Entrepreneurs are often seen as an exotic commercial breed: quick-thinking visionaries who take risks and blaze trails. But how do they assess the story of their success, and the role that negotiation has played? Dominic Smales and Thyme Sullivan shared their insights.
Dominic Smales
Founder of Gleam Futures and The Glow Project
It wouldn’t be hyperbolic to describe Dominic Smales as an influencer industry pioneer. He set up the talent management and influencer marketing agency, Gleam Futures, at a time when influencing was not even a twinkle in the big corporates’ eyes. Now influencers are in every consumer brand marketer’s toolkit and are the savvy consumer’s best friend.
Where did Dominic get his crystal ball? He recalls not knowing what he wanted to do after leaving school, so he got a degree, sold ad space for the local rag, the Bucks Examiner, and had a stint at his stepdad’s media agency. Dominic describes these as, “amazing years that inspired my epiphany moment; I noticed the amount of attention garnered online for people entertaining through organic social channels.” He continues, “I then went to a small production company which had an agenting side; my first foray into talent.”
What happened next is what Dominic calls “a jolt” – he was diagnosed with the brain disorder hydrocephalus. This life-changing event led to a life-changing decision to go it alone, and so Gleam Futures was born.
Every business needs a founding category, and Gleam’s was beauty, with clients including Chanel and TRESemmé owners Alberto-Culva. In 2010, Dominic asked YouTubers Sam and Nic Chapman – makeup artists Pixiwoo – to review Chanel’s traceable tattoos. He instantly spotted their potential: “They were engaging, fun, and charismatic. We struck up a relationship and I pivoted my business from media to talent management agency.” From those early days, a community was born, and Gleam onboarded a stable of super-influencers, including Zoella, Tanya Burr, and Jim Chapman.
Success was not without its naysayers. Dominic remembers pushback manifesting as a “knocking of heads between paid content creators and the new ‘digital first’ talent. But like or loathe them, influencers had, and still have, access to an engaged audience who are getting increasingly hard to reach.”
There are some familiar entrepreneurial traits in play here: resilience, tenacity, a relentless work ethic, and unwavering vision in the face of scepticism. As Dominic says, “From the very beginning I had absolute blind faith in my career.” He also says his attitude to risk is on the gung-ho side, attributing this in part to his mild dyslexia and ADHD; a neurodiverse way of seeing the world. He’s clear that luck – meeting the right vloggers at the right time – also featured.
What of negotiation? “It’s an incredible tool to progress in life. It’s about communication and relationships; if you apply those organic skills to a good framework, then you’re set up to succeed.” What are his top tips? “The biggest misconception about negotiation is that it’s about winning and losing. I tell people it’s win-win or no deal, so think about what the other person wants and needs. It’s been a huge part of my professional life, from buying stationery to selling my business to a big media company.”
Which brings us to 2017 and a multimillion-dollar buyout of Gleam by Japanese ad giant Dentsu, proving the cynics from the early days definitively wrong. (Dentsu are no fools: the industry is a multibillion-dollar one and enjoys 80% a year growth.) Dominic sees the future filled with influencer-owned brands, “done in a super-authentic way,” citing Sam and Nic Chapman endorsed makeup brush brand, Real Techniques, and Zoella Beauty as examples of getting it right. He expects similar success for Grace Beverley’s sustainable leisurewear, Tala, and Tanya Burr’s premium makeup, Authored. He’s now on the lookout for the next crop of direct-to-consumer mega brands.
As for his own next chapter, he’s excited about new ventures, one of which, The Glo Project, focuses on the commercial opportunity in paid-for content on subscription platforms. It seems likely he will be described as a pioneer of talent in that area in the future too.
Thyme Sullivan
Co-Founder and CEO, TOP The Organic Project
A self-confessed “grocery geek,” Thyme Sullivan spent close to three decades as a high-flying sales executive at consumer giants including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Nestlé before going it alone. She says this relatively late entry to entrepreneurship was because, “It just wasn’t a thing when I left college. Saying you were an entrepreneur was code for you were jobless and sleeping in your parents’ basement.”
So Thyme graduated, got a job at Frito-Lay – “I drove a truck but was terrible at it so got promoted” – and went on to climb the corporate ladder. However, an entrepreneurial spirit was ever-present: “The roles I loved most were those where we were building our own businesses and had room to be creative and take risks. It was a respite from everyday corporate culture which rewards staying in line and doing as you’re told.”
Thyme acknowledges that without a shock redundancy, leaving her “devastated,” she would never have left the security of her career – and indeed, her first response was to apply for other big corporate roles. Then an old boss suggested that now could be the time to think differently and redesign her life. And there was certainly an incentive: “Corporate America isn’t built around moms. I hadn’t been there to raise my kids, I missed Halloween and the first and last day of school, I worked all weekend and came home tired and cranky. I accepted it, but losing my job was the universe giving me a nudge.”
Fortuitously Thyme’s cousin, Denielle – a senior executive in fashion retail – was at a similar crossroads. She left her job and together they identified a gap in the feminine care market. “As moms of daughters, we knew there was no innovation in period products. 80% of women use what their mom bought them their first time.” That insight combined with their own values – “We were raised by hippies and organic was a big thing in our houses” – and TOP the Organic Project was born: a category-disrupting brand producing organic cotton, plant-based, hypoallergenic products, complete with a mission to normalize the conversation around periods, raise awareness around period poverty, and give back.
Since then, they’ve experienced “major mountains and valleys on our journey. We were the breadwinners, so it was a huge risk.” So to the first lesson: have courage. Their lead investor told them they were “badasses.” It’s an apt descriptor; it takes bravery to leave a successful career in a world that had taught them “not to quit and to have grit. But staying in a job or relationship that’s not right isn’t grit, it’s insanity.”
A rejection of negativity also plays out in Thyme’s recollection that in her old roles, she felt that, “I was fighting all day long. But in our business now, we’re building relationships and learning. We have curated a powerful group of cheerleaders and thought leaders around us. That’s important because there’s no way you can know everything as an entrepreneur. And that’s another quality – you can say, ‘I don’t know how to do this.’”
Thyme also credits success to what she learned about negotiation from The Gap Partnership, recalling, “The negotiation workshop was a game-changer…I remember all the concepts. Being silent was a challenge because I’m a talker! But it’s true, the first one to break can give away value.”
And then there’s empathy, a trait that’s vital in negotiation but perhaps one not traditionally ascribed to entrepreneurs. But for Thyme, it’s a superpower: “Understanding what your counterparty needs is so important. It’s a gift to be able to look at a situation from someone else’s perspective. After all, everything in entrepreneurship, parenting, and life is a negotiation.”
Dominic Smales
Dominic Smales, having worked for years in media and production, founded Gleam Futures in 2010 to help emerging talent on social media platforms develop. The marketing industry calls these individuals ‘Influencers,’ and it has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Gleam was credited with being one of the first pioneers in this space globally. Smales negotiated Gleam Futures into becoming the largest management company in the world, specializing in taking ‘digital first’ talent and developing them in television, publishing, licensing, brands, and film.
Thyme Sullivan
Thyme Sullivan leads Unicorn in revolutionizing period care through innovative, sustainable design and a commitment to dignity and equity. Her strategic negotiation skills have been crucial in replacing outdated period product machines with low-cost, low-profile dispensers in restrooms, addressing period poverty. Drawing on successful corporate careers, she and her co-founder have secured key partnerships, including with JPMorgan Chase & Co., to expand their reach. At Unicorn, Thyme is dedicated to creating a future where everyone deserves dignity, everywhere, always.
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