Off the topic of sustainable fashion now, but you also have a “screw it up” class, what are the key lessons from screw -ups you are taking into your next project Blue Ben?
Yes, that’s right. And I am very proud of this class. I guess I am still the only person in the world who is teaching others how to fail and not to succeed! I will sum up the key lessons for you:
-
Do something for the first time, because that’s where innovation happens.
-
Do things that you are afraid of.
-
Dance with the fear, instead of fighting it.
-
Learn from your past mistakes.
All of the above points are a part of me and therefore a part of Blue Ben, maybe even encouraging me to walk this challenging path.
How do you find the right people for your team? And and what criteria do you look for?
I am now working in the start-up-ecoystem for about 7 years. I met a lot of interesting and inspiring people. So luckily I had a lot of great people in my network that I was able to contact. Sometimes I just google as I did with our designer Johannes. Other times people are attracted by the vision of Blue Ben and come to the project themselves, such as Valeria or Solange.
For me, there are 2 important criteria: Do they love what they do? And do I love to work with them? Number one is easy to find out. Just meet the person and listen to him or her. The second one is more tricky because you don’t get to know a person in just one meeting. That’s why I like to work with people on projects. If it’s a fit and the vibes are well, you can go all in. That’s it. Everything else is a process. If they love their work, they will strive to get even better and if I love to work with them I will encourage them to tap their full potential, because that’s my job!
To round this off, what are your top five people or companies we should all be following?
First I have to mention my future wife and business partner Amira Jehia. She inspires me every day to be a better feminist. She fights for women’s rights, advocates for basic income, social justice and water! You can follow her on Twitter.
Secondly Thinx, the radical idea of period proof underwear. They do a great job and I love the simple but radical approach.
Thirdly, the Ocean Cleanup. This project proves how seemingly impossible ideas can be made possible and turned into reality. Bojan Slat shows us that solving a great problem mainly is a matter of will, and only secondly one of money and knowledge.
Fourthly, my personal guru and teacher Seth Godin. He is by far the most interesting, inspiring and humble person I have ever seen in the business world! And almost nobody knows him!
And last but not least, choose yourself! At some point you need to stop following others and instead start doing!
