David Hieatt

"Love pays well, in the end."

David Hieatt has built brands from nothing with next to nothing, just by understanding a few basic rules of how to sell his story. One sentence at a time.

Bankrupt at 16 and thrown out of college at 18. He joined Saatchi and Saatchi at 21. Had a ball. But after a decade or so, he left advertising to go back to Wales and build his own brands. He started howies in 1995. Sold it to Timberland. Left. Started The DO Lectures, which was voted one of the top 10 ideas festivals in the world by the Guardian.

And in 2012 started a company making jeans called The Hiut Denim Co. in his hometown of Cardigan. A town that used to have Britain’s biggest jeans factory. Its purpose is to get 400 people their jobs back. As of today, it now employs 27 people.