In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart.

I grew up in a working class family where there was no health insurance. I saw first hand the fracturing of the American dream and the bitterness that comes when there is no hope and a lot of despair. So I wanted to build the company, in a sense, that my father never got a chance to work for.

Any business today that embraces the status quo as an operating principle is going to be on a death march.

My father had a series of blue-collar jobs and never made more than $20,000 a year. When I was seven, he got injured on a job. That was a very important point - because of the injury, he couldn't walk, and the company he was working for did not pay him. There was no compensation. So there was no money and no food.

At an early age, my mother gave me this feeling that anything is possible, and I believe that.

I never took classic business classes in college, so I don't have the background that any of the people running large companies have.

Customers have different need states and life experiences.