"I can say to you hand on heart, almost every single one of my successful entrepreneurial friends has been through depression. Every single one. We're not designed to be on our phones all day. We're not designed to be constantly on airplanes."Jamie Hunt is one of the co-founders of 2XU, the high-performance sportswear brand worn by many of the world’s top athletes and celebrities, from LeBron James to Kanye West.
He helped create the brand back in 2005 and the business was eventually sold by Jamie and his two co-founders at a 9 figure valuation.With so many brands now playing in the highly competitive apparel and athleisure market, it’s well worth listening to someone who has managed to build a $200m brand. Never content to bask in former glories, Jamie is at it again with Aviro, an antiviral clothing and facemask company, as well as a brand new performance sportswear brand Pressio which launches in January 2021.
Jamie was a world-class Triathlete and we discuss the agonising sliding doors moment that saw him controversially miss out on the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. We talk about the transferable skills he’s taken from sport to business, as well as the high rates of depression among founder/entrepreneurs. Jamie himself admits that on paper, he shouldn’t have been as successful as he has been. He wasn’t well-educated, and had a speech impediment to overcome, but he credits hard work and his religious faith for enabling him to exceed those early limitations.
Links:Jamie Hunt / LinkedIn2XUAviroPressioHome of the podcast:www.michaelxcampion.comInstagram: @michaelxcampionJoin the weekly newsletter www.michaelxcampion.com/subscribe
Spotify (2021, Oct). #10 Jamie Hunt - Building a $200m Sportswear Brand, Missing The Olympics, and the Importance of Slowing Down https://open.spotify.com/episode/3qu5egbY3a3MXa4BWd4jZw?si=vycVwICmS0SvloO59C14fQ&nd=1
