Character Or Of Character

Character Or Of Character.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is a noncore performance of Always in Fashion.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
This show is produced and hosted by Mark Webber. The
show is sponsored by G three Aparo. The views expressed
in the following program are those of the sponsor and
not necessarily the opinion of seven ten wor or iHeartMedia.
Who is Mark Weber. He's a self made business executive
here to help you find your success. From the New

(00:24):
York City projects to the Avenue Montaigne in Paris. His
global success story in the luxury world 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's
your host of Always in Fashion, Mark Weber. Mark Weber.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
I've been called a character. I've been called a character again,
and it's your fault. Your fault because I have to
entertain you. Now leave it to me to blame someone
else for my own behavior. Wait, I hear something, Mark,
I'm your conscience. I have some one in my head

(01:05):
talking to me. My little conscience is talking me and saying,
you can't blame any one but yourself. Mark, can't blame
any one but yourself. If that's the way you are perceived. Oh,
you don't have to agree. But there is a reason
we don't like humans, and that's that little voice in
my head, and I want to get it out of
the way. I became a radio and podcast host and

(01:25):
entertain and make no mistake about it, I have to
hold your attention. My motives might be pure, get a
lot of listeners, drive consumers to the sponsor's product, help
the ratings for the station and the podcast network. But
I decided on this personality. I came out from behind
the curtain. I forego being a recluse. I picked this style.

(01:48):
I have to live with it. Now. I guess that
little voice isn't through with me yet. But here's the frustration.
Forty years climbing the ladder to the top of the
corporate world PVH president, board member, CEO, no one would
have ever called me a character. I wouldn't have made
it eight years at LVMH, a CEO, member of the

(02:11):
executive committee in Paris. Never a character style. Yes, was
a scene, yes that I have a point of view, yes,
but a character. Never they would say I was a
person of character. I wouldn't have been hired, I wouldn't
have lasted a week. You are how you package yourself?

(02:31):
Where have I heard, then, hmm? Being called a character
now because I'm entertaining, because I'm promoting a show, I'm
now a character. That it's not fair, Mark fairs for kids,
Mark perception is reality. Well I don't accept it. Let

(02:51):
me see those detractors who's so quick to call me
a character? Perform a radio show and podcasts with original
content thirty two type pages preparing me for getting this
stuff that organized, interesting and insightful, performed as well. Good luck. Now,
I'm sure all of you out there are great at
your jobs. I was great at mine, and if you're listening,

(03:12):
you know I'm great at this third career. You have
no idea how hard this is to do. Character few.
I've lived a life of being underestimated. I went from
a good looking guy in a suit to a mature lightweight, questionable,
incapable yep, all the while climbing the ladder, the small

(03:34):
running back running through the offensive line, scoring the touchdown.
And yes, those people were offensive, but I enjoy looking
at them in my rear view mirror. The truth is
disrespectful is disrespectful, regardless of how you package it. Sometimes
I'll give it. It's innocent, sometimes it's arrogant, and it's

(03:55):
definitely not fair. But like so many things in life,
managing disappointment could 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 my role in corporate America.
I certainly never accepted anyone disrespect to me. But most importantly,

(04:19):
I respected myself. I knew who I was, I knew
what I knew. Being underestimated for me was a superpower.
I'll accept good looking guy in a suit if I must.
At least I was good looking, even though you didn't
think I had anything to go with it. But I
knew when I opened my suit jacket unbuttoned my shirt
that big Superman uniform was underneath it. But my uniform,

(04:40):
my custom, was a logo with a big sea for confidence.
So call me what you will, call me a character.
I'm happy doing what I'm doing. I'm always happy, and
there are lots of people who've benefited from Mark Weber
along the way. That's my boy, Mau. There we go.
The voice in my head talking to me again tonight.

(05:00):
I have some stories to explain. Can you imagine a
forty year career of excellence. It can't possibly be summarized
as he's a character. They don't get it. Can you
imagine the finest sophisticated, luxury European company in the world
putting up with a character that would be out of
character for them. I would bet the last word to

(05:20):
describe me in that organization would be that I was
and always am a serious, well thought out businessman with
a track record of minimal mistakes. I put my record
up against anyone. I'm well thought out. I'm understated considering
the unintended consequences, always regarding my decisions. I was tough,

(05:41):
very but fair a character. H I'll admit I was
never boring. I have a personality. I smiled more than most.
I've lectured and tutored more than most as well. Where
are the people who stand up and talk Mark Weber
that way, I lived a life being underestimated. In hindsight,
I'd haven't know the way, don't know if I would

(06:02):
have made it if the people thought I was a
person to be reckoned with Corporately, while the others killed
each other off. They set up the blocking and tackling,
and I found a 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 who recognized the

(06:26):
simplicity in my execution, my uniform, the perfect tailoring, subtle colors,
and peccable quality. Not so much standing out but being
seen still. Often when I was in the room, the
initiated would wait for those who they thought were the
decision makers. I'm standing. They never dreamed I had the substance,

(06:46):
but as a young man, I often had a cadre
of older executives that actually worked for me and took
their direction from me. I was serious. I played to win.
I played for all the marbles. Go figure. This is
what I'm being said now, often after it was too late.
Then they saw me coming. Now that I'm irrelevant, Now
that I can't defend my place in history, Now that

(07:08):
I become an entertainer, and now that I seek sponsors
and sponsorships, now that I have to put out front
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 cleaning. Yeah, I'm different. The
people that actually listen closely to the stories on the show,
the lessons and the helping hand I offer, they'll find

(07:30):
my brilliance. I listen to you. I agree with every
opinion you take. I get written to every week. Your
tire show is about common sense. I never understood until
I heard you say it. I read your book. I
give it to my son to read. I give it
to my daughter. She loved it. You say, once in
your life you were brilliant. I hear brilliance every week.

(07:52):
Where are those people, the quiet ones, the silent majority.
I know how much it means to me to be appreciated.
But when I hear from the others, the snobs, the elitists,
the boring, the uninformed, and the unwilling to consider that
maybe they're not so smart and maybe they're not even
in on the joke, this character gets pissed off. I've
been called lots of things, arrogant, ego, maniac, self promoting, wrong,

(08:15):
but I live with it. You can't be a leader
without being seen and heard. You have to have an ego.
You have to drive forward for that which you believe in.
Not easy for a guy who self defines himself as
a recluse. I can tell you that when you hold
him high rank, you must have character. You can be
a character or a man of character. I chose the latter. Hmm,

(08:40):
now a man of a peccable character. My lawyer, my
co host, my son, Jesse Webber.

Speaker 4 (08:46):
Well, you sound like you're a shot right out of
a cannon right from the get go. So someone 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, is It can be a person
with a unique.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Approach to the world, to life. I like the term character.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
Then you live with it. I don't.

Speaker 1 (09:08):
It makes you distinctive, it makes you unique.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Then call me distinctive and call me unique. Characters used
as a slight and it's disrespectful.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
You know what, You're a real character.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
Funny, where are you.

Speaker 1 (09:20):
Going with this? Are you just going to talk about
the whole show? How you're insulted that people called you
a character?

Speaker 4 (09:27):
Maybe you seem a bit sensitive. I never seen anyone
treat you other than with reverence. So what if they
call you a character? It doesn't change how people talk
about you.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
It's like the show. This is a great example. Truck
driver wrote to Wor I came across Always in Fashion
by accident while driving. I really had no interest in
listening to a show about clothes, but I stuck with it.
I was amazed how interesting this guy, Mark Webber was,
and the show is really about life, not fashion. I'm addicted.
Now that's a guy. In my opinion, a truck driver

(09:57):
is smarter than any ceo I ever met. Yeah, a
point of view, Yet he was open minded, gave it
a chance, gets my respect. That's tonight. A character or
of character? That's what I want to talk about, Jesse.
You see the difference.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
I see the difference. I get it.

Speaker 4 (10:14):
It reminds me very much of that scene in Goodfellas.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
Right, yeah, just a little bit.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
I think I'm a funny guy. I'm here to amuse you.
Is that what it is? He never want to be
taken seriously. I get it. I get it.

Speaker 4 (10:28):
But you have to admit you on the radio are
very different than the Mark Weber in corporate life. I
think there's something to be said there. Your personality has
not changed, but been amplified. You're playing a different role.

Speaker 3 (10:42):
Then say it. Don't give me a broad brush. I
know I'm not a broadbrush guy. You want to say
he's a character in the radio, I'll live with that.
But for my entire career to be summed up in
one sentence he's a character doesn't work for me.

Speaker 4 (11:00):
By the way, you think this is actually going to
stop people from calling you a character, No.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
But the reality is this character or this man of
character is using this as a format to have an
important discussion, which I'm ready to start if you want.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
Okay, let's do it.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
After three years after I started my career, I left PVH.
Phillipson Using company to work at a small private label
shirt company called Capital Mercury. I would guess they did
maybe one hundred million dollars worth of sales. They would
make all those products that you'd see in Macy's called
Alfani or bar three. Those are private label, their store labels,

(11:40):
and they would either buy them themselves or they buy
them from experts. In this case, Capital Murkey was an
expert shirt maker and they can compete with anyone's price,
and they would buy the Macy's label from Capitol Mercury,
They'd sell to JC Penny, they'd sell to Nortchum. This
celt in the entire community. The only difference was is
that they weren't selling brands and if they were below

(12:00):
the radar anyway, make a long story short. I had
a very close friend business associated. He was the president
of a button company. His name was bud Winstrel, and
bud Winstrel was one of those guys who saw me
beyond the suits. Because when the time came to negotiate
for shirt buttons, and the fact that I would not
tolerate buttons that broke, and the fact that he'd have

(12:23):
to go back to his factory and recommend to me
only those buttons, he should be sure of that when
people send their shirts out to be laundered and get
hit by a hothead master press in those cleaning stores,
those buttons wouldn't crack from that intensive pressure. He learned
what I was all about when we negotiated. One day

(12:43):
he comes to me says to me, I have an
opportunity for you. Capitol Murcury would like to talk to you.
They have heard of you. I told them about you.
They're looking for someone, and I think you would do
well there. Why don't you go talk to him? I said,
I love it here. I'm doing great here. He says,
it's not about that. Mark. You're a young guy. You've
been here three years. As you prove to the company
you're good. I think you'd have a great career here.

(13:03):
But I assure you, if you went to Capitol Merkeley,
they need you more than PVH doesn't. They'll pay you
for it. So I went to Capitol Merkeley, 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

(13:23):
my boss that I was leaving the company, a boss
that thought the world of me, knew what I was
capable of, was so disappointed that I was leaving. I said, look,
I'm leaving for money, That's all there is to it.
I recognize that you have a pay structure here that
you can't pay me what these people are paying me.
I will be back to this company this is where
my home is. I want to come back, and as

(13:44):
soon as it's feasible for me and for you to
work that through, we'll work it out. Just look at
me as taking a leave of absence, and however long
you need me to stay before I leave, I'll do that.
And I stayed more than a month. I stayed five weeks,
giving them time to find my replacement. Is that a character?
Was that a man of character? I ask you? So

(14:06):
I went to this company, Capital Mercury, And the reason
I'm telling the story is the obvious character versus not.
There were two people that I came in contact with.
One was a loud, boisterous seller, part owner in the company.
Thought he knew everything about the world, that had no
disrespect for anyone but his customers, and whenever I needed

(14:28):
to talk to him, I dreaded it. He was always
so unpleasant, always so talked down to me. I'll never
forget one particular time I had designed. I was a
designer at that time, a range of casual sports shirts.
They were big shirts, that was the style at the time.
Capitol Mercury had never ventured in to that area I
had experienced with my formal life. I designed a handful

(14:51):
of them. That sales team showed them to J. C. Penny.
JC Penny wanted to buy one hundred thousand units of
these things. We had were negotiating the price. I think
we're twenty five cents off, and I had to go
talk to the SALESMANA just guy. Penny's in the showroom.
I walked to his desk. He's on the phone. I'm
standing by his desk. He turns around, puts his back

(15:12):
to me while I'm standing at his doorway, and I said,
I'm sorry to interrupt, and he puts his finger out
of my faces. Don't you dare ever interrupt me when
I'm on the phone. And who do you think you
are standing out of my desk waiting for me like this?
Get lost? That's so mean. It's not even mean, it's disrespectful.

(15:33):
He had no idea that in the showroom, I'm sitting
there with an order and the sales executives. So I
had to go back to the showroom. I walked over
one of the cell you have to excuse me. I
pulled him out, and he went over and said to
them blah blah blah. He came into the showroom shook J. C.
Penny's hand, did the deal, and left and never apologized
to me. You want to talk character or the lack thereof,

(15:55):
that's a great example. And I won't mention him by
name because I had only even I want to give
him the glory of being on the show. However, there
was another gentleman in that company, one of the founders
and owners. His name was Donald Cooper. May he rest
in peace. Donald Cooper was a gentleman. He was respected

(16:16):
and revered by all. As a founder, he came up
with the concept of how to build this company, and
he and another partner built a hundred million dollar company
on their own with good people. And I'll never forget.
When the time came that I did want to go
back to van Usen, I had to go in and
resign to him. I asked for an appointment. They got
me in to see me immediately. I said, thank you

(16:37):
for seeing me. Mister Cooper said, Mark, sit down, let's talk.
What can I do for you? I said, mister Cooper,
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 really respect the company. I really,
really enjoy my time here. But I have to tell
you that I missed the van using company. I should

(16:58):
have never left. I considered it home when I left.
They didn't want me to leave, and I miss it.
I missed the people, I missed the brand, I miss
everything about the company, and I decided to leave. Donald
Cooper got up from his desk, walked around his desk.
I stood up. I didn't know what he's going to do,
and he shook my hand and said, I can't tell you,
Mark how happy I am for you. I congratulate you

(17:23):
on your decision, walked away back to his desk, sat
down and looked at me and said, now, how can
I convince you to stay? Now? When you want to
talk about a man with character, that's a man with character.
And I learned that lesson from him, and over the
course of time anyone who's ever resigned, I behaved the
same way he did. There's one other thing I learned

(17:46):
along the way. You never want to leave people understanding
where they are with you. And because of that, every
interview I ever held with anyone I ever interviewed, at
the end of the interview, I did a summary. I
was not interested I told them, so they can move
on and not go home and wait hopefully for something
that wasn't happening. If I wasn't sure, I told them

(18:08):
I wasn't sure, and of course, if I was interested,
I negotiated to conclusion. This is a story tonight. I'm
a character or I'm a person of character. I'll take
a break back in a minute. Always in fashion, my
favorite brand has always been ISID. My company at one

(18:31):
time bought that brand. The CEO of the company handed
it to me and said, you better make it work.
And I put everything in my career to make EYESOD work,
and I fell in love with that brand, and to
this day it is one of the most exciting endeavors
I've ever gotten involved with. Isod is an incredibly strong
golf brand. If you play golf, if you play tennis

(18:55):
for that matter. They make a great polo shirts. I
mean great. They're fit perfect. The material is unique because
it's a PK fabric that waffle leave, you see, and
it's made of a blend of cotton and microfiber that
allows you to stretch, and very often they are treated

(19:17):
with solar protection as well, so they stretch, they're comfortable,
and they breathe well. And one thing about ISOC they
always fit. They'll never tug on you. You put it
in your waist that they'll fit you great. The colors,
patterns are sensational. Now I will also tell you ISAOD
makes great shorts and great golf pants. You're a golf friend.

(19:37):
You want to look good. You don't have to think
about how do I look. You want to think about
how you play, not how you feel. ISOD is the
brand for you. I know I was there when it
was created. The strategy behind that brand is brilliant. It's
one of my favorite brands. While I talk about it,
I should tell you about the man's sportswear. ISOD wasn't
enough being a golf brand. It wasn't enough being just

(19:58):
great polo shirts with low goes, without logos, incredible branded
story and history. ISOD makes salt weather programs. They have
great printed woven shirts, short sleeves. They look excellent with colors,
excellent with shorts, excellent with cotton pants, of which they

(20:19):
also make. This whole salt order relaxed line from isa
whether it be fleece, cotton sweaters, knit polos, woven shirts
and pants of a range of colors and fabrics that
are perfect for a guy wants to go casually in
the spring and summer of this year. And here's the thing,
ISOD is affordable. Everyone listening to me talk about this

(20:46):
brand can afford to buy it and know that there
are a lot of other brands that also have a
look like ISID. Although I don't believe it's fun as
ISID is. The brand has a lot of energy in it,
but at the price points no one can compete. You
can find eyaac at You're leading retails and online at
ion dot Com. Talk to you later, guys. I wish

(21:09):
you I are very happy springing summer, and I help
you by telling you if you were eya on, you're
going to look great.

Speaker 2 (21:17):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark
webber Well.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
I've been spurred onarm this week because not for the
first time, I've 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, particularly the
way that word is used as a weapon. There are

(21:45):
no flukes in business I didn't get to where I
got by being a character, a wise guy, whatever it means.
I had a lot to overcome when I think back now,
I had the worst Brooklyn accent in a world of
preps graduates from all over the country. I had to
lose as much as I could of that accent, so

(22:06):
at least I sounded a little bit more worldly in
a global company. Then, of course I kind of look
good and suits, so right away I was typecast like
a dumb blonde, with all due respect to dumb blondes.
As a good looking guy in a suit, I was
taken seriously except by a select few who work closely

(22:27):
with me, who heard what I had to say, who
watch my work ethic and understood how hard I was
and how serious I was willing to be work and
get the job done. They didn't underestimate me, but the
rest of the world did, and I learned to live
with it. Now having said it, I wouldn't have it

(22:47):
any other way because nobody saw me coming and I
loved it, and I as much as I would think
it was an affront at times, I also thought it
was cute that I could standing in a room and
nobody knew who I really was.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
I'm surprised at you, you know, I am surprised at
you because for a guy who always says he doesn't
care what anyone thinks of him, I don't care what
anyone thinks about me.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
The whole show is about people calling you a character.
I don't get it. I thought you could care less
what people think of you.

Speaker 3 (23:21):
Okay, you're right, but I am older now, I am
in a different place in my life. I have a
career history that was proven, that provided for everyone, that
people benefited in and out of the company's family benefit.
And I think I'm deserved of a little respect at

(23:41):
this stage of my career, not the way I care. No,
I'm doing a show here to make a point. Okay.
I went to New York Law School, gave a brilliant speech.
I talked for an hour and a half without notes.
I brought tears, I brought laughter, I brought hope. I
brought the American dream to all of these people, and
one guy called me a character. Afterwards. I wanted to
strangle them. All right, that's not it. Wow, I can't

(24:05):
believe what this guy did. And by the way, you
go out and make an address for an hour and
a half and entertained the people. You pompous anyway, all.

Speaker 1 (24:13):
Right, all right, mister sensitive.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
I have a great story to tell. You know, here's
an example of character and being underestimated that I want
to tell. Part one has to do with a chain
of stores, a three billion dollar chain called the May Company.
The May Company was ultimately bought by Macy's and all
their stores were turned into Macy's stores. But there was
a store called Robinson's on the West coast, O'Neill's, Kaufman's.

(24:43):
I became a young president, very young president. When I
was thirty four years old. I was president of the
van Us and Shirt Company. I had one hundred salesmen
working for me at that time. Because this was before
all retails consolidated and moved all their offices to New York,
to Seattle, to Texas, or to Little Rock, Arkansas, or

(25:05):
even Charlotte, North Carolina. There were offices of these independent stores.
O'Neills was in Ohio, Kaufman's was in Pittsburgh, and on
and on. There were hundreds of different stores. So you
need a big sales force, and my head of sales
was a powerhouse. He had that personality. I would call
him a character. You went out to dinner withinmmy wed

(25:26):
go and introduce him to the chef, and you have
chef make special dinners for all of us. He was
an amazing guy. And one day he said to me,
we have to get on a plane. We have to
go to O'Neill's and make company store. And I said,
who are we meeting with him? He said, we're going
to meet the chairman of the board of O'Neill's. He
wants to meet our president. You're new to the job.
He wants to meet him. We do a lot of business.
He wants to meet you. Son. Off we get We

(25:49):
flew out there and we went to his office from
his assistant sitting outside, big desk, big office, and we introduced ourselves.
She knew my friend the sales manager exec VP, and
she let us in and said to the boss, these
the people from van Usen. He said, oh great. He
kept writing on his desk. So we sat down head
of sales, my guy, me and we had our regional

(26:11):
sales manager there while this guy was doing his paperwork.
So this is going on now for five minutes. It's
getting close to ten minutes. And finally I said to
the salesman, he asked, what's going on. What's going on?
So he gets up, 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 to show up. And

(26:34):
little did he know it was me. And I loved
it now that I wore as a badge of honor
because he was shell shocked to see a guy so
young the president of the company. And I'd like to
believe for my own Ah, I'm not gonna be humble.
I know at the end of the conversation he understood
why I was the president. We talked about deliveries. We
talked about prices, we talked about positioning, we talked about

(26:56):
the Asia and importing. We talked about all these things.
And I knew it called that's why I was president.
But the fact that he never even dreamed this guy
in this suit in this case. It was cute, it
was fun, it was non intentional, and I loved it.
Going back a while, I remember within the company there

(27:17):
was another independent entrepreneur, a guy named Danny Kaisman, who
built a out ofwear factory in Vansville, Illinois. Wow, how
do I remember that? Anyway, he asked my boss and
I to fly out with him walk through the factory
because he wanted to sell out ofwear even though he
was owned by Phillips Venues in Corporation. He thought the

(27:38):
van Us and Company could buy his out ofwear and
sell a lot of it through our channel, so we
would sell shirts and sportswear in his out ofwear. We
went to look at his factory and it was impressive.
I had been at this point to a number of factories,
not very many in the United States because they were
closing faster than wee can import. And here I was.
We walked through. I knew the questions to ask, which

(28:00):
sewing areas to walk up to ask questions of the sewers.
I understood packaging. I was as I say now, and
I'll always say, I don't know if I was smart,
that's for others to decide, but I know I was
well trained. And at the end of this, he was
looking at me and he was saying to me, hmm,
he's looking at me different. That night we had dinner.

(28:21):
We were talking about a lot of things, and finally
he looks at my boss and he says to my boss,
you understand who this guy is. And my boss, Robert Solomon,
who's one of my great mentors of all times, he said, yeah,
I know he is, but you didn't. He says, you're right.
He said, I heard about him in the compare. I
heard he was a decent guy. I heard he's smart.

(28:42):
You know. I have to say, Mark, Yeah, good looking guy.
You wear all these fancy clothes, I said, They're not
really fancy if you look him, they're well made. I'm
wearing a navy blue shuit, a white shirt, a navy tie,
black shoes. Yes, I'm wearing French cuffs. You could say,
but it's not fancy. It's just elegant. He says. You know, Mark,
you're right, but he's That's what I want to say
to you. I said, Now, I understand who you are.

(29:05):
I understand that while everyone else is writing you off,
while you're not being taken seriously, you're going to end
up running this company someday. I am convinced of it.
And I would just say to you, continue the way
you're going, speak very softly, but carry that big stick.
And I thought it was remarkable and I loved it

(29:27):
as time went on. He was right. People weren't taking
me serious. When they started to they realized there was
someone to be reckoned with. They realized that I was serious,
that I was willing to outwork anyone. More importantly than
outworking anyone, I was learning everything that was to learn.

(29:50):
If you were the head of information technology, when you
showed up in a room or a corporate function, I
would sit next to the head of information technology. Explain
to me how our computer system works. Explain to me
how we're going to ship and fill in inventory when
we have basics on the floor. If you have a
basic white shirt and you sell out in size fifteen
and a half, how do I get it back on
the floor. I was learning everything. Most people didn't even

(30:13):
know the questions to ask, and yet I was asking them.
And I was someone to be reckoned with. And I
started to grow very rapidly at the expense of other people.
There's no flukes in business. Those who people 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

(30:35):
excel excel, And in spite of the fact that perhaps
people wouldn't take me seriously. They had no alternative when
they heard me speak, and they watched me work. As
time went on, I'll never forget I was so young,
you know again, I was thirty four years old. I
was a president of big company. As time went on,
I started to become a corporate executive and my boss,

(30:55):
the president of the corporation, had decisions to make. And
one day he looked at me and said, I'm never
going to 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 it at first, but I am confident

(31:17):
that once they're reporting to you, they're going to understand why.
But you have to step up. You have to do
the right thing. You have to be professional at every turn.
You have to understand that these people's futures, in their
livelihood and large part will depend on you if they
work for you. You have to be tough or fair.

(31:40):
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 your office that they're going to be a
serious guy sitting across the table helping them problems. But
I'm going to do this and they'll never be a
question ever again about who you are in this company.

(32:02):
So I say to you after that, when I'm minding
my own business, I'm on the radio, hopefully teaching you lessons,
making you better. If you replay this show slowly for
your significant other, your sons, your daughters, your father, your grandma,
I don't care. There's a lot to be learned about

(32:25):
what I just said. Now. It's cleverly disguised as a conversation,
but if you're drilled down and listen, there's some real,
real important stuff in this show. And of course I've
been on for seven years, so give me a break.
Don't call me a character. I'm a man of character.
I'll take a break back in a minute.

Speaker 2 (32:45):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
Than a lifetime of my career building the Van eusten Brand,
and I am so pleased that they're back with us
now talking about suits, men were dressing up again, and
it's because cool to wear a suit. Suits can be
won on multiple ocasions, in multiple ways. You could wear
a suit formally to go out at night or to

(33:08):
an event, to wear a suit to the office with
or without a tie. If you look closely, now fashion
trends suits are being worn with turtlenecks or mark next.
The choices are endless and every one of them looks right.
You could really really look the part. I believe that
in packaging yourself this is important. Does the products you

(33:28):
package and wearing a suit is one of those things
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(33:50):
just now, this new style of looking sharp while feeling
cool and comfortable is amazing and I am so excited
that the ven Using company involved in this new technology
and is embracing the whole idea of dressing up. Let's
not forget van Using made its name with dreads shirts.
It's only proper that the soup business follows strongly in

(34:12):
its way. You can find van Using kol Flex Men's
stretch suits at Jacpenny or online at jcpenny dot com guys.
They're great. You should go look at them.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
Tonight, I am discussing character. I suppose of character that
I view myself as a person of character, a serious
guy wants to do the right thing. But I got
into someone calling me a character. He's a character, and
that drives me crazy. I'm crazed over it that after

(34:52):
everything I've accomplished in my career, this is what I'm
being known for a character. Anyway, you probably haven't heard
much about this from me, Jesse.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
No, I've always said it.

Speaker 4 (35:05):
I've only known you, like at the height of your career,
the success of your career, when you already made it
to the top. So the idea that you've been underestimated
and people didn't think so highly of you, or they
didn't realize who you were, what you were capable of.
A lot of this is new stories to me. I
learned a lot about you since you started the radio show,
and we've been hearing all these stories. But what's interesting

(35:27):
is that in my current career, I'm kind of feeling
some of the things that you've been going through For me.
I'm not a traditional broadcaster. I didn't go to journalism school.
So when I'm trying to audition for these jobs as
an anchor, or a reporter or a host, I'm met
with such skepticism. I met with such Well, you know
you didn't go you didn't start off in a local market.

(35:49):
You didn't go to this school. I said, yeah, but
I'm an attorney. I've been anchoring for the past seven
years on law and crime and these other projects. Give
me a shot, give me a shot, see what I
can do. And every time I do something new, I
always have to deliver and hit it out of the park.
I have to prove people wrong. I say to them,
give me the shot. I won't let you down. So

(36:10):
it's this kind of underestimating because I didn't I don't
have the traditional pedigree like other people.

Speaker 1 (36:16):
I always feel like an underdog.

Speaker 3 (36:17):
You know. It's funny throughout my career. When I became
a vice president, I wasn't jumping up and down. I
was proud, you know, Mommy and I was celebrated, and
at one point she said, you don't look happy you
just became a vice president. I said, don't get me wrong,
I'm happy. I'm a vice president, but I should be
a senior vice president and she's you know, I can't
believe you. You're never happy. And throughout the entire course of

(36:41):
my career senior vice president, executive vice president, president division,
then until I got up to president of the company,
till I got my board seat, I was never really satisfied.
It was hard to enjoy because every step along the
way was a fight and just the way it is.
And sure you're seeing it, and it really bothers me

(37:02):
to see you go through it. But it's part of
life and you're doing just fine. So I guess that's
pretty cool and of itself.

Speaker 1 (37:09):
Well, we're on this journey together, you and me.

Speaker 4 (37:12):
You're like my manager, So anytime I go through this stuff,
you tell me how to think about it. We're in
it together, trying to become successful in the broadcast media industry.

Speaker 3 (37:20):
I love watching your jaw drop when I talk to
people and I give it to them.

Speaker 4 (37:24):
Well, I will say, I will say, there's so many
things that you can say and do that I can't.
I'm always like, this would be better coming from you.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
I want you to handle this.

Speaker 4 (37:34):
You just know how to say things in a certain way.
Maybe it's an authority. Maybe it's the way that you
break it down, but you always say things to.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
People in a way. I just can't do it, at
least not at this point in my life.

Speaker 3 (37:45):
How about your car breaking down in the garage and
me talking to the manager. You don't want to tell
that story.

Speaker 1 (37:50):
Yeah, my car broke down in the garage.

Speaker 4 (37:53):
I keep it in New York City, and it was
a situation where okay, how do I get it started?

Speaker 1 (37:57):
And how do I bring it to a shop?

Speaker 4 (37:59):
And I was saying, all right, maybe I have to
call Triple A and wait for them. And that becomes
a whole headache. And so you said to me, well,
why don't you ask the guy in the garage to
jumpstart it? And I was told, well, he won't do
it because they're afraid of damaging the car. They don't
want to be responsible. You said, let me take care
of it. You come down to the garage, you go

(38:20):
to the manager. You go listen, my son's car is
not working. I need you to jump start it.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
Take care of you.

Speaker 4 (38:26):
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, We don'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 a customer of this garage for years. I am
telling you this right now.

Speaker 1 (38:46):
I will not.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
Hold you responsible if anything happens to the car. Just
please get it jump started. I'll take care of you
and we'll take it from there. And he was like okay,
and took care of it. I don't think they would
have done that for me.

Speaker 1 (38:59):
They did it free well.

Speaker 3 (39:00):
And on top of which, what I did for you
is I found you a ranger over a dealership in Manhattan,
called them, set up an appointment for you the first
thing the next day, and boom, took care of business. Hey,
I'm proud of that. You're my son. Anyway. That's why
I object to being called a character, which is the
theme tonight, versus a man of character. And I want
to talk to you about my stay at LVMH. I

(39:25):
can assure you that the finest luxury company in the world,
with some of the smartest people who've went to the
smartest colleges in the business world, to prepare them for
a career at luxury at LVMH hired me and made
me part of their team. You've heard, I've had all
kinds of titles. They sat on the executive committee in Paris,

(39:46):
I was a CEO in the States. They wouldn't have
done it unless I came across the right way. And
during the course of my time, it was really fascinating
how I behave there and why I had what I
thought it was and a great relationship. I went there
for the honor of working there. My idea was whatever

(40:10):
I could do to help 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 they were more
than fair. But I wasn't about money. I also felt
the responsibility of being an American executive. You know, in

(40:31):
the past, I was an American executive. I traveled all
over the world. I was an American. I walked into
a room, I had that American smile, American swagger on
my face. I did what I wanted to do as
as a representative of an American company in the world.
But here I was an American executive withinside a French company,
and my responsibility was different now because I was representing

(40:53):
Europeans and I had to change my divena and it
was very, very aware that I had to play by
European rules and by the way and the culture of
the European company. And I did. And I'd like to
tap myself on the shoulder because I was really smart
about it and I knew what was important. Let's go
back PDH. We had a management team of twenty six people.

(41:17):
Of those twenty six people, this is not the board,
this is the internal group of people. Of those twenty
six people, I would say five maybe six were exceptional.
At LVMH. I never met anyone who wasn't exceptional. It
was an incredible group of people. And you should not
be surprised when you consider again largest luxury company in

(41:37):
the world. When I was there, they had sixty two brands.
They have brands from making ships, they had newspaper brands,
They have all the finest luxury brands, Viton Di Yorgovanci,
they owned Sephora, they bought Tiffany. This is an incredible company,
so you shouldn't be surprised at the caliber of people,
and I was aware of it, and I tempered myself

(41:58):
to be aware of it. I wanted them to see
me as a man of character. I virtually never asked
for anything of myself until it was funny. I'd been
with the company three years, and in three years time,
there was never a conversation about a raise. So one
day I said to the managing director, the president of
the company, you know, I never mentioned it to you,

(42:20):
but if I had an executive that I really liked
and was doing a good job and he was performing,
I might want to consider giving him a raise. And
he looked at me and he said, I've been here
three years, I've never said a word. He laughed, and
he says, you're right. And of course I got a raise,

(42:40):
a nominal one. The French don't give money the way
we do. But my relationship with them was based on
recognizing what kind of company it was, what kind of
people I was dealing with, and the fact that this
was company of substance and of character. And on a

(43:04):
week I'm discussing someone calling me a character. It has
me incensed, but I'm calming down because I'm getting to
tell you this story with that as a backdrop, I'll
come back, is he a character or is he a
person of character? Back in a minute.

Speaker 2 (43:27):
Always in fashion.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
I've been shopping for fun lately, and while I'm out,
I always look at men's and I look at women's.
What's going on? And I was particularly interested in dk
Y because of their sponsorship of the show. I went
downstairs at Macy's thirty fourth Street to look around and
I saw k Y Activewear, And I promise you, ladies,
it is sensational. From the sports bras to the crop tops,

(43:51):
to the leggings and the sweats, it really is a
great look. And dk Y had begun as an all
American brand dressing casual engines, and the stuff looks incredible
and right now the colors and the styles is so
exciting that I feel great about the company. I always do.
I wear the men's where all the time. I've had

(44:12):
situations where I've gone to big events and been interviewed
TV or the radio, and someone comes up to me
in the microphone and like they always do, who you're wearing?
And here I am, this big shot with big company
and they say, well, I'm wearing a DKY And they
laugh and say, no, you're not. I actually have one
on the internet where you could see me. They ask
me what suit I'm wearing, and I say, dk and

(44:32):
Y and open it up and there's the DKY label.
Great fashion, it fits well, it looks right. It's designed
to make you comfortable in the city, goes from day
and tonight. You could wear it in the morning, you
wear it in the afternoon, and you look cool at
night as well. It's great for the office, it's a
great for Leisia. But I was talking about the DKY activewear.
The first time I really became aware of Jesse and

(44:53):
I were up at Sirius Radio. He was doing a
job for Serious he fills in on the Potus Network.
You're in the lobby and this hip hop group came up.
Was really great looking Latino singer girl young beautiful, and
she was wearing a DKY sports bar and I said
to myself, this is amazing. Actually went to Macy's to

(45:14):
see it, and I'm excited about the brand. And I
tell you what, ladies, d k Y always has great
fashion for work, always wonderful dresses and things that you'd wear.
Their accessories are great. The shoes are always very cool
but active wear in particular right now looks sensational and
being that everyone's aff leasure and active where it's a
great time dkmy go take a look. As one of

(45:35):
the world's most celebrated fashion designers, Carl Lagafeld was renowned
for his aspirational and cutting edge approach to style. His
unique vision of Parisian shit comes to America through Carlagofeld Paris.
He has women's collections, men's collections, ready to wear, accessories,
shoes and bags. The fashion house Carlagafeld also offers a
range of watches I wear in premium fragrances. You could

(45:58):
explore the car Lagofel collect A Carlagofelparis dot com. But
it's more than that. I, for one, love to shop.
I love going around and seeing what's happening and 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 they look amazing. If you
want to look right, you want to have clothes that

(46:18):
fits you well. You want to look like you're wearing
something that's very expensive, that's exclusive for you and yours.
You can find at very affordable prices at Macy's Orcarlagofel
dot com, Paris. The women's ready to wear fashion is extraordinary,
as well as the handbags and the shoes. I, for one,
wear men's clothes, unlike my appreciation of women's clothes. I'm

(46:42):
a modern guy. I wanna look current. I want to
look the way I wanna feel. I go out at night,
I'm in black and Carlagofel is my buddy. Calls are great.
They fit great, and they have little tweaks and touches,
whether it's a stripe on the sleeve or button at
the neck or on the shoulder. There's a lot of
details that go into Carlagofel because he's always been, he
always had been one of the world's great designers, and

(47:04):
this legacy and goes on and on. I can't speak
enough 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 clothes that fits you well.
Carl Lagafeld, Paris at Macy's Orcarl Lagafel dot com.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
Welcome back to Always in Fashion. Here's your host, Mark Webber.

Speaker 3 (47:25):
Tonight, I'm discussing the difference between someone being called a
character or someone of character. I love being surprised by people.
Love it. I love it, love it, love it. I
watched the New York Yankees. I watch Aaron Boone. I
think of him as a blue collar kind of guy.
He's manager of a baseball team. And then I watch
him manage and I listen to it the way he

(47:45):
has to say, and I listen how he takes every negatives,
puts a positive spin. He tells the truth, yet he
gives hope, and he gives information brilliantly. I've been watching
the NBA Finals and someone called out on one of
the shows Steve Kerr's conversation about in the huddle on
the final game of one of the championships, he played

(48:07):
alongside Michael Jordan. I want to play it for you now.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
When we call time out with twenty five seconds to.

Speaker 4 (48:13):
Go, we went into the huddle and Phil told Michael.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
He said, Michael, I want you to take the last shot.
And Michael said, you know, Phil, I don't feel real
comfortable in these situations, So maybe we ought to go
in another direction.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
Why don't we go to Steve? So I thought to myself.

Speaker 4 (48:35):
Well, I guess I gotta bail Mike ro out again.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
The shot went in.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
And that's my story and I'm sticking to it. And
I love that line. That's my story and I'm sticking
to it because 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 Sam Book, and yet people

(49:01):
are calling me a character. Maybe it's just being on
the radio and being a podcast. I don't know who
Joe Rogan Joe Rogan? Is he a character? Jesse?

Speaker 4 (49:10):
He's got a very big personality, strong opinions, you know,
believes in aliens, he does UFC, does comedy.

Speaker 1 (49:18):
He's a little bit of everything. I would say as
a character.

Speaker 3 (49:21):
Well, what do you mean when you say he's a character?

Speaker 4 (49:23):
I say, somebody that stands out with a big personality
and has a point of view and they're.

Speaker 1 (49:29):
Not a caricature but almost a caricature.

Speaker 3 (49:32):
Tucker Colson, is he a character? Yes?

Speaker 1 (49:35):
Yes, put it this way.

Speaker 4 (49:37):
I think a character is somebody that you could do
an SNL impression of, would that be fair?

Speaker 3 (49:44):
Like Trump? Like Trump?

Speaker 1 (49:45):
Trump is a character?

Speaker 3 (49:47):
It's tonight's show. As I told you, I was called
a character, and I am angry and at the same
time recognize that perception's reality. The only problem I have
with it is I'm being judged by being a radio
personality right now, rather than on the substance that I
put in the first forty years of my career. In
my life. You know, in life, you get to choose you.

(50:10):
You get to change if you want to. You can't
control what's said about you. I dress well, I have
impeccable tastes. I'm noticed when I walk into a room.
I can be charming when I want to be, but
I do it in spurts. I don't want to 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.

(50:32):
I've worked odd, I've distinguished myself. I'm more unique than commonplace.
I've treated people fairly and have helped many succeed. I've
always made the companies i've worked for successful. I've made
the moneymakers, and I've made the brand stronger for me
being there. I have a close family, and I know

(50:52):
I'm appreciated. If this is a character, so be it.
I'm a character, but I do know I could put
my head in the pillow at night and sleep soundly.
Good night.