Leslie Woods: My Heritage

By Sachin Bhola

My Heritage is a series in which we introduce you to men, from barbers to bloggers, whose work is influencing male culture. While their work differs, there are a few threads that tie them together: how their heritage has shaped the men they are today and their amazing personal style -- in other words, things that can help all of us step up our game.   

Meet Leslie Woods, founder and creative director of What’s Really Good, an influential online magazine that covers the latest in style, travel, food, drinks and more – a cool guy’s guide to life if you will. We caught up with Woods to talk about the magazine’s evolution, his upbringing and how he wears his slacks.             

How did What’s Really Good begin?

Leslie Woods (LW): I started the magazine in 2004 just based on an idea that I had been sitting on for a while. I’ve always been a fan of print and I put this out while in university…there wasn’t blogs or anything. Back then, the internet was so young compared to what it is today that there wasn’t an outlet…there weren’t things like Hypebeast and Uncrate and, like, cool-guy websites. That’s kind of how we got started: digging around and searching for things and sharing them with friends through email, and it expanded to having more people wanting to be on this email thread. It expanded from there to a proper newsletter.

How was it tied to you personally?

LW: It was based on my interests, which were super eclectic. We were in Montreal, that’s where our audience was, and it was movies that were coming out, music as well as the fashion side of things -- very streetwear. So Nikes and limited-edition European and Japanese fashion lines -- a lot of denim and sneakers. My interests broadened into a variety of things, like music. I started to dj…and traveling a lot, and came to my passion for sharing my interests, and it expanded from being this local focus into being more international in terms of the accessibility of the content. The internet really opened that up for us.    

From there, we changed our mandate from being a blog to what I wanted it to be from day one, which is a magazine online. And then it expanded into to working with companies on their marketing in general, so from a consulting capacity to helping them with PR -- helping them get in touch with the market that we have, which is a young professional, millennial man.

Talk to me about your heritage. How has it made you the man you are today?
LW: My family has always taught me that anything is possible. As a kid growing up, I was always exposed to a variety of cultures; my family is multicultural. Having an emphasis with them on traveling and exploring and experimenting and tasting new foods…And having two parents that were very entrepreneurial in spirit, and really driving to expose me and my sister to cultures, and having friends of a variety of backgrounds…that really helped shape who I’ve become. No fear of failure, and that’s really shaped my decisions.

Describe your personal style.

LW: My personal style, I would say, is very casual. Wearing so many hats in my job right now -- working in the office to running around to meetings -- you never know what to expect on any given day, so I want to make sure that my wardrobe is flexible.

What was the last thing you bought wardrobe-wise?

LW: The last thing I bought -- good question. The last thing I bought was a pair of Dr. Martens. Brogue, low-tops.

What’s one item in your wardrobe that you can’t live without?

LW: I have a Wings And Horns jacket. It’s a military-inspired coat. I saw it on the rack in a boutique when I was traveling; I was devastated that they didn’t have my size. Then I found it miraculously at Holt Renfrew and it was a good purchase. And I’ve had it for 8 years.

How do you wear your slacks?

LW: Generally, I roll the cuffs up. I love color slacks now. For the past couple of seasons I’ve been just brightening it up and wear it typically with a white button-down, and depending on the shoes I have I might roll the cuffs up.