If I knew then: Jamie Breese

A Bristol-based television presenter and writer, Jamie Breese has worked on a number of series, including ITV’s Everything Must Go! And The Antiques Show on the BBC. His last series, Auction Kings, is on the Discovery Channel.

He also writes the Antiques Column in the Sunday Mirror, runs the networking event Only Connect and organises the biannual Business Showcase South West (BSSW) exhibition which takes place in May and October at Bristol’s Ashton Gate Stadium.

How did you start out in business?

I started off helping my father and stepmother at their antiques stand at London’s Portobello Road market. That’s where I got my passion for art and antiques. When I was 16 or 17, I ran my own stall at Camden Stables Market and continued to do that whilst I did my art degree at UWE Bristol.

If you knew then what you know now, what mistakes might you have avoided? 

I would have spent less time waiting for commissions for TV series ideas I’d had, or invites to present other shows, and more time learning about how to develop a business.

What advice would you have given yourself when starting out?

To always keep in mind my friend Tony Gordon’s advice: ‘Fortune favours the brave’. I would also like to have decided to take on a mentor much earlier-on. It can be transformative. I think even the most successful people – from sporting icons to business leaders – often have coaches.

If you knew then what you know now, would you still be sitting there?

Yes – I think so. I chance that my business success would’ve been far greater. I had the passion and commitment, but maybe not the experience. I’ve done lots of different things in my various careers, but I think that focusing on my primary enterprise can probably yield greater results.

What do you know now that you didn’t know then?

The intricacies of running a business. I think education is fantastic, but nothing beats real-world, in-the-trenches business experience. If I could wind back the clock, I would definitely have taken a job at McDonalds and aimed to be a supervisor. Whatever you think of the company, if you can help run the floor of a busy outlet, you will be a great manager, people-person and pick-up some superb experience in business, I would imagine.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received so far?

My agent, John Miles MBE, is very successful and I learnt to listen to some of his wise words: that, when all is said and done, the real measure of success is how happy you are, not how much you earn.

What is your business highlight?

I think it would be our sixth Business Showcase South West. It finally felt that, after four or five years of heavy graft, it had finally come together. We had Facebook fly over to give their first keynote speech in the South West, Google did workshops and we had over 220 exhibition stands and more than 5,500 attendees.

What is your business low point?

I think realising that, though I had won some awards, and made some good films, I was not, at that time anyway, ready to become a fully professional motion picture writer/director.

What keeps you awake?

I think it has been about doing a good job. Yoda was spot on when he shared his famous dictum in The Empire Strikes Back: “Don’t Try Do”. I do believe that you really need to put your absolute heart and soul into any venture you embark on.

What’s changed from when you started out?

I have become more business-focussed I would say. My good friend Mark, an incredibly successful business man, invested in my business a few years ago. With that, you get a degree of mentorship and support in many ways.

What’s still on your to-do list?

I want to make a full-length motion picture. I once spent nearly two years, full time, making a 17-minute short film. I would probably make it in Bristol and utilise the thousands of contacts I have made in business to get the thing away.

What’s next for BSSW and/or you personally?

Ensuring that the 2018 showcase events are also sold out and somehow – I think it’ll happen – be even bigger and better than the last two in 2017.

Read more If I knew then: Paul Watts-Barnes