The Suit Designer and CEO

04/20/20 • 54 min

What do DJ Khaled, Manny Pacquiao, and Carmelo Anthony have in common? More money than you? Yes, that's correct. But not what we had in mind. What we had in mind was: they all have custom suits designed by Mr. Ton Chookhare. He’s a recovering management consultant, a business school buddy of Onnie’s, and - contrary to all evidence or reason - a lifelong New York Knicks fan.

More relevant to our purposes today, Ton is also the founder and CEO of Chookhare & Sons, a custom menswear company with showrooms across the country. It’s a safe bet he’d rather burn our combined wardrobes than be caught wearing any of it in public, but that didn’t stop him from sitting down with us to talk about starting his business, finding his passion, and fulfilling his grandfather's legacy. He also doles out some solid advice on what to do if/when you find yourself backstage with DJ Khaled and he starts asking you about your startup. Enjoy!

Chookhare & Sons on the web | on Instagram | on Facebook
Ton on Instagram | on LinkedIn

Chookhare & Sons on the web | on Instagram | on Facebook
Ton on Instagram | on LinkedIn

Previous Episode

The COVID Episode

When you have the gall to launch a podcast about “meaningful work” in the middle of a global catastrophe that will radically alter our lives for years to come (if not irrevocably), well...it feels like you should at least take a minute to acknowledge that, yes, you’ve seen the news. So that’s what we’re doing today.

We started working on this podcast in November 2019. In the months since then, we recorded interviews with more than a dozen people. All of this happened BEFORE the world stopped turning and we all got sent home with a doctor’s note. When we started talking to folks about their jobs and their dreams, the unemployment rate was at an all time low (around 3%). It is now at an all time high with +20 MILLION people filing for unemployment in the last month alone. When we started this podcast, we were riding the longest and most lucrative bull economy the nation had ever seen. We now appear to be headed toward one of the deepest recessions we’ve ever imagined.

These realities have forced us to ask ourselves some questions. Namely: is this podcast even relevant anymore? Isn’t any job better than “no job?” And - if so - what does this podcast have to say to the millions upon millions of Americans who have lost their livelihoods (not to mention dozens of thousands who have lost their lives) in the past six weeks? Is now even the right time to be having this conversation?

Not sure we arrive at clear answers to all of those questions. But we try our best. Back next week with our next interview. But for now... #BackToWork

Next Episode

The Mountain Guide

There’s nothing business leaders love more than a good mountain metaphor. They’ll tell you that the life of any company involves “peaks and valleys.” They’ll tell you the rest of the year is going to be a real “uphill climb.” They’ll find a way to work “summit” into the name of their annual conference.

But today, rather than hearing some stuffy exec tell us about the “mountaintop experience” he had at a Tony Robbins seminar last fall, we thought we’d talk to someone who actually climbs mountains for a living. Jess Matthews, Lead Guide for RMI Expeditions and the veteran of 100s of summits in Washington, Alaska, and around the world, joins The Dream Job to talk about how she’s 10x more badass than you in every possible way. Our words, not hers. (But if you're really being honest with herself...probably your words too.)

She talks about working up the courage to leave her “old life” and pursue a crazy career in climbing. She talks about the centrality of things like sacrifice and service in her work. And she shares tips on what to do when you find yourself on a mountain with microwave-sized chunks of ice flying down the hill in your direction. Hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did!