Welcome to My Net Worth, our regular column on the lives and motivations of our country’s top business, legal and political people, in their own words
Chris Dobbs founded menswear company Working Style 35 years ago with his brother Tim. He was 21, and held a commerce degree from Massey University. Back then, the business was a family affair. His mother was roped in as a seamstress and, working out of a factory garage in Marton, they started essentially as street merchants, hawking handmade shirts to mates and door to door. Working Style has just opened its third Auckland store, in Takapuna, and now employs 36 staff across seven outlets.
I grew up in Marton, a small town between Whanganui and Palmerston North. It was an idyllic place to be a kid, and my brother and sister shared in a wonderfully close family life with my mother Marie and father Tony.
Dad travelled overseas for work for extended periods so mum was the glue that kept the family together and looked after us all. All of us had to work during the holidays in the factory where dad worked, so a strong work ethic was instilled at an early age.
Mum was an accomplished home sewer. She would sew for people to help pay boarding-school fees and other expenses, so I guess she was a significant factor in the start of Working Style. 
Chris Dobbs (right) makes his first cash sale to Trevor Pye. (Image: Supplied)
After completing Massey, I worked in the money markets, which was the thing to do at the time. It was 1987 and the markets were a fast way to make a buck. I was rubbish, and quickly found myself unemployed.
I had just secured a flat and had mounting bills to pay. I was in the big smoke and was fast running out of money, and at this point I had a brilliant idea – call mum!
I knew she would know how to make the clothes that the city was wearing and, sure enough, we had a prototype shirt made in no time, sold to the nearest and highest bidder, a university mate, in the flat I was living in.
Pretty soon we started a multi-level marketing scheme where university friends sold to other friends. This developed, and within months we were making and selling 100 shirts a week, every week.
We set up a co-operative factory in Marton, in a Skyline garage, with mum helping me get on top of running this small empire that we call our business today.
A lot of the firm’s ongoing success, however, comes down to a wonderful group of core staff who have been with the company for decades. This group drives the company and what we stand for, and they are the biggest influence on me and how we should do things.
We had a nice, small, intimate party of 800 of our friends and customers to celebrate 30 years in business back in 2017. That was five years ago, but our budget is a bit tighter this year!
Bros in business: Tim (left) and Chris Dobbs. (Image: Supplied) There is a widespread misunderstanding about what people are prepared to pay for quality and fashion. That goes well beyond an off-the-shelf product. We sell a service and luxury as a trusted local brand – and our customers are prepared to pay for that. Menswear is about evolution and womenswear is about revolution.
Style influences our life, and while this doesn’t change, the cuts and colours roll along. At the moment, we’re enjoying the return of a fuller cut across a number of garments. We’re also moving more into women’s fashion, and we’re looking into the launch of an activewear range, too – which seems like a natural move.
The pandemic was tough on the business. Mentally, it almost killed me, and I apologise unreservedly to my family and friends for how miserable I became. Our brand is built on a "made to measure" philosophy, so shutting our doors stitched us up good and proper.
In a sense, however, lockdown and the work-from-home theme have played in our favour, too. We’ve almost doubled comparable sales pre-covid, we’ve employed 17 new people in the past four months, and I think some of that is people getting back into a work setting, realising they are looking a bit "threadbare" and that it’s time to upgrade.
I'm a gym bunny, because I think remaining active is important for a positive work-life balance. But I'm not a body builder, by any means. We also subsidise a lot of gym subscriptions for our team, so that's one more area I don't have to worry about.
I’ve been very lucky to see most of the world while working and to meet wonderful people along the way. Travelling is hard work and I now no longer travel for work, although I manage to get away every other year or so to see something new.
We enjoy the NZ summer with family and friends at the beach catching seafood and experimenting with different preparation techniques, especially raw and chargrilled. This is as good as it gets for me. Travel is a distant second, but it’s certainly nice to get outside the country from time to time.
