Written by: Dr. Nilesh Satguru, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Tom Ross went from being a shy teenager to the successful CEO of Design Cuts and an avid community builder. He’s recorded over 400 podcast episodes, had millions of downloads and built a community of 750,000 people.
Above all, Tom brings true humility and grace to the world of entrepreneurship. I enjoy writing about compassionate change-makers ‒ people taking action motivated by love but with focus and Tom aligns perfectly with this definition.
You can watch the full interview on @drsatguru’s Instagram page (interview aired on 12.1.22).
1. What’s most exciting about your upcoming projects?
Design Cuts is in a growing phase so it’s all hands on deck! Learn.community, which is my private community for community builders, is growing rapidly too. Just before speaking with you, I’ve been video responding to all our new members. I absolutely love this aspect of the community ‒ I feel so passionately about connecting with people.
I want to take these projects to the moon. Your energy can ebb and flow as an entrepreneur but, currently, I’m feeling very driven and motivated.
2. I’m very passionate about motivation. Many of us can fall into the trap of extrinsic motivation but you seem intrinsically motivated. It seems you are driven by service, autonomy and mastery ‒ where do you think that came from Tom?
I believe we all have it within us. There was this great case study on lawyers where they were asked to set legal fees at a discounted rate versus pro bono. The uptake was significantly higher in the pro bono group. This shows when you attribute a monetary value to the work, it was less motivating.
“We can all tune into our intrinsic motivation for service.”
When I was much younger, I was in forums making friends, connecting with people and always trying to help. 10 years ago, I remember sharing marketing advice with members in a forum. One of the members started to implement the advice and that resulted in him being able to make the mortgage payments on his house! I didn’t get any money from that, but that didn’t matter, I was so energised from the feeling of helping others.
It’s the stories that light me up ‒ we’ve had community builders with £2k and £3k launches, some have overcome mental health struggles and others have released mindset blocks to launch something they’re proud of.
This is what intrinsically motivates me.
“I get such a rush of endorphins from the depths of my soul; it’s true happiness when I help others.”
3. That is so beautiful. What you are referring to is the helpers high, right? It feels joyful and rewarding to help others and science backs this up. Tom, you’ve coded HTML, you’ve set up Design Cuts, what’s the story behind you delving into the world of thought leadership and community?
The larger my company becomes, the less hands-on I am required to be, and I enjoy being hands-on.
Now I am no longer managing all the staff at Design Cuts, I am managing the managers. I love that work and find it fulfilling.
However, I love entrepreneurship. I love helping people 1 on 1. I love building projects from nothing.
“I love entrepreneurship not for the accolades, but for the pure creation of it.”
You could have an idea and, if you execute it right, it could change the world, or at least change some people’s world. I think that’s incredible.
Da Vinci had a blank canvas and turned it into the Mona Lisa; not every painting is going to be a Mona Lisa or every business is going to be Apple. However, the fact that your idea could change the world is a possibility that is mind-blowing to me.
We are a small company at Design Cuts ‒ 20 staff, but we reach millions and we change people’s lives. Some of the suppliers we use have been able to put their kids through college due to our growth!
The amazing thing about these results is that they all started with an idea; this is what I love about entrepreneurship. It’s also why I love starting new projects.
4. Fantastic Tom. What I love about those stories is that you remain connected to the end-users, which is not easy to do. Did you consciously choose to stay so connected to your community or was it something that unravelled naturally?
I always loved people and community ‒ I built communities as a hobby growing up.
Then, I realised I needed to learn online marketing if I wanted to build a successful business.
“I used the marketing strategies I learnt, which worked, but it felt hollow. It was devoid of meaning. I had millions of visitors to my blog, but it wasn’t a community. It wasn’t sustainable.”
I sought mentorship and these mentors were an incredible help. They confirmed what I knew ‒ business is about community and the people.
The only problem was I had not brought the two ideas together ‒ community and product-market fit. Once we gelled these concepts together that is when Design Cuts took off like a rocket.
We don’t do everything right ‒ we make tons of mistakes. We walked the unconventional path at Design Cuts.
The classical business model is that you have an idea, obtain millions in funding and, with it, build an e-commerce beast. We did it bootstrapped. At launch, I was the only full-time employee and I made best friends with our first 300 customers by jumping on 1 on 1 call. We learnt about each other’s families and I deeply listened to their feedback.
It was not the typical path, but it was fun!
5. Jumping on 1 on 1 call with 300 people is no mean feat! Was connection something that you were skilled at when you were young or was it something learnt more recently?
I feel often these skills lie innately within us but, through reading and learning, they become confirmed.
One of the key books that shaped the way I think was “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vee. The book is about how social media is causing us to lose that personal touch in business. Gary Vee suggests:
“The way to win in this modern age is to adopt the mindset of the old school shop owner. Where the shop owner would know about the customer's families and their preferences. Even in our social media world, people crave connection.”
6. What does an authentic community do differently compared to an inauthentic community?
Something I’ve come to realise is that community is not about you being in the spotlight and holding the attention.
“Community is realising the power comes from the collective and not YOU.”
If you are continuously pushing your agenda, that is not a community, it’s a dictatorship. It’s important to lift others in the community and ensure everyone is heard. Structure the community so it empowers the group.
“Your job as a community leader is to be a good party host, not a celebrity or public speaker.”
You need to set the mood, make sure people are having a good time and ensure people are not leaving. But you don’t want to be the person at the party shouting and getting too drunk.
7. Tom, you are so open and honest about your mistakes. What would you say are your top 3 to 5 lessons that you’ve learnt from community building?
Well, I’m staring at one of them right here in front of me.
“Be kind, be quiet.” (Tom held up a sign reading these words).
I recently asked one of the teams about my weaknesses ‒ he so kindly made me aware that sometimes I can be abrupt in my messages and I have a tendency to hog the mic in meetings. So, I’ve learnt an important lesson to be kinder and quieter! When I put this into practice I often see my team members coming up with the same ideas I was about to voice or better!
8. I notice you have been posting your consistency with your gym routines. How do you remain consistent?
I think, like everyone else, I struggle with consistency. However, recently I’m on a gym streak of 140 plus days. I’m flabbergasted by that. Even though I know all of the health benefits of movement, in the past I still found reasons not to train!
The only tip I can share is that I am much more consistent when I’m accountable to someone else. I find it easier to be consistent in the workplace because I have a team and I do not want to let them down. When it comes to me, I tend to be a little more inconsistent.
What I learnt from James Clear has been so helpful ‒ make it achievable and small until it becomes consistent.
9. What’s the legacy Tom Ross would like to leave in the community space?
“Community at its core can be very high impact.”
Where community gets really interesting is when you compound the effects. The ripple effect is insane when you think about it. I have a member in our community who has 3000 members in his videography community. When you start to think about how that will affect their families and friends, it’s incredibly exciting.
I hope to change millions of lives but not through just myself but the collective.
“The purpose of life is for the world to be a better place when you leave it than when you came to it.”
Community is the future but it’s also a hot topic. It’s not right for everyone to start a community. It’s essential people ensure they have the resources to start a community as, without the right training, the community can easily fail and leave people disheartened.
“I don’t want loads of people to start communities, I want people to start successful communities.”
“Realise the power of community but make sure it is a good fit for you.”
If you are someone who is looking to build an authentic community then start the learning by following @tomross on Instagram or find details about how to build a successful community through his website.
Dr. Nilesh Satguru, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Nilesh is a certified high-performance coach, speaker and lifestyle medicine doctor. His mission is to inspire a community to Believe In Growth. After witnessing his father’s illnesses, his son's developmental challenges and resigning from a medical partnership, Nilesh dedicated himself to self-mastery to serve others.
With his coaching business, Nilesh helps entrepreneurs and executives perform at their best so they can create exceptional lives and serve their community.
In the world of medicine, Nilesh is a four-time award-winning medical teacher, a director for the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine, a lecturer at Southampton University, and he sits on the UK's national sleep steering committee.
Nilesh's aims to spread a message of compassion, openness, challenge and growth through all his endeavours.
