If a customer walks out without shoes, you really want to find out why. 'It didn't fit' is not good enough.

Forget 'branding' and 'positioning.' Once you understand customer behavior, everything else falls into place.

Of course, losing my father was traumatic. I was an only child. But from the time my father died, my general theme in life has been to turn adversity into opportunity.

If a customer walks out without shoes, you really want to find out why. 'It didn't fit' is not good enough.

One of the people who most influenced me was Ben Shapiro, a marketing professor at the business school. He used to rant and rave and pound his fist: 'It's all about the customers!' And he was right. He was also right that, at that time, retailing was devoid of really talented people; he urged me to go in that direction.

When a company goes bankrupt, you as a company have absolutely no say whatsoever as to what happens.

At the Harvard Business School, I really felt I had gained the ability to resolve difficult issues. But I also felt that I wasn't in the mainstream with my fellow students. During job-hunting season, for example, everybody shaved their beards for interviews. I thought, 'This is crazy.' So I grew a beard.