Getting to know... John Stubbs

In the latest instalment of Bdaily's Getting to know feature, which looks at the person behind the business profile, John Stubbs, founder and chief executive of paint brand YesColours, talks about his love for design, the value of team work and the joy of seeing his scale-up thrive alongside a university friend...

Did you always want to work in paints and design? 

I've always been obsessed with design and the many forms it can take.

I've had quite a varied career, but I always wanted to work on the most creative projects I could in the job roles I had (which were mostly as a project manager or director for brand, marketing, product or interior design).

The nuance with my design knowledge is that I'm not a ‘trained’ designer per se; I've learned everything I know on the job, as I didn't go to art school or a design college.

My love for design has remained quite fresh because I didn't go down the academic route, and I've naturally come across new challenges, or the need to learn or upskill as my career has progressed.

I think that has kept my eyes and ears open to new design directions, trends or challenges.

On the paint side, this was an unexpected turn, but I see paint as another medium for design to flow through.

The impact of colour and thoughtful design is key to our thinking at YesColours.

Paints are just the medium by which we help deliver this vision.

What’s the best bit about your job? And the worst? 

The best parts are so multiple.

I love building the team we have at YesColours, which is full of energetic members with great knowledge in their areas of expertise.

Getting everyone aligned to our vision has been a relatively easy task as we're so focused on the work.

Coming up with innovative solutions to problems the industry has faced for decades, or ideating with the team on our latest product developments and helping brands or clients meet some of their design challenges is a real joy too.

In terms of the worst, we are a start-up, so for anyone who's been through the start-up journey, what a gruelling time it can be sometimes.

It's the hardest thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement? 

Launching YesColours.

Looking back, it's unbelievable how far we have come from four years ago, when this was just an idea in my head and a start-up loan in the bank account.

The fact I've managed to do this with one of my best mates from university – Emma – and retain that friendship through thick and thin, while building this wildly creative and innovative business, speaks volumes for our brand, but also our resilience and belief in what we are doing as a company.

As a brand, we’ve had some fantastic achievements of late.

Securing B-Corp certification this year was a particular highlight, reinforcing the work we’ve been doing over the past four years to reduce the amount of paint ending up in landfill and spotlighting our innovative pouches.

Similarly, we’ve expanded our trade arm with the launch of the YesColours studio, helping to bring our feel-good shades to projects across a range of sectors.

How do you relax outside of work? 

Cooking and travel (when I can).

Those are my other two passions, carefully balanced between work demands and family.

What makes the South such a great place to live and work? 

London is still the granddaddy when it comes to networking.

The opportunities here are incredible for new businesses to thrive – whether that's winning new clients, projects, investors or potential collaborative partners.

There are so many exciting things going on, which would be harder to find elsewhere.

Tell us something about you we didn’t know… 

I'm normally quite a closed book, so these kinds of questions are hard for me to answer!

I've recently become very engrossed in reading and listening to podcasts about ancient archaeology.

I'd recommend taking a listen, it's definitely given me a new perspective on human history and life as we know it.

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