Steve Mullholand, the founder of Sole Collector, spoke with Business Insider for a pretty in-depth account of the sale and the history of the Sole Collector brand. Here’s an excerpt:
Why Mullholland is selling his “baby”
“Here’s the thing. When I started this company, my mom said you have to put your employees first,” Mullholand says.
Mullholand’s mother owns her own tech company that he says is substantially bigger than Sole Collector. That’s why when she gives advice, Mullholand listens.
“So one of the things was, I made sure no employee ever missed a paycheck,” Mullholand says. “I made sure that they were taken care of. I made sure that they had the right equipment. Even during the (economic) downturn, we didn’t lay anybody off. Everybody was able to still pay their bills. But when the downturn happened, money became very very very tight for a small company like mine.”
At that time, Mullholand says it was difficult to attain any amount of credit or bank loans. He also didn’t want to give up full ownership and potentially shake up the company’s culture in doing so.
Since 2006, the company has relied solely on its cash flow, Mullholand says. But now it’s at the point where it needs a helping hand to further grow the business.
“I felt like we had the premium experience,” Mullholand says. “We had the body of a Ferrari. I mean, it was high-end leather, the outside of the body just looked sick, but we didn’t have the Ferrari engine. And that’s what Complex gives us. They have the power, the resources, and the means to exponentially grow Sole Collector, and I couldn’t do that by myself.”
Read The Rest Of Steve Mullholand Interview With BI: Click Here
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