Sometime in 2004 I approached legendary Irish retailer, Louis Copeland to see if he was interested in coming on board with a high end fashion event called Catwalks that we were taking on tour around Ireland.
To be clear, I didn’t know him, I had never spoken to him before and after a quick ‘cold-call‘ (I can’t have been too bad a salesman!!) he asked would we call in to see him and tell him more about our event.
The following week we called in to see him and we were greeted by a warm, open, friendly Louis Copeland.
After about five minutes, when we were in full flight in the middle of our sales pitch he unexpectedly declared “I’ll do it” and then quickly changed the topic..”Tell me about you two?”
We spent at least another hour with him and he showed a genuine interest in us, our project, why we were doing it and what else were we up to. When the meeting finished (more like a friendly chat really) I asked Dee if she thought he had actually agreed to come on board, because he had barely got details about the event.
This was the beginning of my great journey with King Louis, as I call him! (or King Louis 2nd – his dad was also Louis).
Since then he has come in and out of our lives at different times. He did the event on that occasion and supported us on many other things since. He seems to follow us with interest and he will always call out of the blue when he might read about us or hear something on the radio.
When the recession clouds gathered around all of us, I heard him being interviewed on the radio and he offered a powerful piece of advice as to how people should cope.
“Get up earlier, work harder and work later” was his advice, and something that I embraced.
My own Monday morning social media mantra, inspired by Louis (for anyone who has seen my tweets for the last decade will confirm) is:
“Roll those sleeves up, get stuck in and have a great week #Positivity”.
When I arrived to record the session for this podcast he probed and probed me to learn more about podcasts, the process, who is listening to them and why. His natural curiosity and openness is just one of the ways he always stays relevant and successful.
Louis is an inspiration, he is a mentor, who is always at the end of a phone to bounce things off and offer assistance or provide a helpful contact.
In this podcast I’ve done my best to capture his story, the secret sauce behind the success of his great business, his approach to marketing, what he does to stay relevant, his approach to online and who his favourite celebrity customer is!
You can listen by clicking here, or by subscribing on iTunes – The Fuzion Win Happy Podcast
A huge thanks once again to the retail legend, Louis Copeland for being a good friend and for taking part and being so open and generous.
Enjoy…
Tags: Cork, Dublin, Fuzion Communications, Fuzion Win Happy Podcast, Greg Canty, Louis Copeland
Greg Canty Fuzion Blog 
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