Industry Insiders: Ryan Heuser, Brand Expander

As president and co-founder of Paul Frank Industries, Ryan Heuser has been with the brand since day one. In 1995, Heuser befriended the brand's namesake while working as the head of public relations for Mossimo men. The California native knew a good thing when he saw it, and he immediately invested his efforts in Frank's project -- now worth well over $40 million. The brand recently made a split with Paul Frank the man, leaving the enterprise in the hands of Heuser and CEO John Oswald. Heuser opens up about the split, business these days, and going green.

Describe a typical day on the job.
I arrive to the offices with my dog Bonsai, who is a 35-pound French bulldog. I check in with my art director and creative director, and also my vice president of licensing, and we go over—in detail—all of the creative projects in process and in progress ... from our co-branding side, which are Halo-type collaborations that we do to enhance the staying power of the brand in the public persona, down to just product approvals from all the various licensees that we now have.

You’ve collaborated with a lot of young bands and celebs in the past. Who are you working with now?
We’re still doing the same roster of bands, and our new PR firm is working on a new list of celebrities to approach. We’re doing more fielding of requests than actually being proactive at this point. The brand is still ringing the bell from movie star lists and TV shows.

Dream personality you’d like to see supporting the brand?
If we took it in a sort of three-tiered approach, one would be working with Marc Jacobs and doing something like a Louis Vuitton—kind of like how the Murakami bag was executed. That would be phenomenal. Another apparel venture would be working with a classic Americana brand, like Levi’s. A larger endeavor would be doing something with a car company, and maybe wrapping an automobile or doing an interior package design. Ultimately in airlines, designing uniforms, coming up with their entire in-flight kit, maybe even re-skinning. I love the idea of hooking up with Virgin, because Richard Branson clearly understands that aesthetics is such an important element of creating an airline. He has Thievery Corporation piped in when you get there as opposed to some horrible, obscure piano track. It’s those subtle details.

Is Branson your business idol?
There’s quite a laundry list. I’d put Yvon Chouinard at the top; he’s the founder of Patagonia. Also, Walt Disney, because we do loosely model Disney on a microcosmo level. We’re a humble little business here in the footsteps of the giant.

Any setbacks in the recent economic climate?
Our retail stores are certainly reflective of consumer demands at large—slightly down, but I would say given these tough economic times, they’re meeting our expectations at this point. The business and brand momentum are stronger than ever. We’re getting inquiries to do partnership agreements and collaborations with some fantastic partners. I wish I could tell you who they were, but they’re not signed yet, so I can’t.

What brands are you influenced by from a design perspective?
The company takes a strong hand in designs from mid-century furniture designers and fabric designers, for example: Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Gerard, Mary Blair, Frank Lloyd Wright. Andy Warhol has a huge influence on the way that we approach our creative design.

What is a piece of entrepreneurial advice that you would give to anyone who reads this with one good idea?
I think that success doesn’t happen overnight, and for us, it’s been approaching our business as a process. A lot of times it’s a very taxing and difficult process, and there’s a lot more adversity than I think people realize. Perseverance is important; taking small steps towards your goal. At the end of the day, probably the biggest thing is that you have to find your passion. You have to be motivated by your passion and you have to love what you do, I believe, to ultimately be successful.

Do you have a super green Costa Mesa office?
We’re in a constant state of working on becoming a paperless company. We do have skylights, so most of the day our lights are off in the building. Certainly we invite the ability to recycle here. Those are first steps and it’s certainly something that we’re being mindful of. Our green Winnebago has been on Adrian Grenier’s show, Alter Eco, on the Discovery Channel.

Where are you favorite spots?
There’s a little joint in my town of Corona del Mar. My wife and I like to walk instead of taking our car, and it’s within walking distance of our house. It’s called The Bungalow. It’s very quaint, very small little haunt. Right next to that is a cool little bar called The Crow Bar. There’s also a place called A. Just the letter A. And it’s done by Mark McGrath and Mick G and one of the guys from Social Distortion. They redid the whole classic Chicago mafia steakhouse deal. It’s in Newport Beach and it’s really wonderfully done. Right next to A there’s A Market—think of a mini Dean & DeLuca—so it’s all handpicked foods, perfectly made coffee. Everything there has been sought out and brought to you.

Have you reconciled with Paul Frank himself, after he left the company?
I don’t know that there was so much of a reconciliation; I think that Paul is a truly creative artist and a free spirit, and I think that once the business began to become more a business and less about a creative endeavor, it frankly was a turnoff to him. There is no ill will between the parties, and I believe he is doing art direction and lots of good stuff for other brands out there. So ultimately he’s probably in a really good space creatively.

Has anything changed significantly at the company since his departure?
I think he laid the foundation for nearly the decade that he was at the company, so from core color palettes to the people that we’re inspired from, he really set that in motion and set that in stone, so any artist that comes on board will certainly take that creative lead and then build upon it and make sure that we’re being relevant to today’s market demands. So certainly his legacy is felt in every line that we do.

Expansion plans?
We’re really excited that we’re launching a line of pet products. We are also working on a shoe deal and getting Paul Frank Footwear out there. I think that could be a really logical place and a great product extension for our character and non-character portion of the brand to live on footwear. We’re continuing with children’s books, and we’re now looking into a handheld video game and other types of educational media for children.

Something that no one knows about you?
When I was younger I worked for Domino’s Pizza, and on occasion I was dressed in their “Noid” costume and danced on the street to attract business.