Corey Shapiro: Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur

Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur is Montreal’s Corey Shapiro, who’s best known for outfitting some of the world’s biggest celebrities in rare, high-end frames and starting a worldwide movement with an old pair of his grandfather’s glasses. We caught up with him to find out how he defines success and what advice he would share with other young professionals…

WORK

Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
I’m an artist, and my art is business. I’m most well known for our rather celebrity-driven company, Vintage Frames. I develop unique concepts and worlds for our clients to visit.

What was the inspiration for your career route?
Failure. Paths that closed; paths that I closed. While everyone I knew was discouraged by failure, I was motivated by the idea of hitting brick walls.

What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
Probably getting to see my grandfather’s old pair of glasses start a worldwide movement. What most people considered to be garbage, I turned into gold.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
My greatest asset is not caring where I am in 20 years. I plan for the future, but live in the now. Driven by the happiness of the day, I pride myself on having the benefit of the stability of tomorrow without the direction of where that will head today.

Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Failure is not a failure – it’s simply another asset to use for your next endeavour.

Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
I support most charities that approach me, but I’m particularly moved by helping troubled youth. Not everyone has my agility, and I hate to see people get discouraged by falling once or twice. It’s important to know that not everything will stick and that the past is OK to stay in the past so long as you move to the future.

What is one major challenge that youve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
Definitely my look. I’m rather true to how I like to dress and my personal imagery. It has often thrown people off prior to them meeting me. Even though it’s a challenge, I have been able to turn it into an asset. As soon as you perceive me as something I’m not, I’ve already won.

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PLAY

Where is your favourite place to wine/dine in your city and why?
I don’t really love food here. I’m a sushi snob and try to fly to NY Sushi Ko at least once every two weeks in NYC. Montreal’s sushi scene is weak at best. I’m not much of a wine and dine type of cat unless there is sake and toro involved.

Whats the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
Most played song would be Ante Up. I play it to the point that my staff want to take breaks. I check PONDONSTORE.com almost by the minute to get my Bape fix.

Whos one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
Right now I’m rooting for my girl, @YESjulz. She is a very light hearted honest person that many youth can aspire to be like. 

Whats your favourite country to visit and why? And whats the next one you plan on travelling to?
I’m always on a plane. My favourite country is Japan. Creatively, it’s my recharge. I can plug in and get back to 100%.

What gives you the greatest FOMO?
Sleep. I’m afraid life is always going to pass me by.

Whats your guiltiest pleasure?
Depends if this interview is PG or not …

Whats something you wish you didnt spend so much money on? Whats something you wish you spent more on?
I’m a high-end hoarder for a living. I’ve been able to turn addiction into a profit. I wish I didn’t spend so much money on buying properties, but at the same time I wish I spent more!

And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise
Success doesn’t have a value – just happiness. I’ve been told a long time ago that you can either be right or happy and that you must at this moment choose. Success is never being satisfied with an accomplishment as there are always things you can do better.

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