René Rofé is the founder of René Rofé Lingerie, a global lingerie company whose can be found in retailers across the globe.
In this episode, Rene shares his unlikely path from engineering and investment banking to “peddling panties,” how a napkin sketch landed him a Victoria’s Secret order, and the persistence that turned a discount-store hustle into a decades-long success story.
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Check out June Aboksis on Momentum: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7vK8ksjJawxFBs1GzeMFxM?si=hqju752KTKCIOjwMosCqiA
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SPONSOR:
Discover how The Hedaya Capital Group's factoring services can help power your business's financials: https://hedayacapital.com
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0:00 Coming up
1:44 Growing up in Egypt
5:19 Settling in America
7:41 Coming to America via boat
9:02 School in the USA
12:18 Were you always an entrepreneur?
15:53 The grind of investment banking
18:18 Joining his father’s business
19:26 Starting his own business
20:33 Rene’s entrepreneurial drive
23:09 Starting International Intimates
24:25 How did you set yourself apart?
26:49 Starting an apparel business before e-commerce/internet
28:09 Hedaya Capital Group
29:08 How did you grow the business?
30:14 The most difficult thing: finding a factory
33:15 Failures
34:47 Selling to big box retailers
36:48 Rene’s big break: Victoria’s Secret
39:45 Focusing on discount goods
40:32 Breaking into Marshalls/TJ Maxx
41:27 Pros & cons of working with a partner
42:24 Negative experience going into business with a partner
47:01 Skills you need to succeed
50:16 Sell yourself
51:43 Giving back/charity
53:10 Serving on Hillel Yeshivah Board
55:40 “Is God testing me?”
56:29 Preferred version of charity
57:26 Momentum Moment
1:00:15 Selling and buying back his company
1:02:13 Outro and 3 key takeaways