Man who launched Kinko’s tells students law is art
—By Lori Craig
In his 30 years as the head of Kinko’s, Paul Orfalea hated spending time in the store.
He’s an idea man.
“My job was not to be burdened,” Orfalea told USC Law students during the Sept 23 installment of Conversations with the Dean. “My job was to be free to see what was going on, be in the moment, and see opportunity.”
Orfalea, who launched Kinko’s after graduating from the USC Marshall School of Business, shared his wise business advice with Dean Robert K. Rasmussen and a packed audience of 150 students.
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| Paul Orfalea, right, founder of Kinko's, spoke with Dean Robert K. Rasmussen, left, at the "Conversations with the Dean" event Sept. 23 |
Orfalea said he came up with the idea for Kinko’s after seeing a successful copy business in operation at USC while he was a student here. He figured he could do the same thing near the campus of University of California, Santa Barbara.
“There is so much success in this world,” Orfalea said. “If you always are looking at how something works and how something works well, I think you will make more money.”
With a $5,000 loan, a single copy machine, and a store front so small the copier had to be operated on the sidewalk, Orfalea launched his business. Knowing that college students would need essentials like pens and notebooks, he opened his store with plenty in stock. The customers came and money poured in.
Today, the company, now FedEx Office, has 1,700 stores worldwide and more than 23,000 employees.
Not bad for a self-professed hyperactive dyslexic who can’t read well, can’t sit still and graduated high school with “a solid D-average.”
Orfalea says much of his company’s success is rooted in good managers and happy employees, he said. After all, a boss will spend most of his or her time managing the bottom 10 percent.
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| More than 150 students, faculty and staff attended the lunchtime event |
These days, the retired Orfalea spends much more time sleeping at night and during the day runs the Orfalea Foundations with his wife, Natalie.
“I believe in good deeds while you’re alive,” he said. “We’re going to try to spend all of the money we have, because too many organizations become self-serving.”
The Foundations’ main focus: single mothers and the children they raise. Orfalea focuses on supporting nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to childcare, education – including nutrition in schools – and critical community needs.
The Orfalea Foundations also have been a generous supporter of USC schools, including USC Law, and earlier this year awarded a grant to the Office of Public Service and Small Business Clinic. The Foundations has also bolstered its support of the Clinton-Orfalea Fellowship Program. Established in 2006, the program awards several one-year post-graduate fellowships for high-achieving USC graduates with a demonstrated commitment to practical social action and the desire to pursue long-term careers in public service roles in business, government, the nonprofit sector or governmental organizations.
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| Orfalea, center, with students from the USC Small |
“I think the law is probably the highest form of human art,” Orfalea said. “What I know about the law is the ambiguity of the law. It’s a cool art form, like looking at an impressionist painting.
“As a lawyer, you’re managing emotions. You’re managing your own emotions and your client’s emotions.”
Orfalea said he appreciates a direct approach and needs lawyers who know how to assess probabilities: He needs to know his chances of winning a case.
“I don’t deal with lawyers who don’t know how to do percentages,” he said.
Lawyers also need to understand accounting, as “it’s all about the money,” he said.
Outside the office, though, Orfalea said it’s best to maintain a healthy work/life balance to keep things in perspective.
“You’ve got to let your soul catch up with your body,” he said. “Take time for yourself. You’re going to pass your silly little bar exam.”
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