Kamaj Silva - Entrepreneur

Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hello and welcome to Storyteller in Depth, a podcast where we go behind the scenes to learn more about the School of Communication, media Arts and designs, people, places and things. I'm your host, pat Wigley, and in today's episode we have Mage Silva, an entrepreneur who has created multiple successful businesses, which have led him to some exciting experiences, including being on Dragons Den, which Mage will share a little bit later. This is such a great episode, so be sure to stick around. Thank you Kamash, so much for being on the podcast today. Speaker 2 00:00:41 Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah. Speaker 0 00:00:43 So as someone with experience in the marketing industry and then changing gears and becoming a success successful entrepreneur, which we'll explore in just a little bit, can you introduce yourself to our listeners? Share a little bit about what your careers look like so far and what it looks like currently? Speaker 2 00:00:59 Uh, yeah, so, uh, Kama Silva is my full name, uh, currently doing a bunch of stuff in Toronto and the US as well. Um, I think I started my career. Uh, I would say the stepping stone to my career would be Centennial College. So I, I graduated from, uh, the Children's Media Program in 2012, a lifetime ago. Uh, it just feels like yesterday though. So that program got me into working with a company called Phase four Films. Uh, they were a Canadian, uh, independent film distributor, and that led me to working for Entertainment one e one films, as we all know it, one of the biggest distributors in the film theatrical distribution game. So was there for about five years. Um, so I was laid off from, uh, E one in 2016. Uh, so at that point I decided to do my own thing, uh, started a company called Sneaker Tab, which is the world's first, uh, sneaker subscription platform. Speaker 2 00:02:02 Um, then that led me into opening a retail location called Net Toronto. Uh, that led me into opening a couple of other online stores. Uh, one is the Dairy Club. Uh, there's one called the Retro Sneaker Club. Uh, now I am the head of Creative for, uh, marketing agency called, uh, sequence, uh, based in Toronto as well. Uh, and I have a couple of, uh, tech companies. Uh, one is Appia, uh, it's turning Shopify Stores into Shopify Shopable Shopify app. So that's my latest, uh, venture into tech. Yeah, I've been around on the block, done a bunch of things, um, and had my hand in very different parts. Speaker 0 00:02:46 Wow, you were a busy guy. Holy Speaker 2 00:02:49 <laugh>. I also have two kids that a big dog, so <laugh> busy, Speaker 0 00:02:55 So, you know, not enough to do the wine. You gotta do more at home. Yeah. Okay, <laugh>, so take us through the journey of building your company Sneaker Tub back in 2016, and then Milk Toronto two years later in 2018. What inspired you to create these companies? Speaker 2 00:03:09 Um, so I was, so with Sneaker Tub, basically it was when I was laid off from E one, uh, I was, uh, I've told this story many times in other podcasts, but I'll repeat it for you guys. Um, it, it, it's a, it's a good story. Uh, I was going home, uh, so when you get, basically when they, when companies lay you off, I don't know how, uh, how much of that happens still, but I'm sure it does. Um, they basically give you like a taxi check to go home, like a free taxi check. Uh, it's, uh, so I, I had the taxi trade, I was going home and a taxi checking my bank balance at $700 in my bank account. I'm like, uh, this is not even gonna be enough to make the mark next mortgage payment. Uh, but I, I went for a couple of interviews too, uh, for other companies, but I'm like, at this point in my life, I've been in marketing for the last six, seven years, five, six years. Speaker 2 00:03:58 Um, I wanted to do something on my own, cuz I have, I haven't really, uh, built a company, but I was pretty interested in entrepreneurship and, uh, working for myself. Uh, bit of a rebel from, uh, from my childhood, I guess. Like, I don't like to listen to anyone or take, uh, <laugh> take commands from anyone. So I'm like, ah, why don't I try, um, doing it myself. Um, so I was a big fan of sneakers and I was a big fan of subscription boxes. So I used to subscribe to this subscription box called Nerd Block. I don't think it exists anymore. Um, they were a Canadian company based out of wbe. Um, and I've done, I've done a bit of promo work with them when I was at E one, um, as a promotions manager. So like, oh, no one has this for sneakers, so let me try and build this thing. Speaker 2 00:04:49 Um, so I basically didn't have any money. So $700 went into, uh, seo. It went into, uh, web development. Uh, basically I developed the website myself, uh, and I, I would say the majority of the $700 went in for inventory, um, inventory. As in, I used to go shop at like outlet stores and stock up inventory. So I, I built a site, uh, I put it online, uh, and I was manually reaching out to, um, I would say, uh, blogs and sneaker blogs and fashion blogs and all that. And, um, I don't know how it happened, but blogTO picked it up, uh, and they, they, they ran, they ran a article on it, um, and, uh, overnight I had 50 orders. So I'm like, I'm freaking out. Like, what, what am I gonna do? So, uh, very, it was very difficult to fulfill those 50 orders. Speaker 2 00:05:44 Uh, running from outlet store to outlet store, picking up stuff, loading up my car. Uh, that happened for about two months. And then I figured out I can't do this, how I do this right now. Uh, so I started reaching out to brands, uh, directly. I didn't even know, uh, how the sales hierarchy worked, uh, with the, with the brand. So I used to in, uh, email info puma.com, in info new balance.com, never hear back. Um, did a bit of research, uh, found out that, uh, uh, there's a sales hierarchy, uh, the sales rep in, uh, every region. Uh, so I started directly reaching out to them, uh, bothered them for a while. So they gave me an account. Uh, so started with Puma, uh, by, by about like a year after I think we had Puma, we had New Balance, uh, we had Timber and a bunch of, all of the major accounts. Speaker 2 00:06:33 So, yeah, so sneaker hubs, that's how my entrepreneurship journey started. Uh, and I'll, I'll tell you guys a little bit about Milk because, um, running an online sneaker subscription platform, which for two years, uh, I, I wanted, I wanted to do something else in sneakers because I was very interested in retail, the retail aspect of it as well. Um, for me, retail's more of an experience, like if I go somewhere and if I, if, if it's able to wow me, uh, I think, uh, that's a good retail concept. So I didn't want to, I didn't want to start, I didn't wanna start a store, uh, and name it like, uh, kick Avenue or like Soul Avenue or whatever, like something that everyone does, right? So, um, so I, I had the idea to start a retail store, but I didn't have a concept. Uh, but I found, uh, I found a space. Speaker 2 00:07:27 I signed the lease. I still didn't have a concept. Uh, one day I went to, uh, one of these, uh, superstores, uh, cuz my wife was like, oh, we are out of milk, like, go pick out milk. And I'm like, thinking of concepts. And I saw like the back wall with like, the fridge with like different kind of milk, um, packaging. I'm like, oh, this would be a cool back wall for a store. So I, I came home, I marked up like a back wall, drew up a logo, and I'm like, ah, I'll call this milk. Um, and, and then I needed to figure out like why it's called milk, right? The why is always a good question. So, uh, what I, what I did was, so when I, when we built the concept, I built it as all of our inventory expires in one month. Speaker 2 00:08:09 Just how like milk expires, right? So, uh, we used to rotate inventory pretty, uh, pretty frequently. Um, so, so that's how Milk came about, uh, in I think 2017 and 2018 block to named Milk, uh, the number one new, uh, fashion store in Toronto. Uh, so the pandemic hit, so we had to close the retail store, uh, because it didn't make sense at this point, at that point. Um, but yeah, now we have a, a new era license, uh, for mlb, uh, B nfl, all of those hats. So milk pretty much ru it doesn't run as a third party retailer now, it's pretty much its own brand, uh, focusing very much on hats. Um, so Dairy Club is another company I started, which is literally the competitor for Milk. Um, retro Sneaker Club is the competitor for Sneaker Hub. So that's, uh, more of a strategic, uh, decision cuz uh, it's been about seven years since I started Sneaker Hub and there's no direct competition still on the subscription, um, uh, platform side. So I'm like, let me build my own competition. Um, so I run both those stores now. Uh, sneaker tab is currently, uh, in, uh, in conversations for an acquisition. So I can't share more details about it, uh, right now cuz the deal has come out yet. So yeah, hopefully soon. Yeah, Speaker 0 00:09:32 Fingers crossed. I mean, you've, you've, like, like I said before, you've got a lot going on and <laugh> and you had this amazing opportunity to pitch Sneaker Tub to the popular show Dragons Denton. Yeah. Which, can you share a little bit about what that experience was like? Speaker 2 00:09:44 Yeah, sure. So, so they, they scouted me. They reached out within the first three months, uh, when I started the business, but the business, it wasn't doing proper revenue, so I'm like, I don't want to go on the show and be embarrassed. Uh, so I I, I reached out to the producer and said, um, gimme a ear. Let me build this up to something and I'll reach out, reach back out to you, uh, or reach out within a year. And the producer's gone, uh, doesn't even work at CBC anymore. Uh, but someone from the team got back to me, uh, I did the audition. So how it works is, first you do an audition for, uh, for the producers and then, uh, if you're good enough, they put you in front of the dragons, but still, if the pitch isn't good enough, they won't put you on tv. Um, so I would say like 40 to 50% of the pictures that that actually happened, uh, they don't end up on tv. Uh, but it was a great opportunity. Uh, got, uh, deals from all six Dragons, uh, went with, uh, four of them. Uh, and yeah, rest is history <laugh>. Wow. Speaker 0 00:10:47 That must have been, that must have been so cool just to go through that entire process, right? Like, it's, it's not something that a lot of people get to experience. So for yourself building this company, it, it, it's probably a really cool learning experience for you. Speaker 2 00:11:02 Yeah, I mean, everything changes on the daily, right? There are good days, there are bad days. That's why I, if anyone asks me, um, about getting into entrepreneurship, I mean, it's, it's not an easy, right? Like I quit a nine to five job to work 24 hours basically. Um, so yeah, like the whole Dragons Den experience was amazing. Uh, luckily that pitch went really well because I knew like all my numbers, I watched every single episode of Dragons Den, shark Tank, and Dragons Den UK before I went in there. So I did my research, I had answers for every single question. Uh, and, and the, and and, and the cut you guys see on TV is a seven minute cut, but the actual presentation and the q and a is like over hour and a half. Speaker 0 00:11:46 Oh, wow. Speaker 2 00:11:47 Yeah, it's nuts. <laugh>. Speaker 0 00:11:51 So, looking back at sneaker Tub and Milk Toronto and, and everything you've been doing, have there been any elements that you didn't expect going into it? Speaker 2 00:12:00 Um, I would say it's surprise, like every day is a surprise. Uh, the life of an entrepreneur isn't easy. There's a lot of depression and, uh, mental health issues in entrepreneurship, which I went through myself during the pandemic as well. Uh, but I think it's all about knowing what you're doing and the road that you're going. So as long as you're clear on the path and your goals, uh, it shouldn't be an issue. It's not as easy as it sounds. But, um, but I think for myself, uh, I don't know about others. I think this is, this is the best path I've been on. Uh, it just gives me creative control to do a lot of cool things, and that's, that's why I think I love entrepreneurship. Speaker 0 00:12:47 That's awesome. So we're gonna throw it back to your centennial days. When you graduated from the Children's media program, what were some of the key lessons from the program that you still carry with you today? Speaker 2 00:12:59 I think, um, earlier on in the program, so I joined Centennial as an international student. Uh, so, uh, I, I was born and grew up in Sri Lanka, uh, till my, like early twenties. Then I flew off to the UK to do my bachelor's degree, was back home in Sri Lanka for a couple of years, worked there, and then I was looking for, um, so, so my, my bachelor's is in software engineering, believe it or not. Uh, I don't know anything about tech or software engineering, though I currently run a tech company. Like, I don't, I don't know, coding. Um, uh, I, I don't know where that four year degree went, but mm-hmm. <affirmative>, nothing. Uh, I've, I've always found myself to be creative, so I wanted to do something creative for the postgraduate bit of my life. Uh, so I was researching and I found this, um, really cool program at Centennial, which is, which was Game Design. Speaker 2 00:13:53 Um, so I actually joined the game design class, went for, uh, went for it for about a week and found out mm-hmm. <affirmative> not for me. This is too technical. Uh, then I was like, okay, I need to like trans transfer onto something. And I, I loved movies and animations, big fan of like the cartoons, like Scooby Dues, SpongeBob, all of that. So I'm like, oh, children's media sounds fun. Uh, and I really felt really, really fell in love with it from like the first day onwards. Um, I think mostly what Centennial provided me was, um, confidence, uh, in pitching. I think that really, even, even up to like Dragons Den days or even up to now, like when I pitched to like other investors, that confidence I still carried with me because we were pitching like TV shows left, right, and center on, uh, on, on Centennial. Speaker 2 00:14:45 And I think, uh, even for my colleagues who, who, who were with me, uh, my classmates, um, they found Centennial to be a great avenue, uh, into the industry. So even me, so I was an international student, uh, going to class four days a week. I, I lived in, um, Mississauga, like the depths of Mississauga at that point. So I, I had to take, uh, two buses and a subway to get to San. So probably like two and a half hours in one way. Um, but I made sure, uh, there was an opportunity for an internship, uh, at phase four. So that's how I got the job. Uh, so one day a week on a Tuesday, which was my day off, uh, I, the, the, the, the professor, the professor was like, um, do you guys, does any, does anyone want to come in and help with like trailers, um, uh, editing trailers or cutting trailers or putting together like social media campaigns and stuff like that? Speaker 2 00:15:44 I'm like, yeah, let me do it. Uh, so on my off day, I went to, uh, phase four. Uh, I was doing all of that stuff for them and, uh, and there was an internship, like the internship portion of, uh, the postgraduate program. So they, they picked me right away so I didn't have to go around looking for other internships. Um, and then that basically turned out to be a full-time job when my internship ended and when my course ended, they offered me a full-time job. So I think, uh, I think basically, uh, a lot of it has to do with, uh, industrial connections and how as a student I was able to work hard, um, do the program right, and transfer straight into a career, uh, was one of the best things Centennial has provided for me. And I still name Drop Centennial everywhere though. <laugh>, Speaker 0 00:16:38 I do the exact same thing every so often. I'm like, oh yeah, I went to Centennial. And they're like, oh yeah, you went to that place. So what did you enjoy most about the program and about attending the Story Arts campus? Speaker 2 00:16:47 I think it's, um, it, it's mostly, it's, uh, being collaborative with your, uh, colleagues and classmates. Uh, there was a lot of group projects, uh, and our program was fun like film and, uh, children's medias fun. We wrote a a lot of scripts. We acted some of them out, a lot of presentations, a lot of group projects. So I think, um, it's, it's an early step, um, to get you ready for a career, uh, teaches you a lot of collaboration and the campus is, uh, super nice as well. Speaker 0 00:17:17 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Well, for sure. So what is your biggest piece of advice to someone who wants to start their own business and become an entrepreneur? Speaker 2 00:17:26 Uh, I would say patience. Um, I, that's what I see lacking in a lot of entrepreneurs. Uh, right now. It's, uh, it's like I start a company, I want results the next day. Uh, it's, it just doesn't happen like that. Um, it's, you need, you need a lot of patience. So as long as you align your goals with what you're doing and what, and you believe in what you're doing, your time will come. Like your revenue will come. Uh, but you have to be patient. Uh, you have to be really patient, uh, to see the results. Um, and I think that's, that's the most important thing, uh, uh, advice I can give to, uh, an a budding entrepreneur. Um, and it's, it's also about resourcefulness as well. Like there's a, there's a lot of stuff, uh, in certain areas that you can do. Like entrepreneurship is not all about, you know, building the next big tech company or about having a million dollar company. Uh, personally for me it's happiness. If I go home happy every day, and if I wake up happy every day doing what I love to do, that's entrepreneurship to me not building the next million dollar company, I'll go in public Speaker 0 00:18:39 <laugh>. And it's also one of those things that you, you hear from a lot of people too, right? You, you love your job, you never work a day in your life. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, right. Is there anything you wish you would've known when you were starting out that you could tell yourself now? Speaker 2 00:18:54 I mean, I wish I started earlier. <laugh>, uh, I, I wish I didn't waste a lot of time in my youth partying, uh, that, that for sure. But I feel like you need to go through those motions to kind of grow and become the person you are. Uh, but, but also, I didn't know entrepreneurship was such a difficult thing. Uh, I thought it would've been easier than working a job, but when you're your own boss, it's more difficult than working for someone else cuz you make all your decisions and you have to, uh, you have to live with the repercussions. So, uh, yeah. So if you, if if you want to be your own boss, beware that you've got a wild ride ahead of you. Mm-hmm. Speaker 0 00:19:35 <affirmative>. Well thank you so much Kama, for being on the podcast today. Speaker 2 00:19:39 Thank you guys for having me. Speaker 0 00:19:48 What a great conversation. Thank you homage for taking the time to join us today. If you'd like to keep up with them, make sure you follow us Instagram at K A M A j S I L B A. We have lots of great episodes ahead, so be sure to give this episode to follow and check our social media at Story Art Center to find out more details about future episodes. Until next time, I'm Pat Quigley and this is storyteller in depth.