WBW 37: Invest in Yourself, You are Your Greatest Asset part 1 of 2 with Harry Hawson

Light is integral to human life. In ancient times, all our ancestors had to rely on was the sun, to get things done during the daytime. Once it sets, productivity ends, socializing stops. But mankind will not be a slave to how astronomy and creation have ordained things. And so he discovered fire, and after thousands of years, electricity, to ensure that even though the sun has set, the world will still be illuminated, and life needn’t come to a standstill. See how the power of both light and the entrepreneurial spirit come alive in Harry Hawson and his firm, Maverick By Design, in this two-part special.

Who Is Harry Hawson?

Harry Hawson is co-founder and CEO of Maverick By Design, an innovative entrepreneurial company specializing in electro-luminescent fiber lighting and LED technology on shirts, caps, bags, dog tags, car stickers, posters, and other customized designs. These are paper-thin strips or panels that can be applied on virtually any surface, and can save up to 90% of electricity consumption compared to traditional forms of lighting. Their revolutionary business idea has been featured on several publications which include, but not limited to, Entrepreneur Magazine,  FHM Magazine, Sense & Style, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star & Manila Bulletin. and various ABS-CBN shows.

But before all the publicity, and before they got orders from all around Asia, France, Italy, America, Canada, Spain, Portugal, etc., Harry was a normal boy who attended earlier education at Xavier School and took undergraduate studies at De La Salle University. Like most middle children in a traditional, middle class Chinese Filipino family, Harry had to both thrive and struggle with an independent and unique dream to live in his own terms. Having worked for 15 years in various multinationals, this dream became a constant itch but never realized with several failed entrepreneurial attempts. Until in 2007, in one of Harry's trips abroad enabled him to visit a trade show that landed him this goldmine of an idea - thus born Maverick By Design.

Show notes:

When asked what's his greatest challenge?

• When you feel like you’re trapped and you can’t do anything, and you go into depression, thinking what will happen.
  
• In my case, prior to doing this, I’ve been working for 15 years for various companies and my own business – pumalpak – that was the worst. One thing great about failure is that you’re supposed to learn from it. you have to stand up again and walk – that’s life.

When asked what's his greatest success?

• I think this is it. It took a long time for me to get to where I am right now.
  
• I’m 37… it’s about respecting yourself. You learn about what other people say. It won’t stick to you if it wouldn’t matter to you.
  
• But even if I work long hours every day, I know I’m off to something (may patutunguhan ako). I’ve always had these ideas in my mind, but people will try to put you down – but it’s all about fate.
  
• It’s realizing that there’s really a higher power, at kung ikaw lang talaga, hindi mo kakayanin.
• It’s so easy to bog down and think, I can’t do this. It’s about taking it one day at a time. Parang sa Kung Fu Panda, you’ll always think that you need outside help to become someone or something. Pero yun pala, nasa’yo lang pala yun.
  
• I learned from the mistakes I had before, and this time, it worked.

The birth of a Maverick

• I like traveling, so I wanted a business that would make me travel a lot. I would always attend trade fairs, to see what’s the next big thing that I’d be interested in. I think that’s an important thing in business. To do something you really want.
• I’ve been a jack of all trades, master of none. I know I have an eye for creativity, but I can’t draw. I’ve worked for many industries, Japanese companies, but I felt bad that I was making other people richer – but what about you?
• I always felt that I couldn’t do it. So when I found an idea, I approached a lot of people about it. And many of them said, no, it won’t work. That’s how we Filipinos think.
• But I wanted the world. I wanted to do something online, small overhead but big exposure. I was able to ride that wave, telling people of our combination of quality and creativity. And luckily, we’re selling to so many countries already. I recently got back from America, and we’re going to have two more American investors.
• I think people like to know about us because it’s not about me telling you to buy my stuff – not everyone may want a shirt or poster that lights up – but everyone has a dream.
• We always have this idea of wanting easy money. The reality is, if you want to make things happen, it has to start from you. It means that sometimes you won’t be sleeping because you have to do so much things. But because it’s your own business, you’d do everything, and you’d do even more than what your people are doing for you, because you really love your idea.

For part 2 of 2, click here.