Interview with Alan King

I had the pleasure of interviewing Alan Cheung AKA Alan King, founder of AKINGSNY & CLOUTX SYSTEMS, at 21 he has built an amazing denim company around the story starting with something the fashion industry has come to know as the  “J shape” cut. His company CLOUTX is a manufacturing system that streamlines apparel companies cut and sewn.

Thank you so much for joining us!

Thank you for having me!

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Not funny but, one of the things I learned early on was how important a manufacturing relationship is. We entrusted a small manufacturing agent who had no previous clients on getting one of our initial pieces done. His factory ended up taking 6 months and we finally received the order in spring completely missing the season. 

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

At AKINGS we bridge together young like minded individuals. A lot of companies claim they do this in some shape or form, we are not a platform by any means but we build our team first and then steer the ship.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Set clear goals for where you want to be and build a team that is on the same page. Remember your “Why” – if it is strong that is what will keep you from burning out.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

There is many particular people who in each different period of my life have helped me get to where I am today and build toward where I want to go. From an early age one of my mentors would simple give me google links to resources to show me accessible most of the information was.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

To this day we create and train people for highly skilled jobs in places / circumstances that have limited options. We help small startups grow to businesses and help improve their chances of success.

Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?

If you shoot for the stars, at the very least you will get to the moon.

What are some things you wished someone told you before you started your company and why? 

Scaling is the most important factor to every business, set up clear goals and reach them over and over again. When we started AKINGSNY we really had a small goal of creating a one inseam denim that could stack from knee down. We would go about manufacturing for the brand trying to negotiate small orders because we had limited capital. What we did not see at the time was  that this actually limited our total revenue and earning potential. The process of development takes so long and by the time it was brought to market the quantities were not sufficient enough to be worth our time.Also they say team work makes the dream work. If you build an amazing team you will figure out where you want to go in your business. 

Thank you so much for your insights.

How can our readers follow you on social media?

Instagram: www.instagram.com/alanking

Twitter: www.twitter.com/alankingny

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alankingny/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/akingsny

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!