What Grandpa Miki Taught Me About Building a Premium Brand
Some grandparents give gifts. Mine let me watch him work.
When your goal as a founder is to establish a premium brand in a category ruled by low-cost competitors, you don’t sleep well at night. At least I didn’t, back in 2012, when I founded Worldwide101 to offer premium virtual assistants.
Already, the market for VAs was being defined by companies like Zirtual, which offered remote help for only basic tasks. These companies were getting tons of funding and enjoying global PR. Naturally, the world had come to think of VAs as people who could book appointments for you, but little else.
I found that frustrating, because I knew many founders and business owners who wanted more than basic support. These executives wanted assistants who could take on real responsibilities—who could represent them and their businesses. Many had tried VAs, but not finding that level of quality, had given up on the whole concept.
So right from the beginning, my team and I faced a daunting challenge. Not only did we have to build a new business and get the word out, but we had to convince people to think about our whole category in an entirely different way.
Through it all, I’ve been inspired by the story of my grandfather, which has given me courage and hope. Because 50 years earlier, he succeeded at the very thing I’ve been attempting.
How My Grandfather Built a Premium Brand
In the early 1940s, my grandfather, Miki, was a young fur coat artisan living in Hungary. With World War II looming, his chances of building a business fell to zero. After years of hiding and struggling to survive — and just a few months before the war’s end — he escaped to France.
Without friends, relatives, or money — and utterly unable to speak French — my grandfather turned to the one valuable thing he had: skill at designing and making fur coats, which at the time were all the rage.
Accepted at one of Paris’s exclusive fur fashion houses as an intern, he swept floors, assembled displays of the merchandise, and sewed garments for designers. After a decade, he scraped together enough to open a tiny boutique. This is the best surviving photo:
At the time, fashion giants like Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Fendi were saturating Parisian airwaves with expensive radio advertisements. But fur shops were not exactly known for their friendly, personalized service. Coats were sold off the rack and in set sizes, with few options for made-to-measure or personalized fitting. For women, it took courage to venture into these male-dominated shops alone.
My grandfather’s shop was quite different. And one day, when I was 8 years old, I got to watch him in action.
The doorbell rang and a petite, middle-aged woman walked in. Rushing to greet her, my grandfather helped her out of her coat and invited her to sit on a plush orange armchair. Then he spent the next hour getting to know what she wanted:
“Is this the style you have in mind?”
“What kind of collar do you prefer?”
“We’ll obviously need a deep brown to show off your complexion.”
Normally, my grandfather would pick a few coats from the hundreds of shapes, colors, and sizes that filled the shop to get a better idea of the customer’s tastes. Then he would customize the garment with unique design touches and make it fit perfectly. But that day, he turned to me.
“Now that you’ve heard our conversation,” he said, “which coat and style do you think would best suit this woman?”
I had spent quite a bit of time in the shop, so I was well acquainted with the inventory. Instantly I pointed to a coat I knew the woman would like.
It was the first time I sold anything to anybody.
3 Lessons from My Grandfather that I Cherish as a Founder
As we’ve built Worldwide101 into a premium virtual assistant brand, I’ve thought back many times to my grandfather and his shop. In particular, these three lessons have guided me as a founder:
#1. Premium brands take care of their customers
My grandfather believed that people want to do business with someone who cares — about them, their goals, and their unique challenges. For him, his work was more than just fitting and selling a coat—it was providing an enjoyable and memorable experience.
There were times when customers came 10 times for fittings before they were happy with the results, and there were many times when customers used the fittings as an excuse to talk about their personal lives, staying way longer than they had to.
My grandfather always made sure his appointment schedule allowed enough time for a convivial experience. Ultimately the only thing that mattered to him was his customers’ absolute satisfaction — no matter how long it took to achieve.
#2. Premium brands must offer tailored experiences
My grandfather would invite customers to stand in front of large mirrors while he took measurements and showed samples of patterns and furs. He was attentive, took his time, and cared deeply about his customers looking beautiful, becoming the envy of the town, and leaving his store with a perfectly fitted, luxurious coat that would last forever.
My grandfather knew that a big part of caring was listening and then delivering a coat based on a customer’s unique circumstances and wishes. Sometimes a small detail made all the difference. One day a customer asked for an extra large cape because she was about to have a baby and wanted to carry her newborn under the cape during the winter months. Whatever the request was, he tried to honor it with a masterpiece.
#3. Premium brands hire for passion
My grandfather lived to become a wealthy man, and his success is a direct result of the passion he had for his product and how he made people feel. He was proud of his work, and his customers recognized the value of doing business with someone who was invested in a successful outcome.
Within a few years, many of my grandfather’s customers started bringing their friends to be fitted. The friends would sit on those same plush orange chairs with cups of tea, and together they would delight in the experience.
My grandfather’s passion for his work meant new business opportunities. He started a division for repairing and storing coats from loyal customers during warmer months, and soon he had thousands of coats and recurring revenue during seasons when his main business got slower.
How My Grandfather Still Inspires Me
Of course, not everyone will want your premium offering. There will always be those who want it cheaper.
Very frequently, when speaking with potential customers who are evaluating our service, I find myself discussing the three principles above. Then I ask: Do you want a team that cares, provides a personalized experience and is passionate about their work? If the answer is yes, we keep talking. If not, I refer them to low-cost competitors.
The most important thing I learned from my grandfather is that premium brand-building is for people who view connecting with others and creating joy as the ultimate strategy for growth. Because when you deliver special, personalized experiences through a passionate team, you build strong, loyal relationships. If you do it exceedingly well, those relationships endure forever, and customers tell everyone they know exactly how happy you’ve made them.
Then, not even a competitor’s big PR budget can stand in your way.
Sandra Lewis is the founder of Worldwide101, a premium virtual assistant company connecting demanding founders and executives with highly skilled, meticulously matched help.
