DTC POD: The Brand Whisperer: Revealing the Tactics Behind Your Favorite DTC Brands with Emmett Shine

 In this episode of DTC Pod, we’re joined by Emmett Shine, Co-Founder & Creative Director of Pattern Brands.

They’re an acquisition and growth company working with brands in the home-life space. Their portfolio includes brands like GIR, Open Spaces, and Letterfolk.

Join us as we talk about effective teamwork, how to be inspired, and how to create faster, better work in a team environment.

3 Big Lessons from Emmett

Lesson #1: Surround yourself with people who strengthen what you lack.

When talking to Emmett, it’s easy to see how much he values his two partners, Nicholas Ling and Suze Dowling.

From listening to him talk about them and their work, it’s easy to see one of the main reasons for this is the wildly different things each one brings to the table.

Nick had a lot of experience consulting for the Boston Consulting Group. Suze was a Project Manager for many years, while Emmett was a chronic entrepreneur.

He mentions how “Suze was put on Earth to be an operator, Nick is naturally a CEO personality, and I thrive in the creative perspective.”

Taking all of their experience together they were able to start and grow Pattern to where it is today.

This isn’t to say they didn’t make mistakes along the way, but they were unafraid and could pick themselves up with help from one another’s skills.

Lesson #2: Build a database of parallel inspiration.

When asked about his creative work, Shine said that his family’s background with art is a big part of why he can design and create things that are timeless and non-traditional at the same time.

His mother is an artist, a painter to be exact. So, through exposure and by being with her, and with her circles, he learned about fine art, photography, and more. And over some time, he learned the concepts, the people and the techniques he would later use on his designs.

And in regards with that, you’ll notice most of his “swipe file” isn’t even related to what most people would consider design. It goes as far as to include clothes and shoes, and other forms of art.

Whether you’re a designer or not, building inspiration from other fields to inspire your work is an effective way to become unique, and stand out from the competition.

Lesson #3: Do your work, and let other people do theirs.

Especially when you’re entrepreneurial, it can be hard to let people just do their thing.

But when you want a product to succeed at a larger scale, it’s all about finding the people that work complimentary to you. But above all, aren’t afraid to give honest, but rough, feedback.

On the operator’s side, Shine describes them as sharks, in the sense that they’re always moving on to the next issue. When you’re that fast you need to be able to delegate, and (most importantly) trust whoever you’re working with.

And to be able to do this while letting creatives do their work projects confidence in themselves instead of trying to swim into their lane. Instead, they give their brief, then their feedback, and let them do their work. Which also applies vice-versa from creatives to operators.

DTC Job Positions!

Offline Advertising Manager at AWAY

Description: Drive offline marketing strategy, execution, and tracking to boost brand presence and customer acquisition for Away.

Responsibilities: Lead offline channel strategy, manage multi-million dollar budgets, drive creative testing, and ensure robust ROI reporting.

Benefits: Competitive salary, bonus plan, equity grant, comprehensive benefits package, professional development opportunities, inclusive workplace culture, and more.

Content Designer at AWAY

Description: Create engaging content across channels, shaping Away's brand narrative and enhancing consumer experience.

Responsibilities: Ideate, execute, and evolve creative content, ensuring alignment with brand objectives and maintaining design consistency.

Benefits: Competitive salary, bonus plan, equity grant, comprehensive benefits package, professional development opportunities, inclusive workplace culture.

Brand Marketing Director at The Farmers’s Dog

Description: Lead brand planning initiatives, develop marketing strategies, and oversee brand communications for The Farmer's Dog.

Responsibilities: Conduct market research, collaborate cross-functionally, manage budget, optimize strategies, mentor team, drive brand growth.

Benefits: Competitive salary, comprehensive healthcare, equity packages, 401k, flexible PTO, dog-friendly office, parental leave.

That wraps up this week’s newsletter!

As always, reply any time with thoughts, questions, reactions, or ideas for future issues. And don’t forget to follow us on Linkedin to unlock new episodes of DTC Pod each week!