From struggle street to top distributor of the world’s coolest eyewear
“You learn quickly that no one is going to hand you anything,” says the founder of Proper Goods, supplier to 25 per cent of Australia and New Zealand’s independent optometrists.
Ben Walters at Proper Good’s Sydney warehouse. James Brickwood
Seven years ago, Ben Walters was reduced to living and working out of a garage in Sydney’s Surry Hills. “It was maybe 90 per cent warehouse and 10 per cent bedroom,” he jokes.
After 10 years, he’d walked away from a mixed-business fashion retail and distribution company that, as he describes it, had buckled under the competing interests of its four shareholders. Change was essential.
Benjamen JuddLifestyle journalistBenjamen Judd is a lifestyle reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, covering men's fashion, grooming, and fitness. Connect with Benjamen on Twitter.
