Roman Rezac is a prolific South African retail entrepreneur with 25 years experience in a constantly evolving environment. He was an International knee-board surfer before he made his passion for beach lifestyle into a career. He opened his first Surf store in 1993 in Durban with borrowed capital and with hard work and perseverance he opened his second store two years later. Travelling around the world exposed him to the changing landscape and he opened his first surf concept store in Cape Town in 2000. He was a straight-talking, uber-confident deal-maker that understood the importance of partnerships and agreements and this resulted in him opening 28 stores over 20 years, all self-funded.
He has partnered with Billabong, Hurley, Rip curl, O’Neill and Volcom among others to the benefit of both parties. Today he continues to retail in Durban having sold most of his retail operations to brand partners. He continues to surf and explore new opportunities.
I Am Driven By | They say success comes more naturally when you enjoy what you do. My hobby became my career when I opened my first store. As the beach culture became more popular, it led to new opportunities to grow my retail stores around the country. This resulted in a new passion – negotiating deals. Whether it was for space or getting favourable terms, my life became about cutting the deal. It became a bit of an addiction because the feeling of accomplishment after getting what you want was very gratifying. 28 stores in 20 years tells a story.
I think my ‘MAGIC’ come from | Confidence in what I do. Personality and belief in the deal. The more enthusiastic you are the more people are drawn to you and what you say.
The Difference Between Good and Great | Desire, commitment, perseverance and attitude. It’s all in the pitch of how you sell your story. People are drawn to perception and presentation. No one is inventing the wheel in our game. But being able to tell and sell the concept that ‘my wheel is better than yours’ is what separates the good from the great.
The Characteristics Of Success | Integrity and honesty at all cost. The business wheel turns, so you always want to stay on the right side of your business partners. Communication is important as it creates trust and understanding of what is happening and how to fix the issues. Your attitude will always determine an outcome.
Principles I Live By | Integrity, honesty, a moral compass. Keep a balanced life and know that whatever you accumulate, you can’t take with you when it’s your time.
Critical Skills I Develop | Open discussions about the business relationship. Honesty and commitment to the business partners. Attitude and enthusiasm when dealing with all your business interests. All this filters down to your staff, your customers and your suppliers.
My biggest Weakness | Buying new Cars was my reward for cutting a new deal. It justified and validated my accomplishment. But in hindsight was always a costly indulgence.
Lessons I Have Learnt | Everything evolves. It can’t stay good forever. (or bad). Create balance between your business life and your personal life. Work to live , don’t live to work.
Dealing With Doubt and Fear | I don’t think successful entrepreneurs doubt or fear – I definitely didn’t. I think many of us are arrogant with so much self-belief in what we do that a problem is merely an obstacle that you either bulldoze over or go around. Whenever I encountered issues that effected growth and forward momentum, I always knew there was a solution.
Balancing high performance with Happiness and Contentment | My lifestyle was the picture of contentment because of my passion for what I did. But there is a saying – how much is enough? We always tend to look at what we don’t have because we are all surrounded by bigger success stories than our own. Inevitably you chase what you don’t need but you won’t realize this until you wobble.
The Best Advice I’ve Received | Surround yourself with people from an early age. Among these people will come Titans of industry who will move the world for you when needed, generally at no cost. Sometimes money can’t buy you what you want, but good relationships will open that door.
Oscar Monama is a director of Strategy and Marketing for I Am Emerge Pty Ltd which he co-owns. It is a creative agency that creates value for money through creative concepts, derived from observing trends in consumer living and society, while immersing clients brands within consumer’s daily life activities in order to effectively fulfill business […]
Chris Bertish Legacy Project has a string of notable world firsts under his belt. He won the Mavericks Big Wave International surfing event in the biggest and heaviest waves ever recorded in the history of the sport. He also recently became the first person ever to cross any ocean on a SUP board, paddling 7500km’s […]
Matthew Waldman is a New York based artist and designer most prominently known for creating NOOKA Inc. a lab dedicated to exploring universal communication via form, language and fashion. My Definition Of Success | I have a fairly traditional view of success, one based on esteem and stature in one’s field or based on one’s work being […]
Jessica Lawrence is the Executive Director of NY Tech Meetup (NYTM), the largest Meetup in the world and a non-profit organization supporting New York’s growing technology community. NYTM’s goal is to build a sustainable and diverse technology industry that drives economic growth, leads innovation, and creates positive, high-impact change. The organization’s perennially sold-out monthly events […]
Piers Fawkes is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of PSFK.com, a go-to source for new ideas and inspiration for creative professionals. Each month, 1 million creative professionals turn to the site to unearth new ideas that enable product, service and marketing innovation. Piers also hosts conferences and salons around the world, during which he and his […]
Matt Frazier is a marathoner and ultrarunner from Baltimore. His life as an endurance athlete changed when he found that he could run longer and faster on a vegetarian diet. After going vegetarian in March 2009, Frazier qualified for the prestigious Boston Marathon with a time of 3:09:59, more than an hour and a half […]
Every month I select someone out there who is still a bit too young to be concerned about building and leaving a legacy, but who is nevertheless absolutely ‘crushing’ it and Banele Christopher is my pick for this month’s RISING STAR. With a background in strategic communications, he is a Jozi-based entrepreneur and social media […]
David M. Dye works with leaders who want to build energized teams and get more done. In his motivational leadership speaking, consulting, and coaching David shares twenty years experience in the public and nonprofit sectors including service as an elected official and nonprofit executive. Prior to starting Trailblaze, David served as Chief Operating Officer for […]
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