Weezie - The Secret to Making Consumers Fall in Love With Towels

Ramon Vela (00:01.848)
Welcome back. This is Ramon and I have an amazing guest. Please welcome Lindsey Johnson, who is co-founder and CEO of Weezie Towels. Welcome to the show.

Lindsey (00:28.654)
Thank you so much, Ramon. I'm so happy to be here.

Ramon Vela (00:31.662)
Well, I appreciate, I know that you're busy. Like I always tell people, I truly, truly appreciate people making time because I know you're running a business, you've got lots of things going on. And so I appreciate just a little bit of your time. And my audience appreciates meeting new brands and founders and hearing their story. So thank you again. I love to...

feature founders on the show. And I also want to make sure that the audience knows that there's real people behind these companies that we feature. There's just not some conglomerate or, you know, you know, it's so easy for people to just look at a product online or on the shop and just think like, it's some big corporation. But I want them to know that there's real people who care deeply about their product, their quality, their customers. And one way of getting to know someone is by understanding what they're grateful for. And so if you don't mind.

Can you share a moment or a memory when someone did something for you that just made you feel grateful because it meant that they believed in you, your vision, or your potential?

Lindsey (01:36.026)
Absolutely, I love this question. It was really fun to think about all the different moments of deep gratitude I have, especially as it relates to Weezie and starting this business. I think something that immediately came to mind was my co-founder who is instrumental in having brought this vision to life. And I'm so grateful to her because she's really what I would describe as sort of the eternal optimist and sort of always having the belief that like the best belief in everything. And I would say I'm the

to that, which is more realist, some might say pessimist. And I'm just eternally grateful to her for really having the perseverance and the grit to kind of continue to push through and frankly convince me to go on this journey with her. And I would say beyond this initial kind of idea from Liz was my family. think about I would not have had

the emotional support nor the financial support to leave a career in finance and start Weezie without it being for my family. So specifically my husband supporting me, my parents supporting me. And then I think back to our earliest days, I when Weezie was just an idea, there were so many people we met, especially when we were considering fundraising. So meeting with a lot of investors. And I just remember one woman in particular, I met actually

and we weren't even fundraising and she was an investor. And even though we didn't have any room on the cap table and we weren't actually raising money, she really opened her arms to us and kind of brought us into her orbit. So introduced us to her friends and her peers and potential partners. And that woman, her name is Amy Griffin and she runs G9 Ventures. And I just so appreciate her willingness to take an interest in us despite us actually not raising any capital from her. So she really stood

Ramon Vela (03:32.078)
Thank

Lindsey (03:33.418)
to gain, know, frankly, nothing from the relationship because she wasn't an investor. But I think about all the doors she's opened for us and events she's invited us to and people she's introduced us to. And it's really led to some of our best customer relationships and partnerships. And I'm just so grateful for people like that in the world who are just giving and encouraging to entrepreneurs, especially first time entrepreneurs. It's really scary launching a business. And so I'm just really grateful for her and women like her who

Ramon Vela (03:58.446)
Hmm.

Lindsey (04:03.292)
supported us in the earliest days.

Ramon Vela (04:05.344)
Wow, and that goes to the heart of the question, especially, you know, there's so many, there's so many doubts or so many concerns or so many things that go through your mind. I mean, always, but especially at the beginning when you're starting and you're having seen maybe the financial validation that you want just yet, it's really important to surround yourself with people who support you and who believe in you. And, you know, maybe the idea is not fully

executed yet, but they believe in your ability to execute that idea. And it's really a big deal, right? Even if someone does invest in you, they're investing not simply in the idea, but also in the idea that you and your co-founder will have the grit and the resilience to really push forward and overcome the challenges that undoubtedly appear, right? Every day, several times a day, right?

Lindsey (04:58.029)
Right.

Lindsey (05:01.612)
Yes, exactly. And I think for every vote of confidence you get like that, there's like a dozen no's or the opposite behind it, right? And so as an entrepreneur, I think you kind of get used to the no's and sort of the lack of confidence in a new business idea. And so when you get someone who believes in you and is excited and encouraging, that really has like the strength to propel you forward in those times when you are filled with self-doubt.

Ramon Vela (05:30.988)
Yeah. And actually this is one of the reasons why I like to start off the conversation around gratitude because I think it's important as an entrepreneur to you, things can, you get all these no's like you said, but it's, it's really important to take a step back and just think, okay, you know, I have all these people who believe in me.

I can gain some energy from that. There's also pressure, of course, because then you think, wow, I don't want to let them down. But at the same time, though, I just feel like it helps to push you forward a little bit to hear those, that transfer of belief when someone says, hey, I know you can do this. And so this question is not just for the audience, I think, but it's helpful for the audience to kind of get to know who you are.

but it's also for the entrepreneur. I mean, I just think it's a good practice. It's helped me through my entrepreneurial days and the dark times and all of that. But I appreciate you sharing that with us. You mentioned that you're in finance and I'm really curious about that because...

And you also talked about your sort of like different skill sets with your co-founder. And I feel like that's a really good balance because you need to have someone who's kind of really, you call it pessimism, but I think it's like it's realism because you do, have to, you have to think about all the things that can go wrong. and all the things, you know, that, you know, that need to get done and so forth and have sort of like that analytical mind. But then you also, it's great to have.

Lindsey (06:46.714)
Hahaha

Ramon Vela (07:03.38)
someone who is an internal optimist who feels like we're going to move forward. It's going to happen regardless of whatever, but it's great to have that balance. A little bit too much on one side can damper things, a little too much on one side can damper things, but together you can really balance each other. I also find it fascinating because I've been doing this for like six years now and I've kind of seen how the market has changed. In the early days,

And in the mid 2010s, money was all over the place. There was a lot of investment going on. Easy money, I guess you might call it, and all the attention was around growth. And it always occurred to me that people were running businesses based on hope versus really focusing on profitability. And I kind of feel like the finance people have a little bit more...

discipline around the profitability side and around the numbers and around the unit economics of everything. And I'm wondering, did that financial skill set that you created or built up, was that helpful to you or is it helpful to you right now in running the business, especially in this environment?

Lindsey (08:22.454)
Absolutely, I think.

hit the nail on the head that we are very complimentary skill sets. I think we would both say we couldn't have done this without the other. So she's really sort of the brand visionary and then I am kind of more behind the scenes. So operations and finance and kind of the nuts and bolts of the business and making sure that it's working the way that it should be and that's, you know, at its most efficient. And I think a lot of those skills that I learned in finance are really transferable here. And so absolutely gave us

guardrails for profitability. That was something that we felt extremely strongly from day one that, you know, the numbers had to make sense. And I think that has forced us to, you know, run the business a certain way and raise money or not in a certain way. And so I think that I would say foundation is what has sort of guided the way that I've run Weezie and

that we've sort of come together as a pair, kind of marrying sort of the brand vision with the nuts and bolts of how to operate the company.

Ramon Vela (09:29.67)
And do you feel that, well, actually, let me ask you this, and I think this is going to be helpful for the audience as well in understanding why we see what we see tells what was it or.

Was there anything in particular, what was the idea that really compelled you to leave whatever you were doing before and join the company? There had to be something that was really compelling, obviously, leaving them. I'm assuming leaving a secure job or a previous position and joining the company. feel like there had to be something that really kind of pushed you over the edge. And maybe it's something that you also share with investors, but I'd love for the audience to hear that because I think it's going to be helpful for

them. What was that that that thing that idea the concept or the why?

Lindsey (10:20.474)
Yeah, absolutely. think going back to sort of the origin story, I think is helpful for context. So Liz, my co-founder, was the one who really experienced the consumer pain point that Weezie has sought to solve, which was she was registering for bath towels for her wedding and she was at a department store and there was a myriad of different brands and qualities and price points. And she found the purchase experience really overwhelming and she didn't really relate to any of the brands that were being sold and sort of settled for an option that her mom had recommended.

and once she got the towels she was really disappointed in the quality, especially for the price point and for the timeline it took to get the towels. So she is a graphic designer by background and wanted to get the towels embroidered with her new married monogram and that process was totally offline and took several weeks to complete. And so once she got the product and she was then disappointed with the quality, so the towels were like super soft but not absorbent and she didn't love the way that they looked, she really thought to herself there has to be a better way.

and started asking friends of which I was one, what towels do you own? When did you last buy towels? Where did you buy them? What brand do you love? And that really kind of innocent conversation amongst friends is what snowballed into what is now Weezie. But that timeline from that initial conversation to launching the brand was at least one to two years. And so when I think about...

what was like the moment or the exact moment when I said, okay, let's do this. I really think about, I was in business school at the time and I think about this moment where I had signed up to take a launcher startup class and I said, okay, let's kick the tires on this idea. Because as I mentioned, the pessimist in me was saying,

the world doesn't need another towel company, how much money people really spend on towels, how often do people buy towels, it's gonna be really hard to embroider them. I had all of the reasons why it wouldn't work. And that was, of course, coupled by all the reasons why it would work coming from Liz. And so I think I said, let's take this class together and I can actually really spend time and research the problem and confirm that I agree, that there's a consumer problem, there's a hole in the market.

Lindsey (12:33.338)
And what we did there was, of course, a lot of competitive analysis. But the thing that I remember most was this consumer survey.

and we sent it to almost 2,000 folks. And it was very simple questions. What did you last buy your towels? How much did you spend? Where did you buy them? What makes a great towel in your mind? How often do you replace them? And I was shocked at the results that there really was no, I mean, first of all, there was no category winner. So there was no brand in the space that was like the ubiquitous, you know.

hero of towels, like that I felt there was in every other category, especially in the home space at the time. This was back in 2018. And then I'd say the second thing was that people really were wanting something new. They were desiring the new towels. They wanted something luxurious. They didn't know that it existed. And they honestly felt like they couldn't access it. It felt inaccessible, either price point or the way it was sold. And so I think that survey was sort of the tipping point for me to say, okay, there's

definitely an opportunity here and I felt such clarity on the problem she had described being confirmed by this large group of people. And then the next phase was

can we, the two of us as a partnership, solve it? And so what that meant for me was can we actually go create a towel that was maximum softness, maximum absorbency, and we can embroider it super quickly, super high quality, and sell it at a price point that was more approachable and online. And so I think that solution bit was the next phase of can we actually do this? Because I was really clear that I did not want, and she felt the same way. We didn't want to launch just like,

Ramon Vela (14:04.206)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsey (14:16.064)
another towel with a pretty brand. We really truly wanted to innovate on the product and that took a lot of time to go through sourcing and product sampling. I mean that's what took the lion's share of the work before getting the product launched but I think those two moments really stick out in my mind was once we had

consumer survey done and then once we actually found our manufacturer and finalized all the product development, I was like, all right, let's do this. And so I think it was definitely a long process to get the business off the ground, but those are two moments I really remember.

Ramon Vela (14:44.142)
Thank

Ramon Vela (14:52.397)
And when the company launched.

Lindsey (14:54.98)
We launch at the end of 2018.

Ramon Vela (14:57.326)
And 2018. So I'm assuming you have sort of your COVID story. Every brand has been around for a bit. How challenging was that? mean, people were at home, people were using towels. And it occurs to me that, you and I, you probably see this in your survey.

I can't even think of a towel brand. It's usually like you're at Target or you're at Nordstrom's or one of those department stores and you buy whatever they have and so forth. And so I would imagine that people still need a towel, still needed to buy things, but I'm sure there was challenges. Describe a little bit of what those years were like.

Lindsey (15:21.274)
you

Lindsey (15:44.037)
COVID was really interesting.

both professionally and personally for me, I actually had my first child in March of 2020 in New York City, which was where everything was ground zero for COVID at the time. And I went into the hospital with some awareness that COVID was happening, but at that time it didn't have a name and it was not yet clear what the impact would be. And when I left the hospital two days later, the whole world had changed.

Ramon Vela (15:55.758)
Yeah.

Lindsey (16:16.54)
And so what that meant specifically for Weezie was overnight, I mean, our demand plummeted. I think people were so scared, people stopped spending money immediately. And when we have a very small company, with very few people at that time, I was like, okay, I guess we need to furlough everybody. And I guess my maternity leave looks a little bit different than I had planned. But.

Shortly thereafter, think, you know, come April, really, I mean, as you mentioned, we were in the home space. People were stuck at home. And I think people were really looking for ways to infuse joy and delight into a situation that, you know, no one could have ever dreamed of previously. And I think Weezie was that brand for a lot of people. So it was something that would bring you joy and comfort in terms of the luxury quality, but it was also beautiful. You could customize it, design it, and really spruce up your home. I mean, so many people

were investing in their homes. And I think looking around and sort of seeing where can I tweak or make this better? I'm working from home now. I'm here all the time. I want this to feel beautiful and like me and something that I love. And I think Weezie really benefited from that. So I would say immediately after sort of the initial shock factor were off, we were a

beneficiary of COVID to some extent. We had no retail presence at the time. We were only online. Demand skyrocketed. I would say it was really a step function of growth for the company. of course, what followed after, which is what most brands faced, was the supply chain disruptions and trying to keep up with demand. Shortly thereafter was inflation. So just kind of was one thing after the next. But I would say having started the business in 2018 and faced a lot of these very interesting

know, global economic times over the past six years. Like nothing really fazes me anymore. You know, I feel like, know, the tariffs obviously is the newest thing in the retail world that everyone's talking about, but I feel much more equipped today to handle something like this than I did at the time with my first baby during COVID in March of 2020.

Ramon Vela (18:06.766)
Thank

Ramon Vela (18:22.27)
yeah, I mean, you're going through so many different things and it's just hard not to let some of all of that affect you. I mean, it affected all of us to certain degree. And I think that's why at the very beginning, people were just shocked by everything. you know, it took a little while for people to start thinking, okay, well, I'm stuck at home. I might as well start looking around and seeing what I can improve and how it can make things as nice as possible. And of course we saw...

things skyrocket around a home do it yourself type of things as well as exercise and things like that. I also felt like the snack world too.

kind of changed a little bit in that I think everyone was sort of stress eating at first. And then I think after we realized we don't know how long we're gonna be sequestered in our homes, I think people started trying to eat better and to improve their immunity and whatnot. So yeah, there was a lot of changes. What's really interesting to me is, so that survey that you mentioned,

Was that survey, did that turn into sort of like your first customer list? Because I remember I interviewed a brand and they were telling me, yeah, it took us a couple of years to put everything together and create our first product and everything else. And then when we were done, we realized, wow, how do we get people to come to the website? Like we weren't building a list or anything. And so it occurs to me when you said that survey, I thought, wow, like that's a perfect way to also generate your first buyers, right?

Lindsey (19:56.942)
Yeah, we actually launched.

sort of a quiet friends and family before the website was open to the public. And we certainly used that list amongst our actual friends and family to test out the website and make sure, I mean, at that point it was just Liz and myself and an embroiderer. was, do we physically know how to pack an order? How to ship an order? What box size to use? Like all these little things you have to figure out before you launch. And so we did use that list amongst others to

of pressure test the website and make sure there were no bugs and we knew what we were doing on the back end. Then you probably six weeks later we launched it to the public and we actually took a bit of a I'd say different approach at the time in 2018.

the landscape looks so different. So launching a brand now is probably very different. But at the time, what we spent our time investing in, because we didn't have a lot of resources financially, was in relationships with editors. So being based in New York City at the time, I was running around meeting with all the editors that would take a meeting with me to introduce them to the brand and to the concept and show them the product and send them a gift and get them excited about the launch with the hopes that someone would cover the launch story. And we were really fortunate

that an editor at Fast Company picked up the story and had gotten exclusive for launch day. So when we launched the business, was October 9th, 2018, a story from Fast Company went out at 10 a.m. and we were really off to the races from there, I think.

Lindsey (21:34.33)
On day one, we were floored with the demand. Like I said, it was just three of us at the time. And so it took us all of 24 to 48 hours to realize, okay, we're really onto something here and now we need to hire a team and really plan accordingly.

Ramon Vela (21:52.064)
And I'm wondering what that strategy, did you implement any type of affiliate type of relationship with these editors? Because I know that I was talking to someone and they were telling me that that's actually a strategy. I had never really thought about it in that more and more of these magazines or online newspapers or whatnot. They are looking, they're always looking for revenue, advertising revenue and whatnot. And I'm curious, did you guys ever think about that component of it? Because I know that's a...

Lindsey (22:20.58)
So at the time, yeah, at the time it was less prevalent. I would say earned media was still a viable strategy and that's just true relationships with editors and media has changed so much over the past seven years. And now for better or for worse, it really is pay to play in many aspects, which is affiliate for them. So the strategy at Weezie has certainly evolved to keep up with that landscape. But at the time,

We really had no affiliate relationships the first, I mean, maybe three to five years of the business. Now it's a requirement if you want to be included in press articles.

Ramon Vela (23:00.318)
And in terms of the strategy, you mentioned embroidery and we'll go over a little bit more in detail about what all that means and what the product is. But was the initial strategy D2C only or was it also getting into retail outlets? Because I know like we mentioned a second ago, I think a lot of people, because they don't have any brand awareness of a towel or whatnot,

they might have a variety of different ways that they buy, right? You know, just on the spot, I need some more towels and whatnot. So what's the strategy and how has it evolved?

Lindsey (23:41.786)
When we launched the business, was 100 % direct to consumer through our website. And I think the initial thinking behind that was twofold. One was that we really wanted to control our customer data and really be able to speak directly to our customer to help evolve the business over time. And the second thing is the embroidery piece that you mentioned. So embroidery and customization is a huge part of our business. And it's really difficult to sell wholesale when a big component of our offering is something that we only do in-house.

That was how we viewed distribution when we launched the business and that has certainly evolved over the past six and a half years. So now we do sell into wholesalers. We are really focused more on specialty retailers. So think about like fine linen and fine home stores, gift stores. And many of those stores do offer their own embroidery. So we're selling them the Weezie product and then they're embroidering it on their end.

And then we also sell into a lot of hotels,

for use in the hotel rooms, but more in the gift shops. So doing custom logos for different properties around the country, mostly high-end properties. And then we also have a trade program, interior design program that we launched shortly after we opened the business because we realized all of these designers are helping their clients design bathrooms and they want to be able to recommend the towels that they believe in and the towels that they can stand behind the design and the quality and the embroidery options. So we also have a design program that's been growing quite quickly.

And then lastly, we have a corporate gifting program as well. you know, when people want to gift their employees or their clients or their investors with a custom logoed robe or towels or slippers or beach towels, bags, that's something we offer as well. And I would say all of those non DTC revenue streams, we kind of consider wholesale in some capacity. And that's really a growing business for us. Lastly, we also do now have our own retail store as well.

Lindsey (25:43.02)
So our flagship store is located in Atlanta, Georgia, which is where the business is headquartered.

Ramon Vela (25:49.536)
And what was your main reason for creating an outlet? mean, given that you went through COVID and you knew the disadvantages of having an outlet because people had to close down and whatnot, what was the reasoning for that? Was it just to continually build awareness, continually grab or obtain customer feedback? What was it?

both financially as well as brand-wise.

Lindsey (26:20.62)
I would say it was all of the above. So very much a multi-fold purpose in opening a retail store. was something we had always envisioned as part of the brand to really bring the brand to life. It serves as a community center with our customers so we can have events there. It honestly also serves as brand awareness and an out-of-home marketing, right? So we are in the center of Buckhead. So we're catching people's eyes. People are walking through the store and they're learning about the brand.

And then we have that one-to-one customer interaction, which is so valuable. And then I would say, of course, back to my finance days, it was really important that it's profitable. And so we really took what I like to describe as the crawl, walk, run approach to retail. It was not something that we sprinted into. It was something that we took a phased approach. So we tested this out with pop-ups and different types of events and trunk shows and other retailers. And then shortly after COVID, obviously, leases were really

attractive and landlords were really keen to get retailers in spaces that had been closed and so we were able to sign a several month pop-up over the holidays to really test

the idea, do people want to shop Weezie in person? Are people going to come? And it really operates, I would say, it's like part showroom and then part store. So people are certainly coming in and shopping, especially giftables. We have on-site embroideries. You can come in and buy a last minute baby shower gift or a housewarming gift or hostess gift. But people are also coming to touch and feel the towels and see if that they want to buy them.

later online. So we've seen a huge lift not only from the sales within the store, but also the surrounding area. So we've seen a big lift in the Atlanta area through e-commerce. So I'd say the store for us has been multi-purpose. It's been a huge success. We've resigned at least there several times and we'll certainly look to offer that in other cities in the future.

Ramon Vela (28:20.514)
And I want to get into the products because there's so much to talk about the products. But before we do that, I am curious in this short period of time you've experienced and then of course, including now, like we're dealing with tariffs and everything and everything in a very short amount of time, we've had this compacted space where as an entrepreneur, faced challenges that normally it would make take it might take.

two or three decades for you to experience these type of things, know, recessions and yeah, I mean you have. And so obviously, you know, there's a lot of lessons learned, you know, like one of the lessons I heard from you as you were, as you were speaking earlier that, you know, nothing phases you obviously, you know, there, you know, there's a spectrum around that, but, but it's true. I mean, what you've gone through and what you're going through kind of

Lindsey (28:51.96)
That's very validating to hear you say that because it's felt crazy.

Ramon Vela (29:19.086)
that it's hard won experience and lessons learned and I'm sure there's lots of mistakes along the way. And so what I'd love to ask you is if you're speaking to another entrepreneur, if you're speaking to someone who's starting up right now, or maybe just in an earlier stage than you, is there anything that you would tell them, know, similar to, you know, what was her name? Amy Griffin? Is there...

Is there anything that you would share that would be, I don't know, just something that you would like, you'd have to tell them, you know, like you would say, okay, you're going to get into this. Here's a couple of things that you need to know. What would be the, what would those things be?

Lindsey (30:02.744)
I feel like I could write a book of all the things I've learned over the past six and a half years and really longer than that if you count the time we spent working on the product pre-launch. I think what's worked for me at least has been, I think I've always been someone who has had good intuition and can kind of trust my gut. And I think there have been times when...

you don't have all of the data and all of the answers, and you don't, frankly, have the time or the resources to get all the information you want to make a decision. So what I've had to really lean into over the past six and a half years is that gut and intuition. And I think there's a speed component of that as well, where feeling comfortable to make a decision without all of the information, knowing you might be wrong and you might be making a mistake, but at least you have decided something.

And I'm a huge believer that failures are the only way that you learn. So without failing, and I tell the team that all the time, you're never gonna learn. So I'm a huge fan of just deciding and being comfortable with it being a wrong decision, knowing that at least you'll have learned and gotten a rep under your belt for the next time. And I think a lot of people who start a business,

you can be paralyzed because there's just, so many unknowns. And I find myself every time I've been fast and wrong, I'm happier than if I've been slow and right.

Ramon Vela (31:38.51)
And how about, you people deal with shiny object syndrome, right? You learn, you get a lot of advice. Hey, you should do this, you should do that, or you shouldn't do that, or whatever it is. How do you deal with that and how do you discern which feedback or advice is best to take?

Lindsey (32:00.43)
I think that's something that comes with practice. think knowing that...

whatever you're building as an entrepreneur is hopefully unlike anything else that's out there, right? That's why you're building it. And so you can take advice from a hundred people and it's on the entrepreneur to filter and synthesize and then ultimately decide what is your viewpoint, right? I think that's what's so interesting. I think at the time we launched the business, it was like the D to C boom in New York. know, brands were popping up for every product.

And people would always say, are you doing the playbook from Warby Parker or this playbook? And I always would say there really is no playbook anymore for any of these brands. Maybe there was at one point, but the landscape is changing so rapidly and nobody is building exactly what we're trying to build. And so I think it's really around, I feel like it's almost like through repetition, you get used to.

getting a lot of different advice and then synthesizing and filtering it through the lens of what is right for Weezie and what is right for Weezie right now. I think a lot of people forget that business was either bigger than you or a different industry or it was a different time. I think it's really hard to just take advice blindly and apply it to your business. I think it's sometimes that could be true and something is real time and you're in the same industry and all the things, but I've really found the right practice for me is

getting a lot of different opinions and then kind of filtering it through what do I think is best. And that kind of goes back to that like gut and intuition. And you mentioned shiny objects and it like something very specific popped in my head when from when our early days when we launched the business, I mean, it felt like we were getting opportunities thrown at us left and right. I mean, we still do. very grateful for that. But every time we got an email from someone who wanted to partner or

Ramon Vela (33:39.885)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsey (33:58.626)
had this cool opportunity, it was like, yes, yes, yes, this is so great. Let's do it, let's do it. Even though it's not in the plan. And I think that was one of the earliest lessons I learned as an entrepreneur was the pros and cons of chasing a shiny object.

Ramon Vela (34:01.71)
.

Lindsey (34:15.222)
And something we did specifically was open back to the idea of retail crawl, walk, run. did open a New York City short-term pop-up as part of like a, it was a bunch of brands and Soho that came together. And we were like, this is so cool. We've been around for four months and now they want us to have a retail store. Like, this is amazing. Like how flattering, how great it's like, it sounded super turnkey. Well, now on the other end of it, can tell you nothing in retail is turnkey.

Ramon Vela (34:44.28)
Thank

Lindsey (34:45.016)
And nothing is as good as it seems typically. But that was a huge lesson for us. It took the whole team's eye off the ball of what we had set out to build. And it was just, it was a massive distraction, both in terms of time and money. And I think having gone through that, of course there was positives that came out of it as well. But now having that lens of is this the right time to pursue that, yes or no? And it's always okay to say not right now. It doesn't have to be no forever, but not right now.

we actually run our business on something called entrepreneurial operating system, which is from Gina Wickman's book, Traction. And that has given us incredible focus where the company is organized around a one, three and 10 year plan. The company is really oriented around these 90 day sprints and quarters. We have very clear rocks, what we call them, which are our priorities for the quarter and for the year. And I think that has all but, I mean, it's basically eliminated

Ramon Vela (35:19.554)
Mm-hmm.

Lindsey (35:45.168)
the ability for us to chase a shiny object because our plans are so clear and laid out. I think, you know, there's always that little sliver and listen eyes, you know, we're always going to keep our eyes and ears open if something truly incredible comes our way. But I think now we have the discernment that we perhaps did not when we first launched the business around what is a good use of the time and resources that we have.

Ramon Vela (35:47.982)
you

Ramon Vela (36:03.266)
Thank

Ramon Vela (36:09.294)
And earlier you're talking about how you discern the feedback and the advice that you get. And I think one of the skill sets for that, just to point it out, is to really have a strong sort of why as well as a personality that

Well, this is what I'm trying to say. I hear it in my head, but you have to, in order to trust yourself, like that's a skill within itself. Because sometimes people are like, I'm not sure, this or that. And a lot of people are that way. And it's something that I think that you almost have to guard against and almost feel very strongly about, like, this is my, or why, this is what we want to achieve. We can't lose sight of that.

and that it becomes sort of like your filter, you know, and I think, that's kind of what you're describing. I kind of feel like that in itself is a skillset, just like there's all sorts of other soft skill things that people have to deal with entrepreneurs, you know, like guarding against, imposter syndrome or any, you know, those types of things. Like you really have to kind of build it that skill and really trust your intuition. And part of that is.

Lindsey (37:10.776)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (37:32.406)
is understanding why you're doing what you're doing. And it sounds like that's kind of like, that's what you've done and that's what your filter is, is that how do I take this information and then filter it against the reasons why we feel the way we do.

Lindsey (37:46.2)
Yeah, I'd say EOS, I credit again.

the entrepreneur operating system with that. I you really have to spend time with your leadership team defining what are your core values? What is your vision? What is your niche? What are you chasing? Who is your target market? And even though those are all things we inherently knew for so long, just putting pen to paper on it again and really defining that helps you then come up with what those goals should be. And I think, again, going back to my advice around just being decisive, I think it's, I am nothing if not decisive. So like I said, I'd rather be

wrong and fast and decisive, then write and not make a decision.

Ramon Vela (38:24.482)
Yeah. And one more question before we get into the product side of it. How has it been an entrepreneur and a woman, you have a child, right? You mentioned you had a bit, three, okay. So how do you manage all of that? I know it's incredibly difficult because...

Lindsey (38:37.004)
I actually have three now, yeah.

Ramon Vela (38:46.602)
entrepreneurship. mean, we always talk about compartment, you know, I don't know, like dividing things, but the reality is that as an entrepreneur, you're always thinking about the business, even when you're off, like ideas pop in your head or things, know, things, reminders that things you have to do and so forth. And then of course, with children, children can be I think can be incredibly helpful in that.

they almost force you to be present. Like when you're with them, they kind of force you to be present with them. But any advice around that? Like how do you balance the family life and the entrepreneurial life?

Lindsey (39:26.562)
It's hard to give advice because I feel like I'm still learning on the job in both areas. I'd say parenting is...

an incredible challenge, but it is incredibly rewarding. And I think of entrepreneurship as the same thing. And I think for me, it changes every year. Like, you know, I've like I said, I've had three kids. Every time I add a child or the existing children enter a new phase, and the business enters in a new phase, you kind of have to adjust your approach depending on the season of the children and the season of the business. And so it's hard to give advice because it's again, I feel like so individual and specific to the situation. But for me, I

I think compartmentalizing helps. Whereas when I'm at the office, I try to be really focused on work. And when I'm with my children, I try to be really focused on my children. And that is way easier said than done. And sometimes it might look imbalanced week to week. Like some weeks, I might have to put more time in one of those buckets than the other. And I've learned to just really give myself grace in that and say, that's OK. And not every week has to be perfectly balanced between being a mom and being

business owner.

like tactically, the way that I do that is I have an incredible, they say it takes a village. I have an incredible village of people who help me with childcare that I trust and can help me with that load. My husband, unfortunately, travels for work quite a bit. So it is difficult to manage all the moving pieces, but when we're together as a family, we really try to just focus on our family. And then when we go to work, we focus on work. Like I said, it's easier said than done because they're kind of both always

Ramon Vela (41:08.268)
Yeah.

Lindsey (41:09.692)
in the back of your minds, but that's something I'm really trying to work on this year.

Ramon Vela (41:13.964)
Yeah, I mean, it's really difficult and I don't think there's a right or wrong way of doing it. But I think it's helpful. when you're with your kids, you try to just be as present as possible. I think that to me is like one of the biggest things I've learned. I also have three kids. They're older now, so.

It's a little different for me now. The website is weezietowels.com. Weezie is spelled W-E-E-Z-I-E-TOWELS.COM. so I wanna, my first question around the products is who is, for people who are listening to this, find it fascinating, sort of what you've been talking about in terms of advice and what you guys went through.

Who is a target market for those who are listening? Is there an avatar or a profile of someone that is the ideal Weezie customer?

Lindsey (42:15.098)
I think are potentially interesting in that it's truly generational in nature. So from an age range perspective, we have almost equal amounts of customers ranging from in their 20s all the way up into their 70s and 80s. And so I would say from a age demographic standpoint, it really spans all age ranges. I think in terms of

The buyer is typically a woman. So most women are the ones who are investing and buying towels in their homes. And I would say a lot of people that buy Weezie are seeking luxury. It is a premium product and they have an eye for design. So design forward is really something that's part of our brand because we really put the power in the consumer's hands to design a towel they love. So you can choose from an infinite number of options of embroidery and color.

and styles. And so I think it's typically we attract people who are seeking that super luxury experience but also have an appreciation for the aesthetics of the product as well.

Ramon Vela (43:24.846)
Mm hmm. And you know, in a really good towel, I think people underestimate how good that feels. Like I'm always amazed that when we go to a hotel, like on vacation and whatnot, sometimes they have these really nice towels or these bathrobes. And that's when it hits you and you think, wow, it's like.

There really is a difference in product quality and whatnot. And also in durability too. I find that the cheaper the towel, the less durable they are. maybe I'm a guy or whatnot, I like, my wife says I'm too rough for the towel, but I feel like a good towel is designed and built to be durable, but also to be luxurious and.

Lindsey (43:50.35)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (44:15.5)
feel good. And like I said, it's hard to beat a towel that just feels really good. I don't know if anyone out there knows what I'm talking about, for me...

Lindsey (44:26.244)
Well, you're actually, you're basically parroting back what our consumer survey said, which was people want their towels to be equal parts, soft and absorbent.

and they don't want the towel to favor one quality, you know, at the expense of the other. And so when we set out to create the Weezie towel, we were chasing the really soft, fluffy hand feel, but maximum absorbency. We didn't want like a soft, towel that didn't actually absorb the water. But then thirdly, people do call out durability. So that's really important as well. And really taking care of the towel is a big piece of that durability. But if you take care of

the towel it should last you years.

which is also something I've learned obviously over the past several years is that most people don't properly care for their towels and they don't properly replace their towels. And so we always joke internally that if you were the same cotton, you know, products are 100 % cotton. If you were the same cotton t-shirt every day for a year and washed it, no matter how many times you wash it, it would not hold up over the course of one or two or three years. Right. And you're using the towel every single day in theory. And so even if you're washing it,

Ramon Vela (45:34.85)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Lindsey (45:40.222)
it often, you still need to replace that towel. And I think people have kind of gotten, for whatever reason, it becomes this forgotten item that you don't really remember how good it is until you replace it. But that's something that we were really focused on, is creating that product that would be luxurious but also stay on the test of time.

Ramon Vela (46:02.7)
Yeah, no, I, I, that's exactly how I feel. So, if someone's listening to this and they really love what they've been hearing, you know, in terms of the brand and how you, your origin story to starting the, the, company and you know, all the challenges you've been through, what are, what would you say is the best way to start their journey with the brand?

Lindsey (46:31.502)
I would say most people follow us on Instagram, which is at Weezie Towels. Our website is WeezyTowels.com.

and we're also on other platforms like TikTok and Facebook and YouTube, but I think I'd say Instagram is the platform where, most of our customers are engaged. And I think our brand is really, we took what we would describe as, you know, it's obviously a luxury product, but a product that was sort of forgotten about and a product that I think, especially in the luxury end was a little bit stuffy, particularly as it relates to the monogrammed aspect. And we really tried to infuse.

fun and delight and joy and playfulness and like a little bit of whimsy and southern hospitality into the brand. And so I think that really comes through when you check out our website or our Instagram just through the visuals. It's really colorful and fun and playful and trying to get away some of the more sterile, you know, black and white monochrome vibes from some of the more old school linen linen players.

Ramon Vela (47:34.79)
And so from a product standpoint, would you, I mean, obviously it's probably very personal, but is there any place where you would have them first be introduced to the brand? it via the towels, via the robes, the hand towels? Is there any place that you would have them start?

Lindsey (47:56.282)
I'd say without a doubt it is the starter pack that is our bestseller. It's been our bestseller since we launched the business. The starter pack is four bath towels and two hand towels. And the quality on our towels is truly unparalleled. It is the most luxurious towel on the market, bar done. And you get that at a discounted bundle price when you shop at the starter pack. And I think it's a really good introduction to the quality of the product. We have launched

truly almost 100 new product lines since launching the company six years ago. And so we of course sell plenty of other items that I would recommend wholeheartedly, but I think the core of what we do will always be around the bath towel.

Ramon Vela (48:45.484)
Yeah, I mean, I'm looking around. So if you go to wheezetowels.com, let's see, did I say that correctly? Yeah, wheezetowels.com. And again, wheeze is spelled W-E-E-Z-I-E, towels. So that's plural, not singular. You can go there and they have navigation buttons around towels and baths robes and...

beach and active home, kids and babies, et cetera. For me, like right off the bat, like I love these bathrobes that you have. I always like, as I mentioned, when I travel and I go to a hotel and they have these really great, beautiful like bathrobes, that's the first thing I would think about like, ooh, I gotta buy one for my wife. Like this feels so good, right? But the...

Lindsey (49:33.818)
Mm-hmm. It's a really great gift, a rope.

Ramon Vela (49:38.702)
Yeah, I agree with you. And you've got a lot of really nice ones like the women's short scallop lightweight robe. You got the bell sleeve plush robe. You've got them all. And then you've got them also for kids and so forth. And you've got different kids products, which by the way, to me, it's like that's like one of the other big issues, big reasons why to buy a really good towel is that when you have children.

There's nothing like making sure that their skin, when they're young, it can be very irritable depending on what you're putting on them. that great towel is something I think it's kind of one those areas that I always think like, that we need to make sure we have a really good towel for our child. But you have all sorts of others here. Is there any other call outs or any other places that you want them to be aware of?

Lindsey (50:31.0)
Yeah, I think in terms of product lines, robes are certainly super popular. But we also sell beach towels, as you mentioned, and so like outdoor towels, we beach towels, lounge covers, lounge pillows, and active towels. So we have towels for golfers, for tennis players, fishermen, we have yoga mats. I mean, we have so many different towel products in the active space. And I would say if you're looking for a gift, we have amazing gifts for

kids and babies, you mentioned, I think that's actually one of our fastest growing categories is the kids and baby products. So we're launching even more products there this summer. But then the giftables. So if you're looking to spend less than what a starter pack or a robe might cost, we sell toiletry bags, we sell spa headbands and makeup towels. Like there really is a gift for everyone and you know, a variety of different price points.

Ramon Vela (51:26.924)
Yeah, you mentioned yoga. It's always really hard to find a good yoga towel in my experience. And so you have, you know, like as I mentioned, you have towels and bath robes, kids and baby gifts, et cetera. So this is something as listeners should definitely go and check this out. What is the process? So...

Lindsey (51:32.42)
Mm-hmm.

Ramon Vela (51:51.924)
Does our every towel or everything that I see here on the website, is it all person customizable in terms of the, you know, putting people's initials or names and

Lindsey (52:03.066)
Yes, yes and I would say roughly 70 % of our orders contain at least one item that is customized so it's a big part of the business.

Ramon Vela (52:14.2)
Yeah, this makes, as I mentioned, you we're coming up to Mother's Day. I'm not sure when this will be out. Hopefully we'll get this out before Mother's Day. But this is a great gift, especially for that view for your mother, for your wife.

Lindsey (52:28.824)
Yeah, we've definitely seen Mother's Day as a big peak for us, even Father's Day, as you mentioned, robes, then graduation gifts, housewarming gifts, hostess gifts. Obviously, Q4 is big for us with the holiday season as well. So probably 25 % of our business is gifts.

Ramon Vela (52:48.898)
Yeah, I can see that. And you've got a lot of really great, a lot of really great picks here on the website. I'm not even on the Instagram, but on your website, have a lot of really great picks and they all look very luxurious. And if my wife is listening, I think I can use another bathrobe as well. But she would love the bathrobe too. She loves to lounge in her bathrobe for a while.

Lindsey (53:08.665)
Nah.

Ramon Vela (53:14.126)
And to, like I said, to have a really good one. Like you, you don't know what you're missing until you try something really good. And then after that, you think like, wow, how did I ever deal with, you know, not having this? Um, but this is great. Um, well, uh, I know you're busy, so I want to be, um, respectful of your time. Someone's listening to this, enjoy your story, enjoy learning a little bit about the business. Um, and now these products.

Is there anything that you want to share with them in terms of, you know,

anything that you want to say to the listener to really kind of shine on something that you feel very proud of around the business that may not be necessarily on this website. Something you guys do in the back end, some quality control, maybe how you manage your team, but is there something that you feel really proud of about the business that may not be readily available just on the website?

Lindsey (54:13.464)
I mean, when people ask what I'm most proud of, it is a very obvious answer, which is the team. I think we have the most incredible group of people who are smart and hardworking and passionate. And I'm just truly honored that they choose to spend their careers alongside us at Weezie. I think that is the first thing that comes to mind. I think in terms of the products and the business overall.

we do have a you know, a great effort around giving back, which I think we actually don't share or talk about enough. So we've done kind of distinct fundraising efforts over time when there's a cause that we want to support and we'll donate a percentage of profits or revenues from a day or from a week to that cause. And so we've probably done that.

I mean, at least 10 times over the course of the business. then ongoing, because we are doing embroidery, there is a defect rate that comes with that, where something is embroidered incorrectly, or it's put on the wrong product, or it's the wrong side. And so with that, we do have these super high quality towels that are perfectly good and usable, but might be embroidered with the wrong initials, or the wrong color, or font. And so we...

collect all of those defects and then periodically over the course of the year, probably six times a year, we're donating those to an organization that's local here. It's called Helping Mamas and it goes to women's shelters. And it's something that both my co-founder Liz and I feel really strongly about. And I think from the beginning when we launched the business, we wanted to do some good. But we've probably donated, I would say hundreds of thousands of cash to different

organizations over the course of the business and we've done the same in product frankly. So it's definitely something that's important to us and like I said we don't really talk about it enough in my opinion.

Ramon Vela (56:07.726)
Well, no, think that really rounds out, I think, the story of the brand because you have this amazing product, you've got this really great backstory. And then, of course, it's always from a consumer standpoint, you want to feel good about who you're doing business with. And that's just another reason why.

to like the brand, right? And I think those are important. This has been amazing. I really appreciate you making time. I know that you're busy and I want to be respectful of your time. Can you tell us again where someone can buy the product, obviously on the website, but is there any other place, any partners, anything like that that you want to do a shout out for?

Lindsey (56:52.974)
I would say the website or our retail store in Atlanta are the two best places we're in. A lot of specialty retail stores all over the country, but there's probably too many to name.

Ramon Vela (57:02.702)
Well, I appreciate that. And then what was that Instagram handle?

Lindsey (57:08.192)
at Weezie Tales.

Ramon Vela (57:09.366)
Okay, so everyone out there, we're going to have the links to the website as well as the Instagram on our podcast description, which you can find on Apple, Spotify, pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts. Simply type in the story of a brand show and you should be able to find it.

Beyond that, I would just recommend you go to the website, take a look at some of these products, sign up for the newsletter because I'm assuming that's where the best place to find whatever promotions, whatever new products they have, and just really keep up to date on the products and the brand. So definitely go sign up for that. Beyond that, Lindsay, thank you so much for being on the show. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for telling us a little bit about the brand and why you do what you do. And I really appreciate it.

Lindsey (57:58.564)
Thanks so much for having me, I enjoyed it.

Ramon Vela (58:00.472)
Thank you. Everyone out there again, go to the website, wheezytowels.com is the website. We're gonna have that link in our podcast description. Beyond that everyone, stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy. And like I said, do yourself a favor, try one of their products because you never, it's hard to describe over words.

you have to try a really good towel to really understand like what you've been missing. So highly recommend looking into this as a gift for your special someone and even for yourself. So, and then of course we're coming up to summer season and it's, it's great to have a wonderful towel there that is embroidered with your initial, with your name. And I can see a lot of you liking that beyond that, everyone stay safe, stay sane, stay healthy. And then one last thing we've all been going through a lot of

things in the last few years. We talked a little bit about COVID, we talked about tariffs, there's geopolitical wars, there's all sorts of stuff going on. Let's do ourselves a favor and let's just remember that everyone is going through something and if we can just be a little kinder to each other, I know we can make this human experience a better one. Beyond that, thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to another episode of the story of a brand.