Podcast appearances and mentions of heidi zak

If you need some inspiration to jumpstart your business in 2024, listen to some of our best Shopify Masters interviews of 2023. You'll hear from Jono Pandolfi of Jono Pandolfi Designs, Nancy Twine of Briogeo, Heidi Zak of ThirdLove and Daniel Le Mar of Cirque du Soleil.For more on these companies and show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/2023-inspirational-stories

On this episode of She Dynasty, Valerie's joined by Heidi Zak, Co-Founder and CEO of ThirdLove, to discuss how one shopping trip at Victoria's Secret sparked the idea to disrupt an entire category. Tune in to hear about how her company became the top online intimate brand among millennials!

Thank you for tuning into "Starting Small", a podcast about brand development, entrepreneurship, and innovation in the modern world. In this episode, I am joined by Heidi Zak, founder of ThirdLove, bras designed for your body so you always look & feel your best. Make sure to check out ThirdLove at: https://www.thirdlove.com/     Visit Starting Small Media: https://startingsmallmedia.org/ Subscribe to exclusive Starting Small emails: https://startingsmallmedia.org/newsletter-signup   Follow Starting Small: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/startingsmallpod/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Startingsmallpod/?modal=admin_todo_tour LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/cameronnagle   Make sure to check out Magic Mind, designed for a long-term boost in energy, cognition, and stress management. I've been testing their shots for the past few days and notice a drastic change in my overall productivity and workflow... best part? they taste great too! The Magic Mind team created a super offer for me to share with you guys. You get up to 56% off your first subscription in the next 10 days and 20% off your one time purchase with STARTINGSMALL20. You can get it at (https://magicmind.com/startingsmall), and redeem the discount code STARTINGSMALL20, but hurry up, the 56% discount only lasts 10 days from our episode airing date.

ThirdLove is known for marketing body positivity and offering size-inclusive bras, including half-cup sizes. On today's episode, we're talking to ThirdLove co-founder and CEO Heidi Zak. We'll hear about what led her to start the company back in 2013, how the brand connects with today's customers and ThirdLove's recent expansion into bricks-and-mortar locations. Zak also shares how inclusion and diversity values help shape the business and discusses the impact of the TL Effect – an initiative to support entrepreneurial women of color.  Learn more at retailgetsreal.com.

ThirdLove is changing the lingerie industry by using technology and data to create better-fitting bras and underwear. In this episode of Shopify On Location, co-founder and CEO Heidi Zak shares how her team collected pre-launch data, built consumer trust in their products, and adapted to customers' needs. For more on ThirdLove & show notes: https://www.shopify.com/blog/thirdlove-market-fit?utm_campaign=shopifymasters&utm_medium=youtube&utm_source=podcast 

Dianna Cohen is the CEO & co-founder of Crown Affair, a first-of-its-kind haircare brand that empowers people to redefine their relationship with their hair through accessible luxury, ritual, and community. They have raised over $6M in Seed and Series A funding from top-tier investors including True Beauty Ventures, Greycroft, Gwyneth Paltrow, Heidi Zak, and Jaclyn Johnson and can be found in retailers like Sephora, Goop, Violet Grey and Moda Operandi. Prior to founding Crown Affair, Dianna worked with leading consumer brands like Harry's, Outdoor Voices, The Wing, and Buck Mason as a marketer & brand strategist. Before that she was Head of Partnerships at Away and worked in editorial at Into the Gloss. Find Crown Affair on their website here Follow Dianna on TikTok here

For the past 44 episodes of Insider Interviews I've put a lot of well-known media and marketing folks in the hot seat ...And today's guest is ... E.B. Moss. Me. Because as we ring out the old and ring in the new I've got some news for you. This nice round number, episode 45, will be one of the last for Insider Interviews for a while, as I embrace something really new. A brand new role as Senior Vice President of Content and Community for Brand Innovators. I'm thrilled to join this company, which has done such a great job for the past 10 years of creating a community for marketers and helping build relationships between those marketers and media folks. They've done it through an incredible number of events and panel discussions, fireside chats, activations, tent poles, content articles, you name it. I will help further that community and also build new products. So, stay tuned as they say. And join us! In looking back to look forward, as I wrote in The Continuum recently, I had some wonderful conversations. After launching with programming pro, Gary Krantz, talking about audio and the evolution of radio and podcasting my very next episode was in March of 2020 was Shelly Palmer, the pundit, who accurately predicted that we all better have our tech set up well to work from home. Check. In episode 7, Claude Silver, the Chief Heart Officer of Vayner Media, emphasized the need in our increasingly isolated environment to build relationships. And then Arra Yerganian educated us in episode 22, about the social determinants of health as we're so impacted by our surroundings. (I hope you're creating a safe space for yourself and finding ways to bring joy into your world, even as we have to isolate a little bit longer now.) On the DEI front Robyn Streisand, founder of The Mixx, is doing a terrific job at educating brands on how to embrace diverse communities and market authentically. And then, hats off to KoAnn Skrzyniarz, for building Sustainable Brands and emphasizing brand purpose and the business value of embracing sustainability and purpose-driven messaging. Talk about influencers. That's what Danielle Wiley of Sway did and really informed us about how to manage what's been influential and what hasn't. And it all kind comes together with Joe Jackman in episode 37, talking about reinvention. Because that's what we're all doing these days. Marc Kidd and Anna Bager each talked about the out of home ad industry and their headaches during a time when nobody was traveling. Captivate, where Marc is CEO, specialized in elevator advertising, and no one was going into office buildings! So they figured out how to pivot -- or reinvent -- by expanding their signage to places where people play and live like golf courses and apartment buildings. Anna Bager talked about how out of home signage really helped move public service messaging forward, especially with the healthcare messaging that is so important these days. There were also some really impactful conversations with women in marketing. I want to thank, for example, Melissa Grady, the CMO of Cadillac, as well as Heidi Zak, the co-founder and CEO of third love, as just two examples. And I was able to do articles on both of them for The Continuum. That's the publication where I was editor in chief for the past year. We published some excellent articles about the need for both brand and demand marketing. That publication will continue to embrace the future. And it's a very worthy read. But I think as I look forward, and look back, some of Ruth Steven's words were exactly right and underscores why my move to Brand Innovators will be so timely. Ruth is one of the foremost experts in B2B marketing. And she said in our interview, “Today, the ability of the salesperson to guide a purchase in the buyer's direction and really understand the needs of that buyer has been eroded. So the marketer needs to step in and provide the educational content.” So my friends,

Real talk: Why were we never taught how to buy a properly fitting bra? I know I can't be the only one who struggles with this. Generations of women have been playing a guessing game and settling for uncomfortable products & outdated practices in an industry that - until recently - catered more toward appealing to men than serving women. This was the exact obstacle Heidi Zak, the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, had to overcome when she launched an innovative solution to normalize online bra shopping that skyrocketed ThirdLove to being the #1 digital bra brand among millenials.Today, we're dissecting the case study of how ThirdLove acquired 1 million paying customers in just 3 years and which customer acquisition channels they're doubling down on in 2022.Connect with Heidi:https://www.thirdlove.comUse code TL-CUBICLETOCEO to redeem a free pair of underwear! Includes all underwear $28 or less 1 use per customer No minimum purchase.https://instagram.com/thirdlove/https://instagram.com/heidi/https://twitter.com/thirdlovehttps://facebook.com/thirdloveIf you enjoyed today's episode, please:Join our referral rewards program by signing up for our text notifications at ellenyin.com/superfan , and share your custom referral link with your biz besties to get them to sign up too! Post a screenshot & key takeaway on your IG story and tag me @missellenyin & @cubicletoceo so I can repost you.Leave a positive review on Apple PodcastsSubscribe for new episodes every Monday ----- FREE RESOURCES:Service-based entrepreneurs, are you tired of being on the content hamster wheel + hustling for more followers without more income? I created a FREE, on-demand training just for you on how to use my step-by-step client attraction system to create your first $10K month, WITHOUT a large audience or complicated marketing strategies! Claim your bonus gift by watching now: ellenyin.com/getclients

Heidi Zak is the Co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, an American lingerie company known for marketing body positivity and offering size-inclusive bras and half-cup sizes. With Brit hosting this episode, she and Heidi shed light on the decades of negativity that came from the women's lingerie industry, and how ThirdLove was formed to be the antithesis of this negative messaging. Brit and Heidi talk about Heidi's open letter to Victoria's Secret, the importance of simplicity when starting your own company, how to lead a large team, and more.   IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT: Heidi's open letter to Victoria's Secret that was published in the New York Times The values and principles that ThirdLove was founded on Disrupting the women's lingerie industry Heidi's leadership learnings How Heidi structures her days to deliver results    RESOURCES Read Heidi's bi-weekly business column on Inc.com HERE. Shop ThirdLove: thirdlove.com Text GIRLFRIENDS to 310-496-8363 for updates and a chance to be featured on the show!   CONNECT WITH HEIDI Instagram: @heidi Shop ThirdLove: thirdlove.com   CONNECT WITH BRIT Instagram: @britdrisc Squeeze: @squeeze   CONNECT WITH LORI Instagram: @loriharder Lite Pink: @drinklitepink Earn Your Happy: @earnyourhappy Listen to Earn Your Happy   CONNECT WITH ALLI Instagram: @alliwebb Becket & Quill: @becketandquill Squeeze: @squeeze

Heidi Zak and David Spector are about as great of a fit as a ThirdLove bra. And that makes sense because this powerhouse couple founded ThirdLove together. Rachel and Rodger definitely related to the way that Heidi and David balance a business relationship and a marriage all at once. But they didn't relate as much to their passion for triathlons and Mt Everest! To say that Heidi and David are high acheivers is an understatement bigger than Everest, and Rachel and Rodger were absolutely fascinated by their story. Today's Sponsors: ThirdLove- Upgrade your top-drawer today and get 20% off your first order at thirdlove.com/ZOE Warby Parker- Try 5 pairs of glasses at home for free at warbyparker.com/ZOE Talkspace- Match with a licensed therapist when you go to talkspace.com and get $100 off your first month with the promo code ZOE. SimpliSafe- Go to simplisafe.com/zoe to get 20% off your entire new system and your first month of monitoring service FREE when you enroll in Interactive Monitoring. HelloFresh- Got to HelloFresh.com/14zoe and use code 14zoe for up to 14 free meals, including free shipping. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

In the Season 3 finale of The Room Podcast, Madison and Claudia sit down with Heidi Zak, CEO and Co-Founder of ThirdLove, a multi-generational women's lifestyle brand focused on elevated essentials across bras, underwear, loungewear, and much more. ThirdLove’s products are designed to support women feeling effortlessly comfortable and confident. ThirdLove is also the third largest underwear and bra retailer in the world, which is a true testament to how its unique model truly disrupted how consumers shop for bras and other essentials. This week’s key themes include what fundraising looks like for non-software businesses, finding product market fit and innovating on distribution, and the future of e-commerce. Let’s open the door. Season 3 is sponsored by our friends at SVB and Cooley.

Quitting her promising job at Google, Heidi Zak decided to take the plunge and launch ThirdLove, an ecommerce brand for women’s underwear. Today, thanks to Zak’s masterful approach to scaling, ThirdLove is the third biggest ecommerce lingerie brand in America with no signs of slowing down.    Zak’s journey into the entrepreneurial space began after she moved to the West coast and got swept up in the startup world. Launching as a small bootstrapped brand, she never thought that she one day be competing with titans like Victoria’s Secret.  Listen in as Zak discusses the ins and outs of the ecommerce world, navigating scaling, product vs. marketing, and why she believes successful entrepreneurialism is based on perspective.  Get FREE, actionable advice from legitimate founders on starting and growing ANY Business… https://www.foundr.com/freetraining And… If you ARE enjoying the Foundr Podcast’, please make sure to leave us a 5-star review, and let us know who you want to see next. Website: http://www.foundr.comSuccess Stories: https://foundr.com/success-stories Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundr/ YouTube:  http://bit.ly/2uyvzdt  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/foundr Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/foundr LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foundr/ Podcast: http://www.foundr.com/podcast Magazine: http://www.foundr.com/magazine

In today's episode, we'll be talking a lot about shifting mindsets, which may sound very abstract and quite ‘self-helpy' but it actually isn't. Whether you're at an early or later stage in your career or you just started your own business, there is a lot of value in looking at things differently. Our next guest, whose mantra is ‘make it happen', really did -- but not without pluck ups along the way!Heidi Zak is the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, a company that was built to do bras differently. Heidi has been named among Fortune's 40 Under 40 and her brand has made a mark in the retail and fashion world due to its commitment to inclusivity.On the show, we'll talk about Heidi's mom's reaction to quitting her very secure job at Google, which can be summed up as “You're leaving the best company in the world and do what with bras?” We'll dive into our mutual experience of working with our significant others. And Heidi will share a huge pluck up, which involved half of her team at ThirdLove quitting and how she moved on from that moment of despair.Check out ThirdLove: www.thirdlove.com--Love the podcast? Rate and leave us a review!Follow Liz on Instagram:@lizbohannon@ssekodesignsThis podcast is produced by Hueman Group Media. Follow us on @sincerelyhueman.--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pluckingup/message Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today’s episode, we’ll be talking a lot about shifting mindsets, which may sound very abstract and quite ‘self-helpy’ but it actually isn’t. Whether you’re at an early or later stage in your career or you just started your own business, there is a lot of value in looking at things differently. Our next guest, whose mantra is ‘make it happen’, really did -- but not without pluck ups along the way! Heidi Zak is the co-founder and co-CEO of ThirdLove, a company that was built to do bras differently. Heidi has been named among Fortune’s 40 Under 40 and her brand has made a mark in the retail and fashion world due to its commitment to inclusivity. On the show, we’ll talk about Heidi’s mom’s reaction to quitting her very secure job at Google, which can be summed up as “You’re leaving the best company in the world and do what with bras?” We’ll dive into our mutual experience of working with our significant others. And Heidi will share a huge pluck up, which involved half of her team at ThirdLove quitting and how she moved on from that moment of despair. Check out ThirdLove: www.thirdlove.com -- Love the podcast? Please follow us or subscribe for FREE, rate, and leave us a review! Follow Liz on Instagram: @lizbohannon @ssekodesigns This podcast is produced by Hueman Group Media. Follow us on @sincerelyhueman. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/pluckingup/message

Today’s episode is Marketing For the Now #19 where we ask the question “How are you growing your customers into fans in 2021?”. We’re joined by an elite lineup of guests including: Christie's, Neda Whitney, SVP Head of Marketing America's &pizza, Michael Lastoria, CEO and Co-founder ThirdLove, Heidi Zak, CEO and Co-founder Roblox, Barbara Messing, Chief Marketing and People Experience Officer Loop, John Henry, Co-founder and Co-CEO Cleveland Browns, Dino Bernacchi, CMO Drybar, Squeeze, Becket + Quill, Alli Webb, Co-founder AccuWeather, Michelle Harmon-Madsen, CMO MGA Entertainment, Jamie Gutfreund, Global CMO Sesame Workshop, Samantha Maltin, CMO Barry's, Joey Gonzalez, Global CEO PayPal and Venmo, Jill Cress, VP Consumer Marketing Enjoy! Let me know what you thought. Sign Up for Marketing For The Now: mftn.vaynerx.com Tweet Me! @garyvee Text Me! 212-931-5731 My Newsletter: garyvee.com/newsletter

Heidi Zak has been in finance, in retail and in tech. Like most women, she’s also been in plenty of dressing rooms trying to find the right bra, leading her to build ThirdLove, one of the largest online bra and underwear companies in America. Close encounters with the NOT ThirdLove kind of shopping experiences, meaning the universal ick-factor of cold hands and awkward measurement moments with in-store underwear salespeople, were part of Zak’s a-ha moment. So, putting all of her professional and personal experience together, she created a brand that disrupted an entire industry -- to the great relief of uncomfortable women everywhere. Her first-to-market service as a DTC bra retailer hit some, ah, curves, along the journey but Zak has been named everything from Goldman Sachs’ 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs to a Fortune “40 Under 40”, and more. Part of the accolades stem from how Zak has embraced not just brand marketing but brand purpose. Inclusivity at ThirdLove means being the only brand to offer more than 80 bra sizes, including their unique half cup sizing – and donating over $40 million worth of products to women in need. It has also helped evolve an old school industry previously defined by a narrow concept of beauty with a focus on inclusivity. “We didn’t want to look like any other bra brand which mostly photographed skinny, generally white women with small boobs and generally did it in a really sexy way. So, we set out to build something radically different from scratch.... Back then there were barely any plus size models.” Further iterating on inclusivity, ThirdLove launched a new initiative during COVID-challenged 2020: The TL Effect, to support entrepreneurial women of color. "...Brand purpose has to be authentic, true to who you are and what you stand for, and what you're building. Otherwise it can fall flat, or a consumer sees through it.” While Zak and I commiserated about finding a proper fitting and comfortable bra I was a bit discomfited to discover that this rock star CEO/mom of two has managed to use her homebound pandemic time to also hyper-organize her home, when I haven’t even organized my sock drawer. In a conversation perfectly apropos Women’s History Month, hear how, in addition to organizing her home, this efficient CEO/co-founder has organized her company for success through adapting to the changes of the pandemic. Envy aside, we discussed: Her path from small town Main Street to Wall Street, Herald Square to Silicon Valley How an encounter with the founders of Lyft drove her to solve another consumer problem, one bra at a time “In 2012, if you look at what had existed [for bra shopping] at that time, there were department stores, Victoria’s Secret and some big box stores. There certainly weren't online bra brands at the time. And that was the idea: better brand, better product, better online shopping experience for women.” Zak on disruption and her definition of DTC, and why it was important for ThirdLove to “have a direct way to speak to our customer, to educate her, to bring her along the journey, to make her feel really comfortable.” The product evolution -- from one bestselling bra to their recently launched Fit Finder -- and the pivot required by pandemic-era marketing Navigating manufacturing and funding, especially as a woman seeking financing from primarily men (Note: McKinsey reports women are still only 21% of the C-suite and of those are mostly white women.) Early-stage ThirdLove marketing tactics and positioning How their innovative “try before you buy” program along with ads that asked if women were ‘Ready to graduate from Victoria's Secret?’ drove 1 million new customers How and why they leveraged podcasting as one of their main ad vehicles in 2015, baffling some investors The pros and cons of linear and OTT TV How ThirdLove spans Black History Month to Women's History Month and beyond by uplifting women,

1:41 Heidi tells the story of how ThirdLove was founded.3:17 Heidi discusses starting ThirdLove with her husband, Dave.4:53 Heidi talks about making business decisions when she doesn't agree with her husband or other team members.6:36 Learn how the industry landscape has changed since ThirdLove was founded.8:58 Hear how ThirdLove focuses on the customer being the woman instead of the man.11:51 Heidi explains why she published an open letter to Victoria's Secret in the New York Times.16:22 Learn more about the TL Effect, a mentorship program from ThirdLove for female founders of color.20:19 Hear about a new comedic campaign from ThirdLove. 21:03 Carolyn and Heidi reflect on the “To Each, Her Own” campaign.24:18 Learn more about new product lines coming from ThirdLove27:03 Heidi discusses inventory challenges and how she ensures customers get the products they want.28:55 Heidi talks about the challenges ThirdLove faced in 2020.

On this 237th episode of "Marketing Today," host Alan Hart speaks with Heidi Zak, the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, the 3rd largest online bra and underwear company in the United States. Zak is passionate about making sure all women feel comfortable in their underwear, no matter their shape or size. Our conversation starts with a glimpse of Zak's past, growing up in a town of just 3,000 people and working at a farmers market. After college, Zak finally found her way to the Big Apple while working in an investment bank's retail division. Zak then talks about the cushy job with Google that pulled her out west, the same cushy job that she decided to leave to start ThirdLove. In a market dominated by men, Zak had a hard time finding investors for her women's bra and underwear company, that is until some men were able to see the "opportunity to do things differently in all aspects." We then dive into the challenges presented by COVID that forced ThirdLove to "cut back on marketing expenses to focus on efficiency." Zak then tackles the issue of creating content when the world is shut down, claiming, "as a marketer, you're constantly in the cycle of content creation, but sometimes you might not maximize the assets that you've already created." Lastly, Zak discusses ThridLove's support of entrepreneurs with its TL Effect program in an attempt to show everyone that "you can support causes through what you show to the world!"   Highlights from this week's "Marketing Today": Heidi grew up in a 3,000-person town just outside of Niagara Falls and learned a lot from her time working at a farmers market. 1:41 It wasn't until after college that Heidi found her way to the retail group at an investment bank in NYC. 3:01 Like most college graduates, Heidi had no idea what she wanted to do after school. 4:09 Banking served as an excellent entryway for Heidi to understand basic business skills that she used to build her own company. 4:32 Heidi made the switch to the operations side out of a desire to learn more about operating a retail business. 5:12 A job at Google brought Heidi out to the West Coast, where she got her first taste of entrepreneurship and the startup industry. 5:50 Heidi quit her job at Google to start ThirdLove with her husband after seeing a need in the market. 6:40 It was difficult to raise seed money for ThirdLove in a world dominated by men at the time. 7:31 When COVID hit, ThirdLove hunkered down and prepared for the worst-case scenario. 8:49 The market for bras has changed a little as more and more people have started working from home. 10:24 ThirdLove had to cut back the most in the Television marketing sector while becoming more efficient in all other sectors. 11:38 In the last month or two, ThirdLove has been able to reinvest in mid to upper-funnel marketing. 12:30 Heidi is always testing out new markets to see where the potential lies for innovation. 13:00 Creating content became trickier when COVID hit, forcing ThirdLove to do things differently with the same stuff. 14:25 Leveraging content from customers and the team has allowed the brand to connect with its audience. 15:32 With so many social movements going on in today's society, ThirdLove has put the elements of inclusivity and diversity at the company's forefront. 16:55 TL Effect supports a new-business female founder of color by providing mentorship, a monetary grant, and promotion through ThirdLove. 17:55 Kyutee Nails was the first winner of the TL Effect and provides unique nail services while many salons are shut down. 20:02 Competitive gymnastics during her childhood showed Heidi the power of dedication and determination. 21:45 Just like Alan, Heidi struggled with how the apparel industry makes its clothing around these one-fit models. 23:14 If Heidi could go back, she would focus more on the moment and less on the future. 25:35 ThirdLove has been conducting more testing and research with SMS technology to connect with its customers. 28:23 Heidi believes that the sheer amount of brands competing for consumer mindshare makes it hard to stand out from the competition. 30:25   Resources Mentioned: ThirdLove Farmstand, investment banking, Aeropostal, Google ThirdLove founding story TL Effect TL Effect Winner - Kyutee Beauty and founder and CEO Arah Sims Kyutee Kyutee Vote Collection Magic Mind drink Community SuperPhone (founder Ryan Leslie) Ryan Leslie on Marketing Today Subscribe to the podcast: Listen in iTunes (link: http://apple.co/2dbdAhV) Listen in Google Podcasts (link: http://bit.ly/2Rc2kVa) Listen in Spotify (Link: http://spoti.fi/2mCUGnC ) Connect with the Guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidizak/ https://twitter.com/heidizaks https://twitter.com/ThirdLove Connect with Marketing Today and Alan Hart: http://twitter.com/abhart https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanhart http://twitter.com/themktgtoday https://www.facebook.com/themktgtoday/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/marketing-today-with-alan-hart/   Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/marketingtoday See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kyutee / ThirdLove | Arah Sims and Heidi Zak, Founders and CEOs Today I have a double feature for the show: two fantastic founders & CEOs coming together for a partnership benefiting businesses run by females of color. On this episode you'll meet Heidi Zak, the founder & CEO of ThirdLove, the third largest e-commerce intimates apparel brand in the U.S. The brand has launched a program called “The TL Effect,” created to encourage and support early-stage consumer-focused companies run by female entrepreneurs of color. You'll also meet Arah Sims, Founder and CEO of Kyütee_ _Beauty, who is the winning recipient of its first grant. It's a pleasure to be able to feature this blossoming partnership -- this host hopes more programs like the TL Effect are launched by brands in the future, especially ones aimed at directly supporting businesses owned by females and entrepreneurs of color. Learn more about the TL Effect: https://blog.thirdlove.com/the-tl-effect/. Check out Kyutee: https://kyutee.com/. Check out ThirdLove: https://www.thirdlove.com/. FOLLOW AUTHENTIC AVENUE ON SOCIAL MEDIA: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/68049428/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthenticAve/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authenticavemedia/ Email Adam: adam@authenticavenuemedia.com Learn more at https://authenticavenuemedia.com/. Theme Song: Extreme Energy (Music Today 80) Composed & Produced by Anwar Amr Video Link: https://youtu.be/8ZZbAkKNx7s

Bra shopping has never been easy. Even in high-end locations with white-glove fitting services, consumers often find themselves with imperfect fits and money down the drain. ThirdLove was founded to make the bra shopping process painless. Using cutting-edge technology and data, ThirdLove has built a cult-like following because the company doesn't just make finding the perfect bra super easy; it helps customers feel connected to a larger community of like-minded individuals. But the brand's fitting technology isn't the only source of data used to power the business. During this episode, co-founder and CEO Heidi Zak reveals how data is embedded into all facets of the ThirdLove business, and how the team used new insights during the pandemic.

ThirdLove co-founders Heidi Zak, MBA ’07, and David Spector, MBA ’07, join Christopher Reichert, MOT ’04, to share how they started the online bra and underwear retailer. The pair also discuss their experience founding a startup as husband and wife and lessons they have learned about entrepreneurship.Support the show (https://giving.mit.edu/sloan/)

Heidi Zak is the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, the fastest growing and most disruptive brand in the lingerie industry.When Heidi couldn’t find a quality bra that fit her correctly and looked great, she realized there was an opportunity in the market for modern women. In 2013, Heidi left her job at Google to pursue her dream of offering high quality, better fitting bras, and marketing them in a way that didn’t push impossible beauty standards. Heidi is on a mission to build a brand for every woman, regardless of her shape, size, age, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation. She believes inclusivity should be the norm, not the exception, and has led the charge, inventing half-cups and offering women more than 80 sizes.Since inception, more than 16 million women of all shapes and sizes have used ThirdLove’s innovative Fit Finder tool to find a bra that truly fits her body. The company has been valued at a reported $750 million dollars and is generating over $100 million in revenue annually. Heidi has been recognized as Fortune's 40 Under 40, EY Entrepreneur of the Year, and Goldman Sachs' 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs.In this episode, we'll talk to Heidi about:* Heidi shares why she became an entrepreneur and skills she learned working in her corporate career that have helped her as CEO [2:37]* Why walking into a Victoria's Secret sparked Heidi’s idea for ThirdLove and why she wanted to create a bra brand for modern women [5:57]* Two questions Heidi asked herself before quitting her lucrative job to work on ThirdLove full-time [7:41]* Heidi discusses the slow growth ThirdLove had in the first two years of the business & what they did to completely changed the trajectory of the business [10:02]* The importance of networking and why you need to be okay with asking for things [15:12]* Heidi walks through how she thinks through difficult business decisions and challenges she faced with her first manufacturer in the early days [18:57]* The power of mentorship and having a diverse group of mentors in your network [23:27]* Heidi gives advice on how to think through partnerships and co-founders when starting a business [25:39]* Why she decided to have her first kid around the same time ThirdLove officially launched [27:34]* Heidi shares advice she gives all women entrepreneurs she mentors [31:05]* Heidi discusses the future of ThirdLove and the ever-changing role as a founder when leading a high growth business [35:10] Follow Heidi:* Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heidi/* ThirdLove Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ThirdLove/* Website: https://www.thirdlove.com/ Follow Yasmin:* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yasminknouri/* Stay updated & subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.behindherempire.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sponsored By: Arrest Founder Stress Data science and bras? An unlikely combination? Not if you are a former Google employee and MIT grad. Heidi and her team have systematically taken on an industry that saw very little innovation and along the way helped millions of women find better comfort and and confidence. Of course, as any listener of this show knows, success comes with lots of opportunities for growth. Heidi explains what happened when her Creative Director went on the ABC TV show Good Morning America (GMA), while she was in labor with her first child, and their system crashed. From that experience Heidi explains what she learned about her leadership style and how to bring team members along when you need to make a tough decision. Thanks for being so candid, Heidi. We all benefit from you transparency.

Sponsored By: Arrest Founder Stress Data science and bras? An unlikely combination? Not if you are a former Google employee and MIT grad. Heidi and her team have systematically taken on an industry that saw very little innovation and along the way helped millions of women find better comfort and and confidence. Of course, as any listener of this show knows, success comes with lots of opportunities for growth. Heidi explains what happened when her Creative Director went on the ABC TV show Good Morning America (GMA), while she was in labor with her first child, and their system crashed. From that experience Heidi explains what she learned about her leadership style and how to bring team members along when you need to make a tough decision. Thanks for being so candid, Heidi. We all benefit from you transparency.

On this episode of Techsetters, co-hosts Samantha Wiener and Jenny Wang interview Third Love Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Heidi Zak. After founding Third Love in 2013 with the mission of building a better bra, Heidi has been named among Fortune's 40 Under 40. On today's episode, Heidi discusses using data to create a better product, the importance of fostering inclusivity in company culture and using innovation to challenge the status quo. Techsetters is Executive Produced by Kode With Klossy and made possible by If / Then. This episode was recorded in April 2020.

On today's episode of Authentic Influence, Adam Conner is joined by Heidi Zak, the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove. ThirdLove is an American company producing and selling bras, underwear, loungewear and nightwear. It has pioneered the sizing of bras in half cups. Today, you'll learn: How a poor experience on a trip to Victoria's Secret led to Heidi founding the company The TL Effect: what is it? What was the inspiration for it? What does it benefit? How ThirdLove harnesses the lightning of its wearers, who can't find a better fit anywhere else; including a particularly notable story of a woman named Hope How Heidi defines "being purpose-driven"; how to properly invest in it As always, advice on how to build a more authentic brand Check out more about The TL Effect: https://blog.thirdlove.com/the-tl-effect/. Be sure to stay subscribed for more content and thought leadership like this, and do please leave a rating and review on iTunes if you like what you hear: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/authentic-influence/id1440872576. Be sure to follow our LinkedIn page to catch all of our content there: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/authentic-influence-podcast/. Reach out to Adam Conner on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamjconner/ or via email at adam.conner@govivoom.com with suggestions for guests, content, or general interest/feedback. Find more at https://www.podcast.vivoom.co/. Enjoy! Music: "Streetview" by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Host Julia Yoo chats with ThirdLove co-founder and co-CEO Heidi Zak. Tune in to hear Zak's thoughts on what it’s like to build a business and product for women, and the challenges—and opportunities—to be found in running a global, direct-to-consumer online company during a global pandemic.

You might think being quarantined with your work partner AND your life partner could be challenging, but Heidi Zak and Dave Spector, married co-founders of intimate wear company, ThirdLove, have mastered this balancing act. Erica chats with Heidi and Dave about how they’re running their company and their family together during quarantine. You’ll hear all about their Wellness Wednesday initiative, getting silly with their teams on Doughnut Tuesday, and how quarantine finally encouraged consumers to give online bra shopping a try—something digitally-native ThirdLove was ready for and built for from the ground up.  Please Subscribe, Rate and Review on Apple Podcasts You can also listen to the show on: StitcherOvercast GoogleSpotify Resources:7:21 – Dave on this new working normal: “The challenge really has been so much of work, certainly in this country, is bumping into people—the water cooler conversations, right? And whether it’s about work or not about work—if it’s not about work it’s that bonding; building a relationship with somebody about their personal life or what they did last night. Or it is about work, or they’re mixed together. And that kind of conversation—the impromptu, the bumping into somebody, the going over to their desk—is frankly a lot easier than scheduling something—a meeting or having to Slack or email somebody. And I think the challenge that we face, like so many other companies—and we’re adapting too—is how do we recreate that?” 11:50 – Dave on Wellness Wednesday: “If we’re giving you the day off, the commitment is you’re not doing work, and you’re having a day for yourself. And if the day for yourself means catching up on Netflix, great. If it means playing with your kids, great. If it means time alone, awesome. But the important thing is you’re taking time for yourself to focus on your mental health.” 20:06 – Heidi on the rapidly digital relationship with customers: “I think you’re seeing today the shift from offline to online that might’ve taken three to five years occurring in six to eighteen months...I just think people are really thankful to have options that can work and make them feel safe, right? And also with a really high service level.”ThirdLoveErica’s websiteErica’s book, Bring Your Human to WorkText ‘human’ to 66866 to sign up for Erica’s newsletter where she shares how to honor relationships well and how to bring your human to work and life. Connect with Heidi and Dave:Heidi:InstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook Dave:InstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook ThirdLove:InstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook Connect with Erica: InstagramTwitterLinkedInFacebook

Heidi Zak is no stranger to revolutionary ideas. Her bra and underwear brand, ThirdLove, offers its trademark half-sizing to their customers--a completely unique and revolutionary idea. Listen in as Heidi shares how the idea for ThirdLove came about, how she left her job at Google to begin the company, and how her experiences helped her as an entrepreneur. Timestamped show notes 02:08 - Heidi talks about her journey 04:41 - Heidi’s harrowing first bra shopping experience 06:34 - Executing an idea 07:52 - The first step 09:17 - Finding that entrepreneurial spirit 11:26 - Raising money 12:18 - “Fundraising is never easy.” 14:07 - Pitching differently to different audiences 14:59 - The origins of the name “ThirdLove” 16:17 - Third Love’s brand voice 17:09 - Evolving business 18:56 - Heidi shares some tips on finding a team 22:20 - She also shares how she wants ThirdLove to evolve and expand 23:53 - Advice for women looking to start their businesses during the pandemic 25:21 - Working with clients and customers to create wanted products 26:03 - “There is no such thing as balance.” Links ThirdLove: https://www.thirdlove.com/

Although it’s known for making products for women, Victoria’s Secret was created as a shopping experience for men. It hit its stride in the 1990s, with stores in malls across America and a brand built on a very specific kind of fantasy: supermodels, angel wings, and diamond-studded bras. But when this definition of glamour—and retail— began to fall out of fashion, Victoria’s Secret refused to budge. Now, its future is in jeopardy. Casey Crowe Taylor is a former Victoria’s Secret employee. Heidi Zak is the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove. Podcast production by Jess Miller, Asha Saluja, and Megan Kallstrom. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Although it’s known for making products for women, Victoria’s Secret was created as a shopping experience for men. It hit its stride in the 1990s, with stores in malls across America and a brand built on a very specific kind of fantasy: supermodels, angel wings, and diamond-studded bras. But when this definition of glamour—and retail— began to fall out of fashion, Victoria’s Secret refused to budge. Now, its future is in jeopardy. Casey Crowe Taylor is a former Victoria’s Secret employee. Heidi Zak is the co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove. Podcast production by Jess Miller, Asha Saluja, and Megan Kallstrom. Slate Plus members get ad-free podcasts and bonus episodes of shows like Dear Prudence and Slow Burn. Sign up now to listen and support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"When I was in middle school I wanted to be a broadcast journalist, which is humorous and I was obsessed with Katie Couric and this is, you know, the heyday of when she was on the today show and I did a book report on her. My mom still has it." SNP Communications founder Maureen Taylor sits down with Heidi Zak, co-founder and CEO of ThirdLove, a women’s underwear company, created by women for women. Heidi talks about her grade school book report on Katie Couric and how her young daughter has been her business inspiration.Think Like A Founder is produced by SNP Communications in San Francisco California. Learn more by visiting us at www.snpnet.com or connect with Maureen Taylor on LinkedIn to continue the conversation there. Series Producer: Roisin Hunt. Sound design: Marc Ream. Creative Producer: Eli Shell. Content and scripting: Mike Sullivan. Production Coordinator: Natasha Thomas. Thanks also to Selena Persiani-Shell, John Hughes and Renn Vara.

EP211 - ThirdLove Co-Founder David Spector  David Spector is the Co-Founder of ThirdLove, a digitally native direct to consumer women's intimates brand. Dave founded the company with his wife Heidi Zak. In this interview with Dave, we discuss the origin of the company, their data driven approach to designing products, the challenges with scaling a DTC company, and the potential role of omni-channel. We also discuss their public feud with Victoria Secret. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 211 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded live from the Etail West tradeshow in Palm Desert on Wednesday, February 26th, 2020. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. Google Automated Transcription of the show Transcript Jason: [0:24] Welcome to the Jason and Scott Show this episode is being recorded live from the ETail West Trade show in Sunny Palm Desert on Wednesday, February 26th 2020. I'm your host, Jason Retail G. Goldberg And unfortunately, Scott was unable to join us today. So as usual, when we have a good show, we kind of bump Scott from the agenda, and we make up for it by having a particularly awesome guest S O for today's show. Please welcome David Specter, the CEO or co CEO, an important distinction and co founder of Third Love. Dave: [1:00] It's great to be here, Jason. Thanks so much. Although. Jason: [1:01] We are thrilled to have you all, though I kind of feel it's true that you're the least important co CEO at Third Love. Dave: [1:10] I'm probably the least important person at third love. Uh, yeah, but it doesn't mean that your podcast is any more or less important just because I'm here. Yeah. Jason: [1:10] I'm probably the least important person, that makes us feel special on the podcast. [1:22] I feel like we're arguably the second best podcast in the space compared to which everyone your wife is doing today. Dave: [1:29] Fortunately for my company, she's back at home, actually running the place, adding value. And I'm here sitting with you, Jason. A detail. So which one's more important? I'm not entirely sure, but I'm still honored to be here with you. Jason: [1:29] Unfortunately for my company, adding adding, adding value. [1:39] I That's why I like the double bandwidth from a power couple is so useful for a company. Dave: [1:46] Dividing conquers what we like to say. So here I am, a detail and it's and it's an honor to be sitting with you. You've got a great podcast. Enjoy listening to you guys. So thanks so much excited Thio chat about what we're doing at their love. Jason: [1:48] Exactly. I like it. [1:53] So thanks so much excited about what? Gotcha. Uh, that's ah flattering to say. And flattery will, of course, get you, like, mostly anything you want. Dave: [2:03] Most anything you want if you want to know. Jason: [2:04] If you want me to avoid the tough questions, Uh, that's that's a smart way to play it. Dave: [2:08] But will it get me more sales online? That's the question, Jason. Jason: [2:11] Yeah, we're gonna have to talk about that. But before we jump into that, listeners are always super interested in the background of our guests and particularly if you like. We have a lot of listeners at home that aspire to be you one day. So can you share, um, sort of your your path to your current role? Dave: [2:28] So my path is is quite different than most founders. In some ways, I was at Google. Jason: [2:28] So my path is is quite different than most. So I What's that? Google. I've heard of them there. Ah ah, an up and comer and I think is there for years. Dave: [2:36] I've heard of them. They're nothing. Come, right. I was there for a couple of years. From 2007 to 2010 after business school on business school, I met my my wife and better half and business partner Heidi. Jason: [2:45] Business. Why, then my wife, arguably the best reason to go to business school. You don't s so I've been told. Yes, I actually met my wife at one of these trade shows. Dave: [2:52] And, you know, from experience, Jason. [3:00] Oh, so trade shows air a lot less expensive than going to business school, though. Jason: [3:03] And less work, frankly. Dave: [3:04] Yeah, take a lot less time. So I think you actually ended up in a better place. And I did. And that way it saved in save less money. Jason: [3:06] So I think you actually ended up in the better. Okay, I don't know. I've caused both winners. Dave: [3:13] Uh, save more money. So Well, anyway, so we, um, was a Google for a couple of years on then, while I was that Google was recruited by Sequoia Capital to join them, I never wanted to be a venture capitalist was never on my radar. I am a builder. I enjoy managing people building teams. I was never thought of myself as an investor whatsoever. And so I took the opportunity, joined them. I was based in Silicon Valley and started investing in startups in 2010 and it was really interesting time because the Internet and sort of Web to die, though three dado however you want to define it. Jason was really starting to get prevalent on was growing quickly, and so we were sort of at the beginning and forefront of that. And brands online were really just starting. Amazon existed. Prime. I'm not entirely prime did exist, but nowhere near to where it was two today, and retail was still popular that the Mullens were successful. The death of retail sort of. That narrative didn't exist then, And so when we got started in 2010 investing, nobody was really thinking about consumer brands in the same way I took it. A cz an initiative myself as a new investor because I thought it was something that could be big toe, actually get started on start looking at brands and where e commerce was going and so ended up investing in a company named Stella and dot. [4:39] Back when I was at Sequoia was quite involved in the business. As much as an investor on the sidelines can be, but got very interested in broadly female base commerce. [4:49] And so, in other words, women that were building brands online to serve other women. And because the percentage of women founders is so low, generally it's higher now, and we're lucky that it is higher now. But it was even lower then, and there was a lack of our dearth of the number of female focus brands that we were seeing online. And so what we decided to do is make it an initiative to actually find those businesses and brands. And in many ways, as it was at Sequoia and was thinking about what we were looking for as investors. [5:25] Hide and I were talking about the intimate apparel space, and it was a category that I had never thought of. Uh, certainly thematically, it was never on our radar again. I was thinking of sort of female based commerce, commerce, new sort of web, 2.0, base brands. DdC wasn't a term then, on sort of where the Internet was going from a commerce perspective, and she was thinking about intimate apparel, and sort of in our living room at night, just like many businesses that air started, we started conceiving of of what then was called something else. But what is now third love and we started to get really sort of excited about what we could build online and where we thought this industry was gonna go over the next decade. And that was really the beginnings of third love on our living room in our living room, on our dining room table, laying things out before we took the sort of bold leap that every entrepreneur takes in this country and quit her job. Jason: [6:22] That is awesome. And ah, I suspect a majority of our listeners are already familiar with third Love. But for those that aren't can you gonna give us the elevator pitch? About what you doing? What you're you're unique value properties. Dave: [6:36] Absolutely so we set out and and have executed on today, really three things. One was to build a brand which is authentic and highly inclusive, too. Was architect away to buy abroad that doesn't require a fitting room or visit to a store. And three was not designed and manufactured better product. Using the latest in material science and data science to absolutely nail fit and comfort two areas fit in comfort that really have never been a part of the narrative. Previously in this category you know women for the most part, which was very interesting to me as we were looking at the category. Nobody really likes their bra. Nobody has a strong attachment to the brand that they wear. It's fine. It does the job. They have to wear it. It sort of part of what they need to do every day. But they don't really enjoy the experience shopping for it, nor do they like the product very much. And so we thought there was a huge opportunity Oh, to do those three things. But look in summary, we wanted to change the status quo and how comfortable abroad can be and wanted to build a brand that was for every woman, regardless of size, shape or ethnicity. Jason: [7:41] That that is awesome. And it's it's shocking in hindsight. Ah, but But, you know, you really think about the successful players in the space prior to your entry, and it frankly feels like they were mostly focused on marketing two men, Um, so somewhat shocking that there was, like, such a white space tow both market, too, and, like focus on product attributes specifically for the users of the product. Dave: [8:07] Yeah, you know, that was really surprising to me. I I like you, Jason. Have been on the other end of that marketing as a man by this gift for your spouse or something along those lines. And I was always really surprised that the marketing, as I started to think, sort of outside the box of me as just a consumer. Why the marketing was always so focused on me when this was a category where the vast majority of purchases in it our focus on women but our focus on their needs and focus on them as, as moms, as them as business executives, as them as doctors, as nurses, et cetera. And so I was really surprised that the vast majority of marketing prior to Third Love was focused on that. And so what we set out to do, which again was quite counterintuitive given that the largest player in the space was peaked at a $30 billion market cap in 2015 I was doing very, very well with very high margins, that we would think that we wanted to do something completely opposite of what they had done. So from a sort of building a startup perspective. It seems pretty crazy on and funny enough, the investors that we pitched mostly thought we were crazy. Jason: [9:21] Yeah. Uh, you tell me This is true for you, but a in talking to female entrepreneurs, Um, there's a common story that it's really hard to pitch your business to V. C's because they the tender not have empathy and see the market opportunity for products that have, ah, value Prop two women less so than the men. So they tend to not understand a woman's problems, and therefore the opportunity is strongly. Dave: [9:49] Yeah, And you know, I had somewhat of a leg up because I sat on the other side of the table. Jason: [9:54] Yeah, I'm sure. Dave: [9:56] And the leg up, though, that I had was when I started to think about how we needed to pitch third love to a mostly male audience. I had been in that audience previously, so I had the opportunity to think through what we needed to do differently and what the people on the other end of the table who are not, for the most part, are not sexist at all. And the end of the day, whether it's widgets, bras or the next great you know, Social Media platform, they ultimately don't care. Veces wanted back great entrepreneurs going after large markets, building riel sustainable businesses, and so and they don't care what it could be. Uh, and so when I thought through what we needed to do differently in this category, we really needed to sort of change the narrative of what we were gonna build and how we were going to do it. Uh, and that was really what helped us get off the ground and helped us appeal to what was a mostly male audience when we were pitching. As you said earlier, a mostly female oriented business. Jason: [11:01] Um, so fast forward to today. Ah, couple weeks ago, we had wary Ingrassia on the show s o. He's the author of $1,000,000,000 brands. And as I I assume, you know, uh, you are one of the prominently featured brands that he writes about in the book. Um and so am curious. Ah, like, I assume you've at least read that chapter. Does it feel like he captured? Ah, an accurate representation of your story, Or is there any quibbles you'd like to take? Well, he's not here to defend himself. Dave: [11:34] You know, we were honored to be in Larry's book and to be sort of one of the the company's defining the direct to consumer New Age brand generation. And he did a very good job of capturing this story of Third Love and how we got to where we are today. And you know where we are today. It was, you know, it's seven years in, so we're on, sort of not even really on first base yet. We're just getting started. Uh, but how we got here to almost first base if we if we put it that way, is a story in itself and one of perseverance. Many, many, many challenges. [12:11] Lots of late nights. I and a lot of failures on a lot of mistakes to Heidi and I have always been one to admit our mistakes and to try toe try to spend time thinking about what we would have done differently. And fortunately for us, Way made numerous near fatal mistakes in the early days of the business. [12:33] Example was manufacturing in Mexico on trying to build a maid on demand supply chain the broad industry interesting Thio. Most men or women have no idea about this Broad's one of the most complex garments to produce. There's 30 components in a bra, even with automation today in manufacturing things air mostly hand cut in hand sewn and being outsiders in the industry. We looked at that, and then in the by the way to that point, the amount of time it takes to develop a new size and a new style is very, very cumbersome and laborious. It takes a long time, and so s so you need to have a large wallet and you need to have a big company to develop it. Which is in part, why the largest competitor in the space has gotten so big on the untold story of them is really supply chain. And there's a lot that they did in the supply chain that we have a tremendous amount of respect for, because getting supply chain dominance to be able to produce product at that kind of scale is really hard to dio. And so we looked at that as young founders and we said, What do we want to do? Different how we flip this pretty backwards process that's been the same for five decades? [13:45] Flip it on its head and just do things differently. How can we use technology to build something that's fundamentally different? And so we conceived of a new way of manufacturing that we that enabled us to get into the supply chain. People wouldn't have taken our call if we just said We want to make a better bra in China. [14:03] Uh, and so they took our call and, by the way, didn't take our call because we had no volume. We didn't have money to spend. And there's a lot of money required on the manufacturing side, the manufacturer side to get a new company up and running with new sizes and new styles. And so nobody wants to work with a new company because of the amount of cap access required to get them started in R and D. And so we had a pitch that was very, very unique around made on demand, and they don't demand while it didn't work, and it was a near fatal mistake. That mistake, like many things in it start up, is what enabled us to be successful today in the supply chain in a fairly short amount of time because of that learning that we had with this mate on demand supply chain, in Mexico that enabled us to get a foothold into the supply chain, that we were then able to pivot to Asia and start getting started. T get started building what is fundamentally a better bra with entirely novel raw materials. Better fit half sizes. And we're the only company in the world that offers half size bras, 34 B and 1/2 C and 1/2 et cetera. We couldn't have done that without some of those early mistakes. Jason: [15:10] That is awesome, and I wantto poke on the half sizes. But before I d'oh if I were toe grossly oversimplify, wear his breakdown Of all the companies in the book, uh, he kind of talked about. There's these these three different ways digitally native brand, um, might seek to gain advantage, right? Like there's there's companies that take cost out of the chain so they can sell a lower price product. Warby Parker, for example. There's companies that reduce the friction to acquire the product. They make the buying process easier. So bed in a box versus having to go to a traditional mattress store, which could be a miserable experience on. There's companies with, like, unique product innovation that in some way, uh, invent a better mousetrap. And most of the companies he talks about 10 to primarily have one of those three. Advantage is one of the things that ah, as an outsider I admire about your company, is, it seems like you're really leveraging all three advantages, so it feels like you focused on a unique product that's better than what was available. You have, ah, lower friction way of acquiring it, and because you're direct um I'm not sure you're necessary competing directly on price, but you're able to offer Ah. Ah, very strong value proposition. Dave: [16:32] Yeah, And again, I This is, I think, in order to build a successful director consumer business and by no means every successful we have so much more work to D'oh! Jason: [16:32] Yeah, And again, I I in order to build a successful, I don't mean to be successful. Dave: [16:44] You have Thio Well said Jason. Jason: [16:45] You're 13 years away from being overnight success. Dave: [16:51] Um, yeah. I mean, look, we I don't think that having just one of those things allows you to be successful having just lower price, and the website doesn't work because everybody does that. An Amazon does that Amazon does that and can compete with you all day long and get it to you a lot faster with better customer service and way more selection. So you have to have a combination of many, many things. [17:21] Our category is one where price is important, but it's not one of the most important factors to it. Uh, and what we said was, we don't want to compete on that, because what we offer is fundamentally better. Now we may not be an overnight success and grow to $100 million in a year because we offer something for $35 right? Or the same prices. You could buy it at Wal Mart or target even lower in some cases. [17:48] No, what we said was, Let's just fundamentally focus on the core differentiations for the category, which is much better product more sizes, better brand that resonates with women of all sizes, shapes and sit in shades and then, lastly, await a shop that you don't have to go into a retail store on. That was a key differentiation for us in something uniquely unique to our category. Women don't enjoy shopping for this product in store. It's not something I do socially with their friends. It's not a fun experience and what we want. And also there's women everywhere eyes, women all over the country and in states that don't have any crossed yours, Uh, and so in small towns that are, you know, 500 miles from the closest mall. And we want to be able to reach all those women and offer them something just as great as the woman in New York City or San Francisco. And so the way we do that today is through a great website experience that's highly personalized and through something called fish Finder that we conceived of Fit Finder. [18:53] Through a variety of questions allows you to get, you know, for the most part the perfect fit down to the half cup size to date. We're very proud and sort of another kind of pinch me moment. Given that, you know, we still view ourselves a start up. 17 million women have taken Fit finder. Jason: [19:10] That's amazing. Uh, one of the things I really like about your story is it's always interesting to look at someone's original hypothesis for their business and how it has to evolve. Um, and I feel like you've had a bunch of evolution, like so as I understand it, when you originally launched the company, you had this hypothesis that, like the original broad buying experience, sucked, um, and that you know, this some version of this fit finder could be, ah, much more enjoyable way to find the perfect fit bra. But in the process of building that, you found out that bras in general don't tend to fit a significant segment of women. And so the half size thing was less your original hypothesis. But something that you discovered is you got to know customers in your space. Um, you found a great a great white space to address. Dave: [20:02] Well and 25% of our sales we have 80 plus size is 25% of our sales are in half sizes, on we estimate through our data, and we have one of the most comprehensive data sets in the world on this because of what we do and how we fit people. [20:22] 30% of women are should be in half cup size, right? And so it's that data. It's it's it's the holes in the data that we saw where our machine learning our other algorithms would say to us recommend to this woman, machine Learning would say this recommend to this woman 1/2 size. We kept seeing that over and over and over again before we came up with half sizes. And again, this was data that nobody had ever seen before. If you shopped him all, um, there is no data. I mean, maybe there's your credit card data and some some foot traffic data, but that's it. You don't data on her preferences in her size and body type etcetera. So we have this massive data set that kept growing. We kept seeing the holes in the data and kept scratching her head because the the algorithms would spit out errors and save us. We don't know what size to recommend to this customer. Help us train me. And we kept seeing this pattern over and over again and we said, Wow, there is as you said, a white space here. There's a large percentage of at least our customers which, as it grew, we started to realize was more, uh, you know, mapped closely to the United States who are 1/2 size who are in between cup that we should address in sort of one of our tag lines. Now his shoes of half sizes. Why shouldn't bras? And that just boils down the fundamental problem. [21:49] Why shouldn't we give customers what they want? Well, the reason why nobody had before and the reason why nobody else has been able to do it. It's twofold. One. You can't develop 1/2 cup size without the data set that we have. It's not about just splitting a B and A C in half. There's more nuances to it, and you need a fit model to be able to fit it on and develop product off of. We don't you know, for the most part, we don't use fit models at third Love. Secondly, in a retail base business you already constrained by footprint, you're already constrained by a stock room, right? Where for our category, there is a lot of inventory already. Let's say you have 30 sizes. You have 30 sizes in every style color variant, which requires a large stock room just to stock that in retail because you don't want somebody to walk out, you don't have their style, style or size preference. Um, in our case, reused warehouses. We have the Internet, so we can stock, you know, depending upon inventory costs, in holding costs and in warehouse space, we can stock almost an unlimited number of sizes. If we needed to, we won't. But we could, and so is your supplier exactly. Jason: [22:54] In case your supply chain guys are listening, You can relax now. Dave: [22:58] But the point is, we can do things that are important and are requested whether she's requesting it directly or indirectly by her data for the customer, we could give her what she wants. Instead of pushing her into a size that we have in a retail store, we could give her what we want and developed product way, way faster and new sizes because of that data set, and so that ability to do that with the Internet. The ability to use data in a really, really smart, powerful way is really what has allowed us to address a much larger portion of the market as an example. One of the largest companies out there, they only go up Thio. I think maybe a double D cup in store, right. That's because they're constrained by that by the shore we can offer. And so they can't go after a larger woman. They can't go after a larger and a larger part of the market, the larger part of the total addressable market or the TAM we can because of the Internet, because of warehousing because of our ability to use data. Jason: [23:55] I love it. And so that that customer intimacy in that direct customer data, um, enabled you to discover this opportunity and half sizes. Conversely, it sounds like when you started the company, you have a hypothesis that the camera, phone and computer vision would be, ah, revolutionary way for women to help fit themselves. Um, and it seems like today the fit guide is working phenomenally, but it's it's largely not a computer. Vision based was I'm curious. Like, Was there a learning that that that wasn't the right approach for women? Is that still the future? And it's just too early in the technology curve. What? You're your p O V on that? Dave: [24:37] Yeah. I mean, so you're right. I mean, we, uh That record. Jason: [24:37] Yeah. So, right, E let the record show I'm right. Dave: [24:47] Computervision and using a smartphone app to get fit was very, very novel for when we did it, we were operating off of a chipset. I phoned 45 That was probably 1/4 of the speed of what we operate today. Maybe even 1/10. And I don't know exactly with a with a camera camera optics that are far, far, far less powerful. Furthermore, open TV, which is an open source library for computer vision that we were also utilizing was nowhere near as advances it is. Now. We're building all of this in house again. We wanted toe always find a way to bridge the gap. So a woman didn't have to go into a store so we could reach a woman in Barrow, Alaska. For all those Barrow Alaska fans that are listening to this. Jason: [25:33] It's a big audience for us. Dave: [25:35] Barrow, Alaska is on the north slope of Alaska. And that's an example because there are, of course, amazing, amazing women that are there, and we want to be able to reach them. We want to be able to reach women everywhere in this country and prior to third love you needed to go into a store to do that. And, of course, all women over a certain age need to be wearing a bra or should be wearing a broad for the most part. So, um, we want to be able t o reach everyone that we possibly could. And so this smartphone app that we developed and a lot of technology, and today we have a number of patents on it, all of which have been granted on. The technology that we developed was really, really novel. But the problem was, the conversion process wasn't as simple as it needed to be. You couldn't be sitting on a bus to work and using the APP you couldn't be laying on the couch watching TV. Using that you could be laying in bed, doing it to be in front of a mirror, wearing wearing a tight fitting tank top, pulling your hair, pull your hair back, take your smart take the smartphone cover off, and then through the use of two photos and the smartphone itself was the reference object into the mirror. [26:42] We use the gyroscope for calibration. We use the flash. Recalibration was really, really novel we had hundreds of thousands of people that use it. We were Editor's choice in the APP store way. Want a lot of accolades and awards for it. We were very proud of but didn't work because the conversion process was too long and when it worked for people, it worked incredibly well, and women loved the experience. But we weren't growing as quickly as we needed Thio. We learned a lesson about conversion. Now that Data said, without those early mistakes, without building that app, we couldn't have used that initial data set to then Pivot and I talked about pivots earlier because they've been really important in our on our history and in our growth. We couldn't have pivoted into fit finder today. So those initial learnings about conversion, that initial data that we had, went into powering what is fit finder today, we never would have able to get those algorithms off the ground without that initial data set. Jason: [27:34] No, I totally see that. The, uh I am a hypothesis. Usually I'm wrong. Um, but the a lot of the smartphones now have actual distance measuring capability. Like, you know, it was on the front camera for facial I D. And so I keep waiting for the the version of that to be built into the back of the cameras. And I think when we get that, we'll get hyper accurate measurement, and I feel like for a lot of fit mint categories, that's gonna be a game changer. Dave: [28:02] Yeah, Jason, you're right. It's the true depth camera on the front of of of the latest versions of the iPhone is coming to the back. I had the technologists and very, very excited about that. And what we need to do as retailers or retailers is find ways to make it easy for her to shop from home and to not have to return a product. Our return rate is is incredibly low for the industry, but it's still hi, um uh, and higher than we would like it to be. And at the end of the day, for us, putting customers first is our is our most important core value internally at the company. And if we think of it through that lens, putting customers first, nobody likes have to return. Nobody likes to get a product that doesn't that doesn't work for them. Fit Finder while, while it is very accurate, doesn't work for everybody. And so someday we will take some of those new advancements on smartphones, pivot R i. P, including our patents, and build out what will be the next version of being able to get fit from home using a smartphone. It's very exciting. Jason: [29:03] Very cool. I will be looking forward to that. I do want to touch on the date a little bit. You referenced it a lot. And to me, it's one of the most important competitive advantages of the D to C model. Is that direct customer intimacy and the the competitive data you can gather about how your meeting customer needs air? Not so you know, you mentioned that that the first versions of that fit finder gave you a data set that taught you that the standard sizes didn't fit. I advise a lot of big established brands and a super calmer common conversation is should we have a direct to consumer model and my my general advices, your issue is less about whether you sell direct to consumers versus cell through wholesale. You're your problem is you need the customer data that those direct to consumer companies air generating. So if you're a traditional bra manufacturer, you sell. You brought a walmart and WalMart sells it to a consumer. You have no idea whether that customer was happy with the bra or ah, whether that that bra particularly well fit. And so the fact that you do have that data gives you ah, huge, defensible advantage versus the traditional apparel manufacturers. Dave: [30:15] Yeah, and I and I think, Look, everybody is in the data arms rates race today. Whether you're a traditional retailer, whether you sell car parts, everybody is focused on data on the one thing that we did differently. 1/3 love is we built this company from the ground up with a focus on data. Right. So we had the advantage that we had while we didn't have the resources, We don't have the capital of a large company. We had the start of hustle, and we had the foundation that we started from the ground up, which would be very hard to change if we were a well established business that was focused on using zeros and ones to our advantage. Jason: [30:50] Yeah. So let's let's pivot a little bit and talk about one of the big challenges I generally see with digitally native brands. So, um, in the modern era, uh, particularly with the advent of Facebook and Google and digital marketing, it's become much easier and cheaper to launch a company and have some initial success. So we look out there and there's a ton of of digital native brands, Um, that get out of the gate fast and, you know, grow to some size by cost, effectively advertising on Facebook. But in general ah, bunch of those D d C company's sort of plateau like they're they're hits a point where the next of eyeballs on Facebook or even more expensive than the ones you bought, um, and it becomes hard to profitably grow. So when we look at all the the D to see companies that get talked about a lot, a lot of them kind of hit this plateau, and it's been really hard for them to continue to grow. And I'm curious if a if you're worried about that at Third Love. If you've hit that plateau, um, if you have ah strategy to continue to get new customers and grow, you know, even as the the ad buying on Facebook gets more expensive and more competitive. Dave: [32:05] Sure. Well, we're always thinking about the challenges of scaling acquisition marketing on. We have a really great leader on our team now that spends all over time thinking about that. Marker 02 [32:18] We have a couple, uh, advantages, though one. We have very high gross margins. Uh, and it didn't used to be that way. In fact, our course Martin just be a lot lower. And we've been able to scale gross margins dramatically through improvements in our supply chain. And again. Supply chain is a huge differentiator in our category. It's the untold story of the large, successful businesses in the space is their dominance and supply chain. And so we've done a great job of scaling that which allow us A you know of the you know, when you buy a bra were able to spend that money, on the Delta from in gross margin of profit on things like marketing on things like data science and data engineering. So we can create a better experience, and that really provides us an advantage. Furthermore, the other advantage, which is an advantage for everybody in this space on no different for us is this is a highly recurring high repeat business. When a woman finds a bra that fits, even if she doesn't even like the brand, uh, she tends to stick with it for a long time. Jason: [33:21] And so from Analects standpoint, do you guys tend to look a customer lifetime value, like is that important? Dave: [33:22] You guys value customer. LTV is incredibly important to our business. We measure that, uh, it's unlike some of these other categories that you mentioned. It's not a one time purchase, right? If we do our job, and I'd like to think that we do our job 90 plus percent of the time I delivering a great product that fits in a really phenomenal customer experience, she will be our customer. I hope for a decade or more on that's inherent to the category, right? It just There's no reason to switch if you find something that fits, especially 1/2 size, obviously we have a distinct advantage of half sizes to nobody else offers that outside of half sizes. If we provide something that really is phenomenal, that exceeds all expectations that she loves, we provide a brand that she that resonates with her that speaks to her, not that speaks to her husband. We can really, hopefully keep her for a very long time, and that's our job, and that's what we're focused on. Eso. There's two sides, really our marketing strategy. One is acquiring new customers and having purchased us purchased with us before, and the second half is providing a great experience to our repeat recurring revenue customers. Jason: [34:34] That's awesome. Ah, I also I noticed that you want to pop up store, brick and mortar store in New York this year, and I think you also have a partnership with Bloomingdale's. If I'm not mistaken is, ah, brick and mortar, part of the the expansion strategy. Dave: [34:48] Well, we we haven't had a partnership with any other retailers in two years, so we don't the only place to buy third. Love is through third love, so we're we're fully direct in terms of our retail store. [35:02] We, uh, unlike other director consumer players that built stores very quickly after they got started. We waited almost seven years before we launch our first store, and we wanted to prove a number of things out before we went into retail one. We operate in a category that women don't want to shop in a retail store for generally right. It's unlike other county, unlike apparel. Unlike a number of other direct markets where the experience just is better, you know you're dealing with the fit of pants or the fit of a blouse. These are things that, frankly, it's a lot easier to try and a couple sizes in a couple outfits and figure out what works for you in store. I have to deal with the return. We operate in a category that's not that way. So we really wanted to prove out a great customer experience to put all of our resources, all of our energy into creating that customer experience. The challenge with retail is it is very, very labor intensive and very time intensive. It requires an entirely new skill set, and we're in the early days for learning that skill Set 1/3 love. But so far, the learnings in our one concept store in Soho haven't really successful. We're really, really happy with what we've learned in that store, and that will prove on that will be a part of our strategy going forward what we've built out there. But it's not gonna be the strategy of blanketing the entire country with as many stories as we can. We want to create an experience that is a creative to the overall online business. That's our objective. Jason: [36:24] That is faring well before the watching the continue evolution of that strategy. Um, I want to pivot for a second and and, ah, talk about the controversial topic from this week. So you you referenced your big competitor a number of times and we're all friends here. That's l brands Victoria Secret. And if I have the story right, you guys sort of ended up inadvertently in a feud with Victoria's Secret. I feel like, ah, one time CMO. They're sort of like shockingly called you guys out and you got into a little bit of a public dialogue. Fast forward to this week. I feel like you guys definitively one that because I L brands is selling Victoria Secret at evaluation much lower than their peak. And the narrative about this decline of Victoria's Secret is largely that they lost their audience and weren't weren't appealing to customers. And when brands like third Love that talk directly to women emerge that it became impossible for them to compete. So congrats on crushing Ah ah, formidable competitors. Do I have that story right? Dave: [37:35] Well, you know, Jason, you said earlier that we've definitively one that, and I don't agree. We will when? When every woman in America is wearing something that fits her and wears a brand that resonates with her and speaks to her, and that she's not ashamed of wearing or receiving the catalog from a brand that her six year old daughter I have a six and 1/2 year old daughter, or her 12 year old teenager who's getting into her first bra isn't ashamed to be shopping on in, or wearing Ah, brand that she doesn't hide the catalog or hide the pretty pink sparkly bag because she's too embarrasses. Have anybody at work see that she was shopping there? That's when we'll win. So again, we're really just at the beginning. We've got so much more work to do In order to do that, I wouldn't necessarily say that we are in a feud with that company. [38:36] We are building something that's really different. We're building something that really is the antithesis of what they built in every way. Online verse offline. The brand is very, very different. Everyone knows that. Who is familiar with with what we're doing. The number of sizes we offer is 2 to 3 acts larger than theirs. So inherently we can go after a much larger portion of the market I. [38:59] And we offer a a really data based experience that that enables me to shop from the comfort of home so sort of securely uncomfortably, and that's that's very different. And so we have so much more work to do there. I think that L brands has created there many of their own problems on, and I don't think that we deserve the credit for it. Actually, we deserve credit for changing the narrative out there, but we don't deserve credit for their downfall. And, um, you know, I hope that, you know, competition's a good thing, and that's what makes America great on. I look forward to hopefully that them emerging as a stronger competitors because having some competition is good and them changing their narrative, changing their brand, changing the types of models that they show is a really good thing for the world on. They have a large voice, so I'm hopeful that they can and I look forward to competing with them in the future. I think they've got a lot of work to do. They were bought by private equity for those that don't know and bought by a private equity firm known for sort of taking a cleaver knife and chopping things apart. I hope for all of the amazing women that work there, and I'm sure there are. I know there are many amazing women that work there that too many jobs aren't lost, so I'm hopeful of that. But third, love is hiring so well stated, very magnanimous of you. Jason: [40:18] Very cool. Well, that's ah. Very well. Say, did. In very magnanimous of you, I do know that we can both agree to the extent that third love does deserve credit. Is Heidi and not you. Dave: [40:21] I do know that we can both agree to extend that love does. It's not, you know, 100%. Jason: [40:29] In case she's listening. I just wanted to make sure. Um So listen, we're coming up on time. I do want to get one other question before we do one at a time. Um, if you and I get in that time traveling DeLorean and fire up the flux capacitor and jump sort of five years in the future from today, do you have a vision for how the shopping experience might change? I mean, is our store's gonna be gone, and we're all gonna be buying her stuff from direct to consumer. Like what? What's the consumer landscape looked like five years from now? Mr. Fancy MBA xvc successful entrepreneur. Dave: [41:07] Well, I unfortunately, based upon inexpensive education, that probably wasn't really worth very much. I still can't predict the future. Uh, so I think that where we're headed is a world that is truly on the channel, where there is a lot less retail, and the retail that wins is retail, that is differentiated. That looks very different from it. It looks today that has a digital experience built into the retail store. Experiences are what people want. They are looking for more than just product. They can get that same product online, the exact same product you can buy in a store today you can always buy online. I don't know of any examples that you can't are very few examples. And so I think that the world in the world of commerce online in the future doesn't look all that different than it looks today. I think we will see sort of the evolution of the smartphones that we all carry around as processing power grows and optics get a lot smarter and the camera on the front. [42:16] Those sorts of things will enable technology companies like ours to actually be able to create really great at home experiences to bridge the gap. But retail still won't go anywhere. And the retail that wins the retail that would be highly differentiated and creates a great experience in store that again is a creative to that online experience. But the Allman Experience has to lead because that's what consumers want. Jason: [42:37] That is a great advice, and that's gonna be a great place to leave it, because it's happened again. We've used up our allotted time. Dave: [42:38] Great advice, a great place to be because it's happening. We've used up our A lot of times. Jason: [42:44] Um, you did mention that you were hiring It turns out there's a bunch of great e commerce pros and digital marketers that was in the podcast. Is that a particular geography that you're looking for talent in our. Dave: [42:45] You did mention that you were hiring It turns out there's a bunch of great commerce frozen digital marketers. Listen, podcast, is that a particular geography that you're looking for? Third love is we're about 300 people, and we're headquartered in San Francisco. We are hiring mostly in San Francisco for the digital marketing pros that you mentioned, so please reach out to us. We're at careers dot third love dot com on dhe. Let us know kind of what you're looking for. If you see any jobs that sparked your interest, whether you're in the Bay Area or somewhere else, we're certainly open to having people relocate to the barrier. Jason: [43:23] Awesome. We will put that link in the show notes. So no need to write that down of your driving. David's been a real pleasure. I've really enjoyed our conversation. Thanks very much. Dave: [43:30] Thistles. Superfund, Jason, thanks so much. And thank you to all the listeners out there and thank you to all the customers of Third Love and the future customers. Jason: [43:35] The customers and the future. Absolute. Look forward to having human down. Thank you so much for your support of our business. Dave: [43:38] So we look forward to having you and thank you so much for your support of our business. We are just getting started. Jason: [43:45] That is awesome. And until next time, happy commercing.

With more than 15 million data points about women’s breasts, Heidi Zak and her company, ThirdLove, have arguably more information about boobs than anyone out there. Turns out that nearly 80% of us are wearing the wrong size bras! (This has spurred the “half size” revolution.) Listen in as Heidi schools Brit and her Brit + Co co-founder, Anj on breast shapes, bra mistakes we’re all making, and so much more. Young or old, AA to DD (or bigger!), this is an episode you’ll want to share with all of your girlfriends. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

How to get in touch with Heidi:Thirdlove WebsiteThirdlove InstagramHeidi Zak InstagramConnect with Virra on social media for more life-changing perspectiveINSTAGRAM - @virralifeWEBSITE - www.virralife.comNEWSLETTER - subscribe here

When Heidi Zak couldn't find a quality bra that fit her right and looked great, she realized there was a hole in the market and ThirdLove was born. The data-driven bra company now offers 15 styles in 59 different sizes (they're the only company to offer half cup sizes!) and provides a “try before you buy” model that encourages women to try the product on in the comfort of their own homes. On this episode Heidi discusses product market fit, exactly how her company collects and uses data to target sales, how to create demand (and a waiting list!), and how their values inform their hiring process. She also reveals the number one platform ThirdLove relies on to track customer service.

ThirdLove is one of the fastest growing brands in the country, and on today's episode Heidi Zak talks about how she created such a successful company. "If you go throughout your day and haven't thought about your bra once, then ThirdLove has done its job well." - Heidi Zak. Learn more about this episode at karagoldin.com/25

Heidi Zak, founder and co-CEO of ThirdLove on her career journey and best practices for buying, maintaining and even donating bras. In Mailbag, consolidating 401(k)s, picking a retirement plan when your company doesn’t offer one, and using company stock for making a down payment on a first home. Also, “Romance scams” and how they cost us.

When Ed Razek, the CMO of Victoria’s Secret, made disparaging comments about Heidi Zak’s company ThirdLove, she stood up for herself and all women. Her response? An Open Letter to Victoria’s Secret in The New York Times. We talk with Heidi about the open letter, the aftermath that followed, and share the story of lingeries’ most interesting challenger brand.

If it’s going in, on, or around women’s bodies, you can bet Sustain Natural is making it. Meika Hollender never thought she’d start a company. She grew up seeing her father, Jeffrey Hollender found, Seventh Generation and she was in business school when their career paths aligned. Starting a sex and period essentials brand with her dad was never in Meika’s plans, but she’s taken the reigns to create more sustainable reproductive health products, inciting conversations around women’s health and sex along the way. On this episode, Meika talks about starting a condom startup with her dad (3:59), their relationship as business partners (5:43), and talking openly about sexual health with her family (9:41). Meika describes the dramatic shift in their business since the 2016 presidential election (15:10), gets candid about the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements (17:56), and shares how they’re positioning their advocacy (22:33). Meika shares hows they’re focused on diversifying their advertising strategy when the rules are constantly changing for a brand in a sensitive space (27:52). Meika speaks on Sustain’s approach to making and selling sustainable period products (36:55) and the importance of Organic, Fairtrade, and B Corporation certifications (38:58). Finally, Meika shares how a poker game led to ThirdLove founder, Heidi Zak investing in Sustain and the lessons Meika’s learned from her (46:36). Links and images from this post are on the Lumi Blog.

Heidi Zak and her husband started ThirdLove, a company changing the way women think of what’s possible mixing form, function, and fashion when it comes to undergarments. In six years, they’ve grown their team to over 250 employees and 10 million women have used their custom fit finder on their site.

Okay you guy, so it's very rare that I totally geek out and fan girl over a guest but this next guest, I totally did. Heidi Zak is the co-founder and co-CEO of ThirdLove, which is the fastest growing and most disruptive brand in the lingerie industry. I know it, because I wear it. I love ThirdLove. I love the fit, I love feeling like I'm not wearing a bra, and I think this brand is going places. Take a listen!

Heidi Zak founded ThirdLove in 2013 to change how women buy bras. The company pioneered half-sizes and developed an app that's helped it aggregate more than 150 million data points from real women to ensure a better fitting bra. She'll explain a surprising key to moving quickly and building her business that can help any leader: asking better questions.

ThirdLove set out to face two huge challenges in the bra industry: designing a fit for all women and selling it with no risk to the customer. Their solutions — the Fit Finder quiz and try-before-you-buy program — changed how people buy bras online. Early manufacturing mistakes and marketing struggles could have spelled the end for the brand, but ThirdLove found creative, radical solutions. ThirdLove has found success in a better fitting product designed for all women, with a risk-free buying experience, and a brand voice focused on inclusivity, that’s driven by data. On this episode, Heidi Zak talks about lessons she learned from her time at Google, experimenting with retail distribution models, marketing on television, opening a showroom, and the events that changed the course of the company. Links and images from this post are on the Lumi Blog.

It’s been nearly four years since Heidi and I first met in the original Third Love offices in San Francisco. In this week’s episode of the Spirit of 608 podcast, I get to check in with the innovative fashion tech startup’s founder and find out what’s happened since they set out to upend the women’s lingerie market – spoiler alert: a lot. Dubbed one of the fastest growing startups in America last year in the media, they have amassed fans around the world for their different approach to the age-old bra try-on problem that women everywhere face. More recently, they’ve expanded into new categories, doubled-down on diversity by creating “nude” hues in a wide range of colors and much more. Hear it all on the show. Meet this week's guest, Heidi Zak, Co-founder of Third Love. WHAT YOU’LL LEARN In a time when digital marketing and online sales are all the rage, Third Love is turning to good old fashioned direct mail to cater to their customers. When I asked why (because, nerd alert, I’m obsessed with direct mail at the moment) Heidi let us in on how it works at Third Love. Listen in to learn how this strategy has made Third Love customers some of the most loyal ones out there. HOW YOU’LL BE INSPIRED Every entrepreneur goes through hard days, but not every one of them is willing to real talk about it on a podcast. Luckily for us, Heidi was down. Learn how she’s dealt with bad days, how she picks herself up, her philosophy on staying focused and how she keeps herself on track in the midst of everything life throws her way. WHAT YOU’LL TELL YOUR FRIENDS Hey did you hear that Third Love is the only bra company in the world that sells half cup sizes? Sounds like a brilliant idea, right? Kinda crazy that no one else does it. However, Heidi shares that the half cup idea was a huge risk. Despite it being one of Third Love’s selling points today, it was the reason why Third Love had a hard time getting off the ground. Find out the full story in the episode. RESOURCE OF THE WEEK Nuzzle: What Heidi really likes about this news app is that it compiles a list of articles or news items based on what your friends are talking about or sharing and sends these to you in a daily email. Heidi says it helps her prioritize what she’s going to read first, instead of drowning in her social media feed. Thumbs up to that. Connect with Heidi Zak Website: thirdlove.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thirdlove Instagram: @thirdlove Twitter: @thirdlove Mentioned in this episode: Brandless, Next-Gen Consumer-Products Startup, Attracts Sports Stars, Media Execs as Investors in $35 Million Round Peloton Nuzzle T-shirt motto: Get shit done. Find more episodes featuring women at the forefront of FEST online at www.Spiritof608.com.

When Heidi Zak couldn't find a quality bra that fit her right and looked great, she realized there was a hole in the market and ThirdLove was born. The data-driven bra company now offers 15 styles in 59 different sizes (they're the only company to offer half cup sizes!) and provides a “try before you buy” model that encourages women to try the product on in the comfort of their own homes. On this episode Heidi discusses product market fit, exactly how her company collects and uses data to target sales, how to create demand (and a waiting list!), and how their values inform their hiring process. She also reveals the number one platform ThirdLove relies on to track customer service.