What it’s Really Like to Run a Fashion Business with David Peck

Today I’m excited to have a successful entrepreneur on the show who tells us what it’s really like to run fashion business.  David Peck is a Houston designer who’s been on the rollercoaster of owning his own business and he is SO HONEST in this interview.

David’s pretty much done it all – he went to fashion school in Paris. owned a high-end sustainable clothing line in New York worn by Taylor Swift, purchased a factory in Houston that he still owns and operates, sold his collection to first-class stores including Tootsies, opened a retail store, sold millions and then went bankrupt only to rise again with his current business.

His story is FASCINATING.

What You’ll Learn

• David’s unlikely journey to world of high fashion from New Mexico to Colorado to Cleveland to Paris to New York to Houston. Whoa.
• The disconnect between what he learned in fashion school in Paris to actually starting a running a business that makes money.
• How he started his second fashion business with 5 only dress samples in 5 different prints.
• How things can go from 1.2 million in sales to bankruptcy and back again.
• The constant pressure of meeting sales goals, employing team members, manufacturing in the US, sourcing fabrics, designing prints, serving customers, cash flow, and all the things a fashion entrepreneur does to keep the business running.
• How David’s current business is different and why he’s running it very differently than before.

You can also listen on iTunes and Stitcher Radio

Quotes from the Episode

• “I didn’t end up here in the most direct route. New Mexico, Colorad0, Cleveland, Paris, New York, Houston…it was unusual.” (04:29)
• “I never imagined myself living in Texas. I basically thought I was going to come here to die. My fashion career was over.” (15:27)
• “It was very very hard to break that idea of being a successful the “traditional way” because you’re so ingrained that you have a good PR company, you have to have a good salesperson, you have to have a seasonal collection and you have to be in Vogue. That business model wasn’t going to work for me anymore.”  (33:41)
• “I wasn’t in it for the ego anymore. No matter how humble you think you are, there’s a certain part of you as a creative person that wants to be recognized for what you do. But there came a point…if I’m going to do this again, it has to be a good business. It can’t be just be for the sake of being a designer. This has to be viable, legit business.”(41:05)

Mentioned in this episode

• David Peck’s website
• Jane’s Imperfect Action coaching program

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Thanks for listening!

Jane

About David Peck: His official title here is “Head of Everything”.