A day in the life of Dagne Dover’s CEO Melissa Mash

US-based accessories brand Dagne Dover epitomises the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention”.

The brand was founded by Melissa Mash, Deepa Gandhi and Jessy Dover, who were frustrated by the lack of bags with ample space and organised designs, and set out to make the bag of their — and their customers’ — dreams.

Here is how Mash, who is also Dagne Dover’s chief executive officer, finds work-life balance as she and her team build a multi-generational brand. 

Inside Retail: What does a day in your life look like?

Melissa Mash: I get my kids ready for the day, shower them in love, then drop them at school. Then I come home and take a minute to enjoy my matcha latte and eat before going into meetings. 

Most of my meetings are about our retailers, our internal team, brand events, public relations and marketing, partnership opportunities and higher-level company planning. Sometimes I go into the office to interview a candidate (my co-founders and I still interview every single employee we bring on), sometimes I go in to meet a business development contact who’s in town, or I go in to work on something with the internal team. 

At night, if I’m not attending a founder/industry dinner, then I’m at home, dodging balls kicked by my two sons or I’m building something with them, helping make one of their dreams come true.

IR: What is your approach to trying to maintain a work-life balance?

MM: I have to take care of myself in the morning before I take care of anyone else. Then I feel like I am fully prepared and equipped to take on whatever the day throws at me. Sometimes “taking care of myself” is through a workout, and sometimes it’s just through taking care of my body and putting on an outfit that lights me up! 

Also, my kids force me to take breaks from work throughout the day. As a role model, I need to emulate the behaviour I preach. As such, I try not to be on my phone when I’m with them in the evenings because if I want to help ensure they don’t become addicted to tech (or work), then I need to demonstrate that discipline myself.

IR: What is one of the more surprising lessons you’ve learned in your journey working in the retail industry?

MM: There are so many missteps a brand can make; by taking on the wrong investors with misaligned expectations, by investing too quickly in capital-intensive stores, by taking on too many wholesale partners that you’re reliant on but also beholden to, by overpaying to acquire customers, sometimes unprofitably, and so on, and so on. 

Many of these decisions have been totally normalised in retail throughout the past 10-plus years, and many smart, capable entrepreneurs believed that this was “how it worked”. The lesson of the past 10 years is that we need entrepreneurs who challenge the status quo and who don’t fall for its fallacies.

We need entrepreneurs who build sound brands that actually become the legacy brands of our children’s generation, not copycat brands or one-hit wonders.

IR: What advice would you give someone just starting out in the industry and perhaps trying to emulate where you are today?

MM: We all have brands we admire, but the truth is that there is no playbook for how to make a successful brand.

You have to figure things out on your own. Just because you use the same suppliers, factories, service providers, marketing tools, etc. as another brand does not mean you’ll get similar results. Each brand is built in a different era with a different set of tools and technology available.

Sometimes you even need to work with other emerging players in your area to develop new tools in order for your business to get off the ground. That being said, I do believe there are certain universal values that help a brand have longevity. Some of those include: making long-term-oriented decisions, focusing on profitability, hiring for fit and culture instead of extrinsically-focused qualities, and choosing patient sources of capital.

IR: If you could go back in time, what piece of advice would you give yourself before launching your brand?

MM: Let go of employees who are not a perfect fit, instead of wishfully hoping they’ll grow into their role.

IR: The items in my toolbox that make me feel prepared are…

MM: 

• Very specific language – in thought, writing and spoken word.
• High standards – less, best, nothing else.
• Confidence – at Dagne, we know our worth.
• A comfortable outfit and my Dyson Airwrap.

IR: Outside of work, I’m passionate about…

MM: Social justice, healthy living and awareness, creating a more equitable and positive corporate culture in America, and creating the next generation of changemakers and leaders through our children.

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