Day in the life: Wolves & Lion sales director is real undercover agent

How a friendship took sales director Michel Brouillet's career from the real estate business to the men's underwear retailer Wolves & Lions.

Michel Brouillet was an estate agent before joining Wolves & Lions as sales director in January. Satish Kumar / The National

Canadian Michel Brouillet, 36, grew up in Dubai and returned there 11 years ago. A former estate agent, he joined the new, Emirati-founded, men’s underwear business Wolves & Lions as the sales director in January.

6am

My day starts bright and early when I get woken by our two Yorkipoo dogs, Pepper and Truffles. After walking and feeding the dogs, I go to the gym. Since starting at Wolves & Lions, I have focused on getting more active.

7.30am

I wash up, get dressed and eat a good breakfast with my wife Kerry. We recently got married, in Marmaris in Turkey, and are trying to be as healthy as possible now, so we can pass on our habits to our kids when we have them.

8.30am

I arrive at our office in Deira to review the previous day’s sales and check stock status and customer inquiries. I also pop my head in the warehouse to make sure deliveries are ready to go out.

10am

I meet the sales team for one-on-ones. It’s important to speak to everyone in the team each week to get client feedback. As we have so many different T-shirt cuts and boxer short styles, I want to know what items are in highest demand and whether there are any special requests. The sales team take a bag full of products to do home visits on request. Sometimes we’ll get a group buying to get a family discount, and women are also a big part of our market. They’ll often buy for their sons and husbands – delivery is free and it saves them fighting for a parking spot at the mall.

11am

I dedicate an hour every day to finding ways to reach new customers, particularly the Middle East market. A key product we sell is a longer-length undershirt: one reason Mohamed Al Ali founded the business is that, as an Emirati wearing national dress, he struggled to find comfortable underwear to wear with a kandura. After he came up with Wolves & Lions, he brought me in to have a look around – I ended up buying half a dozen pieces. I got on board shortly afterwards.

Noon

I like to meet our CEO, Mohamed, for lunch at least three times a week. We go through orders, sales and what’s going on in the market but we’re also big foodies. Mohamed and I have been friends for years – 10 years ago, we went backpacking around Europe for three months after a photo shoot in Slovakia for his family’s fashion business, Prestige Trading, which is the parent company of Wolves & Lions.

2pm

I head over to our Business Bay office for the afternoon. I’m still learning about the business, so I spend time doing research to understand the different cuts and fabrics. I talk to a lot of men – for instance, a helicopter pilot was telling me about the special underwear they have, as they spend eight hours sweating in the cockpit. We introduce new ranges every six months and it takes up to a year to bring in a new product because of the size, colour and fabric testing we do.

3pm

I meet one of our corporate clients or partners, perhaps a fitness club or a company that will give us a space to display our underwear range. For instance we’ve had a booth in the lobby of the Roads and Transport Authority, with special rates for staff.

6.30pm

Being newly married, I try to get home at a decent hour, although I could easily stay until 10pm. My commute is just 20 minutes from Business Bay back to Tecom. I check in with my family on the way home. My parents, sister and my twin brother live in Dubai too. I’ve got both my dad and brother into Wolves & Lions – my dad rides motorbikes all day, and our undershirts are good at absorbing sweat.

7pm

When I get home I take a walk with Kerry and the pups around the lakes in the Greens.

8pm

After our family walk, I get a bit more work done (at the moment I'm going through CVs as we're hiring more sales staff) while Kerry prepares dinner. She works in the hospitality industry and is an amazing chef. We normally watch a bit of TV: we're really hooked on Suits and Game of Thrones right now.

10.30pm

I fit in one final walk for the dogs. Yes, they are spoiled. When we get home, we tend to read and chat in bed for a while before sleeping. My wife loves to do that – and a happy wife makes for a happy life.

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