An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
The ability to delegate — Naturally, I am that person who feels like I need to do it all — however, this gets very expensive very quickly. It’s always better to delegate.
As a part of our series called “Making Something From Nothing”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Vienne Cheung Brown.
Vienne Cheung Brown is the founder of VienneMilano, a luxury hosiery brand dedicated to thigh high stockings that are made in Italy. Founded in 2011, Vienne transitioned her previous work in high-tech product management to designing, distributing, and managing a fashion e-commerce brand. Today, VienneMilano has helped redefine thigh highs as a fashion category. Her hosiery collection offers one of the world’s most extensive variety for thigh high stockings consisting of classic styles, fashion-forward pieces, skin tone matching sheers, eco-friendly stockings, plus sizes, and much more. The brand has expanded from being sold exclusively from VienneMilano.com to distributing to many online distribution channels and brick-and-mortar outlets. VienneMilano has also been featured in Vogue, Marie Claire, Elle, FOX, NBC and has been a popular accessory for celebrities and magazines in photo shoots across the world. www.VienneMilano.com.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your “childhood backstory”?
Generally speaking, I have very fond memories of my childhood. That said, the one story that resonates most is when I lived in Hong Kong. At the time, I was six years old and in the first grade. Every day, I took the school bus after school. One day, I overslept and realized this after the bus driver passed my stop. So here I am, all alone in Hong Kong — a city of tall skyscrapers and six million people in the 1980s. I recognized where I was and slowly walked back to safety. To this day, my parents are horrified by this experience. However, I don’t remember a single minute of that day when I was scared; instead, I was focused on getting home. I share this story because it offers a window into where I come from, my experience, and my personality.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
There’s a Chinese proverb: The Foolish Old man Removes The Mountain (愚公移山); this 4th-century story is about an old man who believed the mountains nearby were in his way. When the locals heard his aspiration to dig through the mountains, they thought he was foolish. Paying no attention to the locals, he continued digging — his hard work and dedication impressed the gods, who eventually helped him move the mountains. I like to draw inspiration from this story and also Hannibal’s mentality; “I will either find a way or make one.” I often think back to these two inspirations whenever I need a little encouragement.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
A moment that significantly impacted me years ago was when I had the opportunity to meet the first Asian American woman to climb the seven tallest mountains in the world. My time with her inspired me to take the leap to start my own company finally. Her motivation to climb all seven stemmed from wanting to live a meaningful life. She didn’t want to look back on her life and have any regrets because she always stayed safe. While I was not trying to climb any mountains, I didn’t want to play it slow and safe in my career and look back with regrets. I knew I had aspirations, and hearing her story motivated me to climb my mountain and start VienneMilano.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. There is no shortage of good ideas out there. Many people have good ideas all the time. But people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. Can you share a few ideas from your experience about how to overcome this challenge?
I created VienneMilano because I want to help every woman look and feel fabulous with thigh highs stockings. I truly believe that legs are a canvas for creativity and self-expression. However, prior to starting my business, I worked in high tech. At first, starting a business in fashion felt daunting as I had no prior experience in the industry. Still, over time, I overcame self-doubt by focusing on developing the necessary tools and skills for building a business.
The most important lesson I learned while launching my company was to be aware of my weaknesses. Having a healthy acknowledgment of your strengths and weaknesses gives you the opportunity to fine-tune your skills.
Admitting what I didn’t know gave me the chance to grow. To this day, I am still learning.
Often when people think of a new idea, they dismiss it saying someone else must have thought of it before. How would you recommend that someone go about researching whether or not their idea has already been created?
Being first to market with a new idea is not the be-all-end-all of starting a business. Competitors can be collaborators as well, particularly in fashion. It’s about how you would bring your concept to creation.
I also recommend talking to (potential) customers to see if their current needs are met with existing offerings. Research the industry and learn how you can make your idea better than what already exists. All the data you need is out there. How you interpret the data and what you decide to do brings value to your business.
For the benefit of our readers, can you outline the steps one has to go through, from when they think of the idea, until it finally lands in a customer’s hands? In particular, we’d love to hear about how to file a patent, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer to distribute it.
The first step I took was to research the market; what are the existing solutions, and who are the customers? Based on that information, I created a brand positioning for VienneMilano. The next step is I took was to research available suppliers and made decisions based on those who fit the brand.
My most important step is to select a launch date. This may not be the next move for everyone, but giving myself a deadline motivates me. Picking a meaningful date amps up my excitement and creativity, but also keeps me on a schedule. I chose my birthdate as my deadline to leave corporate America and begin my journey with VienneMIlano.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Started Leading My Company” and why?
- A fabulous pair of shoes (and stockings) — Shoes dictate how you look and feel. The sky is the limit if you are wearing the right pair of shoes and stockings — especially if you are in the business of selling hosiery!
- A good coffee machine — Need I say more?
- The ability to delegate — Naturally, I am that person who feels like I need to do it all — however, this gets very expensive very quickly. It’s always better to delegate.
- Networking — It’s a numbers game! The more people you meet, the more likely you will meet someone who is one in a million (but more importantly, can help your business grow)
- Take care of your physical health — You don’t need to become a gym rat (unless your invention or business is gym or rat related), but it is essential to take care of your physical health. It’s also a great stress release, as starting a business will never be stress-free, no matter how much you love it!
Let’s imagine that a reader reading this interview has an idea for a product that they would like to invent. What are the first few steps that you would recommend that they take?
The first step I recommend is to consider the problem your invention or business is trying to solve. Who are you helping, and how many are there? Will your idea help one person or many people? How do you intend to communicate with those who will use your solution? These are key questions to spend time on before starting a business.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
While I have never worked with an invention development consultant before, I had help from a very knowledgeable business partner in the beginning. No one can do it all, and I recommend finding good help.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
It depends on the growth: How much growth do you want to accomplish? Do you view your business as a race or a marathon? Some people, myself included, enjoy the journey, which is why I prefer the bootstrap method.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Humbly, I can’t say I’ve made the world a better place, but I’d to think I’ve made the world a little more fabulous, one leg at a time.
That said, I am on the advisory board of a non-profit organization focused on helping under privilege women.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Early in my career, I was in customer-facing roles. The skills I learned from working directly with clients have been invaluable to my business and its success. I also feel that working with customers helps refine problem-solving skills, thus allowing one to build confidence and relationships.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
I have always been a fan of Michelle Yeoh, a woman of style, grace, ambition, education, talent, the list goes on. It would be incredible if I could have dim sum with her — that said, I would be so starstruck that I just hope to remember how to talk!
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Making Something From Nothing: Vienne Cheung Brown On How To Go From Idea To Launch was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
