As I began to take risks, leaving my very comfortable and secure job and taking this first leap into fashion, every subsequent risk became easier to take because I began to see the kind of opportunity and excitement that risk-taking offered. Imran Amed More Quotes by Imran Amed More Quotes From Imran Amed One person I find fascinating is J.Crew's Mickey Drexler. I would love to get into that brain and see how it works. Imran Amed person see brain love Know your target audience. Always keep them at the forefront of your mind. Understand their lifestyle and what they are looking for. Gather their feedback and use it to tailor your approach. The voice of the consumer is an essential input into the development of any fashion business or blog. Imran Amed looking fashion business mind Although he's no longer with us, Steve Jobs is still inspirational to me, as he managed to find the balance between right brain/left-brain thinking that is crucial to building a creative technology business. Imran Amed me technology business inspirational Fashion is not art. Fashion is a business that requires discipline and attention to detail and very organized systems of logistics and operations and processes. But even with the most smoothly oiled machine to manage the business, without creativity, fashion could not exist. Imran Amed creativity fashion business art Fashion is an industry of action, not discussion. Imran Amed discussion industry fashion action Fashion is always seen as somewhat frivolous and self-indulgent. And I think people on the inside maybe don't see or understand how exciting and diverse a business it is. Imran Amed understand fashion business people It's not like I ever sat in my room and said I was going to start a media company and become an editor in chief. It was never my dream. It was something that just happened. Imran Amed never start media dream Most of my ideas come from drawing patterns across conversations I have with different types of people - technology investors, young fashion design students, a CEO. This variety is stimulating and offers many different perspectives on the things I am thinking about. Imran Amed i-am technology people thinking Growing up in Canada, I used to love a walk in the early morning, when the streets are quiet and the sun was shining. Walking in the morning is still very refreshing... and if I can, I will walk to my first meeting or appointment. Imran Amed walk sun morning love Education was something my parents always put a lot of emphasis on. It was naturally in me, and my sister is equally driven. She is a paediatric endocrinologist. Imran Amed parents me sister education In the daytime, I was studying at school and in the evenings, I was a stage kid. I was trained in theatre and public speaking. I was a really active kid. Imran Amed studying stage theatre school A whole series of events pushed me towards meditation, and now it's become such an integral part of the way I manage myself. It's a tool for me; when you're an entrepreneur, and you're pulled in every direction, it is wonderful to have this discipline. Imran Amed myself me you discipline I love nothing better than immersing myself in different street cultures; exploring all those neighbourhoods in Tokyo was quite amazing, or visiting Morocco to see an Inditex factory. Imran Amed street amazing myself love The most fascinating part is how fashion just attracts all these social rejects, if you will, from around the world, encourages individuality. They're the people who make the industry tick. Imran Amed you fashion people world For someone who comes from my business background, getting fashion people aligned around certain things can be a challenge. In a way, the industry is so forward-looking. And yet, sometimes people in fashion are not open to change. Imran Amed fashion business change people One of my closest friends was a half-black, half-Jewish girl. Another good friend had a shaved head... but I was also friends with jocks. I was a 'floater,' I guess you could say. Imran Amed good you friends girl I'm regularly speaking at London Business School and Harvard Business School. They're the next generation of leaders in the fashion industry. Imran Amed generation fashion business school I realised I had to work in something creative, but with a business and global element. And that I had to do it while I was still young and had an appetite for risk. Imran Amed something creative business work I usually have eight to 10 meetings a day and travel 150 days a year..._It sounds crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Imran Amed day crazy way travel My parents landed in Calgary in December 1974, straight from Nairobi. They were immigrants, like many people coming to build a better life. My mom was five months pregnant with me when they landed. Imran Amed parents me life people
