Common Mission: Two Founders Discover New Purpose in The Pandemic

Heather sits down with Lisa Sun, CEO and founder of Gravitas New York @gravitasnewyork, an innovative and inclusive fashion brand and Jane Park, CEO and founder of Seattle-based Tokki, @tokkigifting, a modern gifting company that sells reusable fabric gift wrap. Sun and Park share the story of how they turned a crushing business crisis into an opportunity to help front line responders. The two longtime friends on opposite coasts had just launched a new partnership when the virus hit. With bolts of colorful fabric piled high in New York and a team of seamstresses who could work from home, they marshaled their resources to start producing cloth face masks for essential workers. They quickly launched a "buy a mask, donate a mask" initiative to fund donations of N95 respirator masks to hospitals and have so far produced 4000 cloth masks for the general public. Before COVID-19, Sun had dreams of putting on another runway show at New York Fashion Week and Park was looking forward to a successful year promoting her new eco-friendly gift wrap.  The friends mourned their big plans for 2020 and yet, unexpectedly found new purpose by figuring out a way to help.
(Disclosure: Heather is an angel investor in Gravitas New York).