I’ve always believed that if you create
something that people want they buy it I
think we’re doing very well but I think
we can do better and all of the things
that we do however when you do settle on
something that just feels right you
don’t need to doubt yourself anymore I
think if you’re determined and you
decide you’re going to do something you
kind of fake it a little bit and you
jump right in and you do it I don’t feel
anything I don’t feel any of this it’s
just I don’t feel it it’s not going to
work nobody’s gonna buy this looks like
a markdown rack to me get it out of here
doesn’t work out I think people that
that are compelled to achieve never
really quite feel that they have
achieved you have to be what you’re
going to be you have to fulfill your
destiny he’s an American fashion
designer and film director he gained
fame as a creative director at Gucci and
Yves Solara in 2006 he launched his own
label he’s Tom Ford and here is my take
on his top ten rules for success number
six my personal favorite and make sure
to stay all the way to the end for some
special bonuses I’ve always believed
that if you create something that people
want they buy it if they buy it it
causes sales if you have sales you have
money coming in it’s quite simple to me
that but yes of course I’m extremely
aware of costs I’m very cost-conscious I
weigh you know is this worth it is that
worth it should we have been there
should we not let’s do the performer
does it work does it not work that the
part of selling is a you know business
is a part of designing a brand you know
it’s yes it’s maybe not the visual part
but you’re building something that’s
what I love about what I do I get to
design but I’m also building I’m making
not only a shoe a beautiful dress a man
suit I’m building a company and that’s
exciting it’s exciting you have to be
able to motivate people you have to have
a point of view that you communicate to
them and you you build a company the way
you build a house and I find that
incredibly interesting so sales side is
key it’s really part of building a brand
building a company building a solid
business
and I find that fascinating and fun I
can’t separate the two
you’ve call your stores you’ve launched
em online Tom Volcom kind of what’s next
for you well I think first of all we
need to take a little bit of a breather
and really consolidate because I think
we’re doing very well but I think we can
do better and all of the things that we
do and things are not you know they’re
never quite good enough for me and we’re
never quite there so that’s that’s the
very next step although one hundred and
store 100 stores is still not enough but
we’re gonna say how do you classify good
enough in Tom fell’d world in the
perfectionist world what is good enough
I think good enough in anything is where
you feel that you’ve given your best and
you’ve said everything you have to say
and I don’t feel there that I’m at that
point yet do you ever doubt yourself
of course I doubt myself constantly and
in fashion you have to doubt yourself up
until the very last minute even if
you’ve finished a collection and it’s
the night before you’re going to show it
and you realize oh god that’s so wrong
you have to throw it out you have to get
rid of it you have to destroy it it
doesn’t matter how you fix it what you
change you have to change it so you
constantly doubting yourself you know
you constantly have to question however
when you do settle on something that
just feels right you don’t need to doubt
yourself anymore it’s when you get to
the point where you’re no longer
doubting that you know okay that’s
that’s the answer or at least that’s the
way I operate I think if you’re
determined and you decide you’re going
to do something you kind of fake it a
little bit and you jump right in and you
do it if you’re the kind of person who
you know who who chases after things
they want and is determined and I was so
and I was the same with making a film
I’ve never made a film before I had no
idea what I was doing but that’s not
true
I did have an idea what I was doing I
knew what I wanted I’d studied so many
you know other films obviously but
watched camera angles and the way things
were shot and actors I had taken enough
acting classes in my life to know how to
talk to an actor and to work but I was
very very lucky and
everything happened to work but again I
you know I had never directed a film but
I I knew I could I felt I could and it
felt very comfortable you know as one
gets to a certain age you’re very aware
of time and mortality and of taking
moments in your life to enjoy things and
yet I’m in the middle of building a new
business which I’m very excited about so
my life is accelerating in that way but
I think I’m also maybe appreciating it
and understanding and enjoying it more
than I did the first time around I was
having dinner with Karl Lagerfeld in my
mid 30s and things had gone quite well
very rapidly for me at Gucci and
everything was really you know on its
way up and I said Carla I just like I
don’t feel anything I don’t feel any of
this it’s just I don’t feel it and he
said you will you’ll feel it later when
you look back at it and it’s true now I
look back at that time and I think god I
didn’t really feel it I should have you
know felt it more so I’m very aware of
that today and of trying to feel
everything that I do it’s very hard you
think in order to succeed not just in
the fashion business but just to succeed
generally is is it talent or hard work
it’s a combination of both but I would
say it’s slanted towards hard work
slanted towards obsession
there are many designers who have much
greater talent as a designer than I do
but they may not have my drive they may
not work as hard they may not have the
focus the desire I mean you have to have
a talent because in the end you can have
all those things and if the pair of
pants you make don’t make someone’s butt
look good they’re not going to buy them
so you have to have the talent to be
able to make something that people want
but then you also have to have the drive
and the desire to you know sometimes
people are successful because maybe they
don’t have that drive but they have
someone around them who takes their raw
talent and pushes them but what you
often see is when not other person steps
away their career can collapse even
though their talent may be immense
I’m very practical you know if I’m
designing something I’m saying okay but
who’s going to wear this where are they
going in it
it’s not gonna work nobody gonna buy
this looks like a markdown rack to me
get it out of here doesn’t work out no
I’m not I’m just I’m pointing at you
because you’re sitting in front of me
I’m not saying your dress that’s like a
markdown right but also after having
been in the business a long time I can
look at something to say well markdown
that’s going to be a markdown don’t even
do it don’t send it to the store I have
wonderful a to say middle-class taste
that’s not the right word I don’t like
to use words like middle classes stupid
word but I have mass taste I have a I
think I have you know and what I mean by
that is it may be aspirational mass
taste but if you put 10 shoes down on a
table I can almost it’s rarely that I
will fail I will say those three are
going to be the top sellers that one
will sell the most and you know or if I
pick the ones that I like they will
generally be the ones that perform it’s
just you know that’s part of your talent
as a designer is being able to know what
people want before they know and while I
said that the most important thing is
the product and that really is true
because you can have all the advertising
in the world you can have all the hype
and when people go to the store if they
try on your pants and they don’t look
good and they don’t fit or they don’t
like the fabric they’re not going to buy
them but to get them into the store to
get them there you need the other part
of the equation you need to excite the
men you need you know pants or pants I
mean fashion you know one pair of black
pants and the other pair of black pants
you know so you have to make fashion
aspirational you have to make people
believe that if they just have those
pants their whole life is going to come
together they’re going to get that guy
they want to get that new job they’re
going to get you know it’s because and
that’s just as much as a part of the
experience and and it actually again
that sounds like a terrible very
calculated thing but it’s not because by
creating that image you have endowed
another quality on to that pair of pants
or pair of shoes that really you know
makes it something else and makes your
experience of wearing that thing
something else and enhances your life if
it all gives you confidence to bring out
the worst in yes the word that gives you
the combos to bring up the
best in you that’s in it’s contributed
to your absolutely well be absolutely
right I’m kept very my feet are really
kept on the ground by Richard Buckley
who I live with who I’ve been with for
25 years the adorable Richard Buckley
though who keeps me so grounded I’m in a
hole most of the time so when I’m at
home I’m definitely not treated like a
fashion legend I don’t think of myself
that way
occasionally when I have someone in for
an interview you know a young student or
somebody that I’m interviewing for a new
position and I see their handshake I
realize oh you know I maybe have this
effect on people but I don’t think of
myself that way no I don’t think you can
think of yourself that way I think
people that that are compelled to
achieve never really quite feel that
they have achieved and it drives you to
keep kind of jumping through hoops okay
I think the moment you get to a place
where you think oh I’m a fashion legend
or I’m a legend or I’m a legend it
whatever I do yeah then that’s when
you’re no longer competitive and you’re
no longer thinking you’re no longer
moving and that’s when you essentially
you know dead they’re actually two
questions first one is what is your why
what makes you wake up in the morning
and do what you do especially when you
feel low because we are compulsion I
don’t have any choice you know everyone
has to live their destiny I know you
wanted ask two but I won’t remember the
first one if you go on to the second one
you you have to be what you’re going to
be you have to fulfill your destiny for
whatever reason this is this the way I
am I jump up and I start doing these
things and I like building things and as
a kid I liked building things and what
I’m building now is a brand it’s a you
know but it is still building and it is
a compulsion I cannot help it it is what
I do and I’ve realized over time that
it’s also what makes me happy and that
if I can’t do it I don’t feel fulfilled
so it’s a compulsion
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because Rhys Ashton
asked me to so if there’s a famous
entrepreneur that you want me to profile
next leave it in the comments below and
I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know which of Tom
Ford’s top 10 rules had the biggest
impact on you meant the most to you and
why leaving in the comments and I will
join the discussion thank you so much
for watching continue to believe and
I’ll see you soon
is it as satisfying for you today as it
has been as you’ve been on this sort of
meteoric rise in terms of transforming
Gucci and all the things you’ve had to
do then is it still saps
it’s more satisfying than ever and once
I really realized that I mean that’s the
key to happiness is loving what you do
and two or three years ago you know I
all for the last 10 years of my life I
wanted to be a successful fashion
designer and I wanted to have you know a
hit show and another hit show and a
strong business and blah blah blah and
all these things that you want in life
and and I had them and I became a little
too depress for you know six months I
thought well you know as I said what am
I going to do to get my energy back and
to become excited about this again and
it dawned on me one day that I really
love what I do and that it’s not about
money it’s not about you know all these
other things because I love this it’s
something that comes naturally to me you
know if you leave me alone here long
enough Charlie I will refinish your
table change the color you’re not a guy
yeah you know we need you’re the guy
well start I mean it’s just it’s just
something I do and I love that process I
love that process whether you know I’m
doing it for a company like Gucci or
whether I’m doing it in my personal life
it’s it’s what I love and I think
everyone should be an intern by the way
I think this is a problem today as
people come out of school and they think
they should immediately be a star and in
today’s world of course you can make a
sex video and you can become a star you
know if you’re clever you can get
yourself a you know out in the world
through social media and you can become
a star but I think everyone should be an
intern you should sweep floors you
should pick up pins if you’re interested
in being an architect you know you
should run errands you should you should
do all those things because you learn so
much
something that people want they buy it I
think we’re doing very well but I think
we can do better and all of the things
that we do however when you do settle on
something that just feels right you
don’t need to doubt yourself anymore I
think if you’re determined and you
decide you’re going to do something you
kind of fake it a little bit and you
jump right in and you do it I don’t feel
anything I don’t feel any of this it’s
just I don’t feel it it’s not going to
work nobody’s gonna buy this looks like
a markdown rack to me get it out of here
doesn’t work out I think people that
that are compelled to achieve never
really quite feel that they have
achieved you have to be what you’re
going to be you have to fulfill your
destiny he’s an American fashion
designer and film director he gained
fame as a creative director at Gucci and
Yves Solara in 2006 he launched his own
label he’s Tom Ford and here is my take
on his top ten rules for success number
six my personal favorite and make sure
to stay all the way to the end for some
special bonuses I’ve always believed
that if you create something that people
want they buy it if they buy it it
causes sales if you have sales you have
money coming in it’s quite simple to me
that but yes of course I’m extremely
aware of costs I’m very cost-conscious I
weigh you know is this worth it is that
worth it should we have been there
should we not let’s do the performer
does it work does it not work that the
part of selling is a you know business
is a part of designing a brand you know
it’s yes it’s maybe not the visual part
but you’re building something that’s
what I love about what I do I get to
design but I’m also building I’m making
not only a shoe a beautiful dress a man
suit I’m building a company and that’s
exciting it’s exciting you have to be
able to motivate people you have to have
a point of view that you communicate to
them and you you build a company the way
you build a house and I find that
incredibly interesting so sales side is
key it’s really part of building a brand
building a company building a solid
business
and I find that fascinating and fun I
can’t separate the two
you’ve call your stores you’ve launched
em online Tom Volcom kind of what’s next
for you well I think first of all we
need to take a little bit of a breather
and really consolidate because I think
we’re doing very well but I think we can
do better and all of the things that we
do and things are not you know they’re
never quite good enough for me and we’re
never quite there so that’s that’s the
very next step although one hundred and
store 100 stores is still not enough but
we’re gonna say how do you classify good
enough in Tom fell’d world in the
perfectionist world what is good enough
I think good enough in anything is where
you feel that you’ve given your best and
you’ve said everything you have to say
and I don’t feel there that I’m at that
point yet do you ever doubt yourself
of course I doubt myself constantly and
in fashion you have to doubt yourself up
until the very last minute even if
you’ve finished a collection and it’s
the night before you’re going to show it
and you realize oh god that’s so wrong
you have to throw it out you have to get
rid of it you have to destroy it it
doesn’t matter how you fix it what you
change you have to change it so you
constantly doubting yourself you know
you constantly have to question however
when you do settle on something that
just feels right you don’t need to doubt
yourself anymore it’s when you get to
the point where you’re no longer
doubting that you know okay that’s
that’s the answer or at least that’s the
way I operate I think if you’re
determined and you decide you’re going
to do something you kind of fake it a
little bit and you jump right in and you
do it if you’re the kind of person who
you know who who chases after things
they want and is determined and I was so
and I was the same with making a film
I’ve never made a film before I had no
idea what I was doing but that’s not
true
I did have an idea what I was doing I
knew what I wanted I’d studied so many
you know other films obviously but
watched camera angles and the way things
were shot and actors I had taken enough
acting classes in my life to know how to
talk to an actor and to work but I was
very very lucky and
everything happened to work but again I
you know I had never directed a film but
I I knew I could I felt I could and it
felt very comfortable you know as one
gets to a certain age you’re very aware
of time and mortality and of taking
moments in your life to enjoy things and
yet I’m in the middle of building a new
business which I’m very excited about so
my life is accelerating in that way but
I think I’m also maybe appreciating it
and understanding and enjoying it more
than I did the first time around I was
having dinner with Karl Lagerfeld in my
mid 30s and things had gone quite well
very rapidly for me at Gucci and
everything was really you know on its
way up and I said Carla I just like I
don’t feel anything I don’t feel any of
this it’s just I don’t feel it and he
said you will you’ll feel it later when
you look back at it and it’s true now I
look back at that time and I think god I
didn’t really feel it I should have you
know felt it more so I’m very aware of
that today and of trying to feel
everything that I do it’s very hard you
think in order to succeed not just in
the fashion business but just to succeed
generally is is it talent or hard work
it’s a combination of both but I would
say it’s slanted towards hard work
slanted towards obsession
there are many designers who have much
greater talent as a designer than I do
but they may not have my drive they may
not work as hard they may not have the
focus the desire I mean you have to have
a talent because in the end you can have
all those things and if the pair of
pants you make don’t make someone’s butt
look good they’re not going to buy them
so you have to have the talent to be
able to make something that people want
but then you also have to have the drive
and the desire to you know sometimes
people are successful because maybe they
don’t have that drive but they have
someone around them who takes their raw
talent and pushes them but what you
often see is when not other person steps
away their career can collapse even
though their talent may be immense
I’m very practical you know if I’m
designing something I’m saying okay but
who’s going to wear this where are they
going in it
it’s not gonna work nobody gonna buy
this looks like a markdown rack to me
get it out of here doesn’t work out no
I’m not I’m just I’m pointing at you
because you’re sitting in front of me
I’m not saying your dress that’s like a
markdown right but also after having
been in the business a long time I can
look at something to say well markdown
that’s going to be a markdown don’t even
do it don’t send it to the store I have
wonderful a to say middle-class taste
that’s not the right word I don’t like
to use words like middle classes stupid
word but I have mass taste I have a I
think I have you know and what I mean by
that is it may be aspirational mass
taste but if you put 10 shoes down on a
table I can almost it’s rarely that I
will fail I will say those three are
going to be the top sellers that one
will sell the most and you know or if I
pick the ones that I like they will
generally be the ones that perform it’s
just you know that’s part of your talent
as a designer is being able to know what
people want before they know and while I
said that the most important thing is
the product and that really is true
because you can have all the advertising
in the world you can have all the hype
and when people go to the store if they
try on your pants and they don’t look
good and they don’t fit or they don’t
like the fabric they’re not going to buy
them but to get them into the store to
get them there you need the other part
of the equation you need to excite the
men you need you know pants or pants I
mean fashion you know one pair of black
pants and the other pair of black pants
you know so you have to make fashion
aspirational you have to make people
believe that if they just have those
pants their whole life is going to come
together they’re going to get that guy
they want to get that new job they’re
going to get you know it’s because and
that’s just as much as a part of the
experience and and it actually again
that sounds like a terrible very
calculated thing but it’s not because by
creating that image you have endowed
another quality on to that pair of pants
or pair of shoes that really you know
makes it something else and makes your
experience of wearing that thing
something else and enhances your life if
it all gives you confidence to bring out
the worst in yes the word that gives you
the combos to bring up the
best in you that’s in it’s contributed
to your absolutely well be absolutely
right I’m kept very my feet are really
kept on the ground by Richard Buckley
who I live with who I’ve been with for
25 years the adorable Richard Buckley
though who keeps me so grounded I’m in a
hole most of the time so when I’m at
home I’m definitely not treated like a
fashion legend I don’t think of myself
that way
occasionally when I have someone in for
an interview you know a young student or
somebody that I’m interviewing for a new
position and I see their handshake I
realize oh you know I maybe have this
effect on people but I don’t think of
myself that way no I don’t think you can
think of yourself that way I think
people that that are compelled to
achieve never really quite feel that
they have achieved and it drives you to
keep kind of jumping through hoops okay
I think the moment you get to a place
where you think oh I’m a fashion legend
or I’m a legend or I’m a legend it
whatever I do yeah then that’s when
you’re no longer competitive and you’re
no longer thinking you’re no longer
moving and that’s when you essentially
you know dead they’re actually two
questions first one is what is your why
what makes you wake up in the morning
and do what you do especially when you
feel low because we are compulsion I
don’t have any choice you know everyone
has to live their destiny I know you
wanted ask two but I won’t remember the
first one if you go on to the second one
you you have to be what you’re going to
be you have to fulfill your destiny for
whatever reason this is this the way I
am I jump up and I start doing these
things and I like building things and as
a kid I liked building things and what
I’m building now is a brand it’s a you
know but it is still building and it is
a compulsion I cannot help it it is what
I do and I’ve realized over time that
it’s also what makes me happy and that
if I can’t do it I don’t feel fulfilled
so it’s a compulsion
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because Rhys Ashton
asked me to so if there’s a famous
entrepreneur that you want me to profile
next leave it in the comments below and
I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know which of Tom
Ford’s top 10 rules had the biggest
impact on you meant the most to you and
why leaving in the comments and I will
join the discussion thank you so much
for watching continue to believe and
I’ll see you soon
is it as satisfying for you today as it
has been as you’ve been on this sort of
meteoric rise in terms of transforming
Gucci and all the things you’ve had to
do then is it still saps
it’s more satisfying than ever and once
I really realized that I mean that’s the
key to happiness is loving what you do
and two or three years ago you know I
all for the last 10 years of my life I
wanted to be a successful fashion
designer and I wanted to have you know a
hit show and another hit show and a
strong business and blah blah blah and
all these things that you want in life
and and I had them and I became a little
too depress for you know six months I
thought well you know as I said what am
I going to do to get my energy back and
to become excited about this again and
it dawned on me one day that I really
love what I do and that it’s not about
money it’s not about you know all these
other things because I love this it’s
something that comes naturally to me you
know if you leave me alone here long
enough Charlie I will refinish your
table change the color you’re not a guy
yeah you know we need you’re the guy
well start I mean it’s just it’s just
something I do and I love that process I
love that process whether you know I’m
doing it for a company like Gucci or
whether I’m doing it in my personal life
it’s it’s what I love and I think
everyone should be an intern by the way
I think this is a problem today as
people come out of school and they think
they should immediately be a star and in
today’s world of course you can make a
sex video and you can become a star you
know if you’re clever you can get
yourself a you know out in the world
through social media and you can become
a star but I think everyone should be an
intern you should sweep floors you
should pick up pins if you’re interested
in being an architect you know you
should run errands you should you should
do all those things because you learn so
much
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