#269 How Photographer Gary Young Turned Supply Chain Pain Into Premium Products

 About Gary Young

Gary Young is the founder and CEO of Avela Global, a multinational sourcing and manufacturing firm established in 2002. With over two decades of experience across Asia, Gary has built a company that bridges creativity, craftsmanship, and commerce. From his roots in advertising and commercial photography to leading operations across China, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, and now Dubai, he has redefined how businesses source, design, and deliver products globally.

A storyteller at heart, Gary brings a human-centered approach to manufacturing—one that values transparency, quality, and collaboration. His career reflects both resilience and reinvention, from turning creative frustration into a global opportunity to overcoming stage-four cancer and emerging as a true example of purpose-driven leadership.

About this Episode
In this episode, Gary shares his remarkable journey from the world of advertising and photography to the manufacturing hubs of Asia. He recalls how a spontaneous trip to China in 2002 inspired a complete career transformation—leading him to establish Avela Global and build long-term partnerships rooted in trust and precision.

Gary discusses how curiosity and persistence shaped his company’s expansion from point-of-purchase displays to a full-scale sourcing and development firm serving clients worldwide. He also reveals why having “feet on the ground” in key markets remains the secret to delivering quality, solving problems early, and creating bespoke manufacturing solutions.

Reflecting on Dubai’s energy and potential, Gary explains what drew him to the city and how he aims to help local entrepreneurs create brands that reflect the region’s identity and ambition. His advice for business owners is simple but powerful: think big, stay patient, and never stop showing up—even when things get hard.

In a deeply personal moment, Gary opens up about surviving stage-four cancer and how that experience reshaped his view on life, leadership, and gratitude. His story is a testament to endurance, faith, and the belief that meaningful partnerships can transform not just companies—but lives.

Quotes

4:27 - The original vision was to fulfill the client's needs and go out and find those needs or those pains and see what I could do to alleviate those.

 6:49 - I feel confident and free to go out and find those clients and help solve their issues.

 7:49 - Having feet on the ground in these places is really the seed, the secret and uh secret sauce and sort of the infrastructure that's required to do a good job.

 10:52 - What I want to do is I want to do transformational business.

 11:06 - I want to find someone who can who wants to make shoes, maybe fashion shoes with that certain flair, that certain cultural uh attachment to it, or I want to do purses, or I want to do a clothing line, or I want to do furniture.

 12:43 - I'm just wide open to learning more about what Dubai wants, and we can absolutely fulfill it.

 13:08 - You need patience. You need to really understand where you are and why you're doing what you're doing.

13:10 - You need to really understand where you are and why you're doing what you're doing. Look at the long picture, approach it in that way. Don't be in a hurry.

14:51 - I think the first thing I would say is think big.

14:59 - Think big and stay focused on your vision.

15:08 - Never lose sight of that dream that you have of where you want to be in one year and five years and ten years, and stick with it. I like to say show up. Just keep showing up.

 18:18 - Life is good.

 18:21 – Partnership is give and take, cooperation, tra

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