Trunki founder Rob Law on challenging the odds

Founder of Trunki Rob Law proceeds to go from strength to strength,  his companies success coinciding with the release of his book, 65 Roses and a Trunk: Defying the Odds in Life and Business.

Rob law is the CEO and founder of Trunki,  a brand of ride-on/carry-on hand luggage for children. He is well known for appearing on the UK edition of Dragon’s Den in 2006 with the idea. I spoke with Rob about his career, triumphing over adversity, and the passion he has for his product and his recently published book 65 Roses and a Trunki, which we recently reviewed here.

We began by speaking about his childhood, and how despite suffering from cystic fibrosis and dyslexia was able to pursue his passion for product design:

“I knew as a young child I couldn’t fulfill my dream of being an astronaut as I suffer from Cystic Fibrosis and they need strong lungs,  the same was true for being a soldier. I also have dyslexia and was stuck in Special Needs classes in school but I knew I was good with my hands and loved art and woodwork. At 14 after researching design careers, I discovered product design and found my real passion, my element as Sir Ken Robinson says. I then focused intently on doing all I needed to get onto the best university course in the country.

While in my 2nd year I came up with the idea of a ride-on suitcase but it took another 9 years before I started the business after luggage manufactures rejected the idea saying it was a toy. Toy companies said it was Luggage and I couldn’t find any business to licence my concept to. I focused on my carrier and have worked in New York, Taiwan, and for leading design consultancies in London. My last job bought me to Bristol, working for a consultancy, and with some blue-chip FMCG brands as clients, it’s there that I learn a lot about the power of branding. In 2006 I decided to take Trunki to market myself, not as luggage or as a toy but as a lifestyle brand”.

Channeling positive energy

Rob was honest in describing how he only came into what he is doing now, due to sheer frustration at numerous setbacks that have made him into the businessman he is today:

“It’s only through the frustration that I decided to start a company and bring my product to market. I’m not like your classic entrepreneur who sold sweets at school, I was laser-focused on learning how to design consumer products and developed a passion for using good design to improve people’s lives. Although I did try (but failed) to sell a range of furniture I designed”.

We moved onto the present, where Rob spoke about the last 12 months, and how Trunki continues to go from strength to strength, coinciding with the release of his book:

“A big win for the business was to bring a range of Trunki branded folding balance bikes and scooters to market, which comes with a Trunki strap that kids can carry over their shoulder. I’m also very proud of how our restored supply chain is working really well as we pivot our business model to be more digitally driven. Being able to ramp up production in the UK to meet the growing demand especially in Europe and the US has been a key factor in our recent success.

Personal launching my book is a massive achievement, especially as I’m dyslexic and a lot of publishers rejected the unique pitch for a very personal business memoir. I really believe in the power of storytelling and wanted to create more of a page-turner that takes the reader on my roller coaster journey whilst learning from my challenges”.

Not sure who has been more excited about this weekend, kids, grandparent or the 3 #trunki ! #reunion after #lockdown pic.twitter.com/bnGfmTE7O6

— Rob Law MBE (@trunkidaddy) July 24, 2020

Rob Law’s long journey to success with Trunki

He also spoke of what he would change in terms of his last year, and how he believes that learning from your mistakes is the most important thing you can do as an entrepreneur.

“Was buying the UK factory out of administration and then spending close to £2m turning it around a mistake?  Perhaps taking on a legal fight that lasted 3 years and cost close to £1m after losing in the supreme court? With both these more recent challenges I was able to turn into advantages. I believe in learning from mistakes, if you don’t make them then you don’t learn or develop. I will probably make bigger mistakes further down the road. There is no right or wrong way to do these things”.

On the subject of his most current projects, Rob discussed attempting to run his company despite the global pandemic.

“It’s no secret that luggage has been one of the hardest-hit consumer product categories. However, as we have great data from our digital-focused business model we were able to act very quickly once Italy locked down. Its been a tough couple of months. However, our children’s range called ToddlePak has been absolutely flying, which is to help parents keep their children socially distanced. We pivoted our marketing strategy talking about staycations, camping trips, and visiting grandparents, I think we’re probably performing better than any other travel brands, in fact, some of our channels in July are beating last year’s numbers”.

For entrepreneurs starting off, Rob provided advice in terms of hiring staff and finding the right people who suit your vision.

“Business is all about people. I realised from a few years in that I needed to learn about leadership and how to hire and then inspire my team. My top tip on hiring is to find people who are aligned with your vision and purpose.  You should always choose someone with passion and drive over experience. You can train people up but you can’t teach passion! It is really difficult finding the right people and you will make mistakes, but as soon as you realise someone is not right you have to act fast and remove them before they drag the rest of the team down”.

Rob mentioned his book, and why he wanted to put his life and experiences in words, and how he feels he can help people:

“I do a lot of business speaking, giving keynotes and workshops with management teams. After every event, people come up to me and say I should write a book about my business challenges. But that’s only a part of my life, so I thought by sharing my personal story I could help more people to find the tools to overcome challenges and be more resilient. By luck, it just so happened to launch at a very poignant time”.

Before we finished, Rob shared some more advice, this time on how to deal with whatever setbacks people may encounter throughout their lives, and how they can use their pain to become stronger.

Delighted to announce my Audio book has just launched. Hear is a short sample on #humility and #humble #leadership pic.twitter.com/MES7XHmbDx

— Rob Law MBE (@trunkidaddy) July 23, 2020

Success is just a hiatus in a series of defeats

“What seems like an insurmountable problem can be overcome, the storm will pass but it will be exhausting and you need all your mental energy to overcome it. So use that energy wisely, stay focused on the things you can control and ignore the rest. You need an open mind to see the opportunities you have and to make the most of them. That may take you away from your initial direction so be open to change. There are no right or wrong ways, just ways that work and ways that don’t. Remember success is just a hiatus in a series of defeats”.

For more information:

Follow Rob’s journey on Twitter and Instagram @trunkidaddy and on LinkedIn.
More info about Rob on roblaw.com
To learn more about the brand Trunki: Trunki.co.uk.

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