be in the swimwear industry? Steve Philpott: After I graduated with my first degree to become a marine biologist, I went on a surf trip to Hawaii for a few weeks and ended up staying a few months. After this trip, the only career path I perceived to get into marine and environmental sciences no longer appealed to me. IR: Why did you decide to work in retail? SP: The freedom of what I had experienced in Hawaii and my drive to make things happen led me to make a big decision and get into the fashion Industry.  I decided to try and be a fashion sales rep. The interviewers liked me, but I had no experience and never got the job. So I took a job at Isherwood and Dreyfus Textiles in the warehouse, unloading, stacking and winding off metreage fabric rolls for Grace Bros and other accounts.  IR: What roles in retail have been a part of your career journey? SP: Three months later, I received a phone call from a fashion agent I had interviewed with four months prior, and he offered me the job. When I started, he threw a set of car keys at me and said, “Go home and pack your bags, son, you’re going bush.” I was tasked with selling a lot of old stock – from denim, men’s and women’s knitwear, kids’ duffel coats, and swimwear – from a van. My boss gave me a map of NSW and told me to stop in every town and sell the stock along the east coast. He also gave me a map of Victoria and told me not to come back until it was sold. I learned about the industry and how to sell in the two years I spent in this role, and that the fundamental law of sales is to build genuine relationships. Strong product helps, but integrity and a sense of legitimate and honest connection are worth their weight in gold. I lived in Europe for eight months after leaving that job. On my return, I worked in a fashion warehouse as an assistant production manager, before I took a job at Running Bare as a sales rep. I left Running Bare 13 years later, where I had worked my way up to be the design, sales and marketing director. I learned so much at Running Bare and look back on that time with great fondness. Next, I started a new business designing swimwear for Lisa Ho under license, and launched Bond-Eye at the same time. And so began my journey. IR: What lessons have you learned in your career so far? SP: Trusting people. I’ve learned the hard way. I’ve made some costly and poor choices with misplaced trust and have been burnt several times. I was involved in a court case that was taxing on every level. [It went on for] over two years and left me flat-broke. I was very naïve about how the legal system worked. [The learnings from this have] me in good stead for the battles that will inevitably come one’s way in business. Cashflow and finance – you learn because you absolutely have to; it’s learn or die. IR: What are some of your career highlights so far? SP: It’s as simple as being at Bondi Beach and seeing women wearing our swimwear. Staying in Mykonos and seeing Bond-Eye swimwear hanging in the best fashion stores and being worn. It was a beautiful realisation that we have created an amazing and desirable brand. I felt a unique sense of humility, validation and inspiration. Beyonce wearing our white lace Robyn Lawley-designed swimsuit, and Robyn Lawley opening a Miami Swim Week show in our label [were other highlights]. Picking up some of the world’s best retailers by showing at Paris Fashion Week on the Seine and at New York Fashion Week. Landing Revolve as a retailer of Bond-Eye was a milestone and stocking all four of our brands in Nordstrom.  IR: What do you love about your job? SP: I love creating, working with people and the creative process. I have an incredibly dedicated team that I am fortunate to be able to create and execute with. I also love the travel. IR: What advice would you give someone wanting to get into your line of work? SP: Go for it. Just start. Start anywhere and in any way that you can.  Watch, listen, learn and grow.  Doors will open and the path will reveal itself. Back yourself. Be stubborn when you needed and never give up. Further reading: Bond-eye CEO: “Copy-cats are unable to do this which sets us apart”