sole rebels is an artisan eco friendly footwear from ethiopia. it's designs are similar to brand sanuk. and the guy who helped bring sanuk to taiwan, and the same guy that handles levi's taiwan is now taking his experience to build sole rebels in the chinese market. he doesn't handle the details. he sees the products, thinks it will sell, and is more concerned with how to capture market share with a competitive product. ethiopia and taiwan has no import duties (tho a handmade ethiopian product has obvious QC issues). he may not look so fashionable, but i can tell he has a good grasp of what the market wants. he has the right kind of aggression to push his product quickly and has the kohonas to pull the trigger and invest accordingly. in august 2012 he signed the distribution rights for taiwan. october built out the first store. by dec 20th. 3 stores already. i'm impressed. now if only he wouldn't fish tail his panorama at every stop light. esp after drinking...
tho as with all taiwanese, or chinese businessmen, the one weakness he might have, is where alexia comes in. the western bridge. it's the idiosyncratic intangibles that put stress on relationships. esp when non work related stress adds on work stress. and even more so when good intentions are wasted or misconstrued. and so his itinerary to show the grandeur of his work, or to be extra hospitable to the ethiopians, i think was a little too over the top. sometimes a little unnecessary. i just came to help or to visit. and i was pretty stressed.
the owner a 32 lady (married with children) came with her brother (22 year old bright eyed, vain, innocent). had no clue what they liked, what they wanted. their english was good so i assumed some international exposure. the brand seemed to be in a lot of places of the world, so it seemed that they both had seen and been a lot of places. i have been exposed to much of the shoe industry from larry and you'd be hard pressed to impress those guys in any way shape or form. and so the boss, bethlehem was only focused with work or when she was looking at other shoe brands on the street. other than that, nothing phased her. never hungry, never cared to eat, never wanted anything, didn't want to do anything. then the brother, who wanted to do everything, was controlled by the sister. and he seemed to play off like he'd been everywhere yet when he saw oysters he asked "that's seafood right?"
well, i gave it my all for one day, and skipped out on the 2nd day. good reason. i didn't come down south to chaperone them. i had kent and the pooches to hang out with. kkk.
