We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jon Phenom a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Jon, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
I think fashion is changing quickly and will still be interrupted much more than we’ve seen. I think getting out in front of the change is important.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I’ve worked in Fashion and Apparel development for over 22 years. I started as a clothing designer at a skate company and moved up to creative Director and Brand Director. I started a YouTube channel and as the Clothing Brand Mentor, I tackle a wide range of challenges for brand owners.
What sets me apart?
What sets me apart is while I was working corporate I was also consulting with people. So at the moment I’ve consulted for well over a decade and in more recent years it’s been brands that I’ve found me on my YouTube channel as a drop over 700 videos of Q&A on how to start a clothing line.
What am I most proud of?
Fashion is a tough business. So when I can create better understanding for my clients and would be brand owners it feels good to arm them with the knowledge so they can maneuver better in this competitive industry.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My whole dream in my 20s was to launch a multi million dollar clothing line and then invest a lot of that money in real estate. In 2007 to 2009 the two steps did not happen because of the mortgage crunch. So when I launched my own Brand it failed. And I share that very openly. But from that it made me a much better marketer and sales person two of the areas of focus that I needed to rebuild for myself. It Also made me a better leader and Creative Director.
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Have you ever had to pivot?
I was at a menswear brand called Orisue in Orange County and we lost a ton of funding. As a result we lost a good amount of staff and I lost two full-time designers. As we were saddened by this news I knew I had to take action so in the end I forged a internship program to cover the work of those lost designers. That program had really good designers that would go on to work for Vans, Young and Reckless, Rvca, Stussy, Flex Fit and do some amazing work in the industry.
Contact Info:
- Website: clothingbrandacademy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonphenom/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClothingBrandAcademy/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonphenom/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jonphenom
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/JonPhenom
- Other: https://www.jonphenom.co/