Chapters  

• 00:00 – 00:06 | Opening
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• 00:07 – 01:40 | Entrepreneurial Roots
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• 01:41– 05:03  | Learning to be Fearless
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• 05:04 – 06:56 | Sorbet: Get That Feeling
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• 06:57 – 08:44 | Low on Ego, High on Empathy
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• 08:45 – 12:18 | Number One Beauty Salon in South Africa
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• 12:19 – 15:45 | Dealing with Nepotism
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• 15:46 – 24:48 | Founding JoyJoy
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• 24:49 – 31:15 | Building Purpose into a Brand
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• 31:16 – 35:00 | Selling Sorbet
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• 35:01 – 37:40 | Looking Ahead: The Dreamer and the Doer.
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00:00 – Opening

Dov: Really excited to have you on the podcast, Jade.

Jade: Thanks, Dov. It's awesome to spend the morning with you.
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00:07 – Entrepreneurial Roots

Dov: You come from a very entrepreneurial family.  Sorbet is a brand that every South African knows and loves. Tell us about what it was like growing up and your dad being such an iconic entrepreneur.

Jade: I kind of grew up with two very different parents. My dad [Ian Fuhr] was the entrepreneur. He was fearless. He was happy to take risks. I watched him start businesses and close businesses and pivot and start again.

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1:41 – Learning to be Fearless

Jade: From him, I learned this idea of being fearless, and what fascinated me about him my whole life was that failure didn't stop him. It almost fueled him, and that's what I took forward with me watching him grow businesses from a young age, especially Sorbet.

Jade: My mom is the creative; she makes things with her hands. She doesn't have a business, but she has this gift. I grew up in the middle of both of them. I had this creative bone that just wanted to create and build, and then I wasn't afraid to take a risk like my dad.

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05:04 – Sorbet: Get That Feeling

Dov: I remember reading your dad's book about how he wanted people to feel when they walked into a Sorbet store. You were fundamentally involved with that. Talk us through how you revolutionised how people feel.

Jade: A lot of people think it's an easy journey to be part of a family business, but if anything, the bar was higher and I had to earn my seat at the table. I also had to find my voice; I had to learn how to speak not only as a daughter but also as a colleague.

Jade: One of my dad's superpowers is this empathy that he has for people. There's zero ego. He'll walk into a room and he'll want everyone in that room to shine and help them reach their potential.

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06:57 – Low on Ego, High on Empathy

Jade: When you have a person at the top who is low on ego but high on empathy and just wants people to shine, that's when the magic can really come out. That's when people start working for you and start building with you.

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08:45 – Number One Beauty Salon in South Africa

Jade: When we started Sorbet, our goal was to be the number one beauty salon chain in the country. It was super egotistical.

Jade: It was only when we shifted our mindset to "our goal is to make people feel happy, special, and confident" that we became the number one beauty salon chain.

Dov: A lot of businesses are built on the premise that you want to build what you believe you should stand for, whereas what you've just explained is that it's really about engaging with your customers, and your staff, and figuring out what's important to them and building the business from the bottom up that way.

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12:19 – Dealing with Nepotism

Dov: I'm sure you get this question a lot—but how did you deal with the nepotism as Sorbet scaled?

Jade: I always did feel an internal battle to be the boss's daughter and to find my own seat at the table, my own voice, and to have my own ideas. It constantly challenged me and pushed me to want to prove myself to people.

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15:46 – Founding JoyJoy

Dov: I want to segue into your new venture, JoyJoy. Help me understand the difference between being in a well-funded vehicle that was so successful, had north of 200 stores, and ultimately sold. How have you found it being in a different seat at the table now?

Jade: I was very protected. I had a budget, I had a team, I had infrastructure and systems and processes. I could come up with a crazy creative campaign and, if it didn't work, it was just an expensive mistake. It didn't feel like that punch to your stomach.

Jade: JoyJoy is obviously different; you feel every decision. Every decision is taken personally. Constraint is often one of the most creative forces behind brands. You've got to think leaner, build leaner, be inventive, and get closer to your customer.

Dov: Talk to us about your business JoyJoy.

Jade: It felt like kids' sneakers were just a really frustrating space for moms and decided to take a trip to China to see if we could make it. They said the factory was shut. There's this virus.

It took us an extra year to build this business. We decided we needed to call the company JoyJoy because we got so much joy from watching our kids, and they got so much joy from choosing their snaps.

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24:49 – Building Purpose into a Brand

Dov: Tell me how to build purpose when you’re building a brand.

Jade: Purpose is asking your business one question: "What is the role I play in people's lives and how do I make them feel?" Every business should start there. I often do what I call my "purpose test." If I gave you a billboard and you had eight words to tell the world who you are, and your reason for existing, what would you say?
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31:16 – Selling Sorbet

Dov: How did it feel from a family perspective when you guys sold Sorbet, and what was the reason? Had it reached its peak?

Jade: I think, fortunately and unfortunately for me, my dad does not get attached to businesses. He just doesn't feel emotionally attached. He'll build it for 20 years and sell it and be like, "Thank you, next," and walk away. The next day, he carries on, starts again.

Jade: I really felt like I had given up a lot of my life to Sorbet. I sacrificed time with my family and my kids. This was my baby; it was something I had really thrown myself into. We sold for exactly that reason: it had to corporatize at some point. There were 220 stores, close to 4,000 beauty therapists and franchise partners. I decided to stay for a year after we sold, mainly so the person taking over for me would know this business intimately like I did.

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35:01 – Looking Ahead: The Dreamer and the Doer

Dov: I always end the podcast with the same question: when your 80-year-old self looks back, what are the things this person will be super proud of?

Jade: I saw something online that really stuck with me. It said the two most important people in your life whose opinions matter the most are your 8-year-old self and your 80-year-old self. Your 8-year-old self is that dreamer who thought anything was possible, that nothing can stop what I want to do, and who just felt alive with ideas and heart. And the 80-year-old self is the one with more perspective on what actually mattered. So, I often think anytime you're making a big decision, just go back to both of those people.