René Rofé is the founder of René Rofé Lingerie, a global lingerie company whose can be found in retailers across the globe.

In this episode, Rene shares his unlikely path from engineering and investment banking to “peddling panties,” how a napkin sketch landed him a Victoria’s Secret order, and the persistence that turned a discount-store hustle into a decades-long success story.

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Check out June Aboksis on Momentum: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vK8ksjJawxFBs1GzeMFxM?si=hqju752KTKCIOjwMosCqiA

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SPONSOR:

Discover how The Hedaya Capital Group's factoring services can help power your business's financials: https://hedayacapital.com

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0:00 Coming up

1:44 Growing up in Egypt

5:19 Settling in America

7:41 Coming to America via boat

9:02 School in the USA

12:18 Were you always an entrepreneur?

15:53 The grind of investment banking

18:18 Joining his father’s business

19:26 Starting his own business

20:33 Rene’s entrepreneurial drive

23:09 Starting International Intimates

24:25 How did you set yourself apart?

26:49 Starting an apparel business before e-commerce/internet

28:09 Hedaya Capital Group

29:08 How did you grow the business?

30:14 The most difficult thing: finding a factory

33:15 Failures

34:47 Selling to big box retailers

36:48 Rene’s big break: Victoria’s Secret

39:45 Focusing on discount goods

40:32 Breaking into Marshalls/TJ Maxx

41:27 Pros & cons of working with a partner

42:24 Negative experience going into business with a partner

47:01 Skills you need to succeed

50:16 Sell yourself

51:43 Giving back/charity

53:10 Serving on Hillel Yeshivah Board

55:40 “Is God testing me?”

56:29 Preferred version of charity

57:26 Momentum Moment

1:00:15 Selling and buying back his company

1:02:13 Outro and 3 key takeaways