"Together Talks" feature #136: ICONI presented by KLS, freight company
Some Background on ICONI
Today's edition of "Together Talks" campaign, KLS had the chance to speak with ICONI and Founder, Angel Johnson. ICONI is a motivational, size inclusive, and fabric innovative activewear brand that champions confidence and community to our customers. ICONI launched its first collection in January 2020.
Social Responsibility: They donate to nonprofits to help change the world, one legging at a time.
Mission: To safeguard and support the bodies of their diverse customers through their innovative activewear to empower them wherever they are in their fitness journey, in life, or in the world.
When did the company begin?
The company started in 2020.
Story of how it was created?
I started ICONI while I was still active duty in the Air Force. I was spending so much money on women's active wear just for it to be see through. One of my breaking points, I spent $90 on a pair of leggings and I went to a military gym, which is just mostly men. I was an Air Force captain at the time and my leggings were completely see through. I didn't know it until I was squatting. One of my friends came up to me and told me my leggings are completely see through. I was super embarrassed as a female officer in the gym and probably the only woman in the gym at the time.
I thought this is ridiculous, I'm always going to have to just wear my Air Force clothing everywhere I go for it not to be see-through. That was a frustration point and then I was already thinking, what are other things that I'm interested in besides just the military, and then it all came together.
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What separates your company from competition?
Our activewear is motivational, we build around motivational phrases or words to help our customers push through. It's not about just looking attractive. Also, our activewear is inclusive, we carry sizes of small through 4XL for men and women. Most activewear companies only carry up to XL for women, and 2XL for men. We combined fabric innovation to care about fashion and performance.
Meaning behind the name?
I wanted it to be motivational and it actually breaks down into an acronym, it stands for I can overcome nothing that's impossible".
What have been the biggest challenges?
I think the biggest challenges are capita. A lot of institutional investors don't of course want to invest in active brand or clothing brand just because of the amount of inventory. It is this constant cycle of every time you sell through a collection, you are on to making the next collection. That has been one of the toughest things and then marketing definitely, just always getting the word out and keeping the word out. We'll get great press or have a great advertisement and then you have to keep on going, keep on pushing.
Reflect on a goal you set and how it made you feel to accomplish it?
One of my goals was to get some type of institutional investment. I was able to get one in 2023 from a philanthropic organization. After I got that, it was vindicating because someone else besides our team, sees the vision as well.
Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company?
We want to release new fabric innovation, innovative collections. We took a lot of customer feedback we received and improved our sizing. This will help customers find the correct sizes using different AI tools on our website.
Another goal is to launch a new men's collection. We only have one and it was a very small run, very limited in scope. Now it's time to unveil a larger men's collection and serve a larger audience. The last one is to make our manufacturing process smoother. We have a diverse group of manufacturers all over the world and we want to continue to build on those relationships.
What were your concerns about making this transition?
I didn't deploy during that time because I had just gotten off maybe two years of deployments. It was really good timing and then I had a supportive squadron leadership who actually was supportive and thrilled that I had a passion outside of the military. Two years later, I wouldn't say I got out the military due to ICONI, I was about ready at the eight-year mark, but ICONI allowed me facilitated that.
I actually had a job to go to now, but it was scary because as an entrepreneur, you provide the structure, you provide the vision for your company, I was used to always someone else providing the vision and all the structure for me. I had to learn how to control my own schedule and re-learn everything. Also learning everything is not a number one priority. In the military, especially in the employment environment, everything is a number one priority every day. However, if you run your business like that, you will go insane.
How have you grown as a leader? I believe I'm more better equipped to handle adversity. For example, when we were featured on Oprah's things. Another time was during one of the biggest seasons of my entrepreneurial career and I just crumbled. for maybe a day, I just couldn't do anything, couldn't focus. But now when something happens, I just immediately analyze what is required from me next?
I'm definitely more proactive in solving problems and not just so reactive. I also think I've learned how to have a bigger vision because in the military, I was definitely a middle manager carrying out somebody else's vision while leading people. But now I'm able to clearly communicate what my vision is and then set priorities aligned with that vision.
How have you learned with being the face of the company?
I think that's been the hardest part for me. I'm more of an introverted personality. Constantly being on social media. I don't always want to do it. I just want to just be typing on my computer or doing something behind the scenes and let someone else speak for me.
I've come to learn though just authentically sharing why I care about the company and why I started it that resonates with people. I don't really have to put on a show or do anything outside of being me. They just want to hear exactly why I'm doing this and just a daily sharing of my day-to-day life building this.
What do you need to work on as a leader?
Learning how to delegate more, I definitely learned a lot of delegation this year by delegating the manufacturing to Karen, who's on our team. In 2025, we definitely plan to expand the team a lot more and grow. I will need to learn how to clearly delegate everything to our team and not feel the need to always circle back with them. I don't want to be a micromanager. Also I need to learn about what tasks are going to stay with me because I think that's one of the hardest things.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
I appreciate being able to carry out the vision I have in my head. Also being able to work with a team of people that like what they and appreciate how we promote a good office culture. So many of us have worked at companies with bad leaders or bad culture. Slowly bringing on people and seeing that they appreciate the culture that we're building is very gratifying.
Share a mistake and what you learned from that experience?
Press doesn't always equal sales. If you ever pay for press, try to figure out the return on investment before you go through with it. Not everyone watches every single TV show for instance. I learned this the hard way, because one time I put all my eggs in one basket, I ramped up the manufacturing, we had inventory thinking we'll sell out in like a day. Then nothing.
I had invested so much money into it, and it hurt. But I think that's something that I learned, anyone can sell you a great opportunity in an email, but do your own independent research before you just jump right into it.
How do you deal with success and accomplishments? I'm the type of person that rush right past any accomplishments. I'm very matter of fact, and credit to Karen because she balances us out and makes sure we celebrate our achievements. Recently when we launched on Walmart.com, I viewed it as a new sales channel and moved on. But everyone was extremely supportive and cheering for the big news. I realized it was a big deal.
I've tried to combat my nature by using a reminder. There is a sticky note on my desk where I write down our wins for the year. Anytime I am having a bad day I circle back to that and use it as a reminder. I use those reference points and lean on them to remind me of just how well we are doing.
What was your moment of traction? I launched the business in January 2020 and in August 2020, I found out that I got into Oprah's things. Then November 2020, it took off. We sold like 2,000 leggings in an hour due to Oprah's posting and I was in shock. At that time we were still packing the leggings in my kitchen using my friends as free labor!
I thought, this may be a legitimate business. I probably need to start putting some structure in place. I was getting customers orders. everything from the outside looked really good. But then during that time, I realized we actually have no structure, even the way we printed labels was unorganized. If this is going to continue and be a big business we need more structure and more processes. I needed people in place. It can't just be me flying by the seat of my pants.
What is your why?
My why is just just being able to do something that fulfills me in my life. And I think one of the things that keeps me going, it's a personal thing, my mom worked for a company for 33 years of her life. The moment she had a stroke and was out of work, they immediately fired her. All that time, all that work, and it meant nothing.
So it's like why not, I guess that's my why is like why not why not do this for yourself?
Why not keep on going. I feel like I'm still young and I still have so much to my life. I could reinvent ICONI 20 times over. Why not just go for it? You have nothing to lose right now.
If you had a magic wand, what would you change about your industry?
How activewear is sexualized in ads. I think that does disservice to people that that may not look like that or feel like that in the gym. I also feel like we don't have to sexualize everything to sell it. I think that's a problem. If we're having to sell a woman bending over in her leggings that's maybe not the best approach. There's probably other features that the legging could use as the selling point.
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
When I brought Karen on to the company because Karen started off as my mentor from a nonprofit organization. It was just by happenstance that I was paired with her and I just feel like she has really propelled the company forward because she has so much activewear experience. The timing was perfect, someone that has activewear experience from Brazil just happens to come over here. I get connected with her through a nonprofit. But she becomes my mentor and then she starts working for my business. I still think wow, my first hire is the most perfect person and I'm so blessed.
Piece of Advice
I would tell other entrepreneurs to make sure you're constantly learning. Don't ever get to a point where you feel like you can't learn anymore. Even if it's not learning about your industry and it's learning about business in general, never stop learning. Because when you stop learning, that's when you get stagnant.
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank ICONI and Founder, Angel Johnson for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
Business Resources!
Look at our new page HERE designed to provide excellent opportunities that may be of interest to you. These are a compilation from our chats within our "Together Talks". If you have any suggestions please let us know as we would love to provide more valuable insight to our community!
Klimson Logistics Solutions - Together Talks with ICONI feature #136
*Klimson Logistics Solutions is an Industry Leading Customer Service 3PL. Our focus and commitment to our clients has us striving to be the BEST customer service 3PL for LTL, FTL, Reefer, and Drayage in the country. KLS, freight company, is a 3PL providing nationwide logistics solutions. KLS shipping services include: LTL freight, FTL freight, Reefer LTL freight, Reefer FTL freight, and Drayage. Klimson Logistics Solutions thanks you for viewing our marketing campaign, "Together Talks". If you have any interest in being featured or questions regarding your freight operations please contact us today!
Why KLS?
Our precise and reliable effort.
We handle every shipment with the exact same process. It does not matter if you move one shipment a year or ten per day, you will receive the same level of customer service from us. When we started this company, we had one goal in mind, treat every shipment like it was our own. With our vast knowledge of the industry, we understood what a customer would want from a communication standpoint. We applied that process to be the standard here at KLS. Our reliability and being able to depend on our consistency is why we have such long-standing relationships with our clients.
Our Process?
Every shipment in our industry starts with a quote. We are firm believers that time is money, thus we strive to have quotes back in a 5-10 minute reply time for LTL and FTL, any FCL quotes are at the mercy of the carriers getting back to us. For LTL we have the flexibility to quote both off of NMFC and also Density depending on the carrier. Utilizing our services, you’re allowing us to use our expertise to class your freight accordingly to ensure we are providing the best rate we possibly can.
Once a quote has been submitted and a client chooses to proceed with KLS handling the arrangement of the shipment our full process begins. We create the BOL that will be used for the shipment. If it is a new location for our system, we will obtain all the important/special details (reference numbers, contact details, shipping hours, closed for lunch, dock/doors, etc.). We meticulously build every detail into our software for all future shipments involving that location. After we have both locations built and necessary reference numbers have been applied we will tender the shipment to the carrier. We use this method because it provides us a real time pickup number from the carrier to obtain updates prior to pickup. Our staff will either email the BOL directly to you or to the shipper (at your request) the minute after the tender has been accepted by the carrier. LTL carriers require a 2 hour window prior to close time in order to schedule it for a same-day pickup attempt.
The following morning you’ll receive an email from us. It will either provide the reason the pickup was missed (driver’s trailer filled up, driver missed the close time, truck broke down, shipper said no freight, etc.) or if the pickup was successful you will receive the PRO (tracking) number from us, along with the eta for delivery. Our staff will track it throughout the duration of transit and advise if anything happens that will alter the estimated delivery date. The day the shipment delivers we will email you with confirmation and the POD (Proof of Delivery), should you require it.
Your shipment has been quoted, scheduled, picked up, and delivered. The next step is waiting for the carrier to invoice us and make sure the rate matches up. If it does, we close out the invoice from the carrier in our system and automatically your invoice is created and sent to the requested party at your company. In the event the carrier has an additional charge on their invoice “Variance”, we will never send you an invoice with an additional charge without first identifying you of the charge.
Let us repeat, NEVER WILL WE JUST BILL OUT AN EXTRA CHARGE WITHOUT YOU BEING NOTIFIED.
You are our customer, we represent you. Should the carrier provide an extra charge on an invoice, “Lift gate, additional weight, reclass, detention, etc.) We notify you of the charge via email first. Second, within that email we identify what is required should you choose to dispute the charge. Again our goal is to honor your request, if you want to dispute, we will dispute. During a dispute we will provide you updates every step along the way. Once a dispute is closed out, whether it is approved or rejected, then we will invoice you as the invoice has been resolved.
For reference, our company only had 6.2% of all shipments go to dispute in 2022 and we successfully won 91% of those disputes on behalf of our customers.
This is our process for every single shipment you move with us. We don’t cut corners, we don’t hide from difficult situations. We believe in being available, honest, and transparent. We don’t ever want to tell you that a shipment is lost, damaged, misrouted, but it is our duty to notify you the second we find out something has gone wrong. We hate to present bad news, but it is part of the job. What you can guarantee is that we will work a shipment all the way through and turn over every stone until we get a resolution for our clients.
Services offered?
Our core business is LTL and FTL. Within these options we have options for both dry and refrigerated/frozen. We also offer FCL/Drayage options. Our company as a 3PL has nationwide options and services clients across the US.
Let’s breakdown our services more in-depth
LTL:
Standard and Guaranteed
CFS (Imports & Exports)
Tradeshows
Hazmat
Anything that is on a pallet can be moved LTL. Typically LTL is up to 10 pallets, but the sweet spot for a carrier is 6-8 pallets at most for an individual shipment. LTL quotes are good between 5-30 days depending on the carrier. LTL can be quoted either via NMFC or density to determine the class (we do this for you).
Volume:
Anything over 10-12’ of space in the truck is the technical rule for a volume shipment. When we run a quote for you we will determine if it qualifies for volume and provide you a rate if available. Volume moves allow you to get a reduced rate for larger shipments. The caveat to volume shipments it the quotes are only valid for 3-7 days and they move on capacity between terminals. If a terminal is backed up they will move their LTL freight first before the volume freight, which can lead to longer transit times for volume moves.
FTL/Dedicated/Expedited: 53’ Dry and Reefer 26’ Box trucks with lift gate Sprinter Van The main difference for FTL vs LTL is space and transit time. For standard pallets you can fit either 26 or 30 pallets in a 53’ dry van. The other main difference is transit time, for FTL each day counts in the transit time, whereas LTL does not count the day of pickup, weekends, or holidays in their transit time.
Reefer/Frozen:
LTL and FTL
We specialize working in the CPG space with food manufacturers. We regularly deliver to
the following locations:
Kehe
UNFI
Core Mark
DPI
Wegmans
Cugini
H.T. Hackney
Netrition
HEB
ALDI
Chambers and Owens
EBY Brown
Nassau Candy
Harris Teeter
Wakefern
NU INC
Long Distribution
What makes KLS different?
There are thousands of freight brokers and 3PL in our industry. Barrier to entry is rather easy and agents or owners will often hire sales people without any intention of properly training them. It results in high turnover for many freight companies and a forgettable experience for the client. We choose to operate differently through our consistency. We truly care about doing right by our clients and prospects too. While we would love to help provide our services to every company we speak with, that just isn’t realistic. We won’t always be the right fit for every company that moves freight and that is ok. Our authenticity as a shipping company sets us apart from the competition and that is backed up by our testimonials. We also run a marketing campaign bi-weekly called “Together Talks”. We interview, highlight, and promote two businesses every week. Our goal is to grow our network, make new connections, and learn something new with each collaboration. Check it out on our website and if you’re interested in being featured reach out.
Our company also runs a year long charity promotion. Book your first shipment through KLS and we donate to the charity of your choice in your name. Our way of thanking you for giving us an opportunity to show you the KLS way and what makes us one of a kind. This entire package is what we offer to every prospect and every client. Our goal is to help provide answers that customers may have when it comes to shipping. We want to always be available as a resource and will always offer a lending hand whenever we can.
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