Aug 18, 2022
“The businesses that generally fail are where the founder says they have a backup plan, like a job. My mentality was if it failed, I would start another business. So I may as well make this one work.”
In this episode of The Inner Chief podcast, we speak to footwear brand trailblazer, Vince Lebon, the CEO and Founder of Rollie Nation, on streamlining systems, scaling a business and operating rhythm.
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Vince founded Rollie Nation, a footwear brand, in 2012 and sold nearly 500 pairs in a South Melbourne market.
He formally trained as a multimedia designer who fell in love with footwear and product design, developing and refining his craft with shoemaker Andrew McDonald in Sydney, SLEM Innovation & Training Institute in the Netherlands and Pensole Footwear Academy in Oregon, USA.
Vince applied and won a Pensole Scholarship and then won the ‘Future of Footwear’ Master Class sponsored by Foot Locker and asics in 2016. In 2021, he ranked 4th in the Internet Retailing Top 50 People in E-Commerce.
In this episode we talk about:
✅ Designing shoes for some of the top celebrities and athletes in the world
✅ Using design thinking to constantly improve systems and processes
✅ Starting Rollie Nation by creating a business model and operating rhythm first
✅ His hiring process and the value of making it intentionally difficult
Connecting with Vince Lebon
You can connect with Vince via LinkedIn or via his Instagram account.
Books and resources
- Scaling Up - by Verne Harnish
- Brand Gap - by Marty Neumeier
- Zag - by Marty Neumeier