Balancing the Grind with Adam Baodunnov, Director, Investor & Founder of Local Threads

Adam Baodunnov is the Director, Investor and Founder of Local Threads, the largest ethical fashion marketplace with Australia’s best independent brands.

1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?

I’m an Uyghur multi-cultural and language serial entrepreneur as well as an investor. After leaving Samsung China as the youngest manager in 2013, I started 5 different projects in China and Turkey and successfully exited 3 of them. I started 2 projects after migrating to Australia including the Local Threads.

I have invested in many different projects, but mostly big data and AI involved. I have a great passion for data, I enjoy reading data and trying to understand the success long before it comes through understanding the truth behind the data. My last overseas project was one of the largest media platforms in Turkey called Gundem, and we had over 25m users in Turkey and Germany.

We had 1.8 million daily active users, and 36 minutes of duration time for users on our platform, and more than 100 million pieces of content were distributed via that platform back then. Nearly two third of Turkish people have used our application and loved our service.

Local Threads is my second startup project in Australia, and I have persuaded Chris Yong, whom I knew when we were both volunteering in a non-profit organisation, to join me as my business partner.

Now we are working towards making Local Threads the largest e-commerce platform for local ethical and sustainable fashion brands globally. And now I oversee the development of the company’s vision via data and fundraising.

2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?

As Director of Local Threads, I need to make sure that we have enough resources (funds and right talents) to support the entire business development and operation.

My daily jobs are three

1. Company vision development: Who are we as Local Threads? Where we want to be in the next 6-12 months. And why and how are we going to be successful? Those are the questions that I need to answer endlessly. So I can have a clear vision for the company’s future. And can clearly communicate with our current investors and future investors.
2. Go over data to make sure the development and operation are on the right trajectory. This involves lots of google analysis, google ads, Facebook ads, and Shopify data reading and analysis.
3. Core team members assemble and make sure that their personal and career development needs are heard and properly arranged within the company along with the company’s growth.

3) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?

Work-life balancing can be challenging especially for new migrants like me, but it’s essential. In short, work-life balance is prioritising the demands of one’s career and the demands of one’s personal life.

To have a better work-life balance, I think we should understand our limits first and truly understand there is no perfect work-life balance. So accept who we are and adjust our work-life balance as it requires.

4) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?

Yes, I have reduced the frequency of listening to Chinese and Uyghur news and podcasts, instead, I increased the frequency of listening/reading English news and podcasts two years ago. So I can fully emerge myself in an English environment. So I can think, understand and communicate better in English. 

5) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?

Yes, I found Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind to be a great book to read. It makes me calm and focuses on my current life.

6) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?

It would be interesting to read Ruslan Kogan’s work-life balance interview.

7) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?

I think work is a solution to have/support a life that you want and design for yourself, Not the other way around.

Before you go…

If you’d like to sponsor or advertise with Balance the Grind, let’s talk here