In this post, we cover our interview for our "Together Talks" campaign, with Spirit Sox and Founder, Lisa Riggs. They help your clients and employees feel appreciated with a simple, fun, and popular product - custom socks! But possibly more important than what they do, is why they do it. At Spirit Sox USA their mission is to change the world with custom socks. When CEO, Lisa, founded the company she made it her mission to make the world a better place one sock at a time.
"Together Talks" feature # 152: Spirit Sox presented by KLS - Dedicated Logistic Services for Excellence -Driven Businesses In The USA
How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
What have you learned from being an entrepreneur?
What is the next thing you need to develop as a leader?
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
Share a mistake and what you learned from that experience?
What is your why?
Piece of Advice
In Closing
Story of how it was created?
I started my career in HR in high tech. Things were going great until I decided to have a family. My boss actually said one comment that just really changed everything, she called me into her office and said "Lisa, it's a shame your priorities have changed." I was so angry and I responded; "My priorities have not changed, my family has always come first. Now I just have to pick up my infant by 6 p.m". I was really happy with this company but it just it changed everything for me. I ended up staying there and I got pregnant with my second and they were joking about me giving birth on the boardroom table. Their comments were eye opening and called out the lack of support and their expectations that we work no matter what.
It got to a point where we had to make a decision and so it made sense for one of us to stay home. Because I was a woman making 73 cents on the dollar compared to my husband, we decided that I would stay home with the kids for a little bit. It was the best thing I was ever able to do and I volunteered for everything at their school and in the neighborhood. I co-founded a neighborhood association but at the same time I had given up my career. As the kids got older I started wondering what am I going to do. I was on the education foundation for our school district running the after school sports program at the middle school and I had this idea to do socks as a fundraiser.
We needed to motivate everyone as it was 90 percent parent funded and the parents needed to donate every single time their child played a sport. I had done t-shirts the year before and I wondered what if we do socks? We could match them to the uniforms. I could give a pair to the coaches. It could be really fun. I couldn't find anybody that did this. All my t-shirt people, nobody really did socks. I ended up finding somebody. We sold 200 pairs in four days. Donations were up by 140%. We made a $17 profit margin per pair. And I had to reorder. So I did the cliche sit at the kitchen table with my husband and go, should I do this? That's basically how Spirit Sox was born, it was from an idea. And I've built it from the ground up starting in 2016.
What separates your company from competition?
Yeah, the sock market is pretty saturated now. The main things that differentiate us are our quality and our customer service. We actually truly care about our customers and we put in that extra effort with every single one of them to exceed their expectations. We actually have one right now that didn't go well and everybody just feels horrible because it's just not the way we do business. I think that's a huge differentiator for us. Every customer matters and we have a 100% five-star Google rating with over 140 reviews. We stand behind what we say.
Another differentiator, is that starting this year, we've spanned across the B2B market, the B2C market, and retail. We really have our toes dipped into all three of those markets and we're a small but mighty team taking it on. We are the only woman owned company in our market, so that's a huge differentiator.
Also, I give back. I donate 5% of all profits to providing socks to those in need. This year I was able to donate hundreds and hundreds of pairs to Asheville, North Carolina, to Mobile Loves, Minnesota and to a mission in New York.
What have been the biggest challenges?
The pandemic was an obvious one. Some people thrived. Some people had to shut their doors. I did everything I could to keep mine open. The way I did that was I pivoted to making custom face masks. And that's the only thing that kept the doors open because when you're afraid to leave your house, I can tell you people don't want to buy custom socks.
So that was truly the biggest challenge that we've faced. I've learned the lesson from that was adaptability in a small business is key. You've got to identify the issue and adapt quickly. Thankfully, I was able to do that and we've come out on the other side significantly stronger.
Goals for upcoming year + Next phase of the company?
We get that question all the time. When will you add more products? And my answer is actually we're not because what I decided was to do one thing and be the best at it. The goal is to be the best at making socks. Honestly, if I would have been like everybody else, I would not have the opportunities that have come in front of us at this point. We got into select Sam's Club stores and online this year. I never would have done that if I was just a regular promotional product supplier that supplied everything just like everyone else.
The fact that we specialize in socks earned us being called the sock experts by global corporations. We're going to stay in our lane. But we did make three lanes now, where we do the B2C, we're growing our e-commerce store and on Etsy, as well as our website and all of the social media shops, then hoping to expand into retail as well. That's where I see the company going. We're going to continue to grow. This year revenue is up over over 60%. And that's my goal again for next year, to continue to grow and take on the world.
How have you dealt with being the face of the company?
I feel there's almost a dichotomy with that because I have no issue standing up in front of thousands of people and speaking if I'm knowledgeable about it. Thankfully that's helped me be able to go and be the face of the company. I don't have a ton of fear about that kind of stuff. On the other hand, I was a teenager that ran from photos and cameras. The fact that my face has to be out there all the time is not my favorite, but I understand that I represent the brand. I take it very seriously, especially with our woman-owned certification. When I do represent the brand, I'm at my best as much as possible.
What have you learned from being an entrepreneur?
I have learned that being an entrepreneur takes courage and grit. Those are my two definitions. I have learned that failure happens. And what I've allowed myself to do is I throw myself a pity party that night. Then the next day you just have to get up and go back at it again, pull yourself up. I said before adaptability, quick adaptability is critical. I learn through trial and error; it reminds me of the concept "fail fast". These situations give me an opportunity to learn and analyze what works and what doesn't. I try all sorts of different things but if they're not working, then evaluate the ROI and move on to something else quickly.
What is the next thing you need to develop as a leader?
I'm really working on my leadership skills with my team and empowering them. I'm a control freak, I think most entrepreneurs are. My whole team, we're remote and so it's a challenge to build camaraderie and build a team when we're all working remotely from our homes. That's something I'm really working on is empowering them and building that community, that team feeling. The more empowered they are, the more it allows me to go out and do the big things because they're taking care of everything else. We certainly could not have accomplished what we accomplished this year if they weren't a part of the team, they were a huge part of it.
What aspect of entrepreneurship do you appreciate the most?
I like the challenge. I like to learn, I'm a constant learner, so I like the challenge of learning and taking on something that seems impossible. I'm motivated by that. A lot of entrepreneurs will say the flexibility, but I don't feel like I allow myself to be flexible. I feel so responsible to run the company. Frankly, I do like not having to report to anybody. I make my own decisions and I own them, they're mine. But I really do appreciate not being told what to do.
That was part of making this leap, I had been home with the kids and hadn't worked for somebody. I had so much flexibility and that was part of my decision wondering can I go back to a cubicle? Can I go back to working for somebody, potentially somebody younger than me? How am I going to be happy? Can I find something I'm passionate about not just doing a job? And so I think that is something I'm very grateful for.
It's a risk being an entrepreneur, but it's definitely a benefit in my eyes. Having that autonomy and control by not having somebody tell me what to do is a huge advantage.
I can make a decision without asking anybody else.
Share a mistake and what you learned from that experience?
There's one early on that stands out. I got scammed and I really thought oh I'm smart enough to avoid this happening to me. We all think that or most of us at least. It was this radio show. It was in the first year of the company. They were even advertising, the "E" character from Entourage, as a guest speaker. It seemed legit on their website. The cost was over $2,500. That is a lot when you're just starting your business and bootstrapping it. They sold that these radio interviews that would be publicized and shared heavily. I kept waiting and thought there were supposed to be questions, but none came. I felt like no one was listening or it was not even being broadcasted. The next interview questions came in, but it was obvious it was them, so that is when I knew that it wasn't legit. Unfortunately I had already paid and it ended up being a total scam.
It was just a link on their website, not broadcast anywhere. My mom and best friend listened because I told them, but that might be it. They had promised hundreds of thousands of listeners and even promised TV connections and I just basically got hooked and they reeled me in. Thankfully though, I learned to be super careful and I learned to research on the Better Business Bureau. This mistake taught me to do a lot more research than what I had done besides looking at their website and their ratings.
Luckily, a few people called me who were going to do the spot and I was able to stop other people which I am grateful for. I feel that was a super positive that came out of it and I blasted it everywhere about them. I put it out there that this was a total scam. I reported them to the BBB and tried to prevent them from going forward. But it was elaborate. And I mean, it was a lot of work for only 2,500 bucks now that I think about it. But when you are bootstrapping your company, that is a huge marketing investment.
What is your why?
Most of it is my kids. I felt like when I started the business, succeed or fail, I was setting an example for them to follow their dreams. I would say that still is my why, being that role model and setting an example for them. I hope that they'll see that and be able to go after their dreams, no matter the fear or risk whether they can succeed or fail. Despite the outcome I hope they'll try.
Do you have a moment that brings you the most joy?
We've had a ton of successes and I think a recent one, that actually just happened, is a little mind-blowing. LinkedIn actually reached out to me and asked if I would create a video that they could show in their annual/worldwide company meeting, which the CEO would be hosting. They said they found me because they liked my journey and what we posted. I created that and sent it off to them. It happened last week and they sent me me pictures of us on screen and in the LinkedIn headquarters! I feel like part of the reason that it's mind-blowing is that they would find me of all people and want to do that. But also they showed my team and all of us were included in this and as a small business sometimes you can't offer as much to employees as compared to larger businesses. Then stuff like this happens that's so unexpected and so amazing and and meaningful to us and and I think it shows that although we're a small business we stand out in a lot of arenas. I think there's a lot of potential in front of us.
Piece of Advice
A mistake I made early on was I did not legally protect myself and get the trademark for my company. The reason I did that was because I thought I'm not a huge company, I'm not Apple, I'm not important enough, I don't need to do this. That would be something I would advise people when they're thinking about starting a business. We think about the name, we look at the the URL, colors, the logo, there's all this really fun stuff as you're creating the business. I would definitely go to the USPTO when you're choosing the name of your company and see if somebody else has it because you're going to want to legally protect yourself and trademark it.
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In Closing
KLS wants to thank Spirit Sox and Founder, Lisa Riggs., for today's "Together Talks" feature. Follow along for their journey with their social handles below!
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