Today’s guest cleared his own path to success with over 30 years of hard work and it paid off big time.

At 29 and living in his home country of Australia, he decided that a life in Public Accounting was not for him! He quit his job and went to California to look for a new business idea and to surf all the legendary breaks.

He soon noticed that there were no sheepskin boots in California, so he and a friend dug up $500 and bought six pairs from Australia to bring to California as a test.

This was the birth of  UGG Boots.

For the first 13 years he was crippled by a lack of financing to purchase product in order to meet sales demands, plus his company was taken from him at one point —- then he gets it back.

This is an absolutely crazy story of win/losses/rags to riches, but he overcame and built an internationally recognized brand.

He is now a newly published Author with his new book – “The Birth of a Brand.

Launching your entrepreneurial passion and soul.

Now, let’s hack…

Brian Smith.

What you will learn in this episode:

• There is no smooth sailing in business
• How Brian has his company taken from him (and then gets it back a couple years later)
• Hear Brian sing a Pink Floyd song to me (he’s quite good)
• How to turn an existing product into an international brand
• Business plans are good, but they could also stop you from doing the work

Resources and links mentioned:

• BrianSmithSpeaker.com
• Brian Smith's book: The Birth of A Brand
• Brian on Facebook
• Jon on Facebook (Let's be friends)
• Our Awesome Sponsor: FreshBooks (30-day Free Trial)