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English | Japanese
4 - Thoughts of a Founder
| Itoi | How many employees do you have at ARTS&SCIENCE? |
| Sonya | Around fifty right now. |
| Itoi | Same here. Which is unfortunately too many people to keep making decisions on an individual basis. |
| Sonya | Yeah. |
| Itoi | But things get interesting when everyone’s individual specialties allow you to make more things happen. There's a new level of willpower that comes from having a team. |
| Sonya | That's true. It's impossible to single-handedly create something a group would make. If you want to do something alone, then you become an artist, or you paint a picture, or if you're Itoi you write something. But right now I want to do something that requires teamwork. |
| Itoi | Right. Sometimes it's surprising how much freedom is lost by doing something alone. |
| Sonya | My company is turning ten years old next year, so it's a really important time for us. Someone once said that a company is similar to a human being, so until it turns twenty years old, I feel like I've got to take especially good care of it. |
| Itoi | Right, right. |
| Sonya | After that, I'll probably let people do their own thing, but for now… |
| Itoi | It's going to take some time. |
| Sonya | It's different from big corporations where the founder isn't around anymore. I think working directly underneath the company founder is a very unique environment. Even as a founder myself, there's a sense that the business is my own, coupled with the sense of having built it together with everyone. It's complicated. |
| Itoi | You've really thought this over. (laughs) |
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| Sonya | Huh? |
| Itoi | It may not look like it, but you've thought about this. |
| Sonya | I guess so. |
| Itoi | I used to be really noncommittal because I'd always been self-employed. But now—if the company fell flat on its face I'd do anything, even if it meant personally standing in the line of fire. I think that's what it means to be a founder. |
| Sonya | That's so true. I had an employee criticize something, but I’ve said the same thing before. Now I'm risking it all, and if it came down to it I'd probably sell my house and everything I own to save it, no matter what. |
| Itoi | Yeah. It's a given. |
| Sonya | So I asked my employee, "Could you do that?” and he said "No way." So I think, well, we're different then. No matter how much loyalty he has to the company, if the company fails, he's not going to sell his house. Some people might, though. |
| Itoi | Yeah. It’s a different story if you started the company with several people. But with a staff that size, if someone lacks the sensation of carrying the weight of the company on his shoulders, he won't have the resolve to do it. |
| Sonya | Yeah. |
| Itoi | This year, just as I'm collaborating with you, I'm working on a planner with Mr. Minagawa from minä perhonen. He's also quite similar to us. When he first started his brand he would sell tuna by day and hover over his sewing machine making clothes by night. But if his shop were to go under, he hoped it would happen slowly, so he opened lots of tiny stores. |
| Sonya | Wow. |
| Itoi | I'm the same way—a lot of people with interests take something small and add onto it like grapes. That way, no matter how strong a wind comes, it all comes apart, you pick up the pieces, and things work out. That's the idea of a man with a real sense of danger. It's not some company he got from someone else. |
| Sonya | Yeah. |
| Itoi | So when the going gets tough, he’s got the gumption to do some hard labor. Mr. Minagawa said he’d be back working at the fish market, though. (laughs) |
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| Sonya | Okay, so I'll be a saleswoman. Maybe I'll work at a department store. |
| Itoi | Hey, that sounds good. (laughs) |
2012-11-09-FRI
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Stylist: Michio Hayashi Photographer: Masahiro Sanbe |
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