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George Domestrel was an inventor and electrical engineer,

but when he wasn't in the factory or the lab,

he loved going hunting with his dog, Milker.

Now in 1941, whilst returning from the fields,

he noticed his trousers and dog had become covered in sticky mountain thistle seeds.

Shocked at how hard they were to remove, he took some home and inspected them under a microscope.

It was then that he saw the property that made these tenacious plants so hard to pull from milkers' fur,

the microscopic but strong hooks that coated the

surface of the seeds. George could see the potential application of nature's sticky seeds for

everyday use and thus set about replicating the tiny hooks to create something we all use today.

Velcro.

Nature wasn't just a big source of inspiration for George.

It also had a big impact on my guest for this week's episode of the decisions that made me.

My guest is Dana Dennis Smith, Chief Executive of Obelisk Support.

It's a legal services firm which essentially connects businesses with freelance lawyers when they need them. It is a long way from Velcro. I'm Evan Davis. This is a new mini-series

from the team behind the bottom line. We're looking at key moments or decisions that have affected

the careers of UK business leaders. And incidentally, to hear more stories like this, do stay subscribed

to the bottom line. And if you want to know when we publish an episode, hit the notifications

button on BBC Sounds and change your settings in the app. And that way, you'll get a message

every time we publish a new episode. If you're one of our podcast subscribers,

you'll have hopefully heard Dana's appearance on an episode of the bottom line about debt collection

...