Fabio Giuseppe
Intro
Fabio emits nothing but good vibes, it is refreshing for the good of our souls to sit down and absorb some of those radiated by him. Fabio and Tom Knight have managed to encapsulate those vibes in the form of Banana Industries.
Everything they touch seems to turn to gold. They’ve cultivated a following thanks to their genuinely honest approach to how they believe things should be done.
How would you describe yourself today?
It's hard to describe yourself, I feel like that would be a one long answer! The world is forever changing, people change too, but all my friends who have known me since school tell me I am the same as I was back then! I am just a skate fiend & outdoors lover. Love epic adventures pushing boundaries, camping, dogs, traveling, HipHop, DIY work, bikes & motorcycles.
What is your background and education, how did you come to be where you are now?
I came to the UK for Uni in 2011. I did a Degree in Marketing Communications & Advertising, followed by a Masters in Graphic Design at Hallam University.
Where did the idea initially come from to create Banana industries?
Having studied the theories of marketing & advertising at uni, I couldn't help but realize how most brands sell you an image at the end of the day. The amount of resources & time that goes behind creating the image is something that goes under the radar! Contrary to that I am a strong believer in going all in on the product and letting the product speak for itself.
It's a crazy world we live in, with social media and influencers. People buy something at whatever price is set as they need to fulfill that look they seek, a lot of people don't even evaluate if the product itself is worth it! How can a t-shirt cost £100, simply do the math! If you don’t, well call the police you just been robbed and you are wearing it with a badge of honesty too!
Lets face it, having a banana as a logo is pretty much committing suicide in terms of marketing or creating a fashionable image. It forces us to make sure we focus our efforts on the products, production, quality, delivery and everything that goes behind a brand (the stuff you don’t see on the cover). You buy from banana not because of the image, but because you support what is done behind the scenes. #keeping it real, at the end of the day we do things our way, ourselves in house & we care about every little detail. We don’t do it for money or looks, but simply to provide good products and fulfill the needs of like minded people like us out there. We love that underground vibe
What did the early days look like for you?
We started off with printing and selling t-shirts to uni societies. At this point we were operating out of Fabio bedroom in a student house, which quickly turned into a full office/production sweathouse, purely self-inflicted of course. Bedrooms, attics, living rooms to an old corridor room in a disused building, it was manic to say the least, but we did it all. After 6 years of producing and just scraping by, we finally manage to quit our other jobs and find a unit. This was a game changer, as over the previous years we had moved more than 6 times, had multiple jobs and didn’t have the time to focus our time properly to make it viable. Since we fully committed and focused our efforts things started to escate pretty quickly.
What is your long standing ethos and core values that you hold?
Quite simply put, Ethical & Sustainable products, made with love and attention to details at a fair price. All delivered with fully recyclable packaging and no plastic!
What's the story behind you finding mountain biking?
I alway had the Motocross dream as a kid, downhill was the closest thing I could get to fulfilling that at the time. I remember watching a video of Peaty at wharny riding down the dirt river before I came to Sheffield, said to myself I need to be doing that! I have always been a skateboarder/ snowboarder and outdoor enthusiast, but mountain biking started when I came to the UK. I think it's because the mountain bike community in the UK is well ahead of all the other places I lived prior.
How did discovering mountain biking and the people from it influence your pathway to where you are now?
As much as I love mountain biking and it's a big section of the brand/customer base I see us as much more than that. There are elements of skating, art, music, politics and traveling experiences that all together have influenced our pathway and community. I think the people who inspire me are always the ones behind the scenes, or the people who aren't in the spotlight, but behind it. It's the regular dudes that have normal jobs, but still shred and make it happen.
Max Nurakar, is one of those. The guy does it all and just recently one can say he “made it” in the mountain bike industry I guess. I met Max in the woods, Wharncliffe diggin away! The bro is so talented in so many different ways, but what I give him props for is the fact that he has always been himself & stayed true to his values. He has changed a lot, being such a creative individual he is always ahead of the game but inside he is the same down to earth dude I met in the woods many years ago.
Like many others you worked for Planet X in an era which saw them have a team of staff that have gone on to do amazing things and start up their own brands. What's your take on that era working there and what others have achieved?
People say it's a small world and it’s true. It was at a time when with the Tour de France things exploded at Planet X and in the industry. My guess is that working there inspired people to want to do things their own way. Everyone had so much passion & drive that wasn’t always aligned with the more corporate approach of the company. I learned so much from working there and had plenty of good times, looking back now I see things from a different perspective too. I am stoked & proud of everyone for sticking it out and getting to where they are now.
Banana has introduced you to some amazing people, are there any stories of how you've found those people or stories from working together with them?
It’s crazy how many people we have worked with for sure! I think it's because we are approachable on a human level, rather than a business level. We also only work with people we want to work with, regardless of the business potential. Being a homegrown business, we feel it's our duty to help other local small businesses and help each other out. It takes years to fine tune things and get the contacts, so why not share it with others kickstrating them a few years down the line. It's 50/50 some people we reach out to, others come to us and some happen just by chance. There’s too many to talk about, but I will say a big shout out to the Austrian bro’s aka afro biking and crew. @Afrobiking100
It started with just you and Tom. How did it feel for you guys taking the step of hiring someone for the first time and thereafter taking on more staff?
It's really hard to remember time frames or events. When your job role is 10 wrapped into 1, time flies so quickly and you struggle with setting routines/procedures to pass on. It's definitely the first step in becoming a legit business and one of the hardest. When you work for yourself, you have all the responsibilities over your head & no real boundaries, you simply do it all with whatever means. The more staff just amplifies and complicates it to be honest. You do less things as you pass on responsibilities to staff, but those things weigh more in your head & soul.
Cov was the first official member of staff, he saved us from the despair of never ending work, and so we managed to claw back some free time which was well needed after years of unpaid overtime from our end. We actually had quite a fast expansion going from 2 to 6 ( Cov, Gray, Ellen, Jack) in 2 years. I am stoked on the team, It's one big family. We are all unique people and bring something different to the table. We still have a lot of structural things to sort out, but we are getting there. I think that is just normal as companies & staff grow.
Similarly how did it feel stepping it up from your origins of the attic setup to the following permise upgrades you've taken?
Where to even start! Walls were caving in, boxes stacked on top of boxes. We are homegrown for real! At one point my room became storage and I moved under the skate ramp for 5 months. I definitely appreciate having home/work space now. I always think ahead, I stress about it too, but I think I have a natural ability to set goals and see the steps needed to achieve them. Always stoked, but never surprised. If you work for yourself you need to make it work...whatever it takes and you strive for years down the line not today or tomorrow.
Of your mtb products are there any particular stand outs for you? Anything with an interesting development story or similar?
The sad truth behind the scene is that most of the stuff is all made in the same factories whether you believe it or not… it's true. It's all about who you know and how much money you have to leverage a good deal. I am keeping it real and saying this, but companies hide it. With the cycling industry booming, we have started to see companies having 400% + profit margins. We feel that is wrong, ethically & for the community pushing it into even more of a luxury sport (remember I come from a skating background) so this new era of cycling doesn’t sit right with me. Whenever we identify one of these products,we do our research and we make it our mission to set the record straight in the industry. With the help of our connections & agents we go straight to the same source as the big names do. We strike the best deal we can with our limited budget and achieve for a same quality product, with our own twist of course and going the extra mile to ensure recyclable packaging. Even so what we are able to get is nowhere near as good as a deal financially, simply due to numbers and our budget. Regardless, we are able to still cut the price by 50% of competition, and make what we feel is a fair profit margin for the product we are delivering based on the cost price. It's hard to believe, I know, but if you are willing to take a gamble on one of our products you will see for yourselves. I think our loyal returning customer base it proof of that.
Few products to keep an eye out for which relate to the words above:
- Banoptics Protective Eyewear
- Tubeless Valves
- Our Banana Straps / Our new Endurex Straps
- Glueless Puncture Repair Kits
- Banan Trail Multi Tool
- Ride Specific Socks
Have there been any particular hardships or adversities along the way?
The raw definition of running a business is simply to identify problems & find solutions. It's all been a massive learning experience. It's all DIY and trial n’ error, so what outsiders see is the finished polished solutions as a result of countless failures! It’s never been easy, but I feel like it's getting harder as we are growing - I do like the challenge and the unknown.
For me I think the hardest part has been keeping up with communication. The emails, messages, whats apps, we chats etc.. never ending, at any given time or place. On or off work, that is the one thing that I can’t escape! Might seem like a little thing, but has forced me to avoid using a phone/ computer if not for work use.
What are you particularly proud of that you've been able to achieve by utilizing Banana industries?
Creating myself and Tom somewhat of a stable job, it’s hard enough to go and find a job. It's a whole other thing to create yourself one & making sure it's stable for the long run. As well as being able to provide jobs to others. Whatever you do for a living is such a big part of your life and it somewhat changes you as a person over the years. I am proud that I put myself in a position to be able to have control over that.
Is there anything you're surprised you had to learn or face along your journey of growth?
More money, more problems! I thought being small with a minimal budget limited you in so many ways. I thought once we got a bit bigger, things would get easier to manage and stabilize. Well nope, as you grow, it becomes way harder. Cycles of work become more complex and longer to complete, you stop thinking about tomorrow and need to think about next year. The hardest part is the completion of tasks for me. It takes months to cross and fully complete certain tasks under my responsibilities. Sometimes you feel like you have not achieved anything till a year down the line, the workload is just colossal and never ending.
Everything you do seems to turn to gold, how do you maintain that and continue to one up yourselves going forward?
Simply work hard! I wouldn’t say everything, more like 1 out of 100 things. You just don’t know about the failures lol. I think it’s because we are good at supply & demand, we simply ask our loyal customers what they want and try to deliver. When running a brand you can sometimes get carried away with what one likes, but a brand should not be limited by that. It should change as it’s customers drive it. Our mission and philosophy is quite simple: give our customer community what they demand & need - delivering it with our valves and love!
Now that you've somewhat gone your separate ways, how do you reflect back on the era working together with the 50:01 crew?
We were there at the start with 50:01, unfortunately we had to go our different ways due to conflicting interests, attitudes & work loads. We definitely had good times, and we both played a massive role in getting each other in the positions we are both in now.
Where do you see yourselves going in the future?
We are banana industries, there are no limits to what we can or can’t do. That is built into the branding, there is nothing we can’t tackle due to the cheeky nature of our approach. I hope we reach a status like Kona Bikes. The smallest biggest company in the bike industry, I think they have the right level of business/attitude we strive to achieve one day. I hope we are able to expand and grow into a big size company, allowing us to give loads of jobs to like minded people and the freedom to do what we feel is right.
The banana theme flows into what you drive too, tell us about your banana wagon and the story there.
I never had a good vehicle, terrible MPG’s & super slow. Learned to drive here in the UK, could never afford anything nice or even practical. Came to the point I had enough of my old Micra Automatic 0.9L, so I decided to go for it and get a decent normal car “Skoda Yeti”. Typed in skoda on FB market and boom there she was! 1999 Skoda Fellicia Fun special limited edition pickup, for £3000 which was my budget. I just had to do it, it's yellow, it’s the banana wagon! Love it, even though at the moment it is off the road to mechanical issues/ maintenance … but I will own this car till I die, that's for sure :)
Earlier I asked how would you describe yourself, how does that compare to before Banana industries was established?
People think we skate, ride and live the dream everyday like pros! That couldn’t be further from the truth. Hobbies are a way to enjoy life, to escape your worries & recharge for normal life (work). Just like everyone else, I ride when I can on weekends, maybe after work during the week once or twice. I love and enjoy what I do for a living, it’s not for everyone I know. However, the few words I can say aimed at everyone is that one needs to take control and manage one's responsibilities in life to enjoy/ appreciate one's hobbies. A balanced life is the best life long term. There is so much more to life than just riding!
I see kids, even young adults and shockingly people my age chasing that ride everyday pro rider lifestyle while forgetting/ignoring responsibilities that come with life.I wish they could have eyes in the industry and see for themselves how much bulshit it all is. It really baffles me as I never dreamed of being pro as a kid, but dreamed of owning a company to one day retire and live like a pro/ with the pro when I wanted.
Everyone needs to make a living somehow right? Everyone needs money , especially for expansive hobbies like bikes have become? - YES
So if that’s a true statement, even pros need to make a living right? - YES
So are you really willing to sell yourself out and make your hobbies your work? It’s up to you to weigh-up the positives you see and all the negatives you don’t. Going back to one of the other questions you asked, who inspires you?
It’s always the people who aren't in the spotlight, but behind it. It's the regular dudes that have normal jobs, but still shred and make it happen. So make the most of the time you have off your responsibilities & go shred if that makes you happy! Keep it real!
