***Listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify or iHeartRadio! *** Imagine inventing a giant beanbag as a joke and then owning a successful furniture company. That’s what happened to Shawn Nelson, the CEO of Lovesac. At age 18, he filled a beanbag with shredded foam because he thought it would be funny. But people actually loved it. Now, Lovesac is a notable furniture company that sells couches (“sactionals”) as well. Nelson joined David Grasso on this episode of Follow the Profit to talk about his entrepreneurial background and how he made it to where he is today.
Humble beginnings
Lovesac started as a side-hustle! Nelson was in college, waiting tables and trying to plan for his “real job.” The interesting thing about his furniture side hustle is that it barely made him money. In this conversation, he shares with Grasso his string of luck, failures and setbacks that created one crazy story. Some people may recognize Nelson from Richard Branson’s television show “The Rebel Billionaire,” where he won $1 million. What they don’t realize is that $1 million wasn’t enough money to keep the company afloat. He ended up going through bankruptcy reorganization. Check out the podcast to find out how they survived. More topics include:
- Dealing with naysayers
- Building a factory on credit
- Tariffs
- Manufacturing in China
- Failure
- Pollution and sustainability
- The state of entrepreneurship today
Ultimately, we just roll with it as entrepreneurs. For instance, tariffs come, we shift the business, we react quickly, we don’t whine about it. You know, I spent some time in Washington, met with senators, and tried to figure out if there was some way to lobby around these tariffs and ultimately got nothing. So, I think we just make our way and keep our head down and do good. I think that, unfortunately, a lot of these things that we can’t control become hot politically, and then we’re just hard on those around us.
Shawn Nelson
Follow the Profit with David Grasso is a brand new podcast that uses inspirational storytelling to share the top secrets of the modern entrepreneur. High-profile guests give you insight into how they did it. Grasso also shares crucial money and profit hacks that are not typically taught, giving people the know-how to stay relevant in their careers for years to come.
