A winter warmer that went viral
The 40 Under 40 Entrepreneurial Award went to David Fogarty, CEO The Davie Group, for his work in making fleece hoodie blankets the must-have accessory for people across the world to snuggle into.
The 40 Under 40 Entrepreneurial Award was presented by William Buck to David Fogarty, CEO The Davie Group and maker of the Oodie.
He’s a 27-year-old university dropout who, after failing at many business ventures, started The Oodie and Calming Blankets in 2018 and, as they say, the rest is history.
With The Oodie becoming a “lockdown essential”, Fogarty has since started and acquired new brands to build The Davie Group, which he said has done over $400 million in sales.
“Our group of brands saw growth during the pandemic, and we are now hoping to further grow the brands as well as my personal brand, where I share entrepreneurial knowledge and tips with my social media audience,” Fogarty said.
The successful business earned him the Entrepreneurial Award presented by William Buck, Adelaide’s largest locally owned and operated accounting and advisory firm. The award recognises an outstanding lateral business thinker and risk-taker exhibiting entrepreneurial flair.
As with any business, there have also been challenges.
Fogarty said the biggest setback came with the recent IOS14.5 changes, which dramatically dropped performance for the smaller brands under The Davie Group umbrella.
“The main thing we did to overcome this setback was to come together as a group and evaluate where our focus needed to be,” Fogarty said.
“We are focussing on our core Oodie products and refining our content efficiency on the platforms.”
Fogarty said he tries to give back to the community as best he can.
“We actively encourage everyone in our office to get involved in regular donation drives for local charities and causes, as well as donating stock to animal shelters, refuges, charity partners and local sporting clubs and organisations to use in auctions for fundraisers,” he said.
“We also offer our staff paid volunteering days, as we believe this encourages them to get out and help the community.”
Running successful startups doesn’t come without some study and learning and Fogarty said his go-to books are Lean Startup, Good to Great and High Management Output.
Fogarty now joins the 200 alumni of South Australia’s 40 Under 40, a leadership network that is gaining influence across the state.
