Kenneth Cole launched his shoe business out of a forty-foot truck in midtown Manhattan and quickly became known as an up-and-coming designer with an eye for street fashion. In 1986, he made a bold move by associating his nascent brand with a controversial issue at the time: the AIDS crisis, and the vital need for research. Through the 1990s and 2000s, Kennet ... Show More
Today
UGG: Brian Smith. How an epiphany, surfers, and $500 launched an iconic sheepskin footwear company.
In 1978, Brian Smith quit his accounting job in Australia and headed to California with a surfboard, some savings, and ambition. He figured California was where he’d find an idea or a product to bring back home to Australia to build a business. A year in, he was still looking.But ... Show More
1h 28m
May 25
Justin’s Nut Butter: Justin Gold. He Was Waiting Tables, Then...He Reinvented Peanut Butter.
At 25, Justin Gold was making experimental peanut butter in his home kitchen with a food processor and a stack of recipe journals. His singular obsession: bring new life to a tired lunchtime staple.What started as late-night experiments with honey, cinnamon and banana eventually ... Show More
1h 27m
Nov 2020
Nike’s Phil Knight: How to sell without selling
<p>Great branding is about identity – and it’s about matchmaking too. No one knows this better than the legendary co-founder of Nike, Phil Knight. When he and his partner, Hall of Fame track coach Bill Bowerman, started the sneaker company, they never tried to force-feed customer ... Show More
35m 40s
May 2021
Sponsored: Small Business Stories | Columbia Sportswear | 2
<p>This episode is brought to you by Wondery in partnership with Dell Technologies. In honor of small businesses, we're featuring inspiring stories of successful companies that started out small.</p><p>It’s 1970 and Gert Boyle’s life is in ruins. Her husband’s just died, and now, ... Show More
31m 23s
Jun 2024
JCPenney Sells Out with Joel Kim Booster and Scott Seiss | 39
<p>When JCPenney, the 100-year-old department store, decided to rebrand in 2011, they sought the best in the biz to give them a makeover. Enter Ron Johnson, the affable retail genius behind the Apple Store. Hailed as a techy visionary, Johnson was supposed to reinvent the brand. ... Show More
49m 2s
Feb 2021
Estée Lauder vs L'Oréal | Buying Spree | 5
<p>It’s 1991, and after the financial crash of 1987, Estée Lauder is looking for a new way to continue expanding without sinking millions of dollars and several years into developing a new brand. The answer lies in acquisitions, and they set their sights on two young, hip, buzzwo ... Show More
25m 18s
Sep 2021
Fast Fashion | Fire Sale | 1
<p>It’s 1987 and Jane Shepherdson, a star buyer for retail chain Topshop, is using her keen ability to predict trends to put the company on the map as the go-to shopping destination for young British women. But when the company is bought by prickly business tycoon Philip Green, a ... Show More
26m 49s
Jul 2022
Gucci vs Louis Vuitton | The Dom-Tom Bomb | 4
<p>Bernard Arnault makes his move to buy Gucci, but Domenico De Sole fights back with everything he’s got, making a surprisingly worthy adversary for the so-called Wolf in Cashmere. But in an effort to stave off Arnault’s advances, De Sole makes a deal with a devil. And both Loui ... Show More
41m 6s