Never Be Afraid of Failure: Interview with Dan Gasby, Co-Founder and CEO of B. Smith
I recently went one on one with Dan Gasby, co-founder and CEO of B. Smith.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here?
Dan: I knew early on that I was a salesman. I grew up a heavy-weight, awkward kid in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. I felt I wasn't particularly handsome, but I was smart and watched. I started to build a Frankenstein personality. I saw one guy with a winning smile win over all the girls, so I practiced smiling. I saw another guy who was a smart dresser, so I started dressing better. I asked a girl out, but she turned me down. Another guy said, "She turned you down because you look too needy. You can never look needy when you want something." Somebody said, "It's better to talk too much than not. But not too much." That propelled me to realize that you are always projecting yourself. I learned that it was how you say things as much as what you say that can move or motivate people. My best training in sales and marketing was working in the garment business. It's where you have five minutes to make an impression; five minutes to sell it, and five minutes to see what they are going to do. That 15 minutes defines you.
What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Dan: My wife B. Smith famously said, "I've stood on a mountain of no's for one yes." I grew up in an environment where to be a Black man was not a position of power. I realized that I had to use my oratory skills to overcome that. I left high school in my junior year and graduated from college in 3.5 years.
Adam: How did you come up with your business idea? What advice do you have for others on how to come up with great ideas?
Dan: You have to like what you love, not love what you like. I mean, you have to find things that fascinate you that you can be at one with. Are you going to be able to sell this with your heart as well as facts and figures? Most of the things I sold, I sold with my heart. I like to take two disparate things and tie them together. When I met Barbara Smith, whom I immediately fell in love with by the way, I had been watching what Martha Stewart was doing. I said to B. "You have the natural ability to do that. You just need the right people behind you." We came together as a couple and took on things it would take many people to accomplish. We were Pisces and Virgo. When we had our charts done, it was like two halves coming together. I had a true life and soul mate. When we bought our house, we designed it so we could shoot TV there. People said we were crazy, but our show ran for eight years and 160 episodes. I am very good at looking at a landscape and filling a void. That's how we started B. Smith magazine.
Adam: How did you know your business idea was worth pursuing? What advice do you have on how to best test a business idea?
Dan: I did not know if our idea would work, but I did know what was and wasn't in the marketplace. We asked ourselves do we have something or don't we. So, I looked myself in the mirror and practiced pitching the product - what are the downsides, what's wrong with it? What are the fault lines? You have to honestly assess what you are trying to accomplish with the most important person to make it happen - and that's you.
Adam: What are the key steps you have taken to grow your business? What advice do you have for others on how to take their businesses to the next level?
Dan: To take your business to the next level, realize that you can't do it alone. Be willing to listen, even if it is painful. But then be ready to turn on a dime and not be afraid of hurt egos. When things are working, work even harder. When things are not working, work and assess; work and assess; work and assess.
Adam: What are your best sales and marketing tips?
Dan: My best marketing tip is to make sure you can explain your idea or product in any conversation and look natural. Don't teach; preach with a furvert and commitment that says you're all in. Always listen, because nine out of ten times, people will tell you their objection, but it will be masked. But they are telling you what the problem is.
Adam: In your experience, what are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Dan: Effective leaders are not afraid, nor do they think they are above what anyone in the organization has to do from bottom to top. Honesty and commitment are most of it. Let your people know this single thing that has always guided me: look people in the eye and say you can do two things for me: you can either kill it out there for me, or you're going to kill me. If you are going to tell me what is wrong but don't have the solution, you're killing me. After any situation, if the word but is used, everything after that is the only thing that matters.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Dan: Take your leadership skills to the next level by working with people who are coming up—listening to their dreams and aspirations. Help them to become not what you think they should be but what they know they should be. You can learn from everyone on the team.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Dan: It is better to over-communicate than under-communicate. Set a standard you and everyone else live with, with no exceptions. Realize that team members are like fingers on a hand; you must treat them with that understanding.
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Dan:
Never be afraid of failure. Understand that life is not fair, but you can't be scared to dare to challenge it.
There's only so much time you are given on earth. Try to find the fun in everything you do.
Come up with something positive about every situation. Even if you go to a funeral, acknowledge that the flowers are beautiful!
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Dan: My dad once told me "You're smarter than you look," and I took that to mean learn to accept a compliment even if it seems you just got slapped upside the head. You've got to have humor in life.
Adam: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Dan: Anybody and I mean anybody, can start a business from washing cars to creating the next tech behemoth. But when you can jump-start a mind and make it feel energized, uplifted, and inspired to pass that knowledge on, that is a true gift that should be shared. Entrepreneurship is the stuff that starts minds and has the potential to be life-changing.
Adam Mendler is the CEO of The Veloz Group, where he co-founded and oversees ventures across a wide variety of industries. Adam is also the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. Adam has written extensively on leadership, management, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities and non-profit organizations.
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