An Interview with Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff, Forbes (Europe 2019) Social Entrepreneurs

Bruno (HE) Mirchevski
Nov 6 · 7 min read

(#00054) — Education is the key to success yet it’s often forgotten!

  1. Who are Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff?
  2. What is Buckle & Seam?
  3. Forbes 30 Under 30
  4. Best Ways To Cope With Hardships
  5. Best And Worst Part of Owning a Business
  6. Team Engagement Activities
  7. Things You Are Doing Too Much & Things You Are Not Doing Enough
  8. Definition of Happiness
  9. Ten Years From Now
  10. Final Advice

A co-founders’ relationship should be built on trust and backed up by mutual aspirations and goals. It’s difficult to run a business without the support of the people who are doing it with you.

However, this was never an issue for Marco and Georg, two young entrepreneurs who value and understand the importance of building a strong business, making an impact, and aiming towards the same goals.

Meet Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff, the co-founders of Buckle & Seam, a direct-to-consumer brand for men leather bags.

Apart from creating a business idea that delivers efficiency and convenience to men who are searching for a high-quality leather bag, they also donate a percentage of their revenue to schooling Pakistani girls.

Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff have put much effort into developing their premium brand, and these young entrepreneurs got a well-deserved place on Forbes’s “30 Under 30 Europe 2019: Social Entrepreneurs” list.

I recently had the pleasure to interview them, and I hope you’ll enjoy their stories as much as I did.


Hi Marco and George, and welcome to this interview! Before we begin, I would like to thank you for being a part of this mission! Now, do you mind telling us more about yourselves? Who are Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff? How exactly did you choose the career path that you have today?

Sure — thanks for taking the initiative to spread the good vibes!

Who are we? A bunch of crazy guys to be honest.

Marco — born and raised in Düsseldorf, with the goal in life to put a smile on people's faces. Worked an lived in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, Australia, and Germany.

Georg — 30, born in East Germany right before the wall came down, son of two labor rights lawyers, and basketball enthusiast. Worked an lived in Guatemala, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Spain, the USA, and Germany.


What is Buckle & Seam? How was the business idea born? What makes it different from any other company in the field?

It all started as Georg and I lived in Karachi, Pakistan. We both worked in the region and helped to build an internet marketplace in 2015.

Besides trips in Toyota Corollas to the desert, we brainstormed how we could have an impact on the world.

Our goal with Buckle & Seam was to combine a three folded problem we discovered ourselves while being on the market for a leather bag.

The usual business or travel bag out of premium leather was too expensive, not customizable, and no brand felt “right”. By ‘feeling right’ we are referring to solving a purpose or actually doing more than just producing a great product!

Not only did we want to create livelong companions for our customers, but we also wanted to inspire our customers with our vision of challenging the status quo.

After we figured out what product and feelings Buckle & Seam should have — we couldn’t get in touch with anyone to deliver the quality and labor requirements we required.

That’s why we partnered with a young entrepreneur and set up our own facilities, where we set the standards, set up proper employment contracts, health insurance and pay way above average.

Besides a fair production, we want to be a role model for other companies as we committed to donating 3% of our revenues to fund schools in Pakistan.

Education is the key to success yet it's often forgotten!


I would also like to congratulate both of you for being among Forbes 30 under 30! Did you see this coming? Was this a dream come true? How was that experience for you?

Thank you so much! It came to us by a surprise, we came to know that we made it to the final round via Email. That was a true WOW moment!

It was always a dream to be a shaper of tomorrow for both of us but actually just making it on time before Georg turned 30 was an amazing surprise!

The events we were invited to were beyond what we expected. The community is really thinking different and everyone is trying to make an impact!


As young and successful co-founders, what are some of the most common difficulties you are facing? What are the best ways to cope with hardship?

Our goal is to inspire people to write their own success stories.

The biggest difficulties are the self-created ones that you do not see coming. Co-founding a company definitely feels like being married — you have to care and look out for each other.

Patience, clear communication and expectation management are key to success, yet they are our biggest challenges.

We cope with open communication and luckily have a huge overlap in our values and our company's purpose.


What would you say are the best and worst parts about having a successful business at a relatively young age? Please explain.

What is the worst thing that can happen? You fail. So what? Then you can get up again and start from scratch.

The worst thing that can happen is if you lose trust in yourself and stop innovating. If you hustle around without having fun, then something is wrong.

You can follow your own pace and freedom and take the decision, its amazing. The only downside for some people could be that you can’t spend money on nice holidays like some of your friends do. But hey — camping is fun as well!


What is the utmost important when hiring people? What do you love about your team? Which are the best team engagement activities every company should practice?

Everyone who is part of our team shares the same values. We love that people are hungry yet value-driven.

We have a monthly recap where we motivate everyone to recap the last month at work and in private life.

This helps us to stay updated on each other's schedules, life events and shows everyone in the team that reflection can help in any situation!


What hard thing are you not doing enough? What easy thing are you doing too much?

We are not crunching data too much, unfortunately — further we don’t celebrate achievements as a team as much as we should do!

An easy thing like checking daily sales is a waste of time at some point — but we both do it waaay too often.


Apart from work, what do you enjoy doing? What matters in life? What is your definition of happiness?

Definition of happiness: making people smile is my definition of happiness. I love to show people that out of every situation there are positive vibes to be collected.

What matters in life: Sharing the love with others. Motivating young people to challenge the status quo!

What do I enjoy: I love challenging topics, business models or initiatives with friends. I really love to see initiatives growing and connecting people!


Where do you both see yourselves 10 years from now? What about Buckle & Seam?

In 10 years we have not only established Buckle & Seam as a menswear accessory brand but rather have conquered many other categories and are a role model for other businesses to combine revenue growth with social impact!

By 2023 we want to send 10,000 kids to school with our #onebagonechild initiative — let’s see how many it can be by 2023!


Last but not least, what advice would you give to anyone who struggles to find their calling in life?

Ask yourself why do you do what you do?

Nail down the why’s!

What's holding you back?

What can you change in the current situation to make it amazing?

Chase it!

Marco Feelisch and Georg Wolff are not only excellent entrepreneurs but their efforts to make an impact on the world and help young people get proper education is very inspiring.

Hopefully, their story will motivate you to do the same, and explore your entrepreneurial passion, as well as the ways you can contribute to society.

Remember, you write your own success story, so make sure it’s worth reading!


“The Mission to Empower 1 Million Entrepreneurs”


Powered by HE Group

The Logician

The Official Publication of The Logician

Bruno (HE) Mirchevski

Written by

The Logician (Dreamer) 👁️ Don’t follow me. I am lost too!😎 Founder of HE Group - www.hegroup.info (Investor) 📈

The Logician

The Official Publication of The Logician

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade