What do you currently do?
I am the Founder of Vitae London, a luxury watch brand. I founded Vitae London back in 2015 with the aim to create products that change lives and leave a lasting impact for generations to come. We support a number of provinces in Africa and every watch that is purchased from Vitae London will go towards helping support a child’s education by providing vital supplies.
What was the inspiration behind your business?.
A huge inspiration behind Vitae London has been my wife. A few years back she volunteered in South Africa and worked with a charity called House of Wells. The charity exists to restore hope, dignity and release the potential of children and youth in Africa. House of Wells was created by two British missionaries in 2008, with the objective to improve the lives and encourage the development of children and youth across Africa. The trip was so impactful on my wife that we have been sending money back there since.
Vitae London was in part born as a way to support those children in a more sustainable way. With every watch purchased, we are able to support children across Africa to provide them with materials and resources to gain an education.
Who do you admire?
One person I admire is my Father. He comes from a background very similar to the children we support. Having grown up in such high levels of poverty I’m extremely inspired by the man he has become and that pushes me on to be the best I can be.
Things you would have done differently?
When starting up your own business, in the beginning every single penny counts. With this in mind I would have been a little more cautious with where my budget went. Making a plan to assess where the budget goes and ensuring there is a good enough return before investing is crucial.
I am very much a go-getter and am often pushing onto the next idea without taking time to fully reflect on the past project/ideas. In hindsight I wish I took the time for reflection on past projects, assessed what worked, what didn’t and how things could have been done differently. I think having this approach from an early start would have allowed me to carry over my successes onto new projects and leave the the rest behind.
What defines your way of business?
Our way of business is really straightforward; we simply want to give people who love fashion the opportunity to give back and change someone’s world at the same time. I honestly feel if every business adapted this model we could drastically change the world for the better.
What advice will you give to someone who is just starting out?
Consistency is key. I continue to learn more and more every day that it’s in the mundane tasks that the big wins come from. As business leaders it is often easy to lose sight of this and not appreciate the efforts that are taken to carry out these tasks. However, if we can be consistent in the smaller tasks it can produce huge results and benefit long term.
