Interview of Blake Mycoskie

Blake Mycoskie: Hi Bella, are you there?

Bella Hanback: Hi, yes. Thank you so much for doing this, I appreciate this so greatly. I know you're probably super busy, but yeah, I'll go ahead and jump into the questions. And so, this is for a leadership class just basically kind of talking about, I guess, the person themselves and then what they end up sort of go on to achieve. And so, I'll go ahead and kind of jump into sort of your childhood and just kind of ask you, what were your kind of like? What was your personality? Were you outgoing? Were you shy? Were you always a leader? And then also, what was your household like? Was it free spirited? Was it competitive? What was kind of the realm of that?

BM: Sure. Yeah. I mean, I grew up mainly being. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I grew up mainly being an athlete. I was a tennis player and tennis every day was all dedicated to tennis. And my family definitely was competitive. My sister was a volleyball player and my brother played golf and other things. So, sports are a big part of our upbringing and I think that really led to kind of my entrepreneurial drive as well. And so do my parents and yeah. And so, I think it was it's free spirited that we were all kind of able to choose whatever we wanted to do.

BH: So, sort of jumping ahead sort of when you're going to college, going to SMU at that point, what are you sort of thinking that you're going to become? And if that changed, what sort of what kind of led that to change?

BH: Yeah. So, I went wanting to be a professional tennis player or that was really kind of all I focused on. And I had an injury. Yeah. So, I went, and I wanted to be like a professional tennis player or that was really kind of all I focused on and then had an injury, and I wasn't able to play for like six months and that's when I started my laundry business, which then became kind of me into an entrepreneur and really seeing that you could apply some of the same competitiveness and determination into being an entrepreneur. And I think and that was really that was that was really exciting for me and athletic. And I think that that really transformed me and then sort of kind of led.

BH: Where in business were you sort of professionally were you and then what sort of changed to kind of lead you to go where you ended up sort of going.

BM: Yeah. So, I just, you know, I started the laundry business and then and then after college, I kept doing that for a while. Yeah. So, I started the laundry business and then after I was actually in college for a while and I sold that to my partner, and then I was I was actually on the TV show The Amazing Race, and that introduced me into television and Hollywood, that world. And I lived out in California for that, which then led me to wanting to start a cable television network that was based on reality stars, and then that led to be interested in outdoor advertising and just kind of one thing led to another, and they all kind of led to the entrepreneurial thing. And none of them really I had experience in before. So it's very interesting. So each time I kind of went and kind of got a new perspective and that really allowed me to kind of do things differently and it allowed me to kind of learn on the go. And that really, I think kind of as having a lot of Hallmark in my career is just really following my passion, but not necessarily having a lot of experience.

BH: On the philanthropy side. Have you always been a philanthropic person? Was your family very philanthropic growing up? How does that sort of come into play?

BM: Yeah, I mean, my family was very charitable, and they always gave money in church. Yeah. I mean, my family was very charitable. You know, they always gave money at church. They were always people always or they were very, my dad's doctor, so I was always, always helping people, animals. So, it was my mom really modeled, really caring for people and animals. And so, it wasn't like they were philanthropists. But definitely I grew up in a house, where they gave back.

BH: And sort of when you were sort of starting TOMS©, when you were sort of looking at the climate of social entrepreneurship and sort of the businesses that were sort of coming up at the time, did you feel that starting such a business that was really became the epitome of social entrepreneurship? Was it kind of the right time at the right, the right place at the right time where people were kind of ready for this kind of model? Were you seeing a shift culturally that kind of allowed this to be a really successful venture?

BM: No, I think that it was the right place, the right time. And I think there's involved in that. And I think it's just, no, I think that it was just the right place at the right time and start from and I think there's much involved in that. I think it's just a shift. Know culture is ready for something like this. I really did see a shift and then start talking. We started talking and then we saw a kind of shift come after this really time. And so, telling us if I played a role in that and other companies and people had similar ideas around the same time. And so, I really feel like we just kind of got bigger companies.

BH: And even when you look at the concept, a little bit, for one, do you feel that you have a great stake in that? Do you feel as if you are one of the founders of it just because you are so associated with it? And then also when you see sort of other companies coming up, that one use a very similar model to yours or just basically philanthropic or have that sort of philanthropic side, do you kind of see how they sort of took after your company? How do you feel looking out at other companies now?

BM: Yeah, I definitely feel that a source of pride. I think that somebody can model their business after ours and yeah, I definitely feel that source of pride. I think that somebody can model their business after ours, it gives me a lot.

BH: And and where do you see social entrepreneurship going, or do you think that people will kind of tire of it? Do you think that it will stay around? Where do you sort of see it in the next ten, 20 years?

BM: I think it's one of those things where it's just kind of becoming a part of culture and a part of the way we do business. I don't think. I think it's one of those things where it's just kind of becoming a part of culture and a part of the way we do business. I don't think social entrepreneurship is going to be such a delineation from regular entrepreneurship. It's just that when we start businesses, we have to think about it.

BH: When you now are being a philanthropist and doing philanthropy, how has that changed today than it did ten years ago?

BM: Um, well, I think now I'm more engaged in things that are purely philanthropy where before I was, um. Well, I think now I'm more engaged in things that are purely philanthropy where before I got engaged in social entrepreneurship, because I'm not running a company right now, most of what I'm doing is donating to causes and organizations that I really believe in and helping others.

BH: Very few people are the ones who get to be the voice of the generation. If you actually get a legacy that other people know or they're associated with something, but you're one of those few, you will get a legacy. You're in a lot of the books that we read about in my class. And so, my sort of question is. What do you think that your legacy will be? What do you want it to be? And what else do you sort of what else do you want to achieve to sort of sort of leave once you're gone?

BM: I mean, I think that I hope that my legacy is broader than just TOMS©. I'm really proud of TOMS© product. I mean, I think that helping I hope that my legacy is broader than just Toms©. I'm really proud of TOMS© and we're proud of helping really change the way people think about how we do business. But also, I helped, you know, young enough to where I'm really interested in also helping. I really kind of do something on the planet that helps people just suffer less. And I think there's a lot of suffering. And, you know, I dealt with kind of physical suffering or we kind of needed to. But now I'm seeing that there's so many networks struggling from a mental standpoint. And how do we get them the access to the right amount are other medicines or things and make a difference if the person was given to kind of really hope given to overall with.

BH: For this project, the person I assigned was with to compare you to was Princess Diana, which I actually think is it makes sense. She's somebody who is sort of almost revolutionized the way that celebrities do philanthropic branding today. And so I think an interesting question is, when it comes to philanthropy and branding, how do you how do you sort of draw the line where you are using it as a branding technique? But then there also is a sort of genuine giving back. How do you make sure that it isn't just a marketing technique?

BM: Well, I think the best marketing is really authentic philanthropy. So, I think you've got to focus on the mission and what we're doing first, and then the byproduct can be great. Well, I think the best marketing is really authentic. So, I think you've got to focus on your mission and what you're doing first, and then the byproduct can be. We try to be on top of our work and it never really works that it doesn't feel authentic. So, it's got to be a deep, authentic passion and perspective.

BH: Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it, and my parents and their love, by the way.