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The CEO plays a very important role. They manage the business, people, stakeholder expectations, and more. What makes these people tick and what does it take to succeed in this role? That’s what I’m on a mission to find out in the CEO Series. I visit the workplaces of inspiring business leaders to learn their personal stories and gain insight into how to bring out the best in their employees and themselves.
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In this episode, we meet with Sean Riley, CEO of Dude Wipes. It’s a really fun brand with crazy marketing, but it’s no joke. They expect sales of more than $120 million and are disrupting the entire toilet paper industry. Here are some key takeaways from that conversation. Watch the video above to hear everything Sean had to say about the dynamic growth of this powerhouse company.
On stepping into the CEO role
“Well, the first thing I did was change my title. I call myself CEO Dude because it’s more fun and that’s who I am. That’s what Dude Wipes should be. Just because you’re the CEO doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be.’ It means you can’t be yourself. ”
The surprising truth you learn as a CEO
“You have to act less and move on to being there for people in a more collaborative way. When you become a CEO, you have to learn to let things go, and maybe people will appreciate that. They don’t realize that. They think, “The CEO does everything. Things pile up on their desks and they have to do this and that.” That’s not what you want to do as a CEO. You want to surround yourself with great people and inspire them to grow and succeed. Remember the trajectory of Phil Jackson? You’re not going to take your last shot on the court anymore. “You’re not a star athlete. You’re coming off the court trying to be a Zen master. You’re trying to make sure all the different parts of the business are working well together.”
origin story
“Our birth story is fun and authentic and I think a lot of people can relate to it. It was me and my friend sitting down and wanting to come up with a great business idea. And I wanted to create these babies. With baby wipes in our apartment and how much better they are than toilet paper, we started wondering.Hey, something like this doesn’t exist? From there, it was all about figuring out how to build a brand that represented who we were at the time. Guys sitting on the couch eating burritos, drinking beer, and Googling everything. to make a phone call. Who can make these baby wipes? How do I start a company? It was just smashing things one after another. ”
About the key to success
“We made $150,000 in the first year, so we were a little surprised. But maybe more than the revenue, seeing people’s emotional reactions early on gave us confidence. When Dude Wipes got into people’s hands, they laughed and laughed, and we passed it on to other people. Making people laugh and talk continues to push us forward. It was an elation. It’s all about the belief that this connects with people. You have to believe from day one that this is going to be big. Otherwise, in a breakout moment like we had when we got on board, You won’t make it in time shark tank. When we saw that our customers loved it, we believed we could do all these insane things and disrupt the huge toilet paper industry. ”
Watch the video above to learn more about Sean running a company with a truly unique culture. Visit our CEO Series archive for more profiles of innovative and influential leaders.
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