Early traction and first sales

Most people with a full-time job, 14-hour shifts, and zero business experience don't start a brand — Jesse did, and he's closing in on half a million dollars a year to prove it.

After 16 years working in the mining industry, Jesse knew the gear handed to workers on site was genuinely not fit for purpose. So he did something about it, building Wolf Workwear — durable, functional workwear for heavy industries — one hour at a time between fly-in, fly-out shifts. He still hasn't quit his day job. He's doing it anyway.

In this episode, Jesse gets brutally honest about what those first two and a half years actually looked like — overspending $40-50K on a launch, building 4,000 Instagram followers who had zero intention of buying anything, and the UGC pivot that changed everything overnight.

What you'll learn in this interview:

• Why 4,000 followers didn't translate to sales — and the critical difference between an engaged audience and a buying one
• How Jesse validated his product idea by handing samples to his workmates on site before ever building a brand
• The real cost of launching with too much conviction: a $40-50K first run and what he'd do differently
• How to build a business on 1-2 hours a day while working 14-hour shifts — and where to spend that time first
• Why switching from static product shots to UGC ads was an overnight game changer for paid performance
• How to find and iterate products on Alibaba without a design background — function and comfort as your only brief
• The B2B opportunity hiding inside a D2C brand, and how supplying mining companies unlocked a second revenue stream
• Why disappointing a customer hurts more than any slow sales period — and what that tells you about building a brand worth caring about
• The honest maths behind staying in your day job longer than everyone says you should
• What it actually feels like to build something from nothing when nobody's watching yet

If you're trying to build something real around a full-time job and wondering whether it's worth the grind — this episode will change how you think about time, patience, and what early traction actually looks like. Jesse's story is proof that you don't need the perfect conditions. You just need to start.

SAVE 50% ON OMNISEND FOR 3 MONTHS Get 50% off your first 3 months of email and SMS marketing with Omnisend with the code FOUNDR50. Just head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://your.omnisend.com/foundr⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get started.

WANT TO GROW YOUR BRAND WITH META ADS? Join the Foundr Operators Waitlist → ⁠⁠https://foundr.com/operators⁠⁠

HOW WE CAN HELP YOU SCALE YOUR BUSINESS FASTER Learn directly from 7, 8 & 9-figure founders inside Foundr+ Start your $1 trial → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.foundr.com/startdollartrial⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ PREFER A CUSTOM ROADMAP AND 1-ON-1 COACHING? → Starting from scratch? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-start-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ → Already have a store? Apply here → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://foundr.com/pages/coaching-growth-application⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ CONNECT WITH JESSIE LIM Instagram → ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/wolf_workwear/ Website → ⁠⁠https://wolfworkwear.com/

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