Leadership inspo. Tom Lawrence
October 31, 2019 | People at Mirus Australia
Amanda Jones, Chief Marketing Officer at Mirus Australia has been sharing her own experiences and the importance of understanding your own leadership style as you lead others into the future of aged care at the LASA Next Gen events around Australia. In this series, Amanda interviews people whom she admires . . .
“Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple, and it is also that difficult.” – Warren Bennis
Please meet Tom Lawrence, founder & director of Swanky Socks
Tom started Swanky Socks as just an idea and a hobby when he was 24 years old. The business became official when he was 26 in November 2014.
Tom says he had ‘one of the rockier of roads’ as a business owner. He explains it was more a journey of learning and understanding what direction he wanted to go in, as he had so many ideas. It wasn’t until he focused 100% on Swanky Socks that they started to really grow.
Did you ever feel like giving up Tom and why?
“I had more times then I can count when I just wanted to stop. You ask yourself ‘is this really worth it and can I do this?’ Then you have other factors like family and for me, children and IVF become a tough one, as running a start-up with no income and going through this emotional process began to take its toll.”
TOM LAWRENECE, FOUNDER + DIRECTOR
Tom says he believes his purpose or his “why” was what kept him going. He truly feels that he can give back to society through a profitable business. Socks are an item that is needed for people who are homeless. “This became my why early on.”
This is still the purpose of Swanky Socks and they are just about to donate another 6,000 pairs of custom bamboo socks to Orange Sky Laundry. Tom says he wants to donate 50 – 100,00 pairs in the next few years.
“My other why which I think is truly important, is my family, my child. They’re the ones that keep me going every day!”
Would you do it all again if you were starting today and why?
“I would do it all again but I know that I would make a lot of changes. Of course, that comes with experience and the journey as a young business owner you go through. We learn, we grow, and we find a deeper meaning to why we do what we do.”
Amanda is a NED at Globalaai and Co-Creator of #Celebratingwomeinagedcare with Samantha Bowen who is the Principal Advisor for the LASA NEXT GEN initiative. Please connect with Amanda Jones on LinkedIn.
