S23 Ep10: 50 years in footwear — Dune’s founder & chairman Daniel Rubin shares his steps to success

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Society & Culture, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Business, Personal Journals

5.0 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, Dune Group’s founder and chairman, Daniel Rubin, joins Holly to explore a remarkable career spanning five decades. From his family’s shoemaking roots, to building one of Britain’s most recognisable footwear brands, Daniel reflects on what it truly takes to survive and thrive in an industry that never stops changing.

With his new memoir, Sole Survivor, Daniel shares the real lessons behind the highs, the crises and the inevitable mistakes that shaped him. He talks about sensing when to pivot, the art of holding your nerve in unpredictable markets and learning quickly when things go wrong — all while keeping a clear vision at the heart of the brand.

Wise, candid and full of hard-earned insight from a fifty year career, this episode is a masterclass in resilience, reinvention and the power of learning from every step along the way.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I think there is a need to rethink the high street because it's such an important part of
0:05.4	people's daily life. And the reality is that a lot of high streets are just falling apart.
0:09.8	And I think that is a huge shame. And I don't think the government have really got to grips
0:14.2	with how to deal with it. Today I'm sitting down with Daniel Rubin, who is the founder of June. It's one of our most
0:22.5	beloved shoe brands and he's been at it, yes, for 50 years. I mean, it's half a century. I mean,
0:31.6	he's basically a legend in British footwear and Daniel has just released his memoir, Soul Survivor, and it was fascinating
0:40.3	to talk to him. I reminded him, there weren't many like him out there. And I love the fact that
0:47.3	when you sit down with these founders, especially someone who has weathered decades' worth of
0:52.0	business, it actually just comes back to some of the fundamental truths
0:56.6	about the vision you have, the, I suppose, perseverance it takes, and then the ability to stand
1:04.7	the storms and the roller coaster of getting to where you believe a brand should exist.
1:14.2	You know, I think this is what was amazing about this conversation is 50 years of a journey,
1:20.5	doing something that's not easy to do, having a family legacy, the commitment to a dream that you start, how easy would it be to just jump
1:31.3	ship when things become too difficult and how hard it is to stay in the game, to keep evolving,
1:38.0	to keep changing, to keep moving? It's one of my favourite kind of founder stories, these,
1:43.5	ones that have evolved over decades of time
1:47.4	and shows you really what it means to be an entrepreneur. So make yourself a cup of tea,
1:53.7	enjoy that dog walk, and just enjoy.
1:56.8	Bow your head and let your eyelids close on down where we're going you won't need to bring your frown.
2:04.6	Hi, I'm Holly Tucker and welcome to my podcast Conversations of Inspiration. I've reached out to
2:11.6	founders and those who simply inspire me to share their hard-earned wisdom with you. My hope is that collectively, these remarkable
2:20.8	realisations will help you on your own journey. I like to think of it as inspiration for life.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Holly Tucker MBE, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Holly Tucker MBE and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.