[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
Hiring people, building a team is something that I love to do.
One thing that you have to be OK with as you start your team
is admitting to yourself what you suck at.
Yeah.
Um, gosh, like Laura and I have so many flaws.
And you have to be OK, uh, with knowing
what they are because that--
that'll help your team be more efficient and successful
and be clear about what it is that you are not good
at so that that person can do what you need.
I think that what I look for is a person who
can handle the pace.
Um, you know, Laura and I do run two companies design-wise,
and they have to be independent.
They have to be OK to receive instruction, maybe less often
that they wish, and run on their own.
We're both not, um micromanagers.
Oh, no.
So it is important that they're very independent.
And whatever we were micromanaging before,
which I used to, I quickly learned
it's just hurting you more than helping you.
You have to let the person do what you're hiring them for.
You know, what I learned about how to be a leader from Oscar
was he was always having fun and he was always laughing.
I think that's very important in a creative environment.
Oscar opened people up to doing their best.
I would see him, uh, tap into somebody who--
who flourished right in front of him once
he made him feel comfortable to share an idea.
And I was like, wow, look at how he just
created something beautiful out of, uh,
out of a simple dialogue.
[ORCHESTRA MUSIC]
I actually love hiring people for so different than I am.
And I think that's how they will add something
that I don't have.
I find it very interesting to hire and work with.
The amount of inclusivity and diversity
that we have been surrounded with since day one working
at Oscar, a company run by a Dominican man--
and it meant that he liked to be surrounded by people that
like him, at one point felt uncomfortable to be in America
surrounded by only Americans.
So it was almost his subconscious mission
to become surrounded with people that had that-- perhaps
that insecurity too.
So, um, so we've had every single race, uh,
represented in, uh, in all of the companies that we work in.
So it's always been the MO for us because of Oscar.
I think also because, um, when you're hiring diverse people
they bring back diverse ideas, I think.
So it's always been very interesting
for me to meet different kinds of people,
because they bring me something that I don't usually
think about.
Yeah.
And our studio is very diverse.
Like, no one's from one country.
Everyone's from somewhere else.
And the fact that I'm Korean, who grew up in Canada,
and you're from Spain, grew up in Dominican Republic,
and we met at New York and started a company in New York,
I think that's very special, that we create something
that's very different.
And I want that in my team too.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
I think leadership, um, in a creative room, um, is awkward.
Yeah.
Uh, it implies that somebody doesn't have a say.
We're-- both our work environments are, um,
so permeable.
I think more than leader, I would see us
more like a conductor.
We're like, working with a bunch of creative--
Yeah, we--
--people and we're--
--we funnel their ideas into something that we could sell
and both of us feel is in tune with our, you know, DNAs.
Yeah, we're directing all the ideas.
Directing is perhaps, uh, a better word than leaders.
It's such a collaborative process.
We would be nowhere without the help of our team.
Yeah.
So I think we direct, point the way.
But we-- we're not leader in the classic sense of the word,
I would say.
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
I think in the creative world, like, your position
doesn't really matter.
It's really just the end of the day,
what you're responsible for.
But in the creative process, I don't put myself up
above other people.
Like, my intern, who's now like, 20 to 15 years younger than me,
could bring me an idea that I could--
couldn't have thought of yesterday, so.
And I have to say, had Laura probably not seen that
through Oscar himself, him doing it constantly,
uh, open to anybody's opinions, either our merchandiser, a CFO,
or an intern, that constant dialogue
is why Laura was attracted to truly anybody who was
willing to challenge her or--
or help an idea go from point A to point B.
And so that's what the work environment was like.
That's also how we run our team.
Like, you know, when we see a talent,
we definitely give them all the rooms for them to create.
I do like everyone to be very independent.
I want them to give me their own ideas instead
of repeating what I said.
I work the best way when no one's, uh, managing me.
So I want them to be equally excited and inspired to be
part of the team.
Like, I almost want to have that energy that this person is
showing me more than the work.
I'm like, gosh, I love that energy.
I want that.
In the beginning, that was one of the bigger lessons.
I'm like, they don't know us.
We're not legends, like Oscar.
We have to make sure that they're excited and enthused,
that their ideas are exciting and fun and-- and innovative.
But we were very aware of the fuel that he would give us
and, um, understood that we needed
to create something similar for our teams in order for them
to feel motivated to come to work, excited every time.
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
When we both started, we didn't understand
what it was like to launch a brand,
and we realized that designing was perhaps 50% of the time.
Building your brand means building a family,
making sure everyone feels included, uh,
taken care of, excited.
And then you design.
And then you direct.
And then you organize.
And that was probably the biggest lesson and the most
life-changing thing that has--
has probably ever happened to me through creating a brand.
[APPLAUSE]