April 8, 2021 • 24 mins
In 2013 Trina Spear and Heather Hasson set out to revolutionize the field of medical workwear when they founded FIGS, a line of fashionable, well-made scrubs and apparel. Spear tells how it all started, and the challenges of building the business.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to Made by Women by the Seneca Women Podcast
Network and I Heart Radio. At a moment when businesses
face some of the biggest challenges in recent history, we
bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and shared learnings to
help you successfully navigate in today's environment. Every Thursday Made
(00:26):
by Women will showcase the experiences of legendary women, entrepreneurs,
fierce up and comers, and everyday women who found success
their own way. Consider this your real world MBA designed
for the new Now. I'm Kim Azzarelli and thanks so
much for joining us today. COVID has given us all
(00:47):
a newfound appreciation for medical professionals. But one company has
imputting the needs of healthcare workers first since two thousand
and thirteen. BIGS, founded by Trina Spirit and Heather Hassan,
is transforming medical where with modern designs, high quality fabrics,
and great customer care. And they're a company built around purpose.
(01:07):
Figs Threads for Threads initiative donate scrubs to medical professionals
in need around the world. No Wonder Figs has made
lists like Fast Companies, Most Innovative Companies for branding and
inks Roster of fast growing Companies not bad for an
enterprise that started by selling scrubs out of the back
of a car. I spoke with Trina Spear about FIGS mission,
method and challenges. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Thanks
(01:35):
so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me.
So for those who don't know, tell us a little
bit about FIGS. Sure So, FIGS. What we're doing here
is we're really looking to empower, celebrate, and serve the
healthcare community. We do that in a number of ways.
But this was an industry medical apparel, scrubs, lab coats,
(01:58):
everything medical professionals were to work. It's an industry that's
been around for a hundred years and really had no
change or innovation. Um. And there were two product problems.
Wanting the product and I'm sure everyone's seen it right
ill fitting uncomfortable of foxy and baggy, uh, not something
that you or I would want to wear to work
every day. And the second problem was one where you know,
(02:21):
the distribution model was broken, where you know, as a
medical professional you're pretty much subjected to go to one
of these stores in remote places to you know, find
your scrubs on Iraq, and that was the shopping experience,
so what we look to do here it was really
totally changed those dynamics and a summary what we've done
is we've built a brand around an unbranded industry, decommoditize
(02:44):
what many believe was a commodity product. And then I
think what we're most proud of is building a community
around this profession or helping to bring these bring healthcare
professionals together, um and and really look to serve them
in any way we can. This is so incredible, fantastic.
I can't wait to learn so much more about the company.
But before we get too far ahead on that, tell
(03:05):
us a little bit about your own personal background. Did
you start with the dream of being an entrepreneur? Tell
us about your professional background. Sure, so, I definitely was
the kid like selling the lemonade out of the house.
So I was always looking, you know, I grew up
middle class and but always was looking to have have
something of my own. I would say that being said,
(03:27):
I after college, I went into the world of finance
and started my career in investment banking UH and in
private equity at City Group, went on to business school
and from there we went back into finance at Blackstone
in their Hedge Fund division. So, uh, I spent about
you know, six years on Wall Street before really taking
the jump into um joining Heather my co founder and
(03:50):
co CEO on this mission and and and really taking
the leap to entrepreneurship. So what was it like to
take the sleep when you started BIGS with Heather Halfs
and you were basically selling scrubs out of a car?
Tell us about that transition? Sure, so you know, um,
when you know, everyone in my life, my family and
(04:11):
my friends, they were like that, you're doing really well.
You're a Blackstone Harvard pole, Like, you're gonna do what
You're gonna go sell what? You know, people thought I
was crazy, um, and really didn't even underfully understand, like scrubs,
what's that? How does that work? It was very I mean,
I think now people view what we're doing is obvious,
but you know, eight years ago, um, it definitely wasn't that.
(04:35):
You know, I left my cush fancy job at Blackstone
and Blue across the country to l A and and Heather,
who's very much a creative product genius and had really
come up with the concept for the product and for
the distribution model. She said, Okay, this is what we do.
We go in my car. We sell scrubs out of
my car at seven am and seven pm when all
(04:56):
the doctors and nurses and medical professionals changed shifts, and
I was, okay, let's do this. So that's what we
would do at seven am and seven pm. We had,
you know, a few thousand sets in in the back
of her car and we would sell scrubs. And the
funny thing about that was actually that that was a
better experience than what they were how they were shopping
(05:17):
before that. Even even selling scrubs out of our car,
it was a better experience than going to one of
these stores in a strip mall where there was racks
and racks and racks of clothing and they're selling bedpans
and knee braces in the same place you're buying our scrubs.
At least, we were there with an amazing product that
people were really excited about. Um. And that's how that's
(05:37):
how we really kicked it off. And then you made
the transition to e commerce. How did you make this
leap and what were the challenges you faced early on?
To be fair, we had the websites at the same
time we were selling out of the car and it
was really too uh. You know, when you start a company, um,
as you know, right, you're trying to get as much
information as possible, really understanding the needs and the wants
(05:59):
of your concer or your customer. And so that's what
we were doing, um when we were selling out of
the car. But also, um, you know, Heather even before
we met, was like moonlighting as a nurse within cafeterias,
trying to understand how what people want and how they
move and all of that and so um. But you know,
our our website um was really important, right because it
(06:21):
enabled us to really get people their scrubs when they
need it. Right, you're working twelve hour shifts, you're and
when you're not working, your with your family and you're
you know, to have to go hunt for medical peril
at the at odd hours at retail locations that are
out of the way, UM that oftentimes closed at five pm.
(06:44):
Let's say you're working in the night shift, you're working
at two am. You need your scrubs. Having an e
commerce site that you could just go to to get
your scrubs was just something that didn't exist, which just
seems crazy now. UM. And so you know, and it
wasn't just that it was simple and convenient and easy,
it was that this was necessary. It's so critical for
healthcare professionals to get their uniforms so they can go
(07:05):
do their jobs. This was essential, more essential than just oh,
e commerce is easier to shop on. It was just
that much more of a necessity given what our people
are healthcare professionals do every day. Yeah, it's so amazing
to think that not that many years ago there was
no e commerce platform for this kind of amazing. So
you take the leap. Obviously you believe in Heather and
(07:28):
that you believe in the idea, You take the leap,
and you see some early success. Uh, and then you
start going for funding. What lessons did you learn about
trying to scale and trying to raise capital? Yeah, I
mean I think, like I said, early on, people didn't
understand what we're doing. And um, now it seems obvious,
but then it definitely was not obvious. And especially for investors, right, like,
(07:51):
they're not the customer, they're not healthcare professionals. They didn't
understand the pain point, they didn't understand the industry. Um,
so it was challenging. It was challenging at the beginning
to really have people understand what we were doing. And uh,
and we got a lot of nose and we got
a lot of people that you know, weren't excited about
the industry, weren't excited about the business model. But you
(08:13):
know that's really what drove us to to work through
that it craft our story and really help people understand
how important this community was and how underserved they were. Um,
you know this, it wasn't just even an underserved community,
it was an unserved community. Uh. The products were just
so um inferior to what even athletes were wearing. And
(08:37):
you know, we could talk about that. That was the
AHA moment of saying, you know, all of these billion
dollar companies, they're so focused on the athlete. What about
the people saving lives? What about the people caring for patients?
What about the people curing diseases? What about them? And
and and who's focused on them? And we were going
to be that company And we are that company that
wakes up every single day to support this community. Um.
(08:58):
So the challenges we faced along the way, we're you know,
definitely the funding piece, but also you know production, it's
easy to make one thing, it's a lot harder to
make millions of that one thing. So that's been something
that you know, has been a challenge as we've scaled.
We're such perfectionists. Quality is everything, um and how do
you um ensure that your standards, your level of quality,
(09:20):
which is we're the highest quality medical apparel company in
the world. How do we maintain that quality even as
we're scaling so rapidly. So let's dig into that for
a minute, because that does seem to be on the
minds of a lot of entrepreneurs who are really focused
on perfecting their product but then taking that next leap.
I mean, how are you doing that? Yeah? I mean
I think you just really need to have great teams.
(09:43):
I mean, we have the best team in the world.
I can't I couldn't imagine. You know, I always thought
leaving Wall Street, I'll never work with smarter, more talented people.
I was wrong. The our team BIGS is uh, you know,
the most passionate, uh, the smartest, most caring people that
(10:04):
I've ever worked with in my life. And I think
that's what it's about, right Because we're so mission driven,
because we care so much about this community, we don't
let things fall through the cracks, and we are on
top of every single aspect of this business and so
quality control, having teams, um, you know, all over Asia
and South America, wherever we're producing, to ensure that at
(10:26):
every step of our supply chain there is a check.
There's a check and balance to everything that we're doing
so that we can keep our promise, keep our brand
promise to our customers, so that quality never is less
than the standards we put in place. We'll be back
with Seneca's Made by Women after this short break. I
(10:55):
know that can't be easy. I mean with every entrepreneurial journey,
and we're seeing this and as we talked more people
on the show, there's those really dark moments right where
it feels like this might not work or it might
not be possible, or as you said earlier, you just
hear no after no, after no. How do you deal
with those dark moments? Um? I think, well, first off,
I'm a very optimistic person. You kind of have to be.
(11:17):
And I have a very short memory, which is actually good.
That is a great, great thing. You know, Heather has
a joke that she calls me torso forward. I never
look back, right, you can't. You kind of have to
just keep moving forward. And there's always setbacks, there's always challenges,
there are always reasons, there are always reasons and not
(11:39):
want to do something, and there's always risks and what
you're doing, and you can't let that define how you
move forward, how you make decisions, how you um show up,
show up for your community, which our health care community.
They're the best people in the world. They're the smartest
people in the world. They're the ones actually making our
(12:00):
our society work right now. Um, if we're not showing
up for them, and we take that on and we
take that responsibility very seriously, we're not showing up for them,
and we're getting down on something that didn't work over here.
You know this, You know, getting upset about something that
wasn't perfect over there. You know, you could just get
you could get get handcuffed, right, And you can't do that.
(12:21):
You just gotta focus on the big picture and on
who you're serving and how you're showing up in the world.
Um and uh, and let that be your true your
north star, and let that drive you. Well. What you're doing,
as you said, for this community, which is really the
backbone of our society, could not be more important in
this last year when everyone started to recognize what healthcare
(12:44):
workers were doing for us. So during COVID, I can't
even imagine how important your work became. How did FIGS
pivot and how did you help build the PPE gap.
It was the craziest year for everybody. But I think
what we saw it's about like a year ago now
since this pandemic hit us in the US at least. Um. Yeah,
(13:07):
it's like the one year anniversary today, I think, yeah,
which is nuts. And I think when the pandemic hit us,
all of our health care professionals were calling us and
asking us if we had masks. And you know, now
it's like a given a right. Everyone has a mask everyone,
you know, most medical professionals to have what they need
at this point. But if you remember back a year ago,
(13:30):
that wasn't the case, and our healthcare professionals on the
front lines were taking their paper mask, washing it in
a sink, reusing it over and over, and they were
being asked to go out in this you know, horrible
pandemic and put their own lives at risk. And that
(13:52):
was crazy to us and we felt actually, like, wow,
how have we how don't we have this for our people.
How don't we have UM at the time and ninety
five masks? Right? And then it became we have to
get them everything they need. And we just turned complete
(14:12):
one eighty with our supply chain, got the right partners
on board. We made k N ninety five masks, we
got those to our customers, We made isolation gowns as
matt suits. We produced our own fion X mask so
that in our medical professionals were wearing those over their
D ninety five masks, so they were as projected as possible.
(14:32):
Face shields. We just actually launched our face shield recently,
which is incredible UM, but it was how can we
get them what they need as fast as possible and
kind of get around a lot of the red tape.
There's a lot of red tape, right, the government red tape.
The hospitals weren't able to get them what they needed,
and so we were just how can we get them
(14:53):
what we need. At one point we launched Canniny fives
on our site. If you came to our site, you
didn't even have to buy anything. All you have to
do is click and get that and get the mask.
We were just finding any way we could to get
them what they need, and that was our number one
priority and still is our number one priority through this pandemic. UM.
So it was about ppe. It was about getting them
as obviously we had scrubs what we were we pushed
(15:14):
our production into high gears so we could get them
even more and ensure that they got what they needed
when they needed it. And then we obviously donating through
our Threads for Threads initiative is a huge part of
what we do, so we donated scrubs through the K
and nine mask thing, we donated another six thousand of
those that we donated a hundred thousand isolation downs. So
(15:35):
this was a huge team effort. I'm so proud of
this team that we were able to navigate through get
our people, our healthcare professionals what they needed as best
we could. UM. But this is a challenge to today
and we're going to continue to show up and you know,
as best we can. So the other amazing thing that
you guys do, and you, as you said, you built
(15:56):
mission into the center of your strategy from the beginning,
and it was only really just highlighted during COVID, but
your Threads for Threads initiative can you tell us about
that and why you built that into the mission of
your company. Sure, So, threats are Threads actually started before
Figs formally started. Um Heather half to my co founder.
(16:16):
She was in Africa and she's, you know, donated uniforms
and before she was, before we were donating scribes, she
was actually donating school uniforms the kids who couldn't uh
you know, they just wouldn't go to school if they
didn't have a uniform. And so that was the you know,
the predated from what we do now. But she was
in one of these schools and she went over to
this clinic and she saw a little boy and this
(16:38):
doctor was cutting open his head and she was looking
in this uh what they call a theater. It's like
an operating room. She was looking at this theater and
she sees that the doctor is wearing dirty jeans and
a T shirt and she thought, oh my god. And
he didn't even have gloves on. And she said, how
are you operating about the equipment or the uniform so
(17:02):
that you could do your job safely? And they didn't
have any scrubs. And so that was the impetus for
threats with threads, where she got this is even before
meeting with her friend over coffee, which you know, really
started the idea for FIGS. She produced scrubs for um
This Clinic and Kenya and realized through that experience that
(17:25):
there's a huge need for clean scrubs around the world
and that healthcare professionals, many of them, are operating without
the proper uniform to do their jobs. And then there
was another part of it that you know many imagine
going through all these years of schooling to become a
nurse and for instance, and in never having a set
of scrubs that tell the world this is who I
(17:47):
am and what I do as a symbol of your profession.
And so that was a huge source of pride for
many people who never received a set of scrubs, have
never war one, and be able to have that was
a huge part of the mission as well. Um So
to stay Now we've donated hundreds of thousands of sets
of scrubs to healthcare professionals in need around the world
and it's a very important part of what we do
(18:08):
every day here. Amazing. So what is next for FIGS?
Can I even say that it seems like you are
so present and you're helping so much, but you have
a vision for the future for FIGS that's different from today.
I think at the heart of it our healthcare community.
What even this pandemic has done, as had just shown
a light, right, everyone's now clapping at seven pm. The
(18:28):
world is focused on these people, and actually that's died
down a bit, and our job isn't sure that celebrating
and empowering the healthcare community. That doesn't go away. Right.
We are that company that will stand by our healthcare
professionals as they go out to do their work, and
that will never change. I mean, that is who we are.
So the future is about developing, creating products they need
(18:52):
so they can do their job. You know, it is
about function, it's about design, it's about comfort so that
you feel the best, your your best self when you
go to work every day. And then um connection, how
do we help the community connect even with each other,
you know, coming out of this pandemic, and you know
a lot of people are now talking about it, the
(19:14):
mental health side of it and for everybody right being
in isolation, being quarantined. It's affected all of us, but
it's also affected our health care community that you know,
the amount of tragedy they've seen, right, and who can
they talk to? Who are they connecting with to get
through this? Um? They don't want to talk to their
(19:34):
families because you know, they don't want to put that
on them. And so how do we now as a
company help in that way as well? And we're working
on a number of initiatives on that front. And so
there's so much there's so much we have, there's so
much work to do to show up for our people
in all the different ways that we can. And so
(19:54):
that's where we're focused. And then you know, I would
say e commerce is evolving and changing and it's not
just about oh, shopping, right, it's about how do you
have one to one connections with people at scale? So
personalization and that's something that it's really about tailoring and
experience for every individual because everybody is different. Um. So
(20:15):
that's a really exciting piece as well that we're focused.
So I guess my last question is for for women
out there and men who are thinking about starting their
own ventures, their own companies, what do you wish you
had known early on? Oh? Man, so many things I
wouldn't be able to do this again. You know, there's
(20:36):
like this crazy thing. It's like if you, uh, if
you don't know the wall is there, you can walk
through it. I think that's just like our story, right,
Like if you don't know the wall is in front
of you, you could walk through it. So I think
there are so many things that passion and drive and
caring about people, uh, that is driven this company. It's
(20:59):
almost like um strategy. You know, it's like a cultural
strategy for breakfast. I think you know the culture of Figs.
How we show up in the world, what we do
every day is really what drives us. But your question
was what do I wish I knew? I don't know.
That's the thing, right, If I knew all the things,
then we probably would have done it this way, and
then we wouldn't be where we are and we wouldn't
(21:20):
be able to show up in the way we show up.
Because if you know too much actually, and you can
think about that, I'm sure there's studies about this, like
if you know too many things, uh, and actually you
talk yourself out of a live doing a lot of things, right,
you're too smart for your own goods. So because I
probably probably wouldn't have started this company because you know,
what I mean, people said, oh, the industry doesn't work
(21:43):
that way. You're never they're not going to do that
in that way. And when you're really redefining something from
scratch and changing behaviors and restructuring products and bringing things
to the world that have never been created before, most
experts get that and say, oh, that's not gonna work.
And you know, that's just that's such a boring way
(22:04):
to live. So true, so true. That's and that's something
we see all the time too, even even when we
just launched this credit card. You know, people like a
credit card that puts women first and rewards you from
shopping from women in business, that's never gonna work, you know.
And and of course, like it's all those breakthrough innovations
that I mean, that's the history of an entrepreneurship, right,
Everyone's always like that would never work, and then of
(22:24):
course you know it's the total breakthrough and you've done it.
So we thank you for what you've done for healthcare professionals.
And as I told you earlier before we started. You know,
a friend of mine, I was at the dental opps
the other day and when she saw a fig She's like, oh,
figs so obviously bringing a lot of joy to a
lot of people's lives in addition to making it possible
for them to work in safe environment. So we thank
you for that. Oh, thank you so much, Kim, And
(22:46):
this has been awesome. Thank you so much for having me.
I'd like to thank Trina for sharing her story about
finding success with FIGS. Here are three things I took
from the conversation. For meet your customers where they're at,
FIGS did that literally. Trina told us that when she
and her co founder, Heather has And first sold scrubs
(23:08):
out of their car, they were able to talk to
medical professionals directly and to learn exactly what the market
was missing. Second, crafting your story is critical to business success.
Trina and Heather initially had a tough time raising capital
because potential investors didn't understand the customer. After the co
founders honed their story and showed how underserved the market
(23:30):
really was, they got the funding they needed. Finally, driving
as an entrepreneur is all about having a short memory.
As Trina says, she never looks back. There are always setbacks,
but you can't let them define you or over influence
how you make your decisions. Just keep moving forward and
you can reach that goal. Made by Women is brought
(23:52):
to you by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I
Heart Radio, with support from founding partner PNG
Welcome to Made by Women by the Seneca Women Podcast
Network and I Heart Radio. At a moment when businesses
face some of the biggest challenges in recent history, we
bring you inspiring stories, practical insights, and shared learnings to
help you successfully navigate in today's environment. Every Thursday Made
(00:26):
by Women will showcase the experiences of legendary women, entrepreneurs,
fierce up and comers, and everyday women who found success
their own way. Consider this your real world MBA designed
for the new Now. I'm Kim Azzarelli and thanks so
much for joining us today. COVID has given us all
(00:47):
a newfound appreciation for medical professionals. But one company has
imputting the needs of healthcare workers first since two thousand
and thirteen. BIGS, founded by Trina Spirit and Heather Hassan,
is transforming medical where with modern designs, high quality fabrics,
and great customer care. And they're a company built around purpose.
(01:07):
Figs Threads for Threads initiative donate scrubs to medical professionals
in need around the world. No Wonder Figs has made
lists like Fast Companies, Most Innovative Companies for branding and
inks Roster of fast growing Companies not bad for an
enterprise that started by selling scrubs out of the back
of a car. I spoke with Trina Spear about FIGS mission,
method and challenges. I hope you enjoy our conversation. Thanks
(01:35):
so much for joining us today. Thank you for having me.
So for those who don't know, tell us a little
bit about FIGS. Sure So, FIGS. What we're doing here
is we're really looking to empower, celebrate, and serve the
healthcare community. We do that in a number of ways.
But this was an industry medical apparel, scrubs, lab coats,
(01:58):
everything medical professionals were to work. It's an industry that's
been around for a hundred years and really had no
change or innovation. Um. And there were two product problems.
Wanting the product and I'm sure everyone's seen it right
ill fitting uncomfortable of foxy and baggy, uh, not something
that you or I would want to wear to work
every day. And the second problem was one where you know,
(02:21):
the distribution model was broken, where you know, as a
medical professional you're pretty much subjected to go to one
of these stores in remote places to you know, find
your scrubs on Iraq, and that was the shopping experience,
so what we look to do here it was really
totally changed those dynamics and a summary what we've done
is we've built a brand around an unbranded industry, decommoditize
(02:44):
what many believe was a commodity product. And then I
think what we're most proud of is building a community
around this profession or helping to bring these bring healthcare
professionals together, um and and really look to serve them
in any way we can. This is so incredible, fantastic.
I can't wait to learn so much more about the company.
But before we get too far ahead on that, tell
(03:05):
us a little bit about your own personal background. Did
you start with the dream of being an entrepreneur? Tell
us about your professional background. Sure, so, I definitely was
the kid like selling the lemonade out of the house.
So I was always looking, you know, I grew up
middle class and but always was looking to have have
something of my own. I would say that being said,
(03:27):
I after college, I went into the world of finance
and started my career in investment banking UH and in
private equity at City Group, went on to business school
and from there we went back into finance at Blackstone
in their Hedge Fund division. So, uh, I spent about
you know, six years on Wall Street before really taking
the jump into um joining Heather my co founder and
(03:50):
co CEO on this mission and and and really taking
the leap to entrepreneurship. So what was it like to
take the sleep when you started BIGS with Heather Halfs
and you were basically selling scrubs out of a car?
Tell us about that transition? Sure, so you know, um,
when you know, everyone in my life, my family and
(04:11):
my friends, they were like that, you're doing really well.
You're a Blackstone Harvard pole, Like, you're gonna do what
You're gonna go sell what? You know, people thought I
was crazy, um, and really didn't even underfully understand, like scrubs,
what's that? How does that work? It was very I mean,
I think now people view what we're doing is obvious,
but you know, eight years ago, um, it definitely wasn't that.
(04:35):
You know, I left my cush fancy job at Blackstone
and Blue across the country to l A and and Heather,
who's very much a creative product genius and had really
come up with the concept for the product and for
the distribution model. She said, Okay, this is what we do.
We go in my car. We sell scrubs out of
my car at seven am and seven pm when all
(04:56):
the doctors and nurses and medical professionals changed shifts, and
I was, okay, let's do this. So that's what we
would do at seven am and seven pm. We had,
you know, a few thousand sets in in the back
of her car and we would sell scrubs. And the
funny thing about that was actually that that was a
better experience than what they were how they were shopping
(05:17):
before that. Even even selling scrubs out of our car,
it was a better experience than going to one of
these stores in a strip mall where there was racks
and racks and racks of clothing and they're selling bedpans
and knee braces in the same place you're buying our scrubs.
At least, we were there with an amazing product that
people were really excited about. Um. And that's how that's
(05:37):
how we really kicked it off. And then you made
the transition to e commerce. How did you make this
leap and what were the challenges you faced early on?
To be fair, we had the websites at the same
time we were selling out of the car and it
was really too uh. You know, when you start a company, um,
as you know, right, you're trying to get as much
information as possible, really understanding the needs and the wants
(05:59):
of your concer or your customer. And so that's what
we were doing, um when we were selling out of
the car. But also, um, you know, Heather even before
we met, was like moonlighting as a nurse within cafeterias,
trying to understand how what people want and how they
move and all of that and so um. But you know,
our our website um was really important, right because it
(06:21):
enabled us to really get people their scrubs when they
need it. Right, you're working twelve hour shifts, you're and
when you're not working, your with your family and you're
you know, to have to go hunt for medical peril
at the at odd hours at retail locations that are
out of the way, UM that oftentimes closed at five pm.
(06:44):
Let's say you're working in the night shift, you're working
at two am. You need your scrubs. Having an e
commerce site that you could just go to to get
your scrubs was just something that didn't exist, which just
seems crazy now. UM. And so you know, and it
wasn't just that it was simple and convenient and easy,
it was that this was necessary. It's so critical for
healthcare professionals to get their uniforms so they can go
(07:05):
do their jobs. This was essential, more essential than just oh,
e commerce is easier to shop on. It was just
that much more of a necessity given what our people
are healthcare professionals do every day. Yeah, it's so amazing
to think that not that many years ago there was
no e commerce platform for this kind of amazing. So
you take the leap. Obviously you believe in Heather and
(07:28):
that you believe in the idea, You take the leap,
and you see some early success. Uh, and then you
start going for funding. What lessons did you learn about
trying to scale and trying to raise capital? Yeah, I
mean I think, like I said, early on, people didn't
understand what we're doing. And um, now it seems obvious,
but then it definitely was not obvious. And especially for investors, right, like,
(07:51):
they're not the customer, they're not healthcare professionals. They didn't
understand the pain point, they didn't understand the industry. Um,
so it was challenging. It was challenging at the beginning
to really have people understand what we were doing. And uh,
and we got a lot of nose and we got
a lot of people that you know, weren't excited about
the industry, weren't excited about the business model. But you
(08:13):
know that's really what drove us to to work through
that it craft our story and really help people understand
how important this community was and how underserved they were. Um,
you know this, it wasn't just even an underserved community,
it was an unserved community. Uh. The products were just
so um inferior to what even athletes were wearing. And
(08:37):
you know, we could talk about that. That was the
AHA moment of saying, you know, all of these billion
dollar companies, they're so focused on the athlete. What about
the people saving lives? What about the people caring for patients?
What about the people curing diseases? What about them? And
and and who's focused on them? And we were going
to be that company And we are that company that
wakes up every single day to support this community. Um.
(08:58):
So the challenges we faced along the way, we're you know,
definitely the funding piece, but also you know production, it's
easy to make one thing, it's a lot harder to
make millions of that one thing. So that's been something
that you know, has been a challenge as we've scaled.
We're such perfectionists. Quality is everything, um and how do
you um ensure that your standards, your level of quality,
(09:20):
which is we're the highest quality medical apparel company in
the world. How do we maintain that quality even as
we're scaling so rapidly. So let's dig into that for
a minute, because that does seem to be on the
minds of a lot of entrepreneurs who are really focused
on perfecting their product but then taking that next leap.
I mean, how are you doing that? Yeah? I mean
I think you just really need to have great teams.
(09:43):
I mean, we have the best team in the world.
I can't I couldn't imagine. You know, I always thought
leaving Wall Street, I'll never work with smarter, more talented people.
I was wrong. The our team BIGS is uh, you know,
the most passionate, uh, the smartest, most caring people that
(10:04):
I've ever worked with in my life. And I think
that's what it's about, right Because we're so mission driven,
because we care so much about this community, we don't
let things fall through the cracks, and we are on
top of every single aspect of this business and so
quality control, having teams, um, you know, all over Asia
and South America, wherever we're producing, to ensure that at
(10:26):
every step of our supply chain there is a check.
There's a check and balance to everything that we're doing
so that we can keep our promise, keep our brand
promise to our customers, so that quality never is less
than the standards we put in place. We'll be back
with Seneca's Made by Women after this short break. I
(10:55):
know that can't be easy. I mean with every entrepreneurial journey,
and we're seeing this and as we talked more people
on the show, there's those really dark moments right where
it feels like this might not work or it might
not be possible, or as you said earlier, you just
hear no after no, after no. How do you deal
with those dark moments? Um? I think, well, first off,
I'm a very optimistic person. You kind of have to be.
(11:17):
And I have a very short memory, which is actually good.
That is a great, great thing. You know, Heather has
a joke that she calls me torso forward. I never
look back, right, you can't. You kind of have to
just keep moving forward. And there's always setbacks, there's always challenges,
there are always reasons, there are always reasons and not
(11:39):
want to do something, and there's always risks and what
you're doing, and you can't let that define how you
move forward, how you make decisions, how you um show up,
show up for your community, which our health care community.
They're the best people in the world. They're the smartest
people in the world. They're the ones actually making our
(12:00):
our society work right now. Um, if we're not showing
up for them, and we take that on and we
take that responsibility very seriously, we're not showing up for them,
and we're getting down on something that didn't work over here.
You know this, You know, getting upset about something that
wasn't perfect over there. You know, you could just get
you could get get handcuffed, right, And you can't do that.
(12:21):
You just gotta focus on the big picture and on
who you're serving and how you're showing up in the world.
Um and uh, and let that be your true your
north star, and let that drive you. Well. What you're doing,
as you said, for this community, which is really the
backbone of our society, could not be more important in
this last year when everyone started to recognize what healthcare
(12:44):
workers were doing for us. So during COVID, I can't
even imagine how important your work became. How did FIGS
pivot and how did you help build the PPE gap.
It was the craziest year for everybody. But I think
what we saw it's about like a year ago now
since this pandemic hit us in the US at least. Um. Yeah,
(13:07):
it's like the one year anniversary today, I think, yeah,
which is nuts. And I think when the pandemic hit us,
all of our health care professionals were calling us and
asking us if we had masks. And you know, now
it's like a given a right. Everyone has a mask everyone,
you know, most medical professionals to have what they need
at this point. But if you remember back a year ago,
(13:30):
that wasn't the case, and our healthcare professionals on the
front lines were taking their paper mask, washing it in
a sink, reusing it over and over, and they were
being asked to go out in this you know, horrible
pandemic and put their own lives at risk. And that
(13:52):
was crazy to us and we felt actually, like, wow,
how have we how don't we have this for our people.
How don't we have UM at the time and ninety
five masks? Right? And then it became we have to
get them everything they need. And we just turned complete
(14:12):
one eighty with our supply chain, got the right partners
on board. We made k N ninety five masks, we
got those to our customers, We made isolation gowns as
matt suits. We produced our own fion X mask so
that in our medical professionals were wearing those over their
D ninety five masks, so they were as projected as possible.
(14:32):
Face shields. We just actually launched our face shield recently,
which is incredible UM, but it was how can we
get them what they need as fast as possible and
kind of get around a lot of the red tape.
There's a lot of red tape, right, the government red tape.
The hospitals weren't able to get them what they needed,
and so we were just how can we get them
(14:53):
what we need. At one point we launched Canniny fives
on our site. If you came to our site, you
didn't even have to buy anything. All you have to
do is click and get that and get the mask.
We were just finding any way we could to get
them what they need, and that was our number one
priority and still is our number one priority through this pandemic. UM.
So it was about ppe. It was about getting them
as obviously we had scrubs what we were we pushed
(15:14):
our production into high gears so we could get them
even more and ensure that they got what they needed
when they needed it. And then we obviously donating through
our Threads for Threads initiative is a huge part of
what we do, so we donated scrubs through the K
and nine mask thing, we donated another six thousand of
those that we donated a hundred thousand isolation downs. So
(15:35):
this was a huge team effort. I'm so proud of
this team that we were able to navigate through get
our people, our healthcare professionals what they needed as best
we could. UM. But this is a challenge to today
and we're going to continue to show up and you know,
as best we can. So the other amazing thing that
you guys do, and you, as you said, you built
(15:56):
mission into the center of your strategy from the beginning,
and it was only really just highlighted during COVID, but
your Threads for Threads initiative can you tell us about
that and why you built that into the mission of
your company. Sure, So, threats are Threads actually started before
Figs formally started. Um Heather half to my co founder.
(16:16):
She was in Africa and she's, you know, donated uniforms
and before she was, before we were donating scribes, she
was actually donating school uniforms the kids who couldn't uh
you know, they just wouldn't go to school if they
didn't have a uniform. And so that was the you know,
the predated from what we do now. But she was
in one of these schools and she went over to
this clinic and she saw a little boy and this
(16:38):
doctor was cutting open his head and she was looking
in this uh what they call a theater. It's like
an operating room. She was looking at this theater and
she sees that the doctor is wearing dirty jeans and
a T shirt and she thought, oh my god. And
he didn't even have gloves on. And she said, how
are you operating about the equipment or the uniform so
(17:02):
that you could do your job safely? And they didn't
have any scrubs. And so that was the impetus for
threats with threads, where she got this is even before
meeting with her friend over coffee, which you know, really
started the idea for FIGS. She produced scrubs for um
This Clinic and Kenya and realized through that experience that
(17:25):
there's a huge need for clean scrubs around the world
and that healthcare professionals, many of them, are operating without
the proper uniform to do their jobs. And then there
was another part of it that you know many imagine
going through all these years of schooling to become a
nurse and for instance, and in never having a set
of scrubs that tell the world this is who I
(17:47):
am and what I do as a symbol of your profession.
And so that was a huge source of pride for
many people who never received a set of scrubs, have
never war one, and be able to have that was
a huge part of the mission as well. Um So
to stay Now we've donated hundreds of thousands of sets
of scrubs to healthcare professionals in need around the world
and it's a very important part of what we do
(18:08):
every day here. Amazing. So what is next for FIGS?
Can I even say that it seems like you are
so present and you're helping so much, but you have
a vision for the future for FIGS that's different from today.
I think at the heart of it our healthcare community.
What even this pandemic has done, as had just shown
a light, right, everyone's now clapping at seven pm. The
(18:28):
world is focused on these people, and actually that's died
down a bit, and our job isn't sure that celebrating
and empowering the healthcare community. That doesn't go away. Right.
We are that company that will stand by our healthcare
professionals as they go out to do their work, and
that will never change. I mean, that is who we are.
So the future is about developing, creating products they need
(18:52):
so they can do their job. You know, it is
about function, it's about design, it's about comfort so that
you feel the best, your your best self when you
go to work every day. And then um connection, how
do we help the community connect even with each other,
you know, coming out of this pandemic, and you know
a lot of people are now talking about it, the
(19:14):
mental health side of it and for everybody right being
in isolation, being quarantined. It's affected all of us, but
it's also affected our health care community that you know,
the amount of tragedy they've seen, right, and who can
they talk to? Who are they connecting with to get
through this? Um? They don't want to talk to their
(19:34):
families because you know, they don't want to put that
on them. And so how do we now as a
company help in that way as well? And we're working
on a number of initiatives on that front. And so
there's so much there's so much we have, there's so
much work to do to show up for our people
in all the different ways that we can. And so
(19:54):
that's where we're focused. And then you know, I would
say e commerce is evolving and changing and it's not
just about oh, shopping, right, it's about how do you
have one to one connections with people at scale? So
personalization and that's something that it's really about tailoring and
experience for every individual because everybody is different. Um. So
(20:15):
that's a really exciting piece as well that we're focused.
So I guess my last question is for for women
out there and men who are thinking about starting their
own ventures, their own companies, what do you wish you
had known early on? Oh? Man, so many things I
wouldn't be able to do this again. You know, there's
(20:36):
like this crazy thing. It's like if you, uh, if
you don't know the wall is there, you can walk
through it. I think that's just like our story, right,
Like if you don't know the wall is in front
of you, you could walk through it. So I think
there are so many things that passion and drive and
caring about people, uh, that is driven this company. It's
(20:59):
almost like um strategy. You know, it's like a cultural
strategy for breakfast. I think you know the culture of Figs.
How we show up in the world, what we do
every day is really what drives us. But your question
was what do I wish I knew? I don't know.
That's the thing, right, If I knew all the things,
then we probably would have done it this way, and
then we wouldn't be where we are and we wouldn't
(21:20):
be able to show up in the way we show up.
Because if you know too much actually, and you can
think about that, I'm sure there's studies about this, like
if you know too many things, uh, and actually you
talk yourself out of a live doing a lot of things, right,
you're too smart for your own goods. So because I
probably probably wouldn't have started this company because you know,
what I mean, people said, oh, the industry doesn't work
(21:43):
that way. You're never they're not going to do that
in that way. And when you're really redefining something from
scratch and changing behaviors and restructuring products and bringing things
to the world that have never been created before, most
experts get that and say, oh, that's not gonna work.
And you know, that's just that's such a boring way
(22:04):
to live. So true, so true. That's and that's something
we see all the time too, even even when we
just launched this credit card. You know, people like a
credit card that puts women first and rewards you from
shopping from women in business, that's never gonna work, you know.
And and of course, like it's all those breakthrough innovations
that I mean, that's the history of an entrepreneurship, right,
Everyone's always like that would never work, and then of
(22:24):
course you know it's the total breakthrough and you've done it.
So we thank you for what you've done for healthcare professionals.
And as I told you earlier before we started. You know,
a friend of mine, I was at the dental opps
the other day and when she saw a fig She's like, oh,
figs so obviously bringing a lot of joy to a
lot of people's lives in addition to making it possible
for them to work in safe environment. So we thank
you for that. Oh, thank you so much, Kim, And
(22:46):
this has been awesome. Thank you so much for having me.
I'd like to thank Trina for sharing her story about
finding success with FIGS. Here are three things I took
from the conversation. For meet your customers where they're at,
FIGS did that literally. Trina told us that when she
and her co founder, Heather has And first sold scrubs
(23:08):
out of their car, they were able to talk to
medical professionals directly and to learn exactly what the market
was missing. Second, crafting your story is critical to business success.
Trina and Heather initially had a tough time raising capital
because potential investors didn't understand the customer. After the co
founders honed their story and showed how underserved the market
(23:30):
really was, they got the funding they needed. Finally, driving
as an entrepreneur is all about having a short memory.
As Trina says, she never looks back. There are always setbacks,
but you can't let them define you or over influence
how you make your decisions. Just keep moving forward and
you can reach that goal. Made by Women is brought
(23:52):
to you by the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I
Heart Radio, with support from founding partner PNG
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