Miranda West x David Hieatt

Miranda West is the Publisher and Founder of The Do Book Co.

From her offices in London her company has published over 35 books and in so doing the team at Do Books have succeeded in creating, from scratch, a publishing company with deep credibility and a truly unique reach.

Here Miranda talks about her mentor, the co-founder of Hiut Denim and The Do Lectures, David Hieatt.

When I started Do Books, I remember being quite vocal about the fact that I knew how to publish a book but didn’t know anything about running a business. That was part of the challenge and I embraced it. I read about setting up a company – from founders sharing their own experiences to all the rules and regulations via the government website. It quickly became clear that this was a substantial undertaking and came with a huge amount of responsibility – and that’s before I got anywhere near taking on staff and launching products. 

At the heart of the company is an agreement with the Hieatts, David and Clare. I license the ‘Do’ name from them for book publishing. But there is also an enormous amount of trust.

“Based on nothing more than a few meetings, they entrusted their brand to me – knowing that I had everything to learn about running a business – and let me get on with it.”

At the time, they were setting up a new business of their own, Hiut Denim, so had more than enough on their plate. Regardless, I knew that for this to work, I was going to have to put in the hours and teach myself, rather than go running to them every time I encountered an obstacle or didn’t understand the tax system. 

David recommended I read a book called The Republic of Tea: How an Idea Becomes a Business. Mel and Patricia Ziegler, co-founders of Banana Republic, form a new partnership with Bill Rosenzweig and move into the as-yet-untapped speciality tea market. Mel had just sold Banana Republic and soon slipped into the role of mentor to Bill. The book is structured around an exchange of faxes charting the birth and early stages of this fledgling company – the product, strategy, and importantly, the creative exchanges around refining the concept and the ‘why’ – the company’s core purpose. It was the perfect read. Not only did it resonate with what we were doing – and the stage we were at – but it was hugely informative. 

More recently, I experienced a post-2020 slight existential crisis around the company and its future direction. Probably this has been the case for most founders who found themselves grabbing the wheel and navigating their small (and large) businesses through the choppy waters. I mentioned this during one of our calls. Rather than try and talk me into or out of anything, he suggested getting myself a bottle of wine and writing a new five-year plan.

“The key thing was for me to continue doing what excited me.”

This approach has held true throughout our almost 10 year working relationship. A well-chosen book, a considered comment, a balanced opinion, a subtle steer. I rarely give David problems to solve, although I appreciate that can be the role of some mentors. I might ask his opinion, run something past him or, if I’m having a hard timing deciding, ask him to choose one of three subtitles (he’ll come up with a fourth). He’s not my business advisor, a member of the board, or even a colleague. But he will always return my call within the hour; listen as I relay a difficult exchange or tricky situation; provide encouragement. And a particular speciality, come up with something I’d have never thought of myself. Oh and I’m pretty sure he’s got my back.