Rebound From Failure

British politician Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) observed, "Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." Tommy Hilfiger is one example of someone who knows what it means to rebound from failure.

Hilfiger grew up in Elmira, New York where he admired rock stars but did not "possess any extraordinary talents or an academic background that would propel him to success." Instead of furthering his education, he started to work in retail at the age of 18 when he was a senior in high school. Hilfiger would travel to New York City to buy jeans and bell-bottom pants. When he returned home he customized and resold them at a local downtown Elmira store, Brown's.

He eventually opened up his own store in Elmira called The People's Place. Hilfiger's store catered to the college crowd. By the time he was 26 he had seven locations. Unfortunately, the town of Elmira suffered from two events out of its control.  First, a new mall had opened up nearby which redirected traffic away from Elmira.  Second, a broader national economic slump hit Elmira's retail market and many stores started to close. Eventually, Hilfiger had to close The People's Place and went bankrupt.

Hilfiger discussed his business' failure with Lisa Armstrong of the London Times. "I was hard on myself," he said. "I vowed never to fall into sloppy work habits again." Out of work and bankrupt Hilfiger was determined to rebound from his failure on his own terms and turned down offers to work as a design assistant with Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis. He wanted to rebound from failure on his own terms and build the future he wanted.

He moved to New York City and started to work as a freelancer and networked with various people in the business. Within five years Hilfiger was working under contract with Asian textile mogul Mohan Murjani, the man behind Gloria Vanderbilt jeans.

In 1984, he founded the Tommy Hilfiger Corporation and with Murjani's support, Hilfiger introduced his first signature collection in 1985 by modernizing button-down shirts, chinos and other time honored classics. At the end of the first year his company grossed a modest $5 million in sales during the first year and $10 million in the second.

By 1988 his company was bringing in around $25 million a year. Hilfiger eventually bought out Murjani and joined Silas Chou, a Hong Kong clothing manufacturer. In 1992 they took the company public. By 2004 the company had 5,400 employees and revenues in excess of $1.8 billion.

Questions To Ask Yourself

• Hilfiger rebounded from failure by pursuing his dream rather than compromising and doing similar work for somebody else.  How does your pursuit of your dream relate to this situation?
• Hilfiger failed but stayed true to his passion for clothing design and found another way to achieve his dream.  When you have failed did you stay true to your passion or
  did you run away and give up on your dream? 
• How do you react when you experience set-backs in the pursuit of your dream?
• If you do not rebound from failure and find yourself giving up, what can you do to change?
• Who can you identify who can help you despite any failures you may have? Who can you help that is experiencing failure?