Career change / Global
Trading places
Many entrepreneurs began as employees who dared to look beyond the confines of their day job and follow their dream. We visit the founders of three thriving firms to find out why they have no regrets, despite the numerous challenges they faced in striking out on their own.
1.
Chris Tag
Founder, Defy
Before founding Defy, a maker of hardwearing bags, Chris Tag was an art director for Ogilvy. “I would work for nine months on a commercial that would disappear in two weeks,” he tells monocle. “I always wanted to make something a bit more meaningful that would last longer.”
Tag set up Defy and started taking on freelance jobs in 2008 while it got going. He challenged himself to have all of the cutting and stitching for his new brand done in Chicago. It took years to get there but Defy now ships to more than 30 countries, with a loyal following among Japan’s luggage connoisseurs. Two years ago it bought out Lee Sewing, a family-owned manufacturer based in Chicago.
Tag’s pivot from advertising began with some cast-off billboard vinyl. “I saw that you could make something from it. So I dragged it out to my Mini Cooper, put it in through the sunroof, then taught myself how to sew by watching YouTube.” He sold his first messenger bags to his co-workers. “Everyone paid cash, so I had $1,000 [€895] in my pocket.”
Defy’s materials have since had an upgrade but keeping manufacturing local has been key, allowing the brand to nimbly develop new ideas and test them out on the market. “Scaling this by going overseas isn’t appealing,” says Tag.
In switching careers, Tag set out to make something that could stand up to corporate culture. The business plan came later. “I said I’d be profitable in a year – but that became two, then three. Everyone talks about following your passion, which is quaint, but think through the economics and whether you can make a living from it.”
defybags.com
2.
Philipp Mayr and Dominic Flik
Co-founders, Kaisers Smoked BBQ
Philipp Mayr and Dominic Flik left their careers in industrial design 10 years ago to start Kaisers Smoked bbq, a barbecue stall next to the butcher’s at Graz’s main farmers’ market in Kaiser-Josef-Platz. “We just got bored with our jobs,” says Mayr, laughing.
Their design expertise stood them in good stead when they built their stall. “You can’t stop being a designer, even when you’re dealing with how food is presented on a plate or how the tables are situated,” says Flik.
When they founded Kaisers Smoked bbq in the early 2010s, there was a dearth of barbecue equipment in Europe, so the pair’s first smoker had to be imported from Tennessee. The result is quite possibly the only authentic US-style barbecue joint in Styria, the Austrian province where Graz is the capital.
Kaisers Smoked bbq opens its doors early, serving up smoky flavours until 22.30 from Monday to Saturday. The work is more demanding than in Mayr and Flik’s previous careers but they don’t mind. “Now we are never bored,” says Mayr with a smile.
kaisersbbq.at
3.
Bianca Gerber
Founder, Les Bois
From her office in Zug, Switzerland, Bianca Gerber tells monocle how her passion for interior design comes from her painter father and tailor mother. “Our house was full of incredible antique furniture,” she says. Gerber started her career as a paralegal in a Zürich law firm. But she bridled at the buttoned-up nature of the profession and the fact that she was working for a large organisation. “I couldn’t get used to the idea of being employed by someone else for the rest of my life,” she says.
She made the jump at 35, quitting her job in Zürich and moving to London for a furniture-design course at Central Saint Martins. Getting a degree allowed her to obtain the credentials that she needed to build her own company.
Back in Switzerland, she founded Les Bois, a design studio working with Swiss carpenters to create durable wooden furniture. “The brand focuses on minimalism, with a clean, honest and contemporary design that also celebrates its passion for raw material.”
Gerber’s background gave her an invaluable well of knowledge when negotiating the often-tumultuous legal road of solo entrepreneurship. “I’m by myself making big decisions and handling any issues with the producers,” she says. Les Bois now aims to open a showroom in the near future. “It’s worth the risk when you’re building something yourself. It’s the best decision that I ever made.”
shoplesbois.ch
