In 1978, Brian Smith quit his accounting job in Australia and headed to California with a surfboard, some savings, and ambition. He figured California was where he’d find an idea or a product to bring back home to Australia to build a business. A year in, he was still looking.
But then he saw an advertisement in a surfing magazine for Australian sheepskin boots. Uggs were so widespread in Australia at the time, the name was a generic term – like flip flops – not a brand. Brian was immediately stoked: these boots were virtually unknown in America. If he could get ugg boots for sale in the U.S., they would be a huge success! Almost nobody else agreed.
For years, Brian lived on the edge of collapse. He sold boots from the back of his van and worked construction and golf course maintenance jobs to survive. Retailers laughed him out of stores. He lost control of his company twice. At one point, he literally crawled across the floor from stress, ready to walk away forever.
