Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur is Kyle Turpin, co-founder of contemporary menswear shop, ACE/FIVE. They just recently opened up their first physical location in Toronto’s west end. Kyle’s biz is bold and bossy. I love his collections as they’re style-focused yet minimalist – he’s clearly not afraid to go avant-garde, even old school, while being at the cutting edge of contemporary. This is a must for fashion to fly today.
We caught up with Kyle to find out what inspires him and what advice he would share with other millennials…
– Julian Brass, founder, Notable
WORK
1. Describe what you do in less than 140 characters (no spaces). Go.
We provide a platform – both online and in the physical – for men to shop comfortably, all the while spotlighting related lineages of influence. We sell clothing.
2. What was the inspiration for your career route?
Love, as cliché as that sounds. To understand that, you have to become familiar with my background. I graduated from McMaster University in 2010 with a degree in Economics. The following four years had me climbing the corporate ladder with multiple companies in just as many industries trying to make sense of the 8 AM – 8 PM grind. I was unhappy so I gave it all up in pursuit of myself. I lived in Bondi Beach for six months working as a stylist, practicing photo and ultimately doing what made me happy.
At the airport on my way back to Toronto, I stumbled upon a link on Facebook that caught my attention. It was of Jim Carey’s commencement speech from the Maharishi University of Management (2014). The overall narrative was that so many of us make decisions guided by fear, rather than love; that we, as people, deserve to ask the world for what we want out of life. Right then and there I knew that when I returned home, I would start living for me. “Love over fear” has been our mantra ever since and continues to fuel our growth.
3. What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
Launching the online store from my business partner, Marco’s, condo. We moved in together less than a year prior to make the business work. We went live March 22, 2015 – neither of us had slept for much more than an hour that night and I woke up with a very swollen jaw and throat, later to find out that it was caused by grinding my teeth and cheek. I never experienced stress before but this is what we had signed up for. Marco and I both went to work at our respective jobs that day (and for months after). Entrepreneurship isn’t as glamorous as most think but the struggle continues to be worth it.
4. Where do you see yourself in five years, 10 years, 20 years?
Hard to say. We have loose plans to involve the business in related areas of interest but we’ll keep that close to chest for now. Our immediate focus is growing the ACE/FIVE brand, to continue to break exciting new collections in the city, and to become a permanent fixture in the retail landscape of Toronto.
5. Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Find a mentor, become an expert in your field, trust your gut, and work hard. We couldn’t have started the business if I didn’t take two (what felt like four to five) steps back. After working in corporate for so long, I put in six months in wholesale, just about one and a half years in retail, practiced photography all the while and took the initiative to really understand the industry. If it wasn’t for my mentor, Sydney Mamane of Sydney’s, we would have closed as quickly as we opened. He taught me about fabric composition, garment construction; everything that really matters. You can exist in this industry without hype but you can’t without knowledge.
6. Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
Personally, I do (AboutFace, SickKids]). We’re still working on involving the business in the immediate community… the wheels are in motion.
7. What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
There’s been more than I care to count. We maintain a close network of friends and family that are business for self which helps. We look at things from a macro level, tackle one thing at a time and we always speak openly with each other and those close to us. There’s certainly information that we keep protected but for the most part, our family and friends have a pretty clear picture of the business and often offer us simple solutions funded by their own unique perspective. Life hack: information is free.
8. What does the word notable mean to you?
Happy. A smile will stand out in a crowd of frowns ten times out of ten. From my experience, rich or poor, those living out their dreams are the happiest. We haven’t made it yet but we’re smiling.
PLAY
1. Where is your favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
Bar Fancy and Superpoint. If they weren’t friends of ours, we’d support them anyways. Good, cheap eats and drinks and we love the laid back atmosphere.
2. What’s the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
SoundCloud. Maybe this should have been my answer to “what is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career?” because keeping a dynamic, shop appropriate playlist is tough (haha). Aside from that, I’m a big fan of music so I’m always on the hunt for something different. Here are three songs by the same artist. SONDER – Too Fast, Sheath and Undone.
3. Who’s one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
Gary Vaynerchuck (@garyvee). I wasn’t familiar with him up until recently so he definitely wasn’t the catalyst to starting the business, though he is without a doubt my daily motivation. His no bs, candid approach to everything is refreshing … it’s best you check him out for yourself (insert parental advisory logo here).
4. What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
Indonesia. I spent a brief amount of time in Bali on the way home from Sydney and it was beautiful. Not like you’d expect but beautiful. France is up next – work calls.
5. What gives you the greatest FOMO?
Missing an event with family or friends because at the end of the day, what is life without them?
6. What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
I used to watch a lot of HGTV. When I was really young, it was Trading Spaces. I was always interested in home décor, and I still am. I have less time for guilty pleasures these days.
7. What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on? What’s something you wish you spent more on?
Clothing. Clothing (kidding). We’d like to be able to give back more (both in time and money). My mother raised me to always put others before me and she’s quite charitable herself. Marco’s mother is very much the same; she does a lot for a lot of people. One day, we’d like to fund a full-time initiative towards giving back to our community. While we try to appeal to a larger scale, we identify with Toronto and owe it a lot.
8. And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
I’m going to refer back to what I touched on earlier: being happy. As a business, we have a long way to go, I’ve personally learned to live with a lot less, but the important thing is that we’ve started something together. I have my long time friend and now business partner, Marco Demarinis to thank. Without him, ACE/FIVE would be 50% of nothing. But we’re here now and we’re making it work for us.
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