Episode Summary

If Stuart Weitzman - storyteller, entrepreneur, impresario - had a motto it would be “stand on the shoulders of others.” That simple phrase characterizes his approach to business, branding, and advertising and has helped him create a shoe that regularly walks the red carpet while remaining affordably accessible. From his first shoe design sketches to opening the first shoe store on Rodeo Drive, Stuart shares stories of how Stuart Weitzman shoes became a coveted celebrity brand, in this episode of The Sydcast.

Syd Finkelstein

Syd Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He holds a Master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Professor Finkelstein has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent, which LinkedIn Chairman Reid Hoffman calls the “leadership guide for the Networked Age.” He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Management, a consultant and speaker to leading companies around the world, and a top 25 on the Global Thinkers 50 list of top management gurus. Professor Finkelstein’s research and consulting work often relies on in-depth and personal interviews with hundreds of people, an experience that led him to create and host his own podcast, The Sydcast, to uncover and share the stories of all sorts of fascinating people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, academia, and everyday life. 

Stuart Weitzman

It can certainly be said that Stuart Weitzman’s passion for design has been a lifelong pursuit: he began working at his father’s Massachusetts shoe factory while still in college. After graduating from university, Weitzman applied himself to the industry with a laserlike focus, eventually building the globally-renowned company that bears his name. He has been honored with numerous awards from the footwear, bridal, advertising, and business communities for his work in the world of fashion and entrepreneurship.

Today, his shoes dominate the red carpet events and are worn by loyal celebrity fans like Meghan Markle, Kate Middleton, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Gigi and Bella Hadid, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, and by millions of women who buy them in over 70 countries around the world.  

Weitzman approaches his other endeavors with equal commitment. He shares his time with his wife Jane and their two daughters and is personally involved in philanthropic causes close to his heart. Among these is his mentoring students on their entrepreneurial aspirations at several universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Yale, and the London Business School. Weitzman is a graduate of Penn’s Wharton School of Business and in 2019 the university honored him by renaming their design school the Stuart Weitzman School of Design.

During his free time, you may find him on the tennis court or at the ping-pong table. If you’ve got a racket, he’ll welcome the challenge. 

Insights from this episode:

• Details on how Stuart got his start in designing shoes, early lessons he learned about business, and the best decision he made.
• Benefits of working in an industry versus going to graduate school to learn the industry.
• Strategies Stuart used to create a niche market for his business that would bring the success he envisioned. 
• How to become a great designer, not just a talented designer.
• Strategies for protecting your business from competition including company culture and imagination.

Quotes from the show:

• “There’s the creative side of so many endeavors and then there’s the business side. You see it in almost any field. … It’s almost this yin and yang kind of thing.” – Syd Finkelstein
• On customer acquisition cost: “That made me recognize nothing was more important than making a business out of this product.” – Stuart Weitzman
• “The most beautiful shoe in the world, if nobody bought it, it wasn’t such a good shoe.” – Syd Finkelstein
• “I knew if I could work for someone else who was making a product that, hopefully, I would make one day as well, I could learn things I certainly would never have gotten in grad school.” – Stuart Weitzman
• On finding his market niche: “Every dress on the red carpet was custom made and one of a kind for that actress but shoes were bought in shoe stores.” – Stuart Weitzman
• On why women buy his shoes: “It’s really about the image of the company and how I use the celebrities to overcome being a low-price brand [in the luxury shoe market].” – Stuart Weitzman
• On using celebrities to promote brands: “Associate yourself with great success in others and it can rub off on you if you do it well but you have to have product integrity.” – Stuart Weitzman
• On why Stuart decided to open shoe stores: “I recognized that the right store on the right street was a great branding tool, better than spending a $100,000 on a Vogue ad.” – Stuart Weitzman
• “There was never a door on my office. I knew everybody and I didn’t manage them, maybe I inspired them.” – Stuart Weitzman
• “To be imaginative and do things out of the ordinary but in a fresh and exciting way is just as easy as following the same straight path to that finish line.” – Stuart Weitzman

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Syd Finkelstein

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Stuart Weitzman

Website: www.stuartweitzman.com/home

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This episode was produced and managed by Podcast Laundry (www.podcastlaundry.com)