and condensed for readability.
1. Necessity is the mom of invention
“I by no means considered myself as an entrepreneur, however they are saying necessity is the mom of invention,” Robbins says. “About 5 – 6 years in the past, I had a squamous cell on my face, and my dermatologist informed me I needed to have Mohs surgical procedure, so you’ll be able to think about as an actor how terrifying that was. He informed me, ‘You could keep out of the solar.’ I spend a whole lot of time open air. I really like exercising exterior, being on the water and mountaineering. One night time, I bolted up in mattress and thought, I am gonna make myself a catsuit with an identical skirt. I went downtown, discovered this nice material retailer and acquired about six totally different patterns that I assumed have been enjoyable. I referred to as a good friend of mine who was a tailor and requested her to make me a catsuit. She made me 5 – 6 outfits, and I began carrying them all over the place. I used to be stopped on the road numerous instances and informed [by people] that they’d by no means seen something like this and that I needed to make these items for others. The remainder was historical past. When you may have an actual want for one thing, a enterprise is born.”
Timestamp — 11:15
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2. Use ardour and persistence as your information
“Two summers in the past, we had an unbelievable launch celebration the place we bought a ton of our first assortment out east. Then, there was a interval of slowness — it was the tip of summer season once we launched,” Robbins says. “I assumed again then, this was possibly not essentially the most well timed factor to do. However that is the place the persistence is available in, and that is the place the idea in myself and what I had created needed to take maintain. It was a nail-biter, however we have been shifting ahead ever since with even better success than I even imagined. I do not need to jinx myself, however I feel that these days of fear are over. We have realized a lot about what works, what would not work, what our buyer needs and what they do not need. We have created new types for 4 collections now, and the model retains rising. I’ve the Shopify app on my telephone. The sale buzzer goes off many instances a day, however I get excited every time. As an actress, I’ve all the time needed to be persistent and artistic in my strategy; it is actually helped me with the enterprise. I simply preserve developing with extra concepts, and we simply preserve shifting ahead, and that is how we have grown.”
Timestamp — 26:05
3. By no means settle for “no”
“When excited about all that got here into the creation of Watskin, what stands out is how I informed myself, I am gonna do that, and I simply did not settle for the nos,” Robbins says. “I am anyone who will forge straight forward and say sure to life, and this has been a key to my success. Whether or not it was to show anybody mistaken or to show to myself that I may fulfill a dream from begin to end, I’ve all the time had a way of inner tenacity guiding my decision-making. Once I was a theater main in school, I began doing summer season inventory. I used to be solid on daytime tv, and possibly it was the naivety about me, however I’ve such distinct recollections of strolling into the room and considering, Nicely, why would not they rent me? I simply believed I used to be good, and I had sufficient confidence to hold me via. Trying again, I want I had much more confidence on the time, however I wasn’t afraid of the phrase no, and that’s the key.”
Timestamps — 6:26, 17:59
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