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Entrepreneurs En Vogue | Conversations with Successful Millennial Women Entrepreneurs

ENTREPRENEURS EN VOGUE is a weekly podcast that gives a unique insight into the savvy secrets of successful female entrepreneurs of Gen Y. Each week this podcast will feature notable women innovators from around the world and across multiple industries talking about their entrepreneurial journey, their successes, their failures and other trends, happenings, and interesting things. These inspirational women have turned their lives around and stepped onto the path of success, fulfillment and financial independence. But for every woman that has succeeded in pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams, there are thousands who quietly are searching for that inspiration to move forward.
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Now displaying: August, 2016
Aug 30, 2016

Susie Moore serves as an advisor to anyone with potential, whether it be high growth startups or even you (she's a life and business coach). According to Moore, who has written for practically every publication you've ever heard of, there are two main ways to live your life. The first way is by default, or living passively. The second way - the way she lives and teaches her clients how to live - is living by design.

I think it's so important to think, "What is it that I really, really want?" and then, "How can I get there?"

So why is Moore a life coach if she can be whatever she wants? "I know that life coaching works." She's been in the same shoes as her clients time and time again, and she knows that her stories and experiences are proof that there's more to life than doing what's expected of you.

"I still have fear. I'm afraid all the time. I just kind of realized that my desires are more important than my fears." She faces the same [negative] judgment as everyone else, especially when she does something unconventional. "If you share your experiences, people are naturally going to be drawn to you because we're all humans; we all suffer. And if you can be open about what helped you, when you share that information, people will want more of it."

Better yet, Moore has mastered the art of reframing a problem into an opportunity. "The most important thing is to -- No. 1 -- really acknowledge that if you're feeling [any] struggle it's a very positive thing. It means that there's something percolating - like something brewing - something ready to be come to the universe through you. It's a very positive sign."

LISTEN to learn more about:

  • her new book What If It DOES Work Out?
  • the difference between selling and exchanging value
  • what Moore refers to as the competence-confidence loop
Aug 22, 2016

Have you ever had an idea that was so obscure - and brilliant - that the people with whom you’d dare to share it would either pretend they didn’t hear you or bluntly-yet-lovingly tell you it was ridiculous? For example, there’s this scene in the first episode of “Documentary Now!” in which Bill Hader’s character explains that she wears sweatpants on her head and wraps the pant legs around her neck for practicality - like a “built-in scarf.” 

If you're wondering which product I'm drawing a comparison to, I'll tell you: it's Foxers. Sure, they seem like common sense now, but even the creator's husband wasn't immediately on board with the idea when he first heard it. The creator, April Spring, had a moment in 2006, when she was at a restaurant with her husband. Before we get to the aftermath, here's some information on Spring: Spring, who comes from a finance background, has an entrepreneurial spirit. The "always working" mentality doesn't seem to bother her. She worked with NASDAQ for over a decade, doing financial PR at her own investment relations firm, until her husband was offered a job overseas, in Malaysia. It was in Malaysia, where she had the pivotal dinner that changed everything.  

“My thought was that men have always had the protection of the wider, comfortable cotton-gathered boxer band that gives coverage, and it's made of outerwear fabric.” 

She suggested making a female version of boxers, and being a true entrepreneur, Spring went from idea to prototype in 24 hours. 

Foxers Underwear
Photo Credit: Foxers.com

Foxers took off on its own, thanks to the quality of the product and the power of publicity. Wherever Spring went, she found an opportunity to advance. When her friend, a designer for department stores, came to visit her in Malaysia, she took him to tour the clothing factories. At the same time, she made connections for herself and ended up using them for Foxers. When she was visiting her friends in Chicago, she found a representative at who ended up placing Foxers in 74 stores within 90 days. While at the U.S. Patent and Trademark  office, a patent attorney was passing by and casually mentioned that her designs could be patented. She got her design patented in a year. If you're familiar with the process of getting a design patented, that length of time is rare. Not only that, but Spring’s product is so different that she received two U.S. patents for her designs.

When it comes to the product, itself, Foxers have become a staple in people’s wardrobes, beyond underwear. Yes, they’re comfortable. More importantly, they’re functional. And most importantlyespecially in today’s disappointingly intolerant society, they're for everyone. When Bustle puts them on the same list as Thinx, you know you’ve got a winner. Foxers started with 3 panties and now the brand has over 900 SKUS and 21 styles, with new looks coming out every month. Such new looks have inspirations that come to Spring in dreams, or when she's driving on the highway. All looks are of the same luxurious quality.

As for the success that doesn't just fall into place, Spring's business acumen more than makes up for that. "As an entrepreneur, you're always thinking about 'what's ahead of this, so that I can be there and be ready?'" But she sees herself as more than just an entrepreneur; she also sees herself as a designer, which comes with extra responsibilities. For example, Spring believes that "[research and development] has to be the designer's thing for her whole life." Because of this, she knows that her time is both valuable and limited. On top of that, the decisions that she makes within the company affect the amount of time she has to handle her direct responsibilities - as is true with anyone. In Spring's case, for example, while she does pay for advertising her and there, she relies more on publicity [that counts]. "It's funny - when you have paid advertising, you usually don't get much from it. It's the free publicity." However, publicity does come with its unforeseen consequences. "As soon as you get all this publicity, you just start getting tons of people wanting to take your time, and you lose track - really - of what you're supposed to be doing." That being said, Spring knows how to spend her time - and finances - strategically. 

When she had first launched, she had tackled the smaller markets in the southern and midwestern regions, but the west coast and the northeastern region were entirely different markets. In order to get her product into those mainstream channels, she knew she had to take some publicity risks and hire PR; "I knew that celebrities sold apparel." Gifting, her not-so-secret weapon, was the catalyst that really got her noticed. She did gift bags for the artists who didn't win at [that] year's Grammys.  At the Jingle Ball (remember, this is back when it was a thing), she was such a hit that PR firms starting contacting her instead of the other way around. She was on the The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch eight times, with one of those times being on the same day she was on the Valentine's Day episode of the TODAY show. Spring was constantly thinking about how to grow her business in the best way in that moment in time, and she acted accordingly. She still does - now she's on the social media train, which is working out really, really well for her. But you'll need to listen to know how well.

What impressed me the most about Spring, aside from her plan to have people learn to sew in Foxers’ factory in Atlanta, was her influence over me. Without once mentioning that she wanted to be featured on Entrepreneurs En Vogue - the website or the podcast, she had me practically begging to feature her. Not only that, but Spring could have name-dropped Beyoncé or any of her other celebrity customers in her email to me.* She didn’t. The only name she dropped was mine. It. Worked. Like. A. Charm. Kids, they don’t make them like these anymore. 

LISTEN to learn about:

  • what Iman thinks of Foxers
  • how Spring sold a product when all she had was a drawing of it
  • things Spring tried that didn't work
  • services she will absolutely not skimp on
  • which social media platform singlehandedly provided $50k in orders on a single pair of underwear
*Name-dropping doesn't actually work. To be considered for a potential feature, email shannon@entrepreneursenvogue.com with the subject line "potential feature"
Aug 15, 2016

Born in Iran and raised in Louisiana, Helya Mohammadian knew she wanted to be in fashion from the start. She studied fashion design at LSU and quickly realized that New York City was where she needed to be to pursue her dream. After working at Bergdorf Goodman and all these “crazy fashion houses,” she decided that traditional fashion was "too stuffy" and not for her. While taking a break from the industry, she had an idea for a product, that we now fondly know of as Slick Chicks and jumped back into the fashion industry - challenging tradition and the industry she grew up loving. 

"I would love to see this be a product that really just changes the way women think about underwear as a whole."

Her mission and passion, however, quickly evolved. Originally, Mohammadian was targeting the “athleisure” market and fulfilling more a want than a need. "I wasn't even thinking about the healthcare market when I launched this product." After receiving emails from handicapped, elderly, and otherwise-disabled women, she realized that her product was necessary for fulfilling a need rather than a want. "The whole idea is to give women a functional, convenient product that's also attractive." It’s so unheard of - even though it shouldn’t be - that Slick Chicks is currently patent-pending for the overall design of the underwear.

Was it a struggle? Absolutely. Has the struggle stopped? Absolutely not. "It's definitely been a process; it's not overnight for sure." But it’s an ongoing process and Mohammadian isn’t stopping or slowing down anytime soon. "Part of it is [that] I don't want to let people down, but I also don't want to let myself down. I don't want to let the people that believe in this product and can use this product [down]."

So how did it start and how is it happening? Here are 5 themes to take away from the podcast:

  1. Research "I pretty much just Googled pattern-makers and asked friends and people that were kind of in the same network of fashion design and apparel. I kind of just did my research, which is what I always suggest for people to do."
  2. Outreach "The number one recommendation I have is outreach. Outreach outreach outreach."
  3. Teamwork "If you really want to grow a business, and you want to grow your product and your brand, you have to bring in a good team of people that are also passionate and that want to see your vision through."
  4. Specialized Startup Accelerator "For anyone who is in this industry, it's really hard to find retail accelerators. Fashion, in itself, is hard to find people that, you know - if you're looking for VCs or angel investors - it's pretty difficult. It's competitive, and this is an actual product; it's not really tech or service-based so TrendSeeder was definitely something I had to jump on.”
  5. Kickstarter "I think Kickstarter is definitely the way to go. Yes, your friends and family are going to support you, but see how much support you get from people that don't know you and the feedback. Is there a proof of concept?"

Want more? LISTEN for details.

Aug 2, 2016

Nora Herting and Heather Willems met as undergraduates in an art history class, and eventually started ImageThink togetherImageThink is a firm that provides graphic facilitation services for pretty much anything and anyone. If you're thinking, "how can I trust some artist without my credentials to synthesize what I'm saying?" ImageThink's answer hits the nail on the head: "It's idea for idea, not word for word."

LISTEN to learn more about how they manage their best friendship and business partnership, how they went from concept to partnership, and whose doodle is hanging in the office of Google's CEO.

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