Character Or Of Character

None

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This show is produced and hosted byMark Webber. The show is sponsored by
G three of Peril. The viewsexpressed in the following program are those of
the sponsor and not necessarily the opinionof sevent ten wo r or iHeartMedia.
Who is Mark Webber. He's aself made business executive here to help you
find your success from the New YorkCity projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris.

(00:24):
His global success story in the luxuryworld of fashion is inspirational. He's
gone from clerk to CEO twice.Mark is classic proof that the American dream
is alive. And well, here'syour host of always in Fashion, Mark
Webber. Weber. I've been calleda character. I've been called a character

(00:46):
again, and it's your fault.Your fault because I have to entertain you.
Now leave it to me to blamesomeone else for my own behavior.
Wait, I hear something, Mark, I'm your conscience. I have someone
in my head talking to me.My little conscience is talking me and saying,
you can't blame anyone but yourself.Mark, you can't blame anyone but

(01:08):
yourself. If that's the way you'reperceived. Oh, you don't have to
agree, but there is a reasonwe don't like humans, and that's that
little voice in my head, andI want to get it out of the
way. I became a radio onpodcast host and entertainer, Make no mistake
about it. I have to holdyour attention. My motives might be pure,

(01:29):
get a lot of listeners, driveconsumers to the sponsors, product,
help the ratings for the station andthe podcast network. But I decided on
this personality. I came out frombehind the curtain. I forego being a
recluse. I picked this style.I have to live with it now.
I guess that little voice isn't throughwith me yet. But here's the frustration.

(01:52):
Forty years climbing the ladder to thetop of the corporate world, pH
president, board members, CEO,no one would have ever called me a
character. I wouldn't have made iteight years at LVMH, a CEO,
member of the executive committee in Paris. Never a character style. Yes,

(02:13):
was I scene, yes that Ihave a point of view, yes,
but a character Never they would sayI was a person of character. I
wouldn't have been hired. I wouldn'tnever lasted a week. You are how
you package yourself? Where have Iheard then hum being called a character now
because I'm entertaining, because I'm promotinga show, I'm now a character.

(02:38):
That it's not fair. Mark fairisfor kids, Mark perception is reality.
Well, I don't accept it.Let me see those detractors. So it
was so quick to call me acharacter. Perform a radio show and podcast
with original content thirty two typewritten pagespreparing me for getting this stuff to organize,

(03:00):
interesting and insightful, performed as well. Good luck. Now, I'm
sure all of you out there aregreat at your jobs. I was great
at mine, and if you're listening, you know I'm great at this third
career. You have no idea howhard this is to do. Character few.
I've lived a life of being underestimated. I went from a good looking

(03:23):
guy in a suit to a mature, lightweight, questionable, incapable yep,
all the while climbing the ladder,the small running back, running through the
offensive line, scoring the touchdown.And yes, those people were offensive,
but I enjoy looking at them inmy rearview mirror. The truth is disrespectful

(03:45):
is disrespectful, regardless of how yourpackage it. Sometimes I'll give it it's
innocent. Sometimes it's arrogant, andit's definitely not fair. But like so
many things in life, managing disappointmentcould be your road to success, and
I often looked at it as opportunistic. I was often disappointed. I questioned
the behavior of my fellow humans.I never accepted anyone dissing me or downplaying

(04:10):
my role in corporate America. Icertainly never accepted anyone disrespect to me.
But most importantly, I respected myself. I knew who I was, I
knew what I knew. Being underestimatedfor me was a superpower. I'll accept
good looking guy in a suit ifI must. At least I was good
looking, even though you didn't thinkI had anything to go with it.

(04:30):
But I knew when I opened mysuit jacket unbuttoned my shirt that big Superman
uniform was underneath it. But myuniform, my custom, was a logo
with a big C for confidence.So call me what you will, call
me a character. I'm happy doingwhat I'm doing. I'm always happy,
and there are lots of people who'vebenefited from Mark Weber along the way.

(04:51):
That's my boy. More. Therewe go, the voice in my head
talking to me again. Now tonight, I have some stories to explain can
you have in a forty year careerof excellence. It can't possibly be summarized
as he's a character. They don'tget it. Can you imagine the finest
sophisticated, luxury European company in theworld putting up with a character that would

(05:14):
be out of character for them.I would bet the last word to describe
me in that organization would be thatI was and always am a serious,
well thought out businessman with a trackrecord of minimal mistakes. I put my
record up against anyone. I'm wellthought out. I'm understated considering the unintended
consequences always regarding my decisions. Iwas tough, very but fair a character,

(05:41):
I'll admit I was never boring.I have a personality. I smiled
more than most. I've lectured andtutored more than most as well. Where
are the people who stand up andtalk Mark Webber that way? I lived
a life being underestimated. In hindsight, I'd have it no other way.
Don't know if I would have madeit if the people thought I was a
person to be reckoned with Corporately,while the others killed each other off,

(06:05):
they set up the blocking and tackling, and I found the way to run
through the holes from the backfield.I certainly was not boring. You couldn't
help but see me, Yeah,good looking guy in the suit. Nothing
upstairs except for those special few whorecognized the simplicity in my execution, my

(06:26):
uniform, the perfect tailoring, subtlecolors, impeccable quality, not so much
standing out but being seen still.Often when I was in the room,
the initiated would wait for those whothey thought were the decision makers. I'm
standing. They ever dreamed I hadthe substance, But as a young man,
I often had a cadre of olderexecutives that actually worked for me and

(06:47):
took their direction from me. Iwas serious. I played to win.
I played for all the marbles.Go figure. This is what I'm being
said now, Often after it wastoo late. Then they on me comment
now that I'm irrelevant, now thati can't defend my place in history,
now that I've become an entertainer,and now that I seek sponsors and sponsorships,

(07:09):
now that I have to put outfront rather than behind the curtain.
I'm a character. It's your fault. Hey, I almost get it.
If I didn't have a history,and you wipe the slate clean. Yeah,
I'm different. The people that actuallylisten closely to the stories on the
show, the lessons and the helpinghand I offer, they'll find my brilliance.
I listen to you. I agreewith every opinion you take. I

(07:31):
get written to every week. Yourtire show is about common sense. I
never understood until I heard you sayit. I read your book. I
gave it to my son to read. I gave it to my daughter.
She loved it. You say oncein your life you were brilliant. I
hear brilliance every week. Where arethose people, the quiet ones, the
silent majority. I know how muchit means to me to be appreciated.

(07:56):
But when I hear from the others, the snobs, the elitist, the
boring, the uninformed, and unwillingto consider that maybe they're not so smart,
and maybe they're not even in onthe joke, this character gets pissed
off. I've been called lots ofthings, arrogant, ego, mania,
self promoting, wrong, but Ilive with it. You can't be a
leader without being seen and heard.You have to have an ego. You

(08:16):
have to drive forward for that whichyou believe in. Not easy for a
guy who self defines himself as arecluse. I can tell you that when
you hold him high rank, youmust have character. You can be a
character or a man of character.I chose the latter. Now a man

(08:37):
of impeccable character. My lawyer,my co host, my son, Jesse
Webber. Well, you sound likeyou're a shot right out of a cannon
right from the get go. Sosomeone says you're a character, and you
just go off the rails, right. I mean, that's what we're talking
about here, because what it's worth. A character is not the worst thing
to be called a character, isIt can be a person with, you

(08:58):
know, a unique approach to theworld, to life. I like the
term character. Didn't you live withit? I don't. It makes you
distinctive, it makes you unique.Then call me distinctive and call me unique.
Characters used as a slight and it'sdisrespectful. You know what, You're
a real character. Funny, whereare you going with this? You're just
going to talk about the whole show. How you're insulted that people called you

(09:20):
a character. Maybe you seem abit sensitive. I never seen anyone treat
you other than with reverence. Sowhat if they call you a character,
It doesn't change how people talk aboutyou. It's like the show. This
is a great example. Truck driverwrote to w R. I came across
Always in Fashion by accident while driving. I really had no interest in listening

(09:41):
to a show about clothes, butI stuck with it. I was amazed
how interesting this guy, Mark Webberwas, and this show is really about
life, not fashion. I'm addicted. Now that's a guy. In my
opinion, a truck driver is smarterthan any ceo I ever met. You
had a point of view, yethe was open minded, gave it a
chance, gets my respect. That'stonight. A character or of character,

(10:05):
That's what I want to talk about, Jesse. You see the difference.
I see the difference. I getit. It reminds me very much of
that scene in Good Fellas. Right, yeah, just a little bit.
I think I'm a funny guy.I'm here to amuse you. Is that
what it is? You never wantto be taken seriously. I get it.
I get it. But you haveto admit you on the radio are

(10:28):
very different than the Mark Webber incorporate life. I think there's something to
be said there, your personality hasnot changed, but been amplified. You're
playing a different role. Then sayit. Don't give me a broad brush.
I know I'm not a broadbrush guy. You want to say he's a
character on the radio, I'll livewith that, But from my entire career,

(10:50):
to be summed up in one sentence, he's a character doesn't work for
me. Okay, by the way, you think this is actually going to
stop people from calling you a character, No, But the reality is this
character or this man of character isusing this as a format to have an
important discussion, which I'm ready tostart if you are, Okay, let's

(11:13):
do it. After three years afterI started my career, I left PVH.
Phillipson Using company to work at asmall private label shirt company called Capital
Mercury. I would guess they didmaybe a hundred million dollars worth of sales.
They would make all those products thatyou'd see in Macy called Alfani or

(11:33):
bar three. Those are private label, their store labels, and they would
either buy them themselves or they buythem from experts. In this case,
Capitol Murky was an expert shirt makerand they can compete with anyone's price.
And they would buy the Macy's labelfrom Capital Mercury. They'd selta JC penny,
They'd selta norts of this, seltanthe entire community. The only difference
was is that they weren't selling brandsand they were below the radar. Anyway,

(11:58):
make a long story short. Ihad a very close friend, business
associate. He was the president ofa button company. His name was bud
Winstrol, and bud Winstrol was oneof those guys who saw me beyond the
suits. Because when the time cameto negotiate for shirt buttons and the fact
that I would not tolerate buttons thatbroke, and the fact that he'd have

(12:20):
to go back to his factory andrecommend to me only those buttons, he
could be sure of that when peoplesend their shirts out to be laundered and
get hit by a hothead master pressin those cleaning stores, those buttons wouldn't
crack from that intensive pressure. Helearned what I was all about when we
negotiated. One day, he comesto me says to me, I have

(12:41):
an opportunity for you. Capital Murkywould like to talk to you. They
have heard of you. I toldthem about you. They're looking for someone,
and I think you would do wellthere. Why don't you go talk
to him? I said, Ilove it here, I'm doing great here.
He says, it's not about thatMark. You're a young guy.
You've been here three years, You'veproved to the company, you're good.
I think you'd have a great careerhere. But I assure you, if

(13:01):
you went to Capitol Mercury, theyneed you more than PVH doesn't. They'll
pay you for it. So Iwent to Capitolmerkeley, and sure enough,
overnight they more than doubled my salary. And as a young guy relatively starting
out, I doubled my salary.It meant a lot to my wife and
I and I decided to join them. To my credit, when I announced
my boss that I was leaving thecompany, a boss that thought the world

(13:24):
of me, knew what I wascapable of, was so disappointed that I
was leaving. I said, look, I'm leaving for money, That's all
there is to it. I recognizethat you have a pay structure here that
you can't pay me what these peopleare paying me. I will be back
to this company. This is wheremy home is. I want to come
back and as soon as it's feasiblefor me and for you to work that
through, will work it out.Just look at me as taking a leave

(13:48):
of absence, and however long youneed me to stay before I leave,
I'll do that. And I stayedmore than a month. I stayed five
weeks, giving them time to findmy replacement. Is that a character was
a man of character, I askedyou. So I went to this company,
Capitol Mercury. And the reason I'mtelling the story is the obvious character
versus not. There were two peoplethat I came in contact with. One

(14:13):
was a loud, boisterous seller,part owner in the company. Thought he
knew everything about the world and hadno disrespect for anyone but his customers.
And whenever I needed to talk tohim, I dreaded it. He was
always so unpleasant, always talked downto me. I'll never forget one particular

(14:33):
time I had designed. I wasa designer at that time a range of
casual sports shirts. They were bigshirts, that was the style at the
time. Capitol Mercury had never venturedinto that area. I had experience from
my promal life. I designed ahandful of them that sales team showed them
to J C. Penny. JC. Penny wanted to buy one hundred
thousand units of these things. Wehad were negotiating the price, and I

(14:56):
think we were twenty five cents offand I had to go talk to this
sales matter. Just guy Penny's inthe showroom. I walked to his desk.
He's on the phone. I'm standingby his desk. He turns around,
puts his back to me while I'mstanding at his doorway, and I'm
sorry to interrupt, and he putshis finger out of my faces. Don't
you dare ever interrupt me when I'mon the phone. And who do you

(15:20):
think you are? Standing out ofmy desk waiting for me like this?
Get lost? That's so mean.It's not even mean, it's disrespectful.
He had no idea that in theshowroom, I'm sitting there with an order
and the sales executives. So Ihad to go back to the showroom.
I walked over one of the celleyou have to excuse me. I pulled
him out, and he went overand said to them blah blah blah.

(15:43):
He came into the showroom, shookjac Penny's hand, did the deal,
and left and never apologize to me. You want to talk a character or
the lack thereof. That's a greatexample. And I won't mention him by
name because I don't even want togive him the glory of being on the
show. However, there was anothergentleman in that company, one of the

(16:04):
founders and owners. His name wasDonald Cooper. May he rest in peace.
Donald Cooper was a gentleman. Hewas respected and revered by all.
As a founder, he came upwith a concept of how to build this
company, and he and another partnerbuilt a hundred million dollar company on their
own with good people. And I'llnever forget. When the time came that
I did want to go back tovan Usen, I had to go in

(16:27):
and resign to him. I askedfor an appointment. They got me in
to see me immediately, I said, thank you for seeing me. Mister
Cooper said, Mark, sit down, let's talk. What can I do
for you? I said, misterCooper, I have to tell you that
the entire stay that I'm here,I was there for three months, everyone
has treated me brilliantly. I reallyrespect the company. I really really enjoy

(16:49):
my time here. But I haveto tell you that I missed the van
Usen company. I should have neverleft. I considered at home when I
left, they didn't want me toand I miss it. I missed the
people, I missed the brand.I miss everything about the company, and
I decided to leave. Donald Coopergot up from his desk, walked around

(17:10):
his desk. I stood up.I didn't always could do, and he
shook my hand and said, Ican't tell you, Mark how happy I
am for you. I congratulate youon your decision. Walked away back to
his desk, sat down and lookedat me and said, now, how
can I convince you to stay?Now? When you want to talk about

(17:30):
a man with character, that's aman with character. And I learned that
lesson from him, and over thecourse of time, anyone who's ever resigned
I behaved the same way he did. There's one other thing I learned along
the way. You never want toleave people understanding where they are with you.
And because of that, every interviewI ever held with anyone I ever

(17:52):
interviewed, at the end of theinterview, I did a summary. If
I was not interested, I toldthem so they could move on and not
go home and wait hopefully for somethingthat wasn't happening. If I wasn't sure,
I told him I wasn't sure,and of course if I was interested,
I negotiated to conclusion, this isa story tonight. I'm a character

(18:15):
or I'm a person of character.We'll take a break back in a minute.
Always in fashion, my favorite brandhas always been ISOD. My company
at one time brought that brand.The CEO of the company handed it to
me and said, you better makeit work. And I put everything in
my career to make ISOD work,and I fell in love with that brand,

(18:38):
and to this day it is oneof the most exciting endeavors I've ever
got involved with. Isod is anincredibly strong golf brand. If you play
golf, if you play tennis forthat matter. They make great polo shirts.
I mean great. They fit perfect. The material is unique because it's

(19:02):
a PK fabric that waffleweave, yousee, and it's made of a blend
of cotton and microfiber that allows youto stretch. And very often they are
treated with solo protection as well,so they stretch, they're comfortable, and
they breathe well. And one thingabout Isa, they always fit. They'll
never tug on you. You putit in your waist, they'll fit you

(19:26):
great. The colors, patterns aresensational. Now I will also tell you
ISOD makes great shorts and great golfpants. You're a golfer and you want
to look good. You don't wantto have to think about how do I
look. You want to think abouthow you play, not how you feel.
ISOD is the brand for you.I know I was there when it
was created. The strategy behind thatbrand is brilliant. It's one of my

(19:47):
favorite brands. While I talk aboutI should tell you about the man's sports
where ISOD wasn't enough being a golfbrand. It wasn't enough being just great
polo shirts with logos, without logos. Incredible brand in story and history.
Isaad makes salt weather programs. Theyhave great printed woven shirts, short sleeves

(20:10):
that look excellent with colors, excellentwith shorts, excellent with cotton pants,
of which they also make. Thiswhole salt order relax line from Isaad,
whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, nitpolos, woven shirts and pants of
a range of colors and fabrics thatare perfect for a guy wants to go
casually in the spring and summer ofthis year, and he is the thing

(20:36):
ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening tome talk about this brand can afford to
buy it and know that there area lot of other brands that also have
a look like isode. Although Idon't believe it's fun as isat is,
the brand has a lot of energyin it, but at the price points

(20:56):
no one can compete. You canfind I said, at your leading retails
and online at EOD dot com.Talk to you later, guys. I
wish you a very happy spring insummer, and I help you by telling
you if you wear EYESOD, You'regonna look great. Welcome back, Joe
always in fashion. Here's your host, Mark webber Well. I've been spurred

(21:19):
armed this week because not for thefirst time, I'd been referred to as
a character rather than of character,and it drives me crazy. It's not
the way I expect to be identified. Nor do I think it's respectful.
I think it's downright disrespectful, particularlythe way that word is used as a

(21:40):
weapon. There are no flukes inbusiness. I didn't get to where I
got by being a character, awise guy, whatever it means. I
had a lot to overcome when Ithink back now, I had the worst
Brooklyn accent in a world of prepschool graduates from all over the country.
I had to lose as much asI could of that accent, so at

(22:03):
least I sounded a little bit moreworldly in a global company. Then,
of course, I kind of lookedgood in suits, so right away I
was typecast like a dumb blonde,with all due respect at dumb blonds.
As a good looking guy in asuit, I was taken seriously except by
a select few who worked closely withme, who heard what I had to

(22:26):
say, who watched my work ethicand understood how hard I was and how
serious I was willing to be workand get the job done. They didn't
underestimate me, but the rest ofthe world did, and I learned to
live with it. Now having saidit, I wouldn't have it any other
way, because nobody saw me comingand I loved it, and I as

(22:51):
much as I would think it wasan affront, at times, I also
thought it was cute that I couldbe standing in a room and nobody knew
who I really was. I'm surprisedat you, you know, I am
surprised at you because for a guywho always says he doesn't care what anyone
thinks of him, I don't carewhat anyone thinks about me. The whole

(23:11):
show is about people calling you acharacter. I don't get it. I
thought you could care less what peoplethink of you. Okay, you're right,
But I am older now, Iam in a different place in my
life. I have a career historythat was proven, that provided for everyone,
that people benefited in and out ofthe company's family benefit. And I

(23:34):
think I'm deserved of a little respectat this stage of my career. Not
the way I care. No,I'm doing a show here to make a
point. Okay. I went toNew York Law School, gave a brilliant
speech I took for an hour anda half without notes. I brought tears,
I brought laughter, I brought hope. I brought the American dream to
all of these people, and oneguy called me a character afterwards. I

(23:57):
want her to strangle him. Allright, that's not it. Wow,
I can't believe what this guy did. And by the way, you go
out and make an address for anhour and a half and entertained the people.
You pompous anyway? Alright, alright, mister sensitive. I have a
great story to tell. You know. Here's an example of character and being

(24:19):
underestimated that I want to tell.Part one has to do with a chain
of stores, a three billion dollarchain called the May Company. The May
Company was ultimately bought by Macy's andall this stores were turned into Macy's stores.
But there was a store called Robinson'son the West coast. O'Neill's,
Kaufman's. I became a young president, very young president. When I was

(24:42):
thirty four years old. I waspresident of the Van Usen Shirt Company.
I had a hundred salesman working forme at that time. Because this was
before all retails consolidated and moved alltheir offices to New York, to Seattle,
to Tech this sort, to LittleRock, Arkansa, or even Charlotte,

(25:03):
North Carolina. There were officers ofthese independent stores. O'Neil's was in
Ohio, Kaufman's was in Pittsburgh,and on and on. There were hundreds
of different stores. You need abig sales for it, and my head
of sales was a powerhouse. Hehad that personality. I would call him
a character. You went out todinner with him, he would go and
introduce him to the chef, andyou have chef make special dinners for all

(25:27):
of us. He was an amazingguy. And one day he said to
me, we have to get ona plane. We have to go to
O'Neil's and make company's store. AndI said, who are you meeting with
him? He said, we're goingto meet the chairman of the board of
O'Neill's. He wants to meet ourpresident. You knew to the job.
He wants to meet him. Wedo a lot of business. He wants
to meet you, So I don'tif we get We flew out there and

(25:48):
we went to his office from hisassistants sitting outside, big desk, big
office, and we introduced ourselves.She knew my friend the sales manager xact
VP, and she let us inand said to the boys, these people
from van Usen. He said,oh great. He kept writing on his
desk. So we sat down headof sales, my guy, me and
we had our regional sales manager therewhile this guy was doing his paperwork.

(26:11):
So this is going on now forfive minutes. It's getting close to ten
minutes. And finally I said tothe salesman, asking what's going on?
What's going on? So he getsup. He says, mister chairman,
we're here. We're ready to begin. And he looked and he said,
I'm just waiting for your president toshow up. And little did he know

(26:32):
it was me. And I lovedit now that I wore as a badge
of honor because he was shell shockedto see a guy so young the president
of the company. And I'd liketo believe for my own I'm not gonna
be humble. I know at theend of the conversation he understood why I
was the president. We talked aboutdeliveries, we talked about prices, we
talked about positioning, we talked aboutthe Asia and importing, we talked about

(26:55):
all these things, and I knewit cold That's why I was president.
But the fact that he never evendreamed this guy in this suit in this
case. It was cute, itwas fun, it was non intentional,
and I loved it. Going backa while, I remember within the company
there was another independent entrepreneur, guynamed Danny Kaison, who built a outwear

(27:18):
factory in van Isville, Illinois.Wow, how do I remember that?
Anyway, he asked my boys andI to fly out with him walk through
the factory because he wanted to selloutwear even though he was owned by Phillips
Vanus Incorporation. He thought the vanUsing company could buy his outaware and sell
a lot of it through our channel, so we would sell shirts and sports

(27:40):
were in his outwear. We wentto look at his factory and it was
impressive. I had been at thispoint to a number of factories, not
very many in the United States,but because they were closing faster than a
week in import, and here Iwas. We walked through. I knew
the questions to ask, which sewingareas to walk up to, ask questions
of the sowers. I understood packaging. I was as I say now and

(28:03):
I'll always say, I don't knowif I was smart, that's for others
to decide, but I know Iwill's well trained. And at the end
of this, he was looking atme and he was saying to me,
he's looking at me different. Thatnight we had dinner. We were talking
about a lot of things, andfinally he looks at my boss and he
says, to my boys, youunderstand who this guy is. And my

(28:26):
boss, Robert Solomon, who's oneof my great mentors of old time.
He said, yeah, I knowwho he is, but you didn't.
He says, you're right. Hesaid, I heard about him in the
compare. I heard he was adecent guy. I heard he's smart.
You know. I have to say, Mark, you're a good looking guy.
You wear all these fancy calls.I said, they're not really fancy
if you look at him, they'rewell made. I'm wearing a navy blue

(28:47):
suit, a white shirt, anavy tie, black shoes. Yes,
I'm wearing French cuffs. You couldsay, but it's not fancy. It's
just elegant. He says. Youknow, Mark, you're right. But
here's what I wanted to say toyou. I said, now I understand
who you are. I understand thatwhile everyone else is writing you off,
while you're not being taken seriously,you're going to end up running this company

(29:11):
someday. I am convinced of it. And I would just say to you,
continue the way you're going, Speakvery softly, but carry that big
stick. And I thought it wasremarkable and I loved it. As time
went on, he was right,people weren't taking me serious. When they
started to, they realized there wassomeone to be reckoned with. They realized

(29:34):
that I was serious, that Iwas willing to outwork any one. More
importantly than outworking anyone, I waslearning everything that was to learn. If
you were the head of information technology, when you showed up in a room
or a corporate function, I wouldsit next to the head of information technology.

(29:55):
Explain to me how our computer systemworks. Explain to me how we're
going to ship and fill in inventorywhen we have basics on the floor.
If you have a basic white shirtand you sell out in size fifteen and
a half, how do I getit back on the floor. I was
learning everything. Most people didn't evenknow the questions to ask, and yet
I was asking them. And Iwas someone to be reckoned with. And

(30:15):
I started to grow very rapidly atthe expense of other people. There's no
flukes in business. Those who peoplewho have to get to the top will
get there. The system works.It's always been fair. I always found
it. This is the American dream. Everyone's given a fair chance. Those
that excel excel. And in spiteof the fact that perhaps people wouldn't take

(30:37):
me seriously, they had no alternativewhen they heard me speak, and they
watched me work as time went on, I'll them forget I was so young,
you know again, I was thirtyfour years old as a president of
a big company. As time wenton, I started to become a corporate
executive and my boss, the presidentof the corporation, had decisions to make.
And one day he looked at meand said, I'm never going to

(31:00):
hire anyone who doesn't work for you. And no matter what their job is,
no matter what their age is,Mark, They're going to report to
you. They may not like itat first, but I am confident that
once they're reporting to you, they'regoing to understand why. But you have
to step up. You have todo the right thing. You have to

(31:23):
be professional at every turn. Youhave to understand that these people's futures,
in their livelihood and large pot willdepend on you if they work for you.
You have to be tough or fair. You have to understand that they
have lives, they have families.They have to be able to have time
at work and time at home.They have to know when they walk in

(31:45):
your office that they're going to bea serious guy sitting across the table helping
them problems off. But I'm goingto do this and I'll never be a
question ever again about who you arein this company. So I say to
you after that, when I'm mindingmy own business, I'm on the radio

(32:07):
hopefully teaching you lessons, making youbetter. If you replay this show slowly
for your significant other, your sons, your daughters, your father, your
grandma, I don't care. There'sa lot to be learned about what I
just said. Now it's cleverly disguisedas a conversation, but if you're drilled

(32:28):
down and listen, there's some real, real important stuff in this show.
And of course I've been on forseven years, so give me a break.
Don't call me a character. I'ma man of character. I'll take
a break back in a minute.Always in fashion been a lifetime of my
career building the van usen Brand,and I am so pleased that they're back

(32:51):
with us now talking about suits,men, we're dressing up again and it's
become cool to wear a suit.Suits can be one on multiplicasions in multiple
ways. You could wear a suitformally to go out at night or to
an event, to wear a suitto the office with or without a tie.
If you look closely. Now fashiontrends suits are being worn with turtlenecks

(33:13):
or mocknecks. The choices are endlessand every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that packaging yourself this is
important. Does the products you packageand wearing a suit is one of those
things that make men look their best. Venues and invented a new idea.
It's called the cool Flex suit.It's been engineered with stretched technology, giving

(33:38):
you the most comfortable fit and mobility. It's wrinkle resistant fabric, it's cool
moisture wicking. It makes it perfectfor all occasions. As we discussed just
now, this new style of lookingshop while feeling cool and comfortable is amazing,
and I'm so excited that the venusingcompany is involved in this new technology

(33:59):
and it's embracing the whole idea ofdressing up. Let's not forget van Uson
made its name with dress shirts.It's only proper that the suit business follows
strongly in its way. You canfind van Uson cool Flex Men's Stretched suits
at jac Penney or online at jcpennydot com. Guys, they're great.
You should go look at him.Welcome back, Joe, always in fashion.

(34:22):
Here's your host Mark Webber Tonight,I am discussing character. I suppose
of character that I view myself asa person of character, a serious guy
wants to do the right thing.But I got into someone calling me a

(34:43):
character. He's a character, andthat drives me crazy, craziest over it
that after everything I've accomplished in mycareer, this is what I'm being known
for a character. Anyway, youprobably haven't heard much about this from Jesse.
No, I've always said it.I've only known you, like at

(35:04):
the height of your career, thesuccess of your career, when you've already
made it to the top. Sothe idea that you've been underestimated and people
didn't think so highly of you,or they didn't realize who you were or
what you were capable of. Alot of this is new stories to me.
I learned a lot about you sinceyou started the radio show, and
we've been hearing all these stories.But what's interesting is that in my current

(35:25):
career, I'm kind of feeling someof the things that you've been going through.
For me. I'm not a traditionalbroadcaster. I didn't go to journalism
school, so when I'm trying toaudition for these jobs, as an anchor
or, a reporter, or ahost. I met with such skepticism.
I met with such Well, youknow, you didn't go you didn't start
off in a local market, youdidn't go to this school. I said,

(35:49):
yeah, but I'm an attorney.I've been anchoring for the past seven
years on law and crime and theseother projects. Give me a shot,
give me a shot, see whatI can do. And every time I
do something new, I always haveto deliver and hit it out of the
park. I have to prove peoplewrong. I say to them, give
me the shot. I won't letyou down. So it's this kind of
underestimating because I didn't. I don'thave the traditional pedigree like other people.

(36:13):
I always feel like an underdog.You know, It's funny. Throughout my
career, when I became a vicepresident, I wasn't jumping up and down.
I was proud of you know.Mommy and I we celebrated, and
at one point she said, youdon't look happy you just became a vice
president. I said, don't getme wrong, I'm happy I'm a vice
president, but I should be asenior vice president. And she's, you

(36:34):
know, I can't believe you.You're never happy, And throughout the entire
course of my career senior vice president, executive vice president, president division,
then until I got up to presidentof the company, until I got my
board seat, I was never reallysatisfied. It was hard to enjoy because
every step along the way was afight, and just the way it is

(36:54):
ensure you're seeing it, and itreally bothers me to see you go through
it. But it's part of lifeand you're doing just fine. So I
guess that's pretty cool, and it'sof itself. Well, we're on this
journey together, you and me.You're like my manager, So anytime I
go through this stuff, you tellme how to think about it. We're
in it together, trying to becomesuccessful in the broadcast media industry. I

(37:17):
love watching your joy drop when Italk to people and I give it to
them. Well, I will say, I will say, there's so many
things that you can say and dothat I can't. I'm always like,
this would be better coming from you. I want you to handle this.
You just know how to say thingsin a certain way. Maybe it's an
authority, maybe it's the way thatyou break it down, but you always

(37:37):
say things to people in a way. I just can't do it, at
least not at this point in mylife. How about your car breaking down
in the garage and me talking tothe manager. You know, I want
to tell that story. Yeah,my car broke down in the garage.
I keep it in New York Cityand it was a situation where, okay,
how do I get it started?And how do I bring it to
a shop? And I'm saying,all right, maybe I have to call

(37:58):
Triple A and for them, andthat becomes a whole headache. And so
he said to me, well,why don't you ask the guy in the
garage to jump start it? AndI was told, well, he won't
do it because they're afraid of damagingthe car. They don't want to be
responsible. He said, let metake care of it. You come down
to the garage, you go tothe manager. You go listen, my

(38:19):
son's car is not working. Ineed you to jump start it. Take
care of you. He said,listen. Sorry, I understand, but
we don't want to be responsible.If we go in, we start the
car, we damage something. Wedon't want to damage the internal computer of
the car, the mechanics of it. We don't want to be responsible for
that, and then you said,listen, I want to give you my
word of honor. I've been acustomer of this garage for years. I

(38:40):
am telling you this right now.I will not hold you responsible if anything
happens to the car. Just pleaseget it jump started. I'll take care
of you and we'll take it fromthere. And he was like okay,
and took care of it. Idon't think they would have done that for
me. They did it for youwell. And on top of which,
when I did for you as Ifound you ranger over a dealership in Manhattan,

(39:02):
called them, set up an appointmentfor you the first thing the next
day and boom, took care ofbusiness. Say I'm proud of that.
You're my son. Anyway. That'swhy I object to being called a character,
which is the theme tonight, versusa man of character. And I
want to talk to you about mystay at LVMH. I can assure you

(39:23):
that the finest luxury company in theworld, with some of the smartest the
people who've went through the smartest collegesin the business world to prepare them for
a career at luxury at LVMH hiredme and made me part of their team.
You've heard, I've had all kindsof titles. They sat on the
executive committee in Paris. I wasa CEO in the States. They wouldn't

(39:45):
have done it unless I came acrossthe right way. And during the course
of my time, it was reallyfascinating how I behaved there and why I
had what I thought was and agreat relation hip. I went there for
the honor of working there. Myidea was whatever I could do to help

(40:08):
them is what I wanted to do. It wasn't about what was good for
me. I wasn't looking for money. I already had all the money I
would need, and of course theywere more than fair. But I wasn't
about money. I also felt theresponsibility of being an American executive. You
know, in the past, Iwas an American executive. I traveled all

(40:30):
over the world. I was anAmerican. I walked into a room,
I had that American smile, Americanswagger on my face. I did what
I wanted to do as a representativeof an American company in the world.
But here I was an American executivewith insight a French company, and my
responsibility was different now because I wasrepresenting Europeans, and I had to change

(40:52):
my divenor and it was very,very aware that I had to play by
European rules and by the way andthe culture of the European company. And
I did. And I'd like totap myself on the shoulder because I was
really smart about it and I knewwhat was important. Let's go back PBH.
We had a management team of twentysix people. Of those twenty six

(41:15):
people, this is not the board, this is the internal group of people.
On those twenty six people, Iwould say five maybe six were exceptional.
At LVMH. I never met anyonewho wasn't exceptional. It was an
incredible group of people. And youshould not be surprised when you consider again
largest luxury company in the world.When I was there, they had sixty

(41:36):
two brands. They have brands frommaking ships, they had newspaper brands.
They have all the finest luxury brands, Viton di Orgavanchi, they owned Sephora,
they bought Tiffany. This is incrediblecompanies. You shouldn't be surprised at
the caliber of people. And Iwas aware of it, and I tempered
myself to be aware of it becauseI wanted them to see me as a

(41:58):
man of character, virtually never askedfor anything of myself. Until it was
funny. I'd been with a companythree years, and in three years time,
there was never a conversation about araise. So one day I said
to the managing director president of thecompany, you know, I never mentioned
it to you, but if Ihad an executive that I really liked and

(42:22):
was doing a good job and hewas performing, I might want to consider
giving him a raise. And helooked at me and he said, I've
been here three years. I've neversaid a word. He laughed, and
he says, you're right, Andof course I got a raise, a
nominal one. The French don't givemoney the way we do. But my

(42:43):
relationship with them was based on recognizingwhat kind of company it was, what
kind of people I was dealing with, and the fact that this was a
company of substance and of character.And on a week I'm discussing someone calling

(43:06):
me a character. It has meincensed. But I'm coming down because I'm
getting to tell you this story withthat as a backdrop, I'll come back.
Is he a character or is hea person of character? Back in
a minute, Always in fashion.I've been shopping for fun lately, and

(43:29):
while I'm out, I always lookat men's and I look at women's what's
going on? And I was particularlyinterested in Decay and why because of their
sponsorship of the show. I wentdownstairs at Macy's thirty fourth Street to look
around and I saw Decamy active whereAnd I promise you, ladies, it
is sensational, from the sports brawsto the crop tops, to the leggings

(43:49):
and the sweats. It really isa great look. And Decay had begun
as an all American brand dressing casualclothes engines, and the stuff looks credible
and right now. The colors andthe styles is so exciting that I feel
great about the company. I alwaysdo. I wear the men's wear all
the time. I've had situations whereI've gone to big events and been interviewed

(44:12):
in TV or radio and someone comesup to me the microphone and like they
always do, who you wearing?And here I am, this big shot
with a big company, and theysay, well, I'm wearing a DKNY
and they laugh and say, no, you're not. Actually have one on
the internet where you could see me. They asked me what suit I'm wearing,
and I say, dec Andy hadopened it up, and there's the
DKNY label. Great fashion, itfits well, it looks right. It's

(44:35):
designed to make you comfortable in thecity, goes from day and to night.
You can wear it in the morning, wear in the afternoon, and
you look cool at night as well. It's great for the office as great
fulisia. But I was talking aboutthe km yactive weear the first time I
really became aware of it. Jesseand I were up at Sirius Radio.
He was doing a job for Serioushe does Dan Abrams show, he fills

(44:57):
in on the Potus Network and we'rein the lobby and this hip hop group
came up. Well, this reallygreat looking Latino singer girl Young beautiful,
She's wearing a dk and Y sportsbar and I said to myself, this
is amazing. Actually went to Macy'sto see it, and I'm excited about
the brand. And I'll tell youwhat, ladies, dk Y always has

(45:17):
great fashion for work, always wonderfuldresses and things that you'd wear. Their
accessories are great, the shoes arealways very cool. But activewear in particular
right now looks sensational and being thateveryone's affleisure in activewear. It's a great
time dcmy go take a look.As one of the world's most celebrated fashion
designers, Carl Lagofeld was renowned forhis aspirational and cutting edge approach to style.

(45:42):
His unique vision of Parisian ship comesto America through Carlagofeld Paris. He
has women's collections, men's collections,ready to wear, accessory, shoes and
bags. The fashion house Carlagofeld alsooffers a range of watches ie wearing premium
fragrances. You can explore the carLagofel collection Arlagafel powis dot com. But
it's more than that. I,for one, love to shop. I

(46:05):
love going around and seeing what's happeningand what catches my attention, what would
make me feel good to wear now. I don't wear the women's wear obviously,
but I can appreciate it and maylook amazing. If you want to
look right, you want to haveclothes that fits you well. You want
to look like you're wearing something that'svery expensive, that's exclusive for you and
yours. You can find it atvery affordable prices at Macy's. So Carlgafel

(46:30):
dot com Paris. The women's readyto wear fashion is extraordinary, as well
as the handbags in the shoes.If one wear men's clothes, unlike my
appreciation of women's clothes, I'm amodern guy. I want to look current,
I want to look the way Iwant to feel. I go out
at night, I'm in black andCarlagafel is my buddy. Carlos are great,

(46:50):
They fit great, and they havelittle tweaks and touches, whether it's
a stripe on the sleeve or buttonat the neck or on the shoulder.
There's a lot of details that gointo Carlagathel because he's always been, he
always had been one of the world'sgreat designers, and this legacy and goes
on and on. I can't speakenough about it except to say to you,
you want to feel good about yourself. You want to know that you're
dressing properly. You want to closethat fits you well. Carl Lagafeld Paris

(47:15):
at Macy's or Karlgafel dot com.Welcome back, Joe Always in Fashion.
Here's your host, Mark Webber.To night, I'm discussing the difference between
someone being called a character or someoneof character. I love being surprised by
people. Love it. I loveit, love it, love it.

(47:36):
I watched the New York Yankees.I watch Aaron Boone. I think of
him as a blue collar kind ofguy. He's manager of a baseball team,
and then I watch him manage andI listened to it a way he
has to say, and I listenhow he takes every negatives, puts a
positive spin. He tells the truth, yet he gives hope, and he
gives information brilliantly. I've been watchingthe NBA Finals and someone called out on

(47:58):
one of the shows. Thieve cursconversation about in the huddle. On the
final game of one of the championship, he played alongside Michael Jordan. I
want to play it for you now. When we called time out with twenty
five seconds to go, we wentinto the huddle and Phil told Michael.
He said, Michael, I wantyou to take the last shot. And

(48:20):
Michael said, you know, Phil, I don't feel real comfortable in these
situations. So maybe we ought togo in another direction. Why don't we
go to Steve? So I thoughtto myself, well, I guess I
got to bail Mike out again,the shot went in. And that's my
story and I'm sticking to it.And I love that line. That's my

(48:45):
story, and I'm sticking to itbecause it's it's real. We all get
to do what we need to do, we all get to behave a certain
way. I wrote two books,the serious books, always in fashion,
the name saved to the book,and yet people are calling me a character.
Maybe it's just being on the radioand being a podcast. I don't

(49:06):
know who Joe Rogan Joe Rogan?Is he a character? Jesse, He's
got a very big personality, strongopinions, you know, believes in aliens,
He does you have s, doescomedy, He's a little bit of
everything. I would say he's acharacter. Well, what do you mean
when you say he's a character?I say somebody that stands out with a
big personality and has a point ofview and they're not a characature but almost

(49:30):
a caricature. Tucker Calson, ishe a character? Yes? Yes,
put it this way. I thinka character is somebody that you could do
an SNL impression of. Would thatbe fair? Like Trump? Like Trump?
Trump is a character. It's anice show. As I told you,
I was called a character, andI am angry and at the same

(49:52):
time recognize that perception's reality. Theonly problem I have with it is I'm
being judged by being a radio personalityright now rather than on the substance that
I put in the first forty yearsof my career. In my life.
You know, in life, youget to choose you. You get to
change if you want to. Youcan't control what's said about you. I

(50:15):
dress well, I have impeccable taste. I've noticed when I walk into a
room. I can be charming whenI want to be, but I do
it in spurts. I don't wantto be very often. My favorite line
is when I'm talking to someone,I've run out of charming, It's now
time to leave you. I've workedodd, I've distinguished myself. I'm more
unique than commonplace. I've treated peoplefairly and have helped many succeed. I've

(50:40):
always made the companies i've worked forsuccessful. I've made the money makers,
and I've made the brand stronger forme being there. I have a close
family, and I know I'm appreciated. If this is a character, so
be it. I'm a character,but I do know I could put my

(51:00):
head in the pillow at night andsleep soundly. Good night,