Illusion of Success

Last month I posted up something on social media about not making a sale in 8 days – turned out to be 10 actually. It got some press coverage but the headline may have been misleading for some.

The point I was making wasn’t around feeling sorry myself or concern that I wouldn’t make another sale – I was more trying to redress the balance. The perception people might have is that of success and making loads of money. The truth is of course very different – not just for me but for many.

For all that social media has given us in terms of opportunity to get ourselves seen, it has also allowed us to see others. And compare and contrast.

I see a lot of small/micro business’s online who definitely only talk success. No challenges, no bad days. To me they are missing out on connecting with people. In an effort to finely polish our “brands” you can see these business’s becoming tiny little corporate looking entities. They rarely if ever share any personal information, they follow no-one, engage with no-one, share nothing of anyone else’s. But it seems to work for some. Maybe they’ve found their people that way.

However, I think the key differentiator for most micro/small business’s is the person behind it. Their values, their personality, integrity, character. If we only talk success, avoid sharing our hopes, fears and failures then I think we are only one step from a hyperbolic Apprentice contestant who thinks you can manifest success out of thin air. Or maybe bending the truth about how popular your creations are – hoping that you will attract people who get caught up in hype and FOMO.

What’s more important to you? The perception of “winning” or the truth? Maybe somewhere in the middle?

Social Media seems to be losing the “social” and becoming more “selling”. I’m guilty of it too but I am trying my best to resist that and be more “social”.

Most of us don’t like the hard sale in a shop environment. Why would we like it on our phones? Its all becoming like a billboard. A paid billboard for that matter.

Perhaps the next phase of Social Media will be rougher around the edges. Look at Tik Tok. Huge numbers and certainly to begin with the content was less than polished. But the paid adverts have started there too and then the anxiety for small business’s start.

Should I get a slick video promo made?

Do I need to do professional photos?

Should I “fake it till I make it”?

I’ve done them all but also try to keep things grounded. Its not the same for everyone but it works for me. I see success as feeling happy with what I am doing and how I am doing it. The outcome from that could result in financial success – if that’s your starting point then maybe the illusion of success will get you there quicker. But the journey won’t be as much fun. Success should be defined by you and not anyone else’s metrics.

And for all the worry I had about not having a sale things turned around pretty quickly.

June has without doubt been the best month for Doric Skateboards for a variety of reasons. None of them sales related - we’ve had better months for sure.

Here are some highlights:

• LinkedIn Live with Yekemi Otaru chatting all things Marketing, Creativity, Social Media -watch it on YouTube here;

• Newspaper articles about my approach to having a bad week in terms of sales;

• Newspaper articles about my involvement with Curated Aberdeen;

• Social Media coverage for all of the above;

• Asked to talk to young folks for a second time for The Prince’s Trust;

• Launched one collaboration – planned two more;

• Attended Curated Aberdeen and had a great time;

• A few shops enquiring about stocking Doric;

• And had a meeting about something that will possibly be the biggest achievement of my life. If it comes off - I can’t wait to share it.

All of this feels like the culmination of the last 4 years – momentum. Like the penny arcades – each coin is your effort and with enough and some strategy you will eventually knock that wee pile off the end. Maybe you’d rather be a high roller throwing all your money on the tables - that might just work. But you probably won’t find me there. : )

Fear.....

My list of fears are large and varied.

One of my earliest memories is being at my brothers school assembly of some kind at Bramble Brae Primary Northfield circa 1980.

There must have been a performance and we had to clap. Surrounded by strangers I felt something that made me clench my fists and clap like that instead. Somewhere inside I realised that clapping made a noise, noise brings attention, attention brings people. And I didn’t want that. At least thats my memory of it.

A few years later I may or may not have swallowed a bit of lego (it never “passed”). I had to stay in hospital overnight and as I lay there tucked in like I was planning an escape (I probably was) I felt a cough coming.

I held it in because I didn’t want the attention of the staff on the ward. But what happened was a small cough turned into a loud splutter and my intentions were in tatters as the staff came running.!

It seems bizarre to me and possibly disingenuous to you that I would write this blog post, do videos, podcasts, social media, work shops etc all in the name of starting a business and be scared of attention. But then we are complicated creatures full of contradictions and I’m no different.

What has any of this got to do with Doric Skateboards, skateboarding, screen printing, design blah blah?

None of this started out with a plan and a destination. It ‘s just morphed and grown in various directions organically. Perhaps if I had been more business/financially focused I’d be writing this on a brand new macbook (and not my day job laptop) and be doing this full or part time. Perhaps I would be following a Dropship type business model for the clothing. But I do things my way for good or bad! Thats not to say I don’t take advice, I really do. No one is a one man band.

I work on my fears all the time. Each time I post on social media or do one of these I am already second guessing what people will think, followed swiftly by the other part of me that tells me people are way less interested in me and what I do than I think. ; )

I’ll always be a fearful person. Its like that game where you whack all those moles with a hammer, then one more pops up! I conquer one for a day and then it transfers to something else. My main fear now is getting back on my skateboard. It consumes my thoughts at times and the longer it goes the bigger its built up. I am 100% embarrassed by how bad I am and that is part of what stops me.

My approach to handling these things has always been the same. When I was young and went to the skatepark I was elated when it was empty. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy skating with friends (shout out Team Oatcake!) - I did. But if I was solo I didn’t have the social skills to adapt if there was a group there. So if it was empty I would anxiously have fun until more people turned up then I would slink away.

And 25ish years later when I started to learn to screen print I would turn up to Peacocks Studio with some screens under my arm. But if anyone else was there I would either:

1. Change my mind and go home.

2. Do the absolute bare minimum and then scurry away.

3. At all times keep what I was doing hidden so no one could see it.

I’ve become way more relaxed when going to Peacocks now. I understand when people think of these places as pretentious, arty places that are impenetrable.

Some of that is true. ; )

But mostly its just normal folk getting on with their own thing.

Will I find the same peace of mind with getting back on my board? Will I find the confidence I had a few years ago when I would go for wee night time skates on my own?

Who knows?

Happy Birthday To Us. 4 Years Old.

Normally this blog post would be a summary of the free skate and cake session at Transition that we’ve done in the first 2 years. But obviously that’s not been able to happen - so we’ll plan one for later in the year or maybe just wait until our 5th Birthday and go all out!

So instead I just wanted to say a huge thanks to all that have supported me over the years.

To coincide with this we worked with local creative Katy Shewan on a product photoshoot. This also landed at a time when we were launching some new colours to the Plenty of PoP range.!

I’ve written about photoshoots previously. You can read it here. In that post i was exploring what a photo shoot means to me, to Doric and very broadly how different approaches are perceived.

Katy’s approach worked great for me - we chatted about what I liked and what I didn’t, looked at a mood board, talked about models and then I just left them to it.!

A few days later i had photographs for everything i currently have and one or two others for later. ; )

I think my hesitance to do something like this is just my pure self consciousness - I don’t want people to think i am taking myself seriously, getting beyond my station, etc. What I have discovered about myself is that whilst i don’t take myself seriously - I take what I do very seriously.

So I wrestle with the prospect of treating Doric Skateboards like a legitimate business. But I shouldn’t worry - its ok to take this seriously and want it to be a success. It really doesn’t make me some capitalistic twat. This was never set up as some kind of altruistic endeavour. I think in the early days I was almost apologetic about what I was doing. Embarrassed. But now I feel more legit. And that’s got nothing to do with popularity, takings, profit, exterior validation. Its just something in me.

4+ years ago we wrote a mission statement. Some of it has changed over the years but one bit has remained:

“create a skateboard brand that we can be proud of.”

This used to say the North East. But it really starts with me. If anyone else wants to be part of that “we” then that’s absolutely amazing! : )

And so photoshoots like this one help give me a wee sense of pride and make sure I keep on track with the hows and whys of starting this in the first place.

Happy Birthday to Us. : )

Your Custom Skateboard x Doric Design Challenge

First of all - huge thanks to all who got into the spirit of this challenge/competition.

Although there was an actual physical prize up for grabs I hope that the posting, tagging, sharing and the engagement across all the social media pages has brought some new followers to your page, some inspiration, more friends and contacts, perhaps some future collaborations and ultimately maybe even a commission or project.

I wanted to get something here on the blog - social media comes and goes so quickly - at least this is here forever.!

Big shout out to Adam and the team at Your Custom Skateboard for collaborating on this and offering discount codes should anyone want their design printed. Get in touch if you want to do that.

The winning design by Alex aka mokoyo.robo definitely caught some eyes early on in the challenge! Congratulations to Alex - can’t wait to see the deck printed.!

But because there were so many entries YCS wanted to give special mention to two others.

Steve Stark design aka stevestarkdesign on Insta was pretty much the first to submit so it was nice to see that his Croc design didn’t get lost in the pile!

And Hello Radical on Instagram with their Fish Food design. Definitely a favourite of mine.!

For these two they will be offered a special discount if they want to print their designs and to everyone else who entered they will also get a discount should they wish to do the same.

From my point of view i wanted to give something away too. So a blank deck each will be making their way to Corey and Reuben to design their own in any way they like.! Well done guys!

That’s it for this year. Lets do this again next year.!

Cheers

Gary

Why the Sad Face?

Growing up as I did I became very familiar with Catalogue books. You know the ones - Kays, Freemans, etc

They sold everything - like an analogue Amazon.

And it had the option to pay it up. So as a kid I’d always pester my mum that i could use my pocket money to buy the latest Action Force playset over 20 weeks. I obviously had no idea how long 20 weeks was!

Obviously these books were full of models. And the tropes looking back were pretty hilarious. A LOT of smiling and laughing, flying kites, having picnics, eating around a dinner table - basically the exact opposite of life for a lot of people using this kind of service.!

And so rolling on a few decades I find myself needing product photographs for Doric Skateboards and think back to these.

Product photos with models isn’t something that I particularly paid much attention to over the years. And so I started to look at Skate/Street wear/Fashion pics.

Something was wrong. They all look aloof, miserable, too cool for school. Looking into the distance, hunched over squatting on a manky side street - its said “fuck you, you aren’t cool enough to wear this shit”.

Of course that assumption is very much coloured by my own low self worth…

But it did plant something in my mind. Why do some models smile and some don’t?

Seems the answer is depressingly simple.

Smiling is associated with being an idiot. Lower class.

Frowning or looking dismissive is associated with power. Higher class.

These conclusions came from some googling - i would add references but this isn’t a dissertation.

So where is the room to express what the brand is? Apparently you shouldn’t? The product should do the talking and the model should do just that - model.

I’ve been lucky enough to have some mega talented photographers do stuff for me. Dean Gray and Pirate Photography spring to mind. Both locals who were kind enough to reach out. Thankfully they displayed flexibility so that the work they did for us wasn’t one or the other in its entirety. Way back in the beginning I was also lucky enough to be contacted by a couple of local chaps - Ryan of Westburn & Granite and a lad called Dominic who i’ve lost track of. Below is a selection and looking back I think they reflect Doric Skateboards pretty damn well.

A bit of fun and a lot of colour.

Check the links above to those talented folk - each picture is also linked to who took it. Thanks again to them all.! : )

Also below that - some classis catalogue modelling!

Back in time.

I took this picture in 2013.

Way back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when I was at school I would draw skate stuff all the time.

Logos and ramps.!

I turned those drawings of ramps into something more formal and sent it to the council asking if they would build something.

To my surprise I got a letter back and was asked if I would come in to speak to them. I went with my mum and we were shown the plans for this ramp at Westburn. Obviously I had no real impact but I was grateful that they entertained me. I walked out of there with the blue prints for these under my arm.

I think by that time the exhibition centre that briefly housed facilities was long gone so there was no purpose built stuff at that time.

And so despite any design issues this ramp might have had I was excited. I remember going there when it was opened, can almost still smell the soft bark that was put down around it.

I was sad to see it had been taken down a few years ago. This ramp had a twin nearer my childhood home in Northfield. The one at Heatheryfold was opened a little later if I remember right. It’s also gone. Heatheryfold I believe may have been home to an early concrete skate park. It certainly had a BMX track that’s ghost can still be seen I think.

Northfield now has a skatepark near Byron shops. It’s a bit of a mess but if I had that as a kid? Wow.

I have strange dreams about the skatepark at Byron. I’m a kid again and I suddenly discover this amazing place and it’s empty. But as much as I try to get there I can’t ever quite get in or I don’t have a board with me. Wonder what that’s all about?

Memories.

2012 ish

I’m 35 and have just graduated from RGU and have found myself working for an engineering consultancy - Optimus. 

I’ve never worked in an office. Strictly small business retail. So its a learning curve - and still is (although I’m now working from home!).

I overheard someone talking about getting their kid a skateboard. I gave up when I was about 17. But it stayed with me. I often dreamt about it, I always looked at curbs, obstacles etc and thought “good spot”. And so my mind went wondering and I started to look on the internet.

A week later I bought a set up (Ray Barber Element). Then headed to TX with my pal Tom. 

Strangely I could still just about Ollie, kick turn and pump on the ramps. It was pretty exhilarating.! 

It wasn’t really until I started Doric Skateboards until I met people I could skate with again. Even then I still felt incredibly self conscious. There was definitely a point where I felt good within myself and was enjoying it. However, that came to an abrupt end a couple of years ago and I’ve struggled to really get back on my board with any regularity since.

I’m hoping that post-COVID I’ll find some confidence to go out and just have fun again. That’s what it’s all about is it?

Fund Raiser C-Fine Aberdeen Food Bank

CFINE

Fundrasier.!

I’m sure you’ve all seen the photos doing the rounds of the free school meals parcels that are being sent out. If you haven’t then go see for yourself. Not good enough.

Firstly let me say I hate the fact that we live in a world where food parcels and food banks exist. But at the moment they do.

Secondly - I’m as cynical as the next when a business pops up with something like this - is it all just marketing? We know the companies that do it. But if the end goal of money and more support for a cause is raised then all good.

We had a successful Christmas period and feel very lucky about how we are supported - so we’ve set up a just giving page and donated £500 from that takings. All proceeds will go to CFine here in Aberdeen - they have provided a valuable service here for many years.

And so I’m asking you guys to donate what you can. The target is £1000 and we’re half way there already.

If you can’t donate - please consider sharing this to your network.

Much appreciated. Stay safe.

https://www.cfine.org/Fundraisers/doric-skateboards-cfine-fund-raiser