1: Create a profitable system, but don't do it for the money
"Being able to understand numbers is important in business, but what I realised after being homeless is that money isn't everything. You need to understand who you are and pursue what you want to do and what you're passionate about. Money is just a result of that."
2: The things I design make me happy
“Basically, I only sell things that I can say I made myself. At the same time, I only deal in things that I love, and I spend 24 hours a day with those things. I realized through working with Buly that the most important thing is to create your own world. I design everything, including how to sell it.”
3. Freedom First: No one listens to anyone's opinion
"If you listen to someone else's opinion and it ends up failing, it's your own fault. That person won't take responsibility. If it's your fault if you fail, then you should just do what you want to do. I know better than anyone what I want to do, and if I fail, I can just take responsibility, so I don't listen to anyone's opinion."
4. Business partners are welcome, but not co-management
"When you're young, you tend to do business with other people. It's fine at first, but at some point you'll have to part ways. If the creative and decision-making power aren't consistent, things tend to go in the wrong direction. I've been betrayed before, and conversely, I've even ended up selling a brand without my permission."
5. The staff around you must be smart
"Our work is diverse, ranging from brand design to cafe concept design and airport terminal development. A direct message on Instagram might inspire us to prepare presentation materials tomorrow. Creativity and passion are always needed, and people who only have an MBA aren't enough."
6: Create a store where customers can leave empty-handed and feel comfortable
"Buly is that kind of boutique. No two stores have the same design, and by simply picking up a product, smelling it, and having a short conversation with a salesperson, you can take home the story I want to tell, even if you don't buy anything. You can even take home the catalogue for free (laughs)."
7. If you can't act on something when you think of it, forget it.
"Traveling, seeing everything, and being interested in things even if they are unrelated. I value the preciousness of each day, so I start moving the moment I think of it. I always go to see business partners, and I hate procrastinating. Naturally, if I don't get moving, I quickly forget about it."
8. Don't think logos are important. Don't get hung up on any particular logo.
"Logos are a throwback to 20th-century marketing symbols. Ultimately, logos are rules, and everyone wants to make one, but rules are there to be broken. We're not selling logos; we're delivering great products and a unique worldview to you all in our own way."
9: Uniqueness is the key, and we dare to go against the trend.
"Some brand sets a trend, and others follow. I'm not interested in competing for a cutting edge that doesn't exist; I aim to be unique. How do I achieve this? I take the exact opposite approach: I go against the trend."
10. I'd rather die than give a mediocre presentation.
"We are skilled at presentations. I think many companies prepare presentation materials in PowerPoint, but we propose the most appropriate and unexpected tool for each message we want to convey. Sometimes we draw in comics, and sometimes we use grass and water to astound people."
