I quit my finance job and set up LØCI, the sneaker brand loved by Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicki Minaj — here’s how I did it

Over the next seven years, we learned how things worked in the industry. My time in banking taught me hard work, which was translated into running a business.

Butterfly Twists grew significantly; we were selling in 67 countries, had 32 stores, and sold a million pairs of shoes a year. On the surface, we were doing amazing, but I wasn’t in love with the business because I couldn’t really relate to it.

I was very proud of what we had achieved, but It felt like I was creating spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations my entire time. The days of running around with sneakers in the bag and doing deals were long gone.

Building a new brand

During the pandemic, I considered whether I wanted to spend the next few years of my life on this business or do something I loved.

My friend, brother, and I spoke and thought, “Imagine if we could build another business that represented everything we believe.” That’s when we came up with the idea for LØCI, a luxury vegan sneaker and apparel brand.

LØCI is a platform for others, and for me, it allows me to be the person I want to be, express myself, and take control of my life. That’s something I don’t think working in finance offered me.

During the pandemic, we went to the US and started building relationships. When we launched LØCI in 2021 we had no money but a dream of building a sneaker brand. It wasn’t the skillset we had, but we knew how to build a brand.

Since our launch, we’ve had a significant celebrity following who endorse our products, which was never something I could have dreamed of in the beginning. We’ve had Leonardo DiCaprio invest, and Nicki Minaj is an equity stakeholder, too. We’ve also done an exclusive sneaker collaboration with her.

Developing relationships

The worst way to pitch people and network is to cold-call them. I’d never want to be introduced to somebody in that form — it’s annoying.

I’ve found the secret to success is patience, goodwill, being a great person, and enjoying it. People have always asked me how I do it and network, and I say it’s organic.

For everything that’s happened, five or 10 things haven’t happened. We’re always working from multiple angles, people, and opportunities. It’s better to approach it with “how can I add value to their lives?” That’s the first thing that me and my team try to do when we meet people because everybody’s got a dream.

Building a brand takes time — you’re on a journey and you must ride it out no matter how difficult it gets.