Ted Baker is a Husband, Father, and the CEO/Cofounder of QALO Inc. Qalo is a lifestyle company based in Southern California that he and his business partner KC Holiday launched in 2013, after his wife asked if he was “ever going to wear a wedding ring?!” QALO was recently awarded the 151 spot on the Inc 500 list. Education includes a BS in economics from George Mason University, followed by an MBA in Financial Systems Analysis, and International Business from Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles. A former Actor and restauranteur- Ted loves anything Gluten free! Ted is proud to be affiliated with and sits on the board of a number of philanthropies and considers himself a consciencepreneur.
Entrepreneurial Role Models:
When business started difficulties overcame:
“the hardest thing about when you start… I think it’s focus… The hardest thing for me was just to focus and I realised that when I cut out the fat out of my life and I started to focus on what was most important those things began to flourish… You realise that you have to focus on something to make it grow and that is ultimately is going to drive your success”…[Listen for More]
Favourite Books:
- Simon Sinek Books
- Rachel Hollis Books – When you click this link you can listen to the Rachel Hollis podcast on The Entrepreneur Way
- So Close to Being the Sh*t, Y’all Don’t Even Know Book by Retta
- Hunger in Paradise: How to Save Success From Failure Book by Rasmus Ankersen
Favourite Quote:
- “When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad” Abraham Lincoln
- “don’t let the things that matter the least affect the things that matter the most”
Recommended Online Resources:
- Crunchbase is the leading destination for company insights from early stage startups to the Fortune 1000. Get insights into your competition. Uncover startup trends, get company funding data. Find new prospects, beat competitors and quotas
- LinkedIn – LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Founded on December 28, 2002, and launched on May 5, 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking, including employers posting jobs and job seekers posting their CVs.
Best Advice to Other Entrepreneurs:
“check your ego, be patient, revel in the anarchy, be ready to, you can’t be comfortable, don’t allow complacency”… It’s always going to change. The advice I will give you today would be different advice tomorrow because the circumstances and the parameters are going to change [Listen for More]
More About Ted Baker:
Neil’s Quote at the Beginning:
“It’s more effective to do something valuable than to hope a logo or name will say it for you.” Jason Cohen, founder of Smartbear Software
Other Quotes From the Chat with Ted Baker:
- “there is something to learn from every corner of the earth if we take the time to look”
- “there is something to learn from every person that you talk to if you just take the time to ask and listen”
- “if we can’t focus on anything then we can’t get anything done”
- “What you measure gets done. What you measure you complete. Because if you are not measuring it then you have no way to complete it. You have got to focus on it and then you’ve got to measure it and then you complete it”
- “all of these levers of your life you have to pull on. You have to have the time, you have to have the money, you have to have the resources, you have to have the know-how. Or you have to find those things. So, you have to find the money, time, the resources, the know-how. But if you are not focused on it and if everything is another bright shiny star then you are consistently just fluttering around never ever zoned in on one thing. And as soon as you do zone and zoom in on that one thing and focus on it that’s when you will see things actually happen”
- “culture always plays a huge role in how business is manifested”
- “you want to surround yourself with other people that are very, very intelligent and you do want to be the dumbest guy in the room. If you are the smartest guy in the room and you are the boss then you have done a bad job… You have to be able to be prepared to hire around you very, very, very skillfully”
- “leaders don’t lead charges necessarily; they make other leaders. That’s an important key to success”
- “it’s so important to find people in your organisation that also revel in that uncomfortability because complacency and comfortability is the first thing that is going to crush your company.”
- “As you grow your organisation and as you build your infrastructure complacency is the one thing that will absolutely positively kill. It will kill your culture, it will kill your sales, it will kill the entire company”
- “it’s difficult when you are in a day-to-day war not to get caught up on the small stuff”
Leave a Reply