Speaker 1: The following is an Encore presentation. This show is produced
Speaker 1: and hosted by Mark Webber. The show is sponsored by
Speaker 1: G three of Parow. The views expressed in the following
Speaker 1: program are those at the sponsor and not necessarily the
Speaker 1: opinion of seven tenor or iHeartMedia. Who is Mark Webber.
Speaker 1: He's a self made business executive here to help you
Speaker 1: find your success from the New York City projects to
Speaker 1: the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His global success story in
Speaker 1: the luxury world of fashion is inspirational.
Speaker 2: He's gone from clerk to CEO twice.
Speaker 1: Mark is classic proof that the American dream is alive.
Speaker 1: And well, here's your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber.
Speaker 3: Mark Weber, I thought a great deal about what I
Speaker 3: wanted this show to be about. I must tell you,
Speaker 3: I honestly didn't have a point of view until I
Speaker 3: went to look at buying a new car. Speaking which Hi, Jesse,
Speaker 3: how are you glad you're.
Speaker 4: Here buying a new car? You didn't tell me this one?
Speaker 3: Oh? Well, actually, not a car. I went into a
Speaker 3: store to buy a boat, no airplane. No. I went
Speaker 3: into a store, call it a store. I went to
Speaker 3: a car dealership to look for a new jeep. Now,
Speaker 3: it might be difficult for me to admit, but I
Speaker 3: have one of the original Hummers from two thousand and
Speaker 3: three and I keep it around just because when it
Speaker 3: snows out, I can trust that car. It's so high
Speaker 3: off the ground. The tires are bigger than you, Jesse.
Speaker 4: Thanks.
Speaker 3: Yeah, me too, They're huge. Anyway, I walked into a
Speaker 3: car dealership. I went into land Rover, and I have
Speaker 3: all these beautiful land Rovers. And I went over to
Speaker 3: one of the sales guys, and you know, let me
Speaker 3: be honest. The minute I walked in, he came over
Speaker 3: to me. What can I help you with him? Blah
Speaker 3: blah blah. And I said to him, I'm thinking about
Speaker 3: replacing my Hummer with one of your land Rovers. But
Speaker 3: I have a question for you. I'm really needed for
Speaker 3: the snow. Can I assume that a land will treat
Speaker 3: me as good as a Hummer has treated me in
Speaker 3: the snow? And he said to me, can I be
Speaker 3: honest with you? I hate that sentence in business more
Speaker 3: than any other sentence I can think of. Can I
Speaker 3: be honest with you? No lie to me, lie to me?
Speaker 3: What does that mean? And therein became the theme for
Speaker 3: tonight's show. Can I be honest with you when somebody
Speaker 3: says that you can't trust another word that comes out
Speaker 3: of their mouth. You know, in business there's nothing more
Speaker 3: important than respect, and respect goes both ways for you
Speaker 3: to your associates and from your associates to you.
Speaker 4: I believe that in business, in life, and correct me
Speaker 4: if I'm wrong or you think that you think differently.
Speaker 4: Doesn't respect go hand in hand with likability?
Speaker 3: I don't know. I don't care if I'm liked. I
Speaker 3: do care if i'm respected. But if you make me
Speaker 3: agree with that, okay, I'll agree. Why Hmmm?
Speaker 4: Well, I have an idea for a test or. I
Speaker 4: should say a game. I think our listeners really like
Speaker 4: a game. I found this article and it has the
Speaker 4: twelve phrases that will get you liked and hopefully respected
Speaker 4: in business, and I thought maybe we could cover some
Speaker 4: of them, and I'd give you each point and you
Speaker 4: get your view on whether they're important for likability. You
Speaker 4: know it's good. I like to get your perspective on it.
Speaker 3: What do you think, Well, let's talk respect for a second.
Speaker 3: If you wanted to do this, don't you think the
Speaker 3: respectable thing would have been to tell me in advance,
Speaker 3: maybe even giving me the slogans.
Speaker 4: No, I'm a co host and I'm allowed to come
Speaker 4: up with my own stuff.
Speaker 3: I don't have to agree to it. It'll be it'll
Speaker 3: be fun.
Speaker 2: It'll be fun, be fun.
Speaker 4: Are you up for this or not?
Speaker 3: Okay, I'll play alone.
Speaker 4: This is the twelve simple phrases that will make you
Speaker 4: more likable in business? Yeah right, okay, number one or
Speaker 4: number twelve. Here's the situation.
Speaker 3: So you want me to come in it? Yeah?
Speaker 4: What do you think about that line? Here's the situation.
Speaker 3: I think it's uh, I don't know, a lame way
Speaker 3: of explaining to someone what's going on. I think you
Speaker 3: work with someone, they're entitled to know what you're doing.
Speaker 3: It's transparency. Here's the plan, this is what we're gonna do.
Speaker 3: This is what I need you to do. But okay,
Speaker 3: here's the situation.
Speaker 4: What about tell me more? Does that seem like you're
Speaker 4: interested in what they're saying?
Speaker 3: Are you answering the questions? Tell me more? Yeah? I
Speaker 3: guess it says that you're so fascinated by the answer
Speaker 3: of that person who's talking to you. Please, I want
Speaker 3: to hear more you're so genius.
Speaker 4: What do you think about the phrase? What do you think?
Speaker 3: Again? I suppose that's a respect thing. When you're saying
Speaker 3: to someone, I'm interested in what you think, what your
Speaker 3: opinion is. It's showing them a great deal respect.
Speaker 4: I think you're gonna like this one. What can I
Speaker 4: do to help?
Speaker 3: Are you sure we got to go through these? These
Speaker 3: are making more? What can I do to help? Again?
Speaker 3: I suppose the subject that you're trying to get people
Speaker 3: to like me. It's a lost cause. Remember I thought
Speaker 3: of being a recluse. But what can I do to help? Again?
Speaker 3: It's showing interest in the people. It's very touchy feely.
Speaker 3: I see where these are.
Speaker 4: Going speaking which please and thank you?
Speaker 3: You want me to comment on that one? You're welcome, okay,
Speaker 3: those three? Of course, that's a part of life. You
Speaker 3: have to be respectful, and you have to be have
Speaker 3: good manners. Okay, what else?
Speaker 4: I think this one's important? Let me find out for you.
Speaker 3: That's important from a leadership point of view. Someone comes
Speaker 3: to you with an issue or problem, something that needs
Speaker 3: to be solved. They don't have the answer for. But
Speaker 3: it's important that you're gonna go out and you're gonna
Speaker 3: get them an answer. I like that one.
Speaker 4: Speaking of nauseous, This next one gets me nauseous. I've
Speaker 4: got your back.
Speaker 3: If you believe it.
Speaker 4: Partners in wrestling, you know that's.
Speaker 3: A good one. You know, in reality, the only relationships
Speaker 3: that deal with getting someone's back a really selfish relationship.
Speaker 3: You can't have friends in business. The only thing that
Speaker 3: makes you a friend with someone else in business or
Speaker 3: with your boss is whether or not they think you
Speaker 3: can perform for them. And then if you can perform,
Speaker 3: of course they're going to look out for you. But
Speaker 3: don't slip because that promise goes away.
Speaker 4: What about I'd like you to meet.
Speaker 3: I Okay, I guess I suppose that means, in theory,
Speaker 3: I think enough of you that I want you to
Speaker 3: meet someone good one. I can see why they might
Speaker 3: like me for that.
Speaker 4: I believe you can.
Speaker 3: I guess that is a way of telling someone that
Speaker 3: you believe in them and that you think they could
Speaker 3: make a contribution. And I'm sure they would like to
Speaker 3: hear that.
Speaker 4: I think you could do a lot better.
Speaker 3: Ugh human nature. No, you say that to someone, they're
Speaker 3: never going to give you a break. But I suppose
Speaker 3: if you sugarcoated and do it softly. I know you're
Speaker 3: so great. I've seen this. It looks pretty good to me,
Speaker 3: but I know you could do better. I guess it's
Speaker 3: an encouraging way to get more out of someone.
Speaker 4: In the context of can I be honest with you?
Speaker 4: The last one number twelve? Let me be upfront with you?
Speaker 3: So you're telling me I'm going to say that to
Speaker 3: someone and they're going to like me more for that article. No,
Speaker 3: now you bring me right back into the theme of
Speaker 3: tonight's show. Can I be honest with you? Let me
Speaker 3: be upfront with you? It's the same thing as can
Speaker 3: I be honest with you? No, don't be upfront with me?
Speaker 3: You know, mislead me, lead me down a difficult situation,
Speaker 3: so I can't trust you. Can you be honest with me? Please?
Speaker 3: If that's what it takes, by the way, to be
Speaker 3: like those twelve things. Not only couldn't I say most
Speaker 3: of them? I think I passed simply put for tonight show.
Speaker 3: Anybody out there who says can I be honest with you?
Speaker 3: You have some serious issues with those people. I'd like
Speaker 3: to play something for you from the movies.
Speaker 2: You want answers. I think I'm a titled You want answer,
Speaker 2: but the truth.
Speaker 3: You can't handle the truth. But I can handle the truth,
Speaker 3: and I expect the truth. Oh yes, I can handle
Speaker 3: the truth. And to tell you the truth, I'll be
Speaker 3: back in a minute with the night's show. Can I
Speaker 3: be honest with you?
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to it Always in Fashion. Here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you? I hate that phrase?
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you? No lie to me.
Speaker 3: I've dealt with it my whole life, and there are
Speaker 3: problems with people that make that kind of comment. You know,
Speaker 3: you could find in life so many, so many quotes
Speaker 3: about the truth and honesty, and I think they're really
Speaker 3: really important. Let's do the celebrity versions first. The first
Speaker 3: up Kim Kardashian.
Speaker 4: I can't believe you're actually quoting her. What'd you get
Speaker 4: it from her Twitter account?
Speaker 3: Well, when you're right, you're right, and she was right.
Speaker 3: She said, my career is based on openness and honesty.
Speaker 3: Someone else there was a playwright with the name of
Speaker 3: Noel Coward. He said, it's discouraging how many people are
Speaker 3: shocked by honesty but so few by deceit humans. Another
Speaker 3: one singer Waylon Jennings, honesty is something you can't wear out.
Speaker 3: I love that one because it's like clothes, You're not
Speaker 3: supposed to wear out your clothes. And after all, we
Speaker 3: are a fashion show show. I like this reference. Speaking
Speaker 3: of fashion, Kate Hudson, former actress and now a women's
Speaker 3: active wear fashion entrepreneurial mogul, She's quoted as saying, honesty
Speaker 3: will never break you. But in my view, personally everyone,
Speaker 3: the greatest quote ever on the subject of honesty was
Speaker 3: by none other than Benjamin Franklin when he said honesty
Speaker 3: is the best policy. Did you know it was Ben Franklin?
Speaker 4: I knew that one. I'm not a complete idiot.
Speaker 3: Well, okay, I didn't, But I'll tell you what My
Speaker 3: favorite quote actually was from Benjamin Franklin. And I've used
Speaker 3: this one very often in my career when I got
Speaker 3: involved in fixing companies, and that is simply, well done
Speaker 3: is better than well said. Well done is better than
Speaker 3: well said. I for one, have lived my business career
Speaker 3: believing and supporting that concept. I'm not interested in what
Speaker 3: you have to say. I'm interested in what you do. Earlier,
Speaker 3: I spoke about the need for being liked. I think
Speaker 3: Jesse put more value in that than me. But tonight
Speaker 3: I'm focused on the annoying quote. Can I be honest
Speaker 3: with you, what does it say in business if somebody
Speaker 3: says that to you? What does it say about the
Speaker 3: business culture. It says that the people who lead off
Speaker 3: with those sentences can't be honest with you. If it's
Speaker 3: okay with all of you out there, I'm going to
Speaker 3: tell you a story. A few years back. You should
Speaker 3: all know by now, I was the CEO and chairman
Speaker 3: of the Donna Karen Company, of course dkn Y And
Speaker 3: as you could imagine, how disappointing it was for me
Speaker 3: when I showed up at their doorstep, introduced myself and
Speaker 3: started to have private meetings with the key management. And
Speaker 3: when I started to hear from them every time I
Speaker 3: asked a probing question, can I be honest with you?
Speaker 3: I kid you not. Almost everyone I met in that
Speaker 3: company began their sentences with that. My former colleagues, those
Speaker 3: of you listening tonight, I know you're smiling and you
Speaker 3: know it's true. But what did it mean in business?
Speaker 3: Simply the following. I don't agree with the management, and
Speaker 3: I'm afraid to tell you what I really think. That's
Speaker 3: the truth, and that's a problem. That's what I confronted
Speaker 3: when I joined the company. Problem for sure, I needed
Speaker 3: to know the truth. I asked the question. The answer
Speaker 3: began with can I be honest to you. And that's
Speaker 3: when I coin my favorite answer to that question, no
Speaker 3: lie to me. What does somebody say after that? They
Speaker 3: got it right away? If I say to you, no
Speaker 3: lie to me, you get a jestice, of course.
Speaker 4: But what about let's say somebody says okay. Let's say
Speaker 4: you're afraid to hurt somebody's feelings okay, and you know
Speaker 4: they don't take criticism so well. So if you say,
Speaker 4: can I be honest with you? Isn't that a different frame?
Speaker 3: I wouldn't use it. I never would use that sentence.
Speaker 3: If you ask me, Daddy, do you like the suit
Speaker 3: I'm wearing tonight? And I didn't like it?
Speaker 4: I have a choice, and you say can I be
Speaker 4: honest with you? And I'd be like, I want your criticism.
Speaker 3: I want, But I would never say that. Okay, I
Speaker 3: either know you or don't. And I don't believe in
Speaker 3: that sentence. Aren't you listening to the show tonight.
Speaker 4: I'm giving you some counter perspective.
Speaker 3: No, that sentence does not work anywhere. But in fact,
Speaker 3: if you said to me, Daddy, do you like to suit?
Speaker 3: I have two choices. You're on the radio tonight. I
Speaker 3: need you at your best. I need you to perform.
Speaker 3: I'm certainly going to say to you know, I really
Speaker 3: like it. Later on, I might say to you, you know,
Speaker 3: I was looking at your suit and I thought about it,
Speaker 3: and maybe the color just wasn't right. But when you
Speaker 3: say that to someone's face, I don't even know if
Speaker 3: that was a white lie. I just chose to pick
Speaker 3: my time when i'd come back and talk to you
Speaker 3: about it, so I was clear.
Speaker 2: Hung all right, fair enough.
Speaker 3: I think that's pretty clear. Anyway, back to Donna Karen
Speaker 3: dkme why every time I asked them a question, can
Speaker 3: I be honest with you? Is the answer I got
Speaker 3: in reply? And of course my famous answer, no lie.
Speaker 3: To me, it was so bad and so pervasive at
Speaker 3: the company, I brought into my office a Donna Karen
Speaker 3: singing bowl. Is Donna Karen is very mystic. She travels
Speaker 3: all over the world, and part of what she did
Speaker 3: in Bali and those part of the world Polynesia, Indonesia,
Speaker 3: they made bowls for serving and they had a thing
Speaker 3: that you would grind peppers or whatever in the bowl.
Speaker 3: And if you took that grinding thing and you moved
Speaker 3: it around the bowl, it would make a noise like singing.
Speaker 3: The bull would actually sing.
Speaker 4: Oh was that like when you have a glass of
Speaker 4: water and you do on the thing?
Speaker 3: Exactly? I had a different use for it. At one point,
Speaker 3: I was so frustrated with everyone saying can I be
Speaker 3: honest with you? I said to them, see this ball.
Speaker 3: I got it out of the showroom. From now on, anybody,
Speaker 3: I ask a question. If you start with can I
Speaker 3: be honest with you? You have to put a dollar in
Speaker 3: the bowl?
Speaker 4: Huh?
Speaker 3: Period like the square jar fun policy? Right? Yeah, I
Speaker 3: told everyone you said it, you got to put a
Speaker 3: dollar in the bowl. I got to tell you. The
Speaker 3: money started piling up, and I told him at the time,
Speaker 3: will either you give it away to charity or we'll
Speaker 3: buy candy for everyone with they're hanging out of my office.
Speaker 3: In fact, what happened an open culture started to kick in,
Speaker 3: and it became easy to get answers because people were comfortable.
Speaker 3: They knew I wanted the truth. I didn't want some
Speaker 3: preference saying can I be honest with you?
Speaker 2: Who?
Speaker 3: Who needed that? But why am I telling you this story?
Speaker 3: Because in business and companies, in life, some people have
Speaker 3: to be comfortable. They have to express their opinions. They
Speaker 3: have to share their ideas. It's called transparency, and transparency
Speaker 3: is crucial, crucial for success in an organization. How can
Speaker 3: you ever accomplish anything that people are afraid you can't?
Speaker 3: You can't be successful, you can't improve. Let me tell
Speaker 3: you a story of all things about shipping merchandise.
Speaker 4: You better keep this interesting.
Speaker 3: I'll try Jesse very simply. If you import products from Asia,
Speaker 3: you have two ways of bringing them here. You can
Speaker 3: put them on a train. They're no tracks across the ocean.
Speaker 3: You can put them on a boat, or you can
Speaker 3: fly them. Boats are slow, the capacity is huge. The
Speaker 3: other way is you fly flying. Think about a plane.
Speaker 3: It has limited capacity, and if you want to send
Speaker 3: your products here, you're going to compete for that small
Speaker 3: amount of space. Flying can often cost ten, maybe twenty
Speaker 3: times per an item for what it takes to do it.
Speaker 3: So one day I'm in a meeting and I happen
Speaker 3: to be talking about transportation, and I quickly asked someone,
Speaker 3: so tell me what ocean vessels do you use? And
Speaker 3: they got very quiet. Nobody would answer the question, and
Speaker 3: somebody said, can I be honest with you?
Speaker 4: Oh, there goes the end of that conversation, so.
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, let's let's be honest. Let's be honest.
Speaker 3: Is well, we fly everything. I said, what do you
Speaker 3: mean you fly everything? She said, well, we don't have calendar.
Speaker 3: We don't did he hito the calendar? We could be
Speaker 3: honest with you. We can't seem to use a team
Speaker 3: to get it together. So we're paying twenty times the
Speaker 3: cost of air freight on all our garments. So very simply,
Speaker 3: can I be honest with you? Led to a very
Speaker 3: open dialogue. I banned airshipments completely from the company and
Speaker 3: saved ten million dollars in the first year. So having
Speaker 3: an open culture, eliminating those words, telling people that they
Speaker 3: don't have to worry about answering honestly. I remember traveling
Speaker 3: to Japan before I leave Asia. Let me go back
Speaker 3: and tell you the story, and I never forgot a lesson.
Speaker 3: I learned sitting with one of the trading companies in
Speaker 3: Japan and we're talking about problems and fixing problems. They
Speaker 3: said to me very carefully, in the Japanese culture, we
Speaker 3: fix problems, we don't fix blame. They don't blame people.
Speaker 3: I thought that was fascinating. It's a great thing, and
Speaker 3: so let me sum it up. You don't have to
Speaker 3: be worried about telling the truth. You have to be
Speaker 3: careful how you do it, but you never lead a sentence.
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you? Because my answer will
Speaker 3: always be no lie to me. There needs to be
Speaker 3: an open environment in companies. You have an obligation to
Speaker 3: create that environment. People need to be comfortable in your company,
Speaker 3: and they need to be comfortable on the job. You
Speaker 3: need to be comfortable. Can I be honest with you?
Speaker 3: Of course. We'll be back in a minute.
Speaker 2: Always in fashion.
Speaker 3: Than a lifetime of my career building the van usen Brand,
Speaker 3: and I am so pleased that they're back with us
Speaker 3: now talking about suits. Men, we're dressing up again and
Speaker 3: it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
Speaker 3: won on multiple occasions in multiple ways. You could wear
Speaker 3: a suit formally to go out at night or to
Speaker 3: an event, to wear a suit to the office with
Speaker 3: or without a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends,
Speaker 3: suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The
Speaker 3: choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
Speaker 3: You could really really look the part. I believe that
Speaker 3: in packaging yourself. This is important does the products you
Speaker 3: package and wearing a suit is one of those things
Speaker 3: that make men look their best. Ven Using invented a
Speaker 3: new idea. It's called the cool Flex suit. It's been
Speaker 3: engineered with stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit
Speaker 3: and mobility. Its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture wicki.
Speaker 3: It makes it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed
Speaker 3: just now, this new style of looking shop while feeling
Speaker 3: cool and comfortable is amazing and I'm so excited that
Speaker 3: the ven Using company is involved in this new technology
Speaker 3: and is embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's
Speaker 3: not forget van Usen made its name with dress shirts.
Speaker 3: It's only proper that the soup business follows strongly in
Speaker 3: its way. You can find van Using Koolflex Men's stretch
Speaker 3: suits at Jacpenny or online at jcpenny dot com. Guys,
Speaker 3: they're great. You should go look at them.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it always in fashion, here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 3: I hate when someone says to me, or anyone else
Speaker 3: for that matter, can I be honest with you? No
Speaker 3: lie to me? And that's the theme of tonight's show.
Speaker 3: You want to quotes, you want to talk about honesty,
Speaker 3: There's some great ones out there. Let's go to Shakespeare
Speaker 3: who said to thine own self be true. Talk about honesty,
Speaker 3: and let's not forget the founding fathers. Thomas Jefferson. You'll
Speaker 3: recognize this. We hold these truths to be self evident,
Speaker 3: that all men are created equal honesty and truth. Let's
Speaker 3: be honest tonight. I want to talk about the politics
Speaker 3: of business. We're starting off this new year with tax reform.
Speaker 3: By the way, I'm trying to recover from the government
Speaker 3: hating me for being somewhat successful. There's no benefit for
Speaker 3: me in tax reform. Living in New York, I lost
Speaker 3: my benefit of tax help for owning a nice house.
Speaker 3: Oh I'm upset. Well. President Trump had his head in
Speaker 3: the right place when he started out planning the tax reform,
Speaker 3: but then the Republican Senate stepped in and they had
Speaker 3: to make an example taking away deductions in this case
Speaker 3: from homeowners. My case, when I bought my new home,
Speaker 3: the one thing I looked at was the taxes, and
Speaker 3: I said to myself, can I afford this house? And
Speaker 3: I said, yeah, the taxes are high. But the government
Speaker 3: allows me a deduction with the federal government. The state
Speaker 3: government allows it. Great, so I'm not going to worry
Speaker 3: about the taxes, and now boom, I have to worry
Speaker 3: about the taxes. Having said that, I got hurt badly.
Speaker 3: No tax relief insight for me. But I will move
Speaker 3: on because the government now is about business. I support
Speaker 3: our government's business policies, and I support the approach that
Speaker 3: is being made to business issues. Let's talk honesty about
Speaker 3: the business of mail and package delivery. The Post Office
Speaker 3: is a major, major contributor and involved in our lives,
Speaker 3: in everything we purchase. Now, I started to think about
Speaker 3: this because Donald Trump, at the end of the year
Speaker 3: made the greatest Twitter comment of all from a business
Speaker 3: perspective when he commented, why is the United States Post
Speaker 3: Office who is losing many, many billions of dollars a
Speaker 3: year while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver
Speaker 3: their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber
Speaker 3: and poorer. We should be charging much much more. Thank you,
Speaker 3: President in Trump. That's hysterical. Well, it'll affect everyone, but
Speaker 3: it's an important comment and I love it. Again. We
Speaker 3: have a CEO president in action. I can't help but
Speaker 3: think about it under the heading of business leadership. Great
Speaker 3: statement if you put it in the form of a question,
Speaker 3: why does the Post Office lose billions of dollars? Great
Speaker 3: question deserves a great answer. But let me begin with
Speaker 3: my own simple question. The government's US Postal Services had
Speaker 3: a monopoly on shipping in the United States. Every single letter,
Speaker 3: for all intense purposes mailed in the United States grows
Speaker 3: through the US Post Office. It's a monopoly that and
Speaker 3: of itself should make the United States Post Office one
Speaker 3: of the largest corporations in the United States and making
Speaker 3: more money than we can count. Then I started to
Speaker 3: think about FedEx and UPS Jesse, the difference between the
Speaker 3: US Postal Service FedEx and the US whatever it's called,
Speaker 3: the UPS.
Speaker 4: I knew we were going to talk about this, so
Speaker 4: I did a little research, and let me just tell
Speaker 4: you something. I didn't even know this, And I wonder
Speaker 4: if a lot of our listeners even know the difference
Speaker 4: between all three. When somebody says, just ship something, I
Speaker 4: don't know. I don't even think about the three. But okay,
Speaker 4: let's break it down. The United States Postal Service, it's
Speaker 4: a government agency, like you said, found it almost two
Speaker 4: hundred and fifty years ago. It's known as the Postal
Speaker 4: Service or US Mail. Unlike UPS and FedEx, it has
Speaker 4: strict guidelines in terms of size and the weight of
Speaker 4: a package, whereas in FedEx and UPS, which we'll get
Speaker 4: to get into, you can ship all different kinds of packages.
Speaker 3: So it often so you're saying, the US Postal Service
Speaker 3: limits what we do. Very smart.
Speaker 4: It's funded through postage, stamps and delivery services. That's how
Speaker 4: it makes its money. Now, let's get into UPS and FedEx.
Speaker 4: Both of them, believe it or not, and I didn't
Speaker 4: even know this. They're publicly traded companies. Okay, UPS headquartered
Speaker 4: in Georgia with FedEx headquartered in Tennessee.
Speaker 3: It's the US government versus two private corporations, right.
Speaker 4: Obviously, if you look at UPS or FedEx, there are
Speaker 4: differences in service options, pickoff and drop off options, commercial discounts,
Speaker 4: what's best for package size. But at the bottom line,
Speaker 4: at the bottom line, you have three different ways to
Speaker 4: ship products. And if you're a small business or a
Speaker 4: larger business, you have to look at all three and
Speaker 4: figure out which one's best for you.
Speaker 3: But here's the point, it's the problem with our government.
Speaker 3: How could the government mess up a monopoly on shipping.
Speaker 3: It should be making money and they should have never
Speaker 3: allowed the other two to become strong. But my question,
Speaker 3: how could they be losing money? It's impossible, right, Can
Speaker 3: I be honest with you? Yeah? The theme for tonight.
Speaker 3: The US government runs the post office, and that's the problem.
Speaker 3: If they did their job right to politicians, there would
Speaker 3: be no FedEx, there would be no ups with government control.
Speaker 3: With a running stot, no one should have able to
Speaker 3: even start and compete. It's terrible. The government can't help itself.
Speaker 3: It's not as good as protecting our money, investing it
Speaker 3: and spending it wisely. It's just so easy to taxes
Speaker 3: and spend our money anyway they want. You know, there
Speaker 3: are no taxes in the principality of Monaco.
Speaker 4: I remember that when we visited there.
Speaker 3: You know why, because the country pays for itself. Everything
Speaker 3: else they do, pays for all their expenses.
Speaker 4: Because everybody's losing money in the casino.
Speaker 3: That's part of it, for sure, But it's a tourist place.
Speaker 3: People go, they invest, they buy apartments, and that's how
Speaker 3: the government makes its money and pays for it. I'll
Speaker 3: tell you something else that really bothers me. Do you know, Jesse,
Speaker 3: there is no state income tax in Alaska, Florida, Nevada,
Speaker 3: South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, New Hampshire, and Tennessee.
Speaker 4: I didn't know all those states. I knew Texas, but
Speaker 4: that's a lot of states.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they seem to know how to make money to
Speaker 3: support themselves. Maybe one of these states should take over
Speaker 3: the Post Office, or maybe they should take over New York.
Speaker 3: I hate that new tax.
Speaker 4: Build California is about to get a lot more money,
Speaker 4: did you Yeah, I know that's all.
Speaker 3: The Californians need. Legalize marijuana. That's what they're missing.
Speaker 4: I think they'll make a billion dollars from that from taxing.
Speaker 3: Let's get back to it. Honesty is the subject, and
Speaker 3: honesty and honestly, the President is right the Post Office
Speaker 3: should earn billions, not lose billions. But I need to
Speaker 3: be honest to give you the other side. We've talked
Speaker 3: to one of our earliest shows about the low of
Speaker 3: unintended consequences. Sometimes governments make decisions without considering the long
Speaker 3: term impact and the long term implications. What happens if
Speaker 3: we raise prices in the post office on Amazon and
Speaker 3: any other postal people using the rates that ship products
Speaker 3: to us. Good question. Huh, well let's talk about that.
Speaker 4: You like this just yeah? I think it's a good
Speaker 4: point that a lot of people don't think about. No
Speaker 4: one ever thinks about.
Speaker 3: This, Well, we raise our prices on Amazon, So what
Speaker 3: are the choices? First up, they would just pay the increase.
Speaker 3: They have no choice. There's not enough capacity anywhere else
Speaker 3: to pick up the slack for what the post office
Speaker 3: does for Amazon. The leverage is on the government's side.
Speaker 3: Now that leaves what would FedEx do? They're the competitor.
Speaker 3: Thiss enable FedEx to raise their prices. I think, so
Speaker 3: why wouldn't they same thing for ups as well? It's
Speaker 3: a great opportunity to increase their profits. Their shareholders wouldn't
Speaker 3: want to hear that they have ability to raise prices
Speaker 3: and they didn't take advantages. Now they could stay firm.
Speaker 3: They can keep their prices as is or lower them
Speaker 3: and think that they would gain share a market. However,
Speaker 3: I would guess as business people they would not give
Speaker 3: away potential margin growth. Now what are the unintended consequences?
Speaker 3: Maybe Amazon would take the hit and slow their growth.
Speaker 3: But maybe with the tax break we gave big businesses
Speaker 3: down to twenty one percent, they simply pay the price
Speaker 3: and absorb it elsewhere. But here's the thought, why didn't
Speaker 3: the president and his team, why did a minute, why
Speaker 3: did anyone suggest we were negotiating reducing the business tax
Speaker 3: from thirty five percent to twenty one percent to force
Speaker 3: the post office to raise the prices and have a
Speaker 3: discussion with the big businesses out there that in order
Speaker 3: for us to do this for you, I need you
Speaker 3: to agree in advance that if we raise the postal rates,
Speaker 3: you're going to pay them. I didn't hear anyone else
Speaker 3: but me talk about that. That makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3: Here's the worst of the potential unintended consequences. I'm just
Speaker 3: putting it out there just in case Amazon gets the
Speaker 3: price to increase and they decide not to absorb it.
Speaker 3: What do they do. They put pressure all the way
Speaker 3: down the line to all of its suppliers. If that happens,
Speaker 3: the pressure we put on manufacturing produce this selling prices
Speaker 3: here in the USA and around the world, then it
Speaker 3: turned the suppliers force their suppliers pressure run all their
Speaker 3: supplies to lower their costs whatever. Even shipping lines and
Speaker 3: other freight lines to carry the goods for Amazon or
Speaker 3: the US Postal Service will be forced to deal with this.
Speaker 3: Everyone but Amazon will be forced to really pay for
Speaker 3: the post Office. And what is the real outcome of
Speaker 3: all this? The comprice for consumer products will rise, maybe
Speaker 3: just raising the price of mail and shipping horse from
Speaker 3: the US government. The US Postal Services touches everything and
Speaker 3: everything and everyone in the world. That's the unintended consequences.
Speaker 3: All our suits, all our shirts, all our dresses, all
Speaker 3: our shoes, all our handbags, all our perfumes, all our
Speaker 3: cosmetics all become more expensive. The government collects more taxes,
Speaker 3: they get to waste more of our money. With all
Speaker 3: that money, Is there any chance they'll fix my property
Speaker 3: tax reduction in New York? Can I be honest with you,
Speaker 3: No way. I'll be back in a moment.
Speaker 2: Always in fashion.
Speaker 3: My favorite brand has always been Isa. My company at
Speaker 3: one time bought that brand. The CEO of the company
Speaker 3: handed it to me and said, you better make it work.
Speaker 3: And I put everything in my career to make eyesod work.
Speaker 3: And I fell in love with that brand, And to
Speaker 3: this day it is one of the most exciting endeavors
Speaker 3: I've ever got involved with. ISOD is an incredibly strong
Speaker 3: golf brand. If you play golf, if you play tennis
Speaker 3: for that matter. They make a great polo shirts. I
Speaker 3: mean great. They're fit perfect. The material is unique because
Speaker 3: it's a p que fabric that waffle leave, you see,
Speaker 3: and it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber
Speaker 3: that allows you to stretch. And very often they are
Speaker 3: treated with solar protection as well, so they stretch, they're comfortable,
Speaker 3: and they breathe well. And one thing about ISOD they
Speaker 3: always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it in
Speaker 3: your waist that they'll fit you great. The colors, patterns
Speaker 3: are sensational. Now I will also tell you ISOD makes
Speaker 3: great shorts and great golf pants. You're a golf friend.
Speaker 3: You want to look good. You don't have to think
Speaker 3: about how do I look. You want to think about
Speaker 3: how you play, not how you feel. Isazad is the
Speaker 3: brand for you. I know I was there when it
Speaker 3: was created. The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. It's
Speaker 3: one of my favorite brands. While I talk about it,
Speaker 3: I should tell you about the man's sportswear. Isad wasn't
Speaker 3: enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough being just
Speaker 3: great polo shirts with logos without logos. Incredible brand and
Speaker 3: story and history. Isaad makes salt weather programs. They have
Speaker 3: great printed woven shirts, short sleeves. They look excellent with colors,
Speaker 3: excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants, of which they
Speaker 3: also make this whole salt order relaxed line from Isaac,
Speaker 3: whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos, woven shirts
Speaker 3: and pants of a range of colors and fabrics that
Speaker 3: are perfect for a guy wants to go casually in
Speaker 3: the spring and summer of this year. And here's the thing.
Speaker 3: Ison is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about this
Speaker 3: brand can afford to buy it and know that there
Speaker 3: are a lot of other brands that also have a
Speaker 3: look like EID. Although I don't believe it's fun as
Speaker 3: Isaonda is. The brand has a lot of energy in it,
Speaker 3: but at the price points no one can compete. You
Speaker 3: can find Eyaesa at You're leading retailers and online at
Speaker 3: Izon dot com. Talk to you later, guys. I wish
Speaker 3: you are very happy springing, summer and I help you
Speaker 3: by telling you if you were eyon, you're gonna look great.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to it. Always in fashion, here's your host,
Speaker 1: Mark Webber.
Speaker 3: If there is a statement that I hate more than
Speaker 3: any in business, I guess in life as well, is
Speaker 3: when someone says to me, can I be honest with you? No?
Speaker 3: Lie to me? What a statement? Somebody says that it's over.
Speaker 3: But in business you can't afford to be caught as liars.
Speaker 3: Why would you want to be Why did you risk
Speaker 3: your company? Why don't you risk the opportunities your reputation?
Speaker 3: It's not worth it? Can I be honest with you?
Speaker 3: I loved what happened to Apple. I loved they got
Speaker 3: caught being dishonest. Can I be honest with you? Is
Speaker 3: Apple sorry for lying or the sorry they got caught?
Speaker 3: I think they're sorry they got caught having said that.
Speaker 3: Jesse legal honesty? What do you think about this one?
Speaker 4: Everybody out there? Is your phone slow? There's a reason
Speaker 4: for it because when you updated your phone, you might
Speaker 4: have an older version of the phone. Your phone might
Speaker 4: seem really, really slow. And why is that Apple purposely
Speaker 4: updated their software to make your phone slow? Because they
Speaker 4: battery their battery that's in those old phones can't keep
Speaker 4: up with the new technology.
Speaker 3: Now, the last time we spoke about this, I didn't
Speaker 3: realize that they were doing it on purpose to slow
Speaker 3: down your phone. Oh I thought they were doing it.
Speaker 3: It's just a fact of what happened. Newest software slow
Speaker 3: down your phone.
Speaker 4: Nope, they did a person less no, because if they
Speaker 4: didn't do it, your phone was so the phone can't
Speaker 4: contain the old battery, it would automatically shut down. Your
Speaker 4: phone wouldn't operate. So to do that, everybody updated their software.
Speaker 4: Their phones are slow. What Apple didn't say beforehand, they
Speaker 4: didn't let their consumers know that this was happening. They
Speaker 4: didn't give them the option and say, hey, if you
Speaker 4: come in and replace your battery, your phone will be fine.
Speaker 4: What people ended up doing was downloading the software and
Speaker 4: then getting a new phone. There were people were spending
Speaker 4: all this money on the iPhone AID and the iPhone
Speaker 4: X because their phone is slow. They were deceived. They
Speaker 4: were deceived by Apple.
Speaker 3: What's the issue people were threatening.
Speaker 4: It's a contract issue and the fact that you have
Speaker 4: made an agreement with Apple to buy this phone and
Speaker 4: you did not know. Apple never informed you that they
Speaker 4: were going to do this, and people were deceived. It's
Speaker 4: a matter of deception. It's a matter of unfair practices
Speaker 4: for consumers. The fact that your phone is being affected,
Speaker 4: your phone, which has everything you need to operate in
Speaker 4: your life, is being affected by Apples up there.
Speaker 3: They purposely ruining it for you.
Speaker 4: There's a number of lawsuits. There's ones in California, New York, Illinois,
Speaker 4: there's even one in Israel and France. They're still suing them.
Speaker 4: Those lawsuits haven't stopped. What Apple has tried to do
Speaker 4: is a way to make good is they said we
Speaker 4: will replace your phone at a reduced cost. It's now
Speaker 4: gone from seventy nine dollars to twenty nine dollars. Now,
Speaker 4: we thought, we thought that they were going to make
Speaker 4: this change in January. Nope, it happened in December already.
Speaker 4: So people are replacing their phones at a cheaper rate.
Speaker 4: Doesn't matter if the lawsuits are not affected. They're still
Speaker 4: going through. And I have to tell you Apple might
Speaker 4: be facing some legal trouble here. They've had similar claims
Speaker 4: in the past that have lost.
Speaker 3: Now does the law system automatically hear a case such
Speaker 3: as this or could be shut down.
Speaker 4: There is a standard whenever you file a lawsuit that
Speaker 4: you have to meet. Do you establish enough facts that
Speaker 4: say that you might have a case here. Clearly that's happening.
Speaker 4: Whether they'll actually be successful, whether it will go to trial,
Speaker 4: whether it'll settle. I think it'll probably settle. That's a
Speaker 4: different question.
Speaker 3: However, why would they settle when they know they have
Speaker 3: them dead to rights?
Speaker 4: Do you know how time consuming an expensive and annoying
Speaker 4: trial can get you? Don't also, truth be told, does
Speaker 4: Apple really want to go through discovery where all their emails,
Speaker 4: all their communications are disclosed?
Speaker 3: Who knows what you're saying? They're going to be willing
Speaker 3: to pay such an enormous amount to make this go
Speaker 3: away rather than be seen.
Speaker 4: We're talking about Apple, We're not talking about Radio shack here.
Speaker 4: I think they can afford it. And they've had similar
Speaker 4: claims that the similar challenges in the past.
Speaker 3: Well, the idea of them agreeing to settle for some
Speaker 3: exorbitant number, just so that you just said that we
Speaker 3: don't go in and look at them in the back room,
Speaker 3: that's interesting.
Speaker 4: Well, here's the thing. They've already admitted what they did.
Speaker 4: They already realized what they did is kind of wrong.
Speaker 4: That's why they're paying That's why they're replacing batteries at
Speaker 4: cheap price.
Speaker 3: I have one more question for you. You I have a phone,
Speaker 3: iPhone Yep, they slowed me downp What is my damage?
Speaker 3: What can I possibly get in return for them apologizing
Speaker 3: and paying me off?
Speaker 4: Now I haven't read the complaints, but if I were
Speaker 4: to argue it, I would say, your whole life, your communications,
Speaker 4: your work, everything is on your phone. We live in
Speaker 4: a day and age where you can't operate in your
Speaker 4: life without your.
Speaker 3: Phone and Apple. You convinced me that I should trust
Speaker 3: you to provide these services in my life. You're my
Speaker 3: go to company number one.
Speaker 4: Slowing down my phone hurts me. It hurts my business
Speaker 4: here and there. What about the people? What about the
Speaker 4: people who wasted the money on spending on getting the
Speaker 4: money on an iPhone eight or an iPhone X one.
Speaker 4: All they had to do was replace the battery.
Speaker 3: So you're saying that I can be reimbursed for the
Speaker 3: cost of my totality of my new phone if I
Speaker 3: bought one once it's slowed down.
Speaker 4: It's an argument. Plus there's also all the damages resulting
Speaker 4: to the fact that this is a violation of consumer
Speaker 4: protection laws.
Speaker 3: Okay, that was pretty interesting. The moral to the story
Speaker 3: here is tonight the subject is can I be honest
Speaker 3: with you? No? Lie to me? My favorite sentence, Hey Apple,
Speaker 3: I love you? But come on? Can I be honest
Speaker 3: with you? I expect you to be honest with me.
Speaker 3: With that, I'll take a break. We'll be back in
Speaker 3: a moment.
Speaker 2: Always in fashion.
Speaker 3: Donna Karen began her career as one of the finest,
Speaker 3: most successful, powerful women in the fashion industry. She developed
Speaker 3: a collection aimed at the luxury market for women on
Speaker 3: the go, women who were powerful in their workplace, women
Speaker 3: who had lives that extended beyond the workplace, and her
Speaker 3: clothes went from day and tonight. An extraordinary collection. But
Speaker 3: the interesting thing Donna Karen had a young daughter, and
Speaker 3: she had friends and they couldn't afford to buy the
Speaker 3: Donna Karen collection, and Donna invented dk NY Donna Karen
Speaker 3: New York. It's an offshoot of the Donna Karen collection.
Speaker 3: The same a lifestyle brand. Now we talk about lifestyle brands,
Speaker 3: what does that really mean? Simply what they say, there
Speaker 3: are brands that follow you throughout your lifestyle. You get
Speaker 3: up in the morning, you start to get dressed Donna
Speaker 3: Karen Decan Why as intimate apparel, as hosiery, as all
Speaker 3: those products. You're getting dressed for work. You get accessorized shoes, handbags,
Speaker 3: and it takes you through the day. The remarkable thing
Speaker 3: about DK and Y clothes for work, they work into
Speaker 3: the evening. The dresses, the suits, the pants, the sweaters,
Speaker 3: the blouses, extraordinary clothes at affordable prices that go from
Speaker 3: day in tonight. Part of your lifestyle is active. You
Speaker 3: have weekends, you have events, you participate in sports. Donna
Speaker 3: Karen's casual clothes did that under the DK and Y label.
Speaker 3: A vast array of casual sports where that make women
Speaker 3: look great as they navigate their busy lives. Whether you
Speaker 3: going to soccer games for your children or whether you're
Speaker 3: going out to the movies, whatever you want to do.
Speaker 3: DCNY Genes dk Y sportswear is there for you. That's
Speaker 3: what a lifestyle brand is. I need to mention DKY Activewear,
Speaker 3: which is extraordinary, the leggings, the sports bras, the sweats.
Speaker 3: You can wear DKY activewear, certainly in the gym, certainly
Speaker 3: when you're working out at home, and certainly if you
Speaker 3: want on the street, because it's that well done. The
Speaker 3: quality of DKY is nothing short of exceptional. And why
Speaker 3: shouldn't it be because it was born from the idea
Speaker 3: of luxury made affordable for women of America. DK and
Speaker 3: why a true lifestyle brand that takes you from day
Speaker 3: and tonight, from the week into the weekend, DCN why
Speaker 3: you can find DCNY and Macy's DKY dot com. Then
Speaker 3: a lifetime of my career building the Van Usten brand,
Speaker 3: and I am so pleased that they're back with us
Speaker 3: now talking about suits. Men were dressing up again and
Speaker 3: it's become cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
Speaker 3: won on multipleccasions in multiple ways. You could wear a
Speaker 3: suit formally to go out at night or to an event,
Speaker 3: to wear a suit to the office with or without
Speaker 3: a tie. If you look closely, now fashion trends, suits
Speaker 3: are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next. The choices
Speaker 3: are endless and every one of them looks right. You
Speaker 3: could really really look the part. I believe that in
Speaker 3: packaging yourself this is important. Does the products you package
Speaker 3: and wearing a suit is one of those things that
Speaker 3: make men look their best venues and invented a new idea.
Speaker 3: It's called the cool Flex suit. It's been engineered with
Speaker 3: stretch technology, giving you the most comfortable fit and mobility.
Speaker 3: Its wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool moisture WICKI it makes
Speaker 3: it perfect for all occasions. As we discussed just now,
Speaker 3: this new style of looking sharp while feeling cool and
Speaker 3: comfortable is amazing, and I'm so excited that the They
Speaker 3: Using company is involved in this new technology and is
Speaker 3: embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's not forget
Speaker 3: van Using made its name with dreads shirts. It's only
Speaker 3: proper that the soup business follows strongly in its way.
Speaker 3: You can find van Using kool Flex Men's stretch suits
Speaker 3: at jcpenny or online at jcpenny dot com. Guys, they're great.
Speaker 3: You should go look at them.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you and someone says that
Speaker 3: to me, it's over, it's over. What does it mean? No?
Speaker 3: Lie to me, light to me? I just hate that sentence.
Speaker 3: And that's what we're talking about tonight. One of my
Speaker 3: favorite lines on people who've just I guess the word
Speaker 3: is lie is how do you know when someone's lying
Speaker 3: his lips are moving? Absolutely? Tonight's show is about a
Speaker 3: sentence I heard. Can I be honest with you?
Speaker 2: Honestly?
Speaker 3: Business has many many ramifications and it comes at you
Speaker 3: in many different ways. And I have a story I
Speaker 3: want to tell you about your business management, because if
Speaker 3: you're not honest in your relationships, it could come back
Speaker 3: to haunt you. Couldn't come back to hurt you. I
Speaker 3: want to tell you a story about licensing. Licensing is
Speaker 3: a vehicle where companies rent their name to other companies
Speaker 3: who have the expertise in an area that they're not
Speaker 3: familiar with. Most of the sunglasses that you see with
Speaker 3: designer names on them are really not manufactured by the designer.
Speaker 3: They're manufactured by experts in the eyewear business. Designer company
Speaker 3: may very well have an input and what the design
Speaker 3: looks like, have a view of what the color should be,
Speaker 3: but it's done through what's called a licensing agreement, whereby
Speaker 3: you rent your name to an expert and they in
Speaker 3: turn pay you rent for using that name. Both companies
Speaker 3: do very well. The designer gets their brand extended over
Speaker 3: the category that they wouldn't have had before. People now
Speaker 3: see at nywhere stores or in sunglass departments that they
Speaker 3: wouldn't have been seen before. So the brand grows, it builds,
Speaker 3: and they get paid money. In turn. On the other side,
Speaker 3: the licensee gets a new brand and has an opportunity
Speaker 3: to go out and build a big business with a
Speaker 3: designer name. And those two work in tandem. It's an honest,
Speaker 3: straightforward relationship, except, as I said in my book, always
Speaker 3: in Fashion, licensing is a two edged sword. On the
Speaker 3: one side is that easy, beautiful, symbionic relationship I just outlined,
Speaker 3: And then the other side. Often, if not always, you
Speaker 3: come to a point where your interests cross the sharp side.
Speaker 3: Sometimes the licensees might cut corners. Sometimes they may change
Speaker 3: through distribution because they see an opportunity to sell a
Speaker 3: different kind of retail that you hadn't anticipate for your brand.
Speaker 3: You know a discounter. I was doing business with a company,
Speaker 3: a licensee of mine. I was the license soer of
Speaker 3: a particular product category. The brand that I was managing
Speaker 3: was huge. I had a license for this particular product
Speaker 3: category with the owner of his own company, very successful company,
Speaker 3: and he'd be at it for a year, and he
Speaker 3: built a business to about twenty million dollars and felt
Speaker 3: it should be much bigger. And it came to me
Speaker 3: and asked me whether or not he could sell the
Speaker 3: warehouse clubs Costco and Sam's Club. Now I admire those
Speaker 3: two stores in particularly. I shop in Costco, I have
Speaker 3: a card, I shop Bulk. I like that store, So
Speaker 3: I just want to get that out of the way.
Speaker 3: This owner of the company came to me and said
Speaker 3: he wanted to sell Costco, and I told him no.
Speaker 3: I said, that's not our branding strategy. That distribution is
Speaker 3: not a component of what we want to do. That
Speaker 3: doesn't fit the strategy of the company. So the answer
Speaker 3: is no. They started to argue with me, and I
Speaker 3: pushed back, and they said, you can't stop me from
Speaker 3: going there if I need that distribution. I said, well,
Speaker 3: the truth is I can't stop you. I have an
Speaker 3: agreement with you, we have a contract, and I don't
Speaker 3: want you to do it. And it kept pushing, and
Speaker 3: then finally I said, I'll tell you what you want
Speaker 3: to buy the company. It's cost your billion dollars. You
Speaker 3: pay us a billion dollars. I'll go to the CEO
Speaker 3: of the company. If he wants to sell it to
Speaker 3: you for a billion dollars, you could have and then
Speaker 3: you can do whatever you want. I said short of that,
Speaker 3: I'm trying to be fair, heir. I'm willing to help
Speaker 3: you anywhere you want to go, but I'm not going
Speaker 3: to change the distribution because you want to do more business.
Speaker 3: I gave you a great name, build it in the
Speaker 3: channels that we agreed upon. I thought we were at
Speaker 3: a point where honest men can differ. He left. I left.
Speaker 3: I was atl angry. He pressed me so hard. He
Speaker 3: might have been a little angry that I told him no,
Speaker 3: and it should have ended there. But here is a
Speaker 3: very important lesson on honesty. Unbeknownst to me, he went
Speaker 3: above my head to the CEO I was the president
Speaker 3: at the time, to complain that I wouldn't give him
Speaker 3: this deal. What I did was the right thing for
Speaker 3: the company. What I did I hand with dignity and respect.
Speaker 3: I told him no. He decided to go by my head.
Speaker 3: I would never stop anyone from speaking to anyone in
Speaker 3: my company. Period. You have a right to speak to
Speaker 3: every you want. Hold that thought for a minute. So again,
Speaker 3: unbeknownst to me, he went to the CEO had to dialogue.
Speaker 3: The CEO called me in later that day. He said
Speaker 3: to me, Mark, I had this fellow here today who
Speaker 3: was complaining that you wouldn't give him this deal. I said,
Speaker 3: you're kidding. He came to see you. He said yeah.
Speaker 3: He said why you didn't know? I said no, I
Speaker 3: didn't know he's going to go see you. He said,
Speaker 3: what do you want to do about him? Said? What
Speaker 3: do you want to do? He says, of course, you're right,
Speaker 3: We're not going to let him do it. I said,
Speaker 3: let me ask you a question. Should I like the
Speaker 3: fact that he went around me to do it? He said, no,
Speaker 3: you shouldn't like it, but it's okay. You and I agree,
Speaker 3: and I did. Now here's where he gets even more complicated. Mark,
Speaker 3: I want you to tell him that I said no. Now,
Speaker 3: the CEO and I were very close, and I laughed.
Speaker 3: I said it whil be my play, as she said,
Speaker 3: I thought you'd enjoy it. So I called the guy
Speaker 3: back and I said to him, look, I met with
Speaker 3: the CEO. We discussed your situation. He has agreed with
Speaker 3: me that this distribution your requesting is not right for
Speaker 3: the brand, and I want to tell you that your
Speaker 3: answer is no, and I need to tell you something else.
Speaker 3: I said, if you wanted to go to the CEO,
Speaker 3: and you said to me, Mark, if it's okay with you,
Speaker 3: I'm not happy with this answer. I'd like to talk
Speaker 3: to the CEO. Are you okay with that? I would
Speaker 3: have said yes, and you and I would have had
Speaker 3: a relationship going forward. But as of this moment, anyone
Speaker 3: in your company needs to talk to me. It's not you,
Speaker 3: because I'll never talk to you again. And therein is
Speaker 3: the honesty of relationships in business. You out there, you
Speaker 3: got to think about this. You need to get along
Speaker 3: with everyone, but you got to be particularly smart when
Speaker 3: you're dealing with people who can affect your business. And
Speaker 3: in this case, I had control over my business. With that,
Speaker 3: all he had to do was be honest with me.
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you? Mark? I'd like to
Speaker 3: see the CEO? Sure tonight? Our subject is can I
Speaker 3: be honest with you? No lie to me or mislead me,
Speaker 3: or don't include me either way stupid. I need to
Speaker 3: talk about honesty in our business. Fashion does come and go,
Speaker 3: and style does remain forever. The fashion industry must renew
Speaker 3: its commitment to you, the consumers every year, and remember
Speaker 3: that you want to be a member of our brands.
Speaker 3: We want you as customers forever, and with that comes
Speaker 3: the price of honesty. We want your loyalty. We have
Speaker 3: to earn it. In order to have your loyalty, we
Speaker 3: in the fashion industry must be loyal to you and
Speaker 3: to our products. We need to build trust in everything
Speaker 3: we do. We need to be thorough with our honesty
Speaker 3: to all our our listeners in the fashion and retail
Speaker 3: luxury industry. Let me remind you as we start the
Speaker 3: new year. Our customers expect the honesty and our products.
Speaker 3: They expect our fashion to be well made. They demand
Speaker 3: that our choice of fabrics and colors be fashion right
Speaker 3: so that they feel right. They expect our clothes and
Speaker 3: our shoes to fit well. They want to be comfortable.
Speaker 3: They believe us when we say this is real leather
Speaker 3: in our handbags and that they're made either Italy or France.
Speaker 3: Our consumer is willing to pay, whether discount it or
Speaker 3: at the highest, the top level, the peak of luxury.
Speaker 3: They're willing to pay in that luxury pyramid. But they
Speaker 3: expect and insist on honesty and integrity in our prices,
Speaker 3: and today's consumer wants us to do everything we can
Speaker 3: to support sustainability at work, to protect the environment. This
Speaker 3: is the honesty of fashion, and to night, I'm always
Speaker 3: in fashion. I call on you to remember, with the
Speaker 3: beginning of two thousand eighteen, to avoid using that sentence.
Speaker 3: Can I be honest with you? You better be. This
Speaker 3: is Mark Webber. Good night,