Joining us on Luminate this week is Brian Smith. Brian is the founder of UGG boots, a brand that started from humble beginnings and went on to become a multibillion-dollar global icon. Graduating in 1978 as a Chartered Accountant in Australia, Brian came to California looking for the next big opportunity to bring back to Australia. While studying at the UCLA Graduate School of Management he observed that there was no sheepskin footwear in the US. With only $500 in capital to start, he imported boot samples and over the next seventeen years built the UGG Australia brand into a multi-million dollar international enterprise. He sold in 1995 and the brand has continued to grow to exceed a billion dollars in annual sales for the past seven years. Brian has authored the book “The Birth of a Brand – Launching Your Entrepreneurial Passion and Soul.” If you’re an entrepreneur looking to build a successful brand, don’t miss it!