The global licensing community is powered by an incredible group of professionals whose diverse backgrounds and creative energy drive innovation and excellence. Each week we’re profiling one of these professionals in this ongoing series developed in partnership with MyMediaBox.

Who are you?
Alfredo Hurtado, Founder and Creative Director, Swordmaker Studios. We have a streetwear brand called HOLY JOE and we also create white-label apparel and accessories for many clients in the United States and Mexico.

How did you get into licensing (or how did licensing find YOU😊)?
I was an intern at a talent management company when I was in college, and they had a licensing division. I didn’t work directly for the licensing people, but they took me under their wing and taught me many things about the industry.
After that, most of my jobs have been either in apparel or marketing, and as part of that I’ve helped create licensing guidelines and licensed goods for many clients, primarily in the food and beverage industry.
Recently, HOLY JOE was one of only five brands worldwide chosen for Licensing International’s Diversity and Inclusion Accelerator Program. Couldn’t have asked for nicer people to help us out.

What’s a “typical” day in your current position?
I deal with all the creative aspects within the company, so most of my day goes into creating new assets for the HOLY JOE brand, preparing next season’s collection, speaking to our graphic designers and illustrators… Do we need to adjust colors? Is our brand message clear enough? Which product has the most page views on our website? I’m constantly tweaking everything. If I’m not having creative meetings with our designers, I’m sketching new ideas; and if I’m not sketching, I’m looking at trends and anticipating what’s next for us.

What’s your biggest personal and professional accomplishment?
My biggest personal accomplishment was going to college. I didn’t start until I was 25; until then, I thought I’d never get a degree at all. But I was able to leave Mexico for the United States and, five years later, I had two college degrees and a minor in apparel merchandising. That was a huge deal, especially as an immigrant.
Professionally, I love how this pipe dream that I spent years talking about finally became a reality. People were sick of hearing how I’d have an apparel company; that’s all I talked about for years and years. Now, I just turned down an offer from Merrill Lynch a few weeks ago because I decided I’d rather be doing what I do (and realized I’m making more money now that I would have made at that job). I have employees in two countries, and three years ago I was selling t-shirts from a card table at a swap meet. It feels good. It’s stressful, but it feels good.

What are the most significant trends or changes that you’ve seen in the business in recent years?
Licensed footwear for adults. It was mostly a category for children for decades. Fifteen years ago, I tried to pitch an Otter Pops footwear collection to some people, and everyone thought I was insane. A few months later, Reebok and Monopoly had a big collaboration, and then it was Reebok x Kool-Aid, followed by Adidas x Star Wars… Now, it seems like we get a licensed sneaker collab every other week. It makes me feel vindicated.

What keeps you up at night? What’s your biggest challenge these days?
Distribution. It’s kind of moot to have amazing ideas if you have nowhere to sell them. Fashion is a tactile experience, and also an impulse buy; it’s easier to sell a hoodie if you see it in person, and if the buyer’s girlfriend tells him that he looks good in it, as opposed to just showing it online. However, online retail keeps growing, and brick-and-mortar stores are taking less chances every day with smaller brands like ours. That’s what worries me the most.
Also, when it comes to licensing, my biggest challenge is coming up with added value for prospective licensors. Why would they want to work with us if they could work with Mad Engine or Converse? I see a lot of big licensors working with smaller licensees these days, but it’s still difficult to even get your emails opened or your phone calls returned when they have never heard of you. I wish more big IPs saw the value of working with smaller brands that can bring a fresh perspective and a new audience for them.

In your opinion, what is the top skill every licensing executive should have in order to succeed?
An open mind. We already know you can make Spider-Man hoodies. Don’t get me wrong, I love Spider-Man hoodies. But give me more branded experiences like the TWA Hotel at JFK. Give me more Andy Warhol LEGO sets, and Mr. T Playmobil figures. Surprise me.
Forecasting is important too. Don’t tell me your product is a limited edition unless it really is. Two hundred Mondo prints that sell out in five minutes, that’s a limited edition. Twenty thousand pair of licensed sneakers that sell out in two days is not a limited edition, that’s just bad forecasting. You should have figured out you could have sold three times as many if you ran out of stock right away. I’m looking at you, person who ordered those awesome Happy Meal purses at Box Lunch. (But let’s be friends.)

What is the best piece of advice you ever received?
Fail early, and fail often. I have dozens of t-shirts I made three years ago for a film festival, and I can’t even give them away to my own family. It sucks. But I’d rather make that mistake with a few dozen shirts now than have 15,000 Spider-Man hoodies that no retailer would touch. Make your mistakes early on, because they’re only going to get more and more expensive later.

What is your favorite licensing deal of all time? (Doesn’t have to be one that was signed by you.)
That one is very, very difficult. I love almost anything by Loungefly or Danielle Nicole. I’d work for them for free. The Rolling Stones just had a collaboration with Sunnylife to create pool floats shaped like their famous tongue-and-lips logo –the finest logo in the history if the universe, in my well-paid opinion. There is Danny Trejo-branded beer now… And he doesn’t even drink beer! It’s just so random and awesome.  I could go on for days. But if I only had to choose one, I’d say the recent Levi’s lifestyle collection for Target blew me away. I hope they keep doing that. I even wanted the stuff they made for dogs, and I don’t even have a dog.

If you weren’t in licensing, what would you be doing now?
I have a degree in Film and Television Production, so I’d probably be doing that. Or I’d still be working in marketing. But my dream is to one day become president of Mexico, because it would be cool to wear a sombrero to work.

THE 2021 PEOPLE PROFILE SERIES IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MYMEDIABOX

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