We recently connected with Nick English and have shared our conversation below.
Nick, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
The absolute terror of working 50 hours a week for 50 weeks a year for 50 years. The whole idea of the 40-hour work week is inhuman and repulsive to me on a very deep level. I also spent about a decade working in the wellness/fitness industry and learned about how important it is to spend an hour a day exercising, an hour walking, an hour reading, an hour meditating, an hour socializing, preparing healthy meals, getting at LEAST eight hours of sleep, and… there just isn’t enough time in the day to have a job and be healthy. So I realized I had to find another way to make money than burning 50 hours a week!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I run this YouTube channel and blog called Stridewise that looks at casual menswear that lasts a long time. Lots of stuff about boots but also high end jeans, leather jackets, waxed canvas, that sort of stuff. I post one or two videos a week and I’m trying to do more shorts, and I try to post several articles on the website as well. I have a newsletter too that I’d love you to sign up for where I send out weekly sales and content from around the internet to help guys wear basics better.
I’ve been lucky with my work to travel all over the world, filming videos everywhere from Spain to Indonesia. I even made my own boots by hand in Guatemala!
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
The smartest thing I did when I started was find someone already successful in my field and offer them part of my company in exchange for guidance. If you find the right person who’s open to that (and they may want an upfront fee as well) things will go way smoother.
The other important thing for starting a business is to work at a place that has a similar business model, ideally a company that’s pretty young. So I worked at a fitness startup for 4 years and that’s where I learned to make a profitable website from the ground up. I made sure my niche (fashion) didn’t compete with my job’s niche, and I built it in my spare time until it was profitable enough for me to quit.
The third thing is to just meet people in person. A lot of people have been fooled into thinking we can do 100% of business online and while that’s almost true, my most profitable deals happened when I took the time to meet with people in person and build an actual rapport with them. That helps you stand out in a world where everyone just meets online.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I finally hired a full timer, which was a game changer. I’d spent over 5 years doing things solo and using contractors where needed (videographers, tech guys, etc.) I had one full time writer for a while but he was in Serbia, cost very little, the results weren’t what i needed. It took a while to be able to afford a full time American hire but once I did — and because he was the right hire — the revenue increased by a lot. He knew he had to earn his keep and he found new ways to bring in revenue, plus he’s more skilled in areas that I’m not great at.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.stridewise.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/stridewise
- Youtube: youtube.com/stridewise
- Other: tiktok.com/stridewise
Image Credits
the pics in the tan pants, orange boots and green jacket, and pink bots can be credited to Kevin Henao
