Podcast appearances and mentions of marissa vosper

Marissa Vosper is the co-founder of the cult-favorite intimates brand Negative Underwear. She studied political science and Spanish in college and started off her career in brand consulting. Vosper worked at two prestigious global branding agencies, learning the ins and outs of building a successful brand identity. But after eight years in the industry, she knew it wasn't where she wanted to stay. She and her college friend—and eventual co-founder—Lauren Schwab began to think: What if they could pursue careers in fashion, an industry they had always loved but never felt was accessible or possible for them? They began taking classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and soon realized that the lingerie industry was ripe for disruption. After four years of research and development, they launched Negative Underwear in 2014—a line of high-quality, minimalist intimates without all the bells and whistles that were popular at the time. The brand was an instant hit; their first run sold out in two weeks. Over the last 10 years, Marissa has grown the brand without any outside investment, expanding into new categories like sleepwear and loungewear.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ken interviews Co-Founders of Negative, Marissa Vosper and Lauren Schwab.Lauren Schwab co-founded Negative in 2014 alongside Marissa Vosper with no experience in the fashion and manufacturing industry. With a passionate belief that women deserved to love the garments closest to their skin, Lauren taught herself every stage of developing, fitting and producing beautiful and functional intimate apparel. Prior to Negative, Lauren started her career in finance, working at two globally recognized investment management firms. Lauren was selected as one of WWD's 40 Under 40 list of industry notables who are changing the face of retail, fashion and the beauty industry. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Art History and Diplomatic History. When she isn't working on Negative, she loves spending time with her husband and 3 little kids.Marissa Vosper was born and raised in Boulder, CO. She attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning degrees in Political Science and Spanish Language. After establishing her early career in branding, she co-founded Negative in 2014 alongside Lauren Schwab. Within the company, Marissa is focused on all aspects of brand strategy, communications, marketing, web and customer experience. Prior to Negative, she worked at two large branding agencies for a variety of clients, including Fortune 500 corporations, fashion labels, luxury brands and start-up businesses. She was honored as part of the Forbes 30 Under 30 List of Entrepreneurs for Art & Style. Marissa currently resides in New York City with her husband and 3 sons.Key takeaways from this episode include:1.    Inspiration Behind Negative Underwear: Marissa and Lauren were inspired to start Negative Underwear after recognizing a gap in the market for high-quality, minimalist lingerie. Dissatisfied with the options available, they embarked on a four-year journey from concept to launch, conducting market research and product development while maintaining full-time jobs.2.    Differentiation in the Market: Negative Underwear aimed to distinguish itself by offering a product that combined high-quality raw materials sourced from European heritage mills with an accessible price point through a direct-to-consumer model. The founders identified a lack of options between luxurious, but expensive, brands and mass-market, poorly made options, positioning Negative Underwear in a unique space.3.    Strategic Naming and Branding: The name "Negative" was chosen to reflect the brand's commitment to minimalism and a direct, provocative appeal. The founders wanted to stand out from other lingerie brands that often had French or girly names. The name embodied their vision of creating a straightforward, American brand that challenged existing norms in the lingerie market.4.    Self-Funding and Growth Philosophy: Negative Underwear has achieved substantial growth without external funding. Marissa and Lauren emphasize the importance of sustainable and thoughtful growth, drawing parallels to iconic brands that built their success over time. They prioritize making a superior product and focus on creating brand allegiance through a methodical and customer-centric approach.5.    Future Growth Opportunities: While the brand has primarily focused on direct-to-consumer sales, the founders acknowledge the potential for growth in various channels, including wholesale, retail, and even exploring platforms like Amazon. Despite having experimented with pop-ups and partnerships in the past, their lean approach allows themto adapt quickly to new opportunities, leaving the door open for potential expansion.6.    Lean Team and Profitability: Negative has maintained a lean team with around 15 full-time employees, emphasizing a disciplined and profitable approach. This focus on profitability over top-line growth sets them apart from the trend of driving top-line without regard to the bottom line that was prevalent in the past.7.    Resourceful Use of Freelance Talent: Negative became proficient in working with freelance talent due to resource constraints in the early years. This flexibility in utilizing fractional roles and determining when a role merits full-time hiring has contributed to their success in doing more with less.8.    Product-Centric Marketing: The co-founders believe in the product being the best form of marketing. They emphasize creating an exceptional product that outperforms existing options, leading to word-of-mouth growth and strong customer retention. Initially focusing on press coverage, they adapted their marketing strategies as customer behavior shifted to online platforms, particularly social media.9.    Strategic Growth Initiatives: Negative initially engaged in old-fashioned methods like trunk shows, leveraging personal networks to get hands-on interaction with potential customers. They stress the value of building a customer base before heavily investing in paid advertising. Collaborations with like-minded brands, influencers, or celebrities are considered when they can tell a unique story to a potential audience.10. Challenges and Lessons Learned: Challenges include finding new profitable channels for customer acquisition, maintaining the brand's core specialness while expanding, and dealing with price competition in the market. Key lessons learned include the difficulty of manufacturing in the intimates sector, the importance of realistic growth expectations when working with partners, and the value of adapting to new challenges while staying true to the brand's identity.

Cayla O'Connell is the founder of Knickey, organic cotton undies for everyday. Knickey is dedicated to providing a comfortable, sustainable alternative for women that's better for their bodies and better for the planet. Cayla really knows her stuff. She cut her teeth working for non profits and in sustainable home goods before deciding to start her own sustainable retail line. She settled on a basics line comprised of organic cotton, specifically underwear that's inclusive in it's colors and sizing. Cayla walks through what sustainability means to Knickey, the importance of putting your customer first, and how she thinks about diversifying what she delivers to her customers. This is the third women's underwear brand we've featured on SelfMade Stories. Each one has managed to carve out a space for themselves in an immensely crowded industry by identifying a market need. If you're struggling to find your white space check out our other episodes with Marissa Vosper of Negative Underwear and Miki Agrawal of Thinx.

Marissa Vosper is the co-founder of Negative Underwear, an innovative intimates company for women by women. Marissa and her co-founder, Lauren Schwab, founded the company to answer a need for chic, well-designed, functional underwear. Impressively, Negative Underwear has thrived off their own self-funding, breaking even after only two and a half months. On part two of Negative’s journey, Brian and Marissa discuss how Negative has been able to maintain steady growth with crystal clear focus around branding and messaging - with next to no marketing spend.

Marissa Vosper is the co-founder of Negative Underwear, an innovative intimates company for women by women. Marissa and her co-founder, Lauren Schwab, were obsessed with all things ready to wear but felt there was a clear lacking in chic functionality when it came to their underwear. After balancing night classes at fashion school with their full-time jobs, they co-founded Negative Underwear. In the first part of Negative’s story Brian and Marissa dive into what motivated Marissa to start her business.

For Lauren Schwab and Marissa Vosper, being negative isn't bad if it means rejecting everything you don't like about something, and keeping only the things you do. For them this meant creating a line of intimates that ditched the uncomfortable designs, silly frills and embarrassing advertising, and became a cult-favorite line of lingerie. In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Lauren and Marissa about how it took four years to become an overnight success, selling out of the their best-selling product ten times, and why confidence is the key to beauty.

For Lauren Schwab and Marissa Vosper, being negative isn't bad if it means rejecting everything you don't like about something, and keeping only the things you do.  For them this meant creating a line of intimates that ditched the uncomfortable designs, silly frills and embarrassing advertising, and became a cult-favorite line of lingerie.  In this episode of Beauty Bosses, Dr. Lara Devgan talks with Lauren and Marissa about how it took four years to become an overnight success, selling out of the their best-selling product ten times, and why confidence is the key to beauty.  

I’m so excited to finally share Episode 11, which has been months in the making: an interview with the one and only Marissa Vosper of Soho-based Negative Underwear. I’m intrigued by Negative Underwear as a brand for