Craig Wolfe created CelebriDucks as a whole new art form of celebrity rubber ducks of the greatest icons of film, music history, and athletics. CelebriDucks was voted one of the top 100 gifts by Entertainment Weekly and featured on hundreds of TV shows, magazines, and newspapers including The Tonight Show. CelebriDucks is considered the top custom duck manufacturer in the world doing them from everyone from SeaWorld to The New York Yankees.
Below, President Craig Wolfe discusses the importance of bringing jobs and industries back to America by bringing the whole rubber duck industry back to America where the rubber duck was actually invented before the whole industry went overseas.
What’s most exciting to you at this point in your career?
The traditional rubber duck was invented in the USA and then the whole industry left this country for Asia! I love it that we returned the whole industry back to America to be the only ones making them here once again!
Give me an example of when you inspired people with a vision.
I had this idea, why not do something that even the Orient cannot do and become a leader in product safety and unique innovation…thus we came up with our Good Ducks, the only PVC free rubber ducks that are made out of food and medical grade materials. The amount of R&D was tremendous. And we are making them 100% in the USA!! Now we can offer the safest rubber ducks in the world and the only rubber ducks a baby should ever teeth on. People thought I was crazy and it would be too difficult, but not everyone realized that nothing is impossible and the new line launches in November. We expect it to be our biggest success along with our new Costume Quacker line we just launched which also totally inspires everyone here!
How would you describe your leadership philosophy?
It’s simple….run every idea by a lot of people whom I really trust….and TAKE their feedback. In my company, anyone at any level has full access to any management decisions. At the end of the day, we virtually always come to what we ALL feel is best to do or not do regarding a given project. We grow and thrive as a group with a common purpose.
Tell me about how you’ve scaled. What was a defining moment or decision you made that put you that path to growth? In other words, how did you get your organization to where it’s at today, and what role have you played in that growth?
I never tried to be like my competitors. I never want to compete on price. What I wanted to do was create the most unique and innovative products in my category and own my niche. Someone can always make something cheaper. But fewer will go for the expense and labor of quality. I always felt that if we could offer something totally unique and different than anything that was on the market, we would find our audience and succeed.
It was based on this innate trust that I actually invested tens of thousands of dollars in our new Costume Quacker line which is the best work we have ever done. Once you look at them and see the creativity and uniqueness you will see that they are the finest and most creative rubber ducks on the market. It totally inspires everyone here. And bringing the rubber duck industry back home was very satisfying. We get so much PR for doing that. In fact in the Made in America section on our website you can even see a video that HGTV shot at our NY factory that is airing worldwide. And The Good Duck project really got me excited when I realized we could come out with a safer duck than anyone in the world and do it 100% in the USA!
How do you invest in yourself to increase your relevance?
I’m always studying the market and looking to see needs that are not being fulfilled and investing in fulfilling them.
What’s one piece of advice you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting to hire C-Level talent?
You want people who are talented and offer things that you lack. You want people who can counter who you are and offer a different point of view and different level of expertise. But just as important is that you want people who you can emotionally work with every day. Skill sets are one part of the equation. But you really are creating relationships, not just employees. You want people who literally can integrate into your culture and could be someone you can envision as a friend…in other words, plays well with others!
How do you attract the best and brightest?
Easy, be the best in what you do and create such cutting edge products and services that people will line up to be involved with it not just for the money alone, but also to be around something that is so creatively exciting and has so many future possibilities!
If you could go back to when you were just starting CelebriDucks and give yourself one piece, what would you tell yourself?
It’s good to be lean and mean in the beginning. But you also have to be relevant right out of the gate. In the beginning I created celebrity rubber ducks of properties that did not have the extensive reach I should have been aiming for. This would have been the place to invest more dollars…getting the licenses for the properties that would have put us on the map much sooner. So watch that cash flow and bootstrap like a madman in the beginning while at the same time you must know where it is critical to spend more dollars!
TruPath is an executive search firm in Phoenix that finds mid to senior level executives in mission critical roles at your organization. This interview is part of our executive interview series, where we ask CEO’s a series of questions about their leadership philosophies and practices. Contact us if you’d like to recommend a CEO to interview, or if you’re looking for a leader to join your team.