The Trailblazers Experience Podcast

EP53 Lucy Jeffrey CEO & Founder of BareKind Socks : Transforming Passion into Purpose

• Ntola • Season 3 • Episode 53

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Ep53 My next guest is Founder and CEO Barekind Socks , the business she started with £1000
Lucy Jeffrey, the founder of Barekind Socks , joins us on Trailblazers Experience to share her incredible journey from HSBC banker to bamboo sock entrepreneur dedicated to saving animals. Inspired by a heart-breaking video of a turtle with a straw in its nose, Lucy left her corporate job during the COVID-19 pandemic to pursue her passion for conservation. Listen to her story of how stainless steel straws turned into a mission-driven brand with impressive revenue milestones and partnerships with over 30 animal conservation charities.

Lucy dives deep into her entrepreneurial journey, recounting her childhood efforts to support WWF and her recent venture, Candid Founders, aimed at helping other brands grow. We explore cultural attitudes towards failure in the UK and US, and the mixed reactions Lucy faced when she left her stable job. She highlights the real-world skills learned outside traditional education that have been vital in her journey, and how she's managed to fund and grow her business with limited financial backing.

Building a community-focused brand isn't easy, but Lucy sheds light on the importance of authenticity, obtaining B Corp certification, and creating meaningful relationships with conservation charities. From managing cash flow and inventory challenges to the joy of team expansion and the value of mentorship, Lucy's story is both inspiring and educational. Tune in to learn about the impact of purpose-driven business and how you, too, can turn your passion into a meaningful venture.

Find Lucy
Linkedin : Lucy Jeffrey | LinkedIn
Instagram  @barekind @lucyjeffrey
Youtube :    Candid Founders Podcast  https://youtu.be/uJRCwqjZIEY?feature=shared

Listen : to the audio version Apple Spotify .Amazon Music Google Podcasts
Watch and subscribe to my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@Thetrailblazersexperience
Follow Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/thetrailblazersexperience/

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

So welcome to another episode of the Trailblazers Experience podcast, where we have candid conversations with women sharing their career journeys. My guest today is Lucy Jeffrey, who's the founder of the brand Barekind, the bamboo sock company that saves animals. Welcome, lucy, how are you?

Lucy Jeffrey :

I'm good thanks. Thanks for having me.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

And this is so exciting because I feel like I'm now unundated Thank you, meta, with ads showing me socks. You're doing something well. It's working, exactly it's working. My phone listened. I've been around you enough. I think we've met like twice so far, you know, at different events, and here we are talking about a business that you started all those years ago, and I really just want to delve into just the early years of how you transition from the corporate world to launch a brand that combines fashion with a message behind it.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Yeah, absolutely, because it's quite a random journey. People say why did you start a stock company? How did you lead here? And I say I used to work for a bank. And they say, so, you've not done anything in this industry, not even in fashion. You weren't even in e-commerce. I said no, no experience other than what I've gathered here. So yeah, it was six years ago. I was working for HSBC. I was on their grant program. I knew it wasn't really for me. It was fine. Do you know what? It was quite fun, I quite enjoyed it. I learned a lot. But I knew it wasn't really for me. And that's also quite a dangerous position to be in, because when a job is fine and it's okay and you kind of enjoy it and it's well paid, you're very unlikely to leave it, I feel, because I didn't hate it. But I did start the company whilst I was on the grad scheme. It was a side project. It wasn't even a side hustle, because I didn't really think it would go anywhere. It was just a small thing I was playing around with. So the business started, as other products actually. So I started with stainless steel reusable straws. So this was in 2018.

Lucy Jeffrey :

There was a lot of this going around where we were saying no to single-use plastic. I think the EU was starting to ban the use of single-use plastic in a lot of industries. So that's where I started and I kind of played around with a few different products. Um, the socks came around a couple of years later when, um, because there was a video of a going around the internet with of a turtle with a straw stuck up its nose. Turtles became a bit of a mascot for us so I was using them in my marketing. You know, like, stop using single-use plastic. This is what happens to the animals. So I really wanted to give back to the turtles because I felt like I was using their imagery a lot. So the whole point of it was to donate some of the profits to the turtles. Um, but the straws didn't have any turtle imagery actually on them. So it led me to thinking okay, well, I'll just do.

Lucy Jeffrey :

A limited edition run of some turtle kind of product started with socks just felt like it was a good, cute product to do. I thought you know people will love this. I like getting socks at Christmas and my customers loved them and they were like what's next? I want penguins, I want orangutans, so I bought out a few more socks. It became less of a limited edition. It became more of like okay, this, I'm actually selling these socks now.

Lucy Jeffrey :

This is, this is happening, and but then 2020 hit everyone like a truck and so I was working from home. I realized that I didn't want to go back to the office particularly and came to the end of 2020 and I think just the nature of COVID and how it affected everyone, it was kind of like a light bulb moment that I was like literally anything can happen, like we have no control over anything in the world. Um, so I really should just try something different and really roll the dice here. So I quit. I quit my job at the end of 2020 it was, uh, start of December quit my job just before Christmas. I left um and then that's. That was three and a half years ago now. Um, haven't looked back and now now I have a sock company and that's the kind of story of how I have got here and it's obviously there's a lot that has happened in between, but it's gone fast yeah, I want the revenue just for the audience of their kind at the moment.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

So from startup to where you are sort of now, yeah, so to give you the context.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So 2020 our revenue was 20k that's it like. Because we shut the business down, my mum was doing my shipping like I wasn't letting her out of the house, so that's how small we were back then. So I quit my job based on that, which was really was rolling the dice. And then 2021 we did 200k revenue. 2022 was 500k. 2023 was 540k um, but much more profitable. So actually we did some radio ads in 2022 which were incredible for growth but very expensive um, so we didn't do them in 2023 but we so we had kind of flat revenue but much more profitable um. So that's the kind of like level we're at. We keep saying we're aiming for a million this year. I reckon we're really on track for 750 this year stretch goal of a million um. We'll see how it goes. It's, you know it's summer, as we're recording right now, so it's we're in quiet season, so it's tough for us right now, but when Q4 comes like everything goes bananas.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

I mean that's amazing, and obviously you know the bamboo socks are unique for the audience if you go on the website as well, so they're not only providing comfort. You've talked about the story of how you're contributing to saving animal lives and an innovative idea. That's got really good margin behind that as well, and the fact that you just decided to take a leap of faith of actually you'd started a side project that started off with straws that morphed into something else. Sometimes that's how it is as an entrepreneur, where your first idea probably isn't the last idea or the best idea, but it sets the catalyst?

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

isn't it for you If we talk backwards, because obviously you worked for a bank when you were growing up? Now, in hindsight, do you think there were any foundations or fundamentals? Now, when you think about it, connecting the dots, that sort of said that's given you the skills or the toolkit to help you with your business now.

Lucy Jeffrey :

It's really interesting looking back on it now, because I mean, even when I was running the business still at the bank, and people would come to me and say, when are you quitting? And I'm like, no, I don't want the risk, I really don't see myself running my own business. However, now I would really struggle to work for someone else again, like I love this. Whether BareKind is this forever, I don't know. I like the idea of there's other stuff going on and I'm sure we'll get into it, but there's a second business that we've started off the back of it as well. So but looking back, like me, my parents weren't entrepreneurs. Um, my dad worked for British Gas and he joined them when he was 16 and he still works for them. Um, my mum raised us and then was working for a preschool. So there's not really anyone that I followed when I was growing up. That was in this space, which is very interesting, which is possibly why I came into it a bit later. I say later, later, like I guess I was about 23, 24 when I started the business, but I know there's some entrepreneurs that are like, I knew I would be an entrepreneur from day dot, but there was a few like things that I did. Like, looking back, I remember and this is actually such a cute story considering what I've done now Me and my neighbor would find stuff in our houses, just stuff that we just stuff.

Lucy Jeffrey :

You know, you just collect like dust collectors my dad calls them. They're just kind of tap, that's like you've collected over the years. We'd collect them up and we'd sell them on the street and donate the money to WWF, so like which is quite funny that this is now what I've like ended up in and it that story came to my brain like not too long ago. I remembered that we we used to do that just as something to do on the weekends. Um, so I've always been into like the animal side of it and I did try and come.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I wrote, to be fair, I wrote a business plan to my dad to try and convince him. I had this rabbit growing up called Bryn and he was very cute and I tried to convince him through a business plan that it'd be a good idea to breed him, and my dad was like, absolutely not, we're going to end up with rabbits everywhere. So there's all. I think there's been like a theme of like animals in there, but there was. There's nothing other than those two things that I thought, yeah, I'd definitely be. I loved business at school, I was very interested in business studies, but I went on to study biology and then went to a bank, so it was all kind of higgledy-piggledy, you know, and I've just kind of found myself on this path.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

But it's interesting now when you tell the story. So you know definitely your affinity for conservation, you know being an advocate whether it's with the rapid or whether it's actually we're going to sell some stuff and then you know, donate the money afterwards, it's. It's interesting because you know, we know that the the public school system is is is crumbling, the private one is promoting a certain type of student who comes out afterwards, and really it's all these life skills that you learn along the way. I think that that are probably the ones that serve you most. From all the women that I've interviewed, it was something that we're doing on the side. It was something they were interested in. That's sort of been the catalyst for where they've actually ended up. Fundamentals of you study this, you go to university, you get a job just setting the basis. But actually where they've been successful have been with all these little side hustles and side interests that have morphed into something else as as well yeah, absolutely I wish they.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I mean, I don't know if you could necessarily teach entrepreneurship, but I think you know there is business studies obviously, but that's very much like. This is what a limited company is. This is what a public company is. I think there's so much inspiration out there. Maybe these kids growing up will see more of it with social media and stuff now.

Lucy Jeffrey :

But our school did one cool thing that I guess was a bit innovative at the time that we had this like enterprise day where it I think maybe in year 11, for example we would all make. We'd go in a team and the idea was to make a product whatever that might be, product service and then we'd sell it and there'd be one day where all the school would come around with their money and they could buy stuff. So I think our product was like balloons filled with flour and we were set like with googly eyes and we were selling them as stress balls and then others were doing like help, helping with stretching and stuff like. So it's, that was the only thing our school did, but I think if they'd expanded on that it could have been really cool, like there's so much that could be done in this space for kids and I think, particularly in England, we have a very risk adverse culture.

Lucy Jeffrey :

In America they like failing is a good thing. They're like, yeah, I wear my business failures like stripes on my arm, like war wounds, but here it's like we're very, very scared of failure. I think, um, it's. You know, when I quit my job to run the business, people were kind of scared for me. There weren't people supportive but also a bit like, oh, like I still think we're talking about it just before we joined, that I'm getting married this year and people are.

Lucy Jeffrey :

People are so like congratulations, like so exciting, like it's the biggest thing. I, all I'm doing is spending lots of money, that it's a good thing, but it's all I'm doing is dropping a hell of a lot of money on one weekend, whereas quitting my job to run a business is like, oh, be careful. But I'm like, well, that's an investment, like, and I don't want to think, you know, obviously I'm getting married, so very exciting, and then it's, it's, it's great. But I think we have this weird culture of where we're thinking spending money is a good thing, like I'd much rather spend that money on investing into a business than on a wedding. Uh, but I've kind of got both, which is good. But it's just a weird thing I've noticed.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

Yeah, I think there's comfort in people, just especially here, being safe with things that they know. You know. So marriage is safe, going to university is safe. Starting a job and staying there is safe. Starting a business who does that anymore? But you've done that and you know, hopefully this will be that hitting that 1 million year. And then, lucy, you've now decided to co-found Candid Founders Just say let me just start another business where you're helping brands, helping brands grow in wholesale marketplaces. What was the catalyst for that?

Lucy Jeffrey :

So that started as a YouTube. I don't know, it started as a podcast, but it was a podcast that we put on YouTube and then the YouTube has been what's kind of taken off. So we list our products on a wholesale marketplace called FAIR. So so, yeah, if you're listening and you have a product that you could wholesale or do wholesale and you're not on FAIR, I actually really recommend it as a platform. It's kind of like the Etsy, but for wholesale that's the best way of describing it and it's a massive platform. Now it's definitely the biggest wholesale platform in the world and it's basically just a commission model for getting wholesale sales.

Lucy Jeffrey :

But they started about three and a half years ago and we joined them when they were quite new into Europe. So we did a lot of growth with them as early adopters and just realizing the opportunity. So we've grown like crazy on that platform. We're now the biggest sock brand in Europe on that platform. We're definitely not the biggest sock brand in Europe, full stop, but on that platform we are. That kind of shows you the level of growth on there. So we actually just started sharing information about them on YouTube and actually the main thing was to kind of get retailers to buy from us, because we'd have people being like what is FAIR? I don't get it. So I'd just come on camera and explain what it is and say this is our socks, here are our sizes. But because fair was new from an SEO point of view, lots of people were hitting our channel and it's almost like if you were talking about Amazon before. It was a known thing, right.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So we started growing the channel and doing more videos. Then I had people coming to me saying I will pay you to do what you're doing for your business. For me, I was like, wow, okay, there's definitely an opportunity here. So we've basically expanded it. Um, and yeah, now registered a second business and it's a digital course. It's yeah, it's still the youtube channel so you can still learn from us. We do videos every week, but it's also an agency, so we do run other people's fair accounts for them, or I just do consulting, so people will pay me by the hour and I will come in and look at that business and give them advice.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So it's kind of crazy that that's that's now started out of it. It was just one of those things that it was an opportunity that's kind of grown and whether it'll be, I don't know what the future of that one. Maybe it'll just trickle along on the side or maybe it will grow to bigger than bear kind. We're. We're not sure yet, but what I do know is it's amazing having their kind as basically the case study, because we're showing them yeah, here's our business, it's working. We've tried and tested this, so it's not like just some kind of empty promise. We're actually showing them what's working and what's not. Um. So, yes, we found ourselves with the second business without we didn't mean to do this. It just kind of happened, do you?

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

know it's so interesting. I'm familiar with uh fair from previous businesses I've worked for and it's super easy to onboard. You know, if you have no idea how wholesale works and if you have no capital to invest in trade shows and and do all of that, it's a very good way for you to get in front of customers. You know a low starting threshold, so the fact that you are sharing that information this is why we love social media, isn't it? It does have its positives of paying it forward and giving the information out there to help people spread their brand and their products and access some customers who are looking for something different in their shops as well.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Absolutely. Customers who are looking for something different in their, in their shops as well. Absolutely yeah. And you hit the nail on the head with the whole cost of it and being the commission model, that you don't pay unless you make a sale and it's, it is affordable, like as long as you can build that into your margin, because trade shows are really expensive and we have started doing them now because it does open you up to another field of buyers that might not be on fair typically you're at that scale now where you can actually say let's do it, isn't it?

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

yeah, exactly yeah. And also, bear kind is um certified as b corp, so that's a commitment to social and environmental impact. What does this mean for you as a, as a brand, and how do you maintain alignment with the b corp values?

Lucy Jeffrey :

yeah, so yeah, b corp was an amazing achievement for us the week we got certified in october last year, and I did it because actually a lot of people were asking us why are you not certified, like I'm. Really, they were almost surprised that we weren't certified. And and in going through the kind of application process which if you, if you're not aware of it, is a huge questionnaire that you go through in the in the corner of, like, the esg values of your business, ticking off what you do and don't do, and then you have to evidence it to say, yep, I am a living wage employer or you know, I commit to like carbon emissions and reducing those, and you have to prove every single step. So it's quite a lot of admin to go through. But in going through that questionnaire because you, by the way, anyone that's interested in it you can just go through the questionnaire without paying. You can just sign up and go through it. You don't have to submit. You can just go through the questionnaire and use it as a benchmark for your business, which is how I started. But in going through it I realized we tick so much of this off already like there's there's nothing new that I there are obviously steps to get high because it's a point system, so to get more points. There's nothing new that I. There are obviously steps to get high because it's a point system, so to get more points, there's more stuff that I'm like, yes, I want to implement in the business. So it kind of gives us a benchmark of what we're going to do next, because once you've hit that target, you don't just stop. It's always moved, sustainability is always going to be happening.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Um, but I realized this so I think I can certify, because so much of this that I actually do. So I just went through the process and it was, I guess, fairly simple for us. It was a lot of admin, because I then had to go through and prove all of these things I'm saying we're doing, because, especially as a smaller business, a lot of you're not going to have all the documentation. You're not some big corporate that has to have all these like black and white things in place. We just say, like one of the example I use is one of the questions that you get a point for is do you have a breastfeeding policy?

Lucy Jeffrey :

And you know we have. We have no one in the team with kids. We're a young team. We're also completely remote work from home, so I never would have thought I need to sit down and write a breastfeeding policy. However, our breastfeeding policy would be like breastfeed whenever you want, wherever you, whatever suits you.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So I was like, great, I'll just put in place a policy. So a lot of it is like policies that you didn't. You probably wouldn't even thought that you need. Um, that I'm like yeah, I can absolutely put that in place. And because we're so small and it was me doing it, we're very agile, so I could just say yes to most of it. Um, whereas bigger companies going through it a lot of red tape. It would be much harder to change based on the criteria.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Um, so, yeah, it's awesome and in terms of like, what's come off the back of it, it doesn't necessarily lead to an uplift in sales, and I always say it should. You shouldn't be doing it because you're like trying to get more cash or sales into the business. There's other avenues for that. This is about doing what's right. It's about being recognized for the good stuff that you are already doing, and it's also creating a halo of trust around your brand, because people do have heard of b corp. They do recognize it now, as I mentioned that we're starting to go to trade shows, we have our b corp plaque sitting on our desk at trade shows and people are coming around. Buyers do recognize it now. So it does help open doors. It creates some leverage with bigger brands than than us that might listen to us and might collaborate with us because we're both B Corps even though they're much bigger than us. So it's that kind of like qualitative stuff that you can't necessarily measure, but I've really noticed it is leveling us up.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

Yeah, and just opening yourself up to a different community. You are building a community as conservation advocates, but also having that B Corp stamp of approval does help as well. You've partnered with over 30 animal conservation and rescue charities, which is very impressive already so far, because it's A, I think, hard to foster collaboration and find the right partnerships. How are you amplifying your impact through these partnerships as well, because ultimately, you're a business too?

Lucy Jeffrey :

Yeah, and I think the way we've done it, we could have just picked a couple of charities and I think that would be the obvious approach and definitely the easiest approach, because partnering with that many charities is a lot of work. It's not as easy as just going to a charity website and signing up or emailing someone. A lot of the time the charities one don't have time to kind of you know, talk business with us or they don't understand the model of like business working with charities, so they'll just say no. So sometimes it's really hard to get the charities on board. And other bigger charities might have more resources, they might have contracts already set up, but we have to have individual contracts with every single charity. So it does create a lot of work.

Lucy Jeffrey :

But I would say that's what's unique about us is because we really want the socks to be very specific to the charity, like so if you're buying a turtle sock, it's the Turtle Foundation, orangutan sock, orangutan foundation, et cetera. So there's loads of charities that are very specific and etc. So there's loads of charities that are very specific. And in terms of amplifying that impact, in an ideal world I would have a full FTE, like working on that side of the business. Like, I want someone that is like charity partnerships manager, because that is a full-time job, but I don't have that. It's just me, um, working on the charity partnerships at the moment. So what I'm trying to do is foster stronger relationships with like one or two charities at a time, so I'm kind of spotlighting a certain charity, whether I'm visiting them or volunteering with them.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Uh, we went to slovakia in january and volunteered with our wolf charity because it was like tracking wolves and like collecting samples, um, and that was amazing. One, it's really cool content. Two, it is, as you mentioned, it's kind of fostering that like community of animal advocates. So you know, we have a facebook group of like their kind insiders who are our most like loyal customers that have all of our socks and they love getting involved in talking about what socks we're doing next and choosing colors and things like that. But we tell, we show them, we send videos being like hey, guys, like we're in Slovakia, like this is our wolf charity. This is what they do and it's just deepening those relationships with our customers as well. So it goes both ways.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

It's it's it's helping the charities and it's getting more involved, but it's also bringing in that loyalty from the customer side of it as well, yeah, and sort of that accountability and having a purpose in terms of prioritizing what you're going to go after and focus on, and you've talked about how active you are on social media, both personally and for BareKind. It feels like you're building your personal brand, which is surrounded around your values and what means to you. But how do you, you know, for someone who's listening, how do you use platforms effectively? That doesn't come across as if you're trying to sell something, which is most of the time, you know, when you look at someone's Instagram page from a business, you say, oh, is this authentic, is it not?

Lucy Jeffrey :

But in a way to connect with your audience and share your mission and also build those communities, like you said absolutely and I think we really see it especially on instagram and facebook as a side product that anything we're posting that's like very salesy, unless it's a product launch, like people love a product launch. If there's something new and exciting, that that's fine, even though that's technically salesy, people love that. But if it's like generally like hey, buy this, uh, you know, it doesn't get engagement, it really doesn't, and I did your. I don't think it even really gets sales. Um, I think, yeah, the product launches do get sales, but anything super salesy doesn't get sales. Customers are wise these days. These days, they know when they're being sold to and sometimes they're open to it. I think the biggest piece of advice I can give and this is what I have been told is just make sure you're giving value to your target audience on all the channels that you use, because we don't necessarily use all of our channels and a lot of our customers sit on Facebook and Instagram, but we're posting a lot about you know, know, here's some information about the animals and here's behind the scenes and what we're up to and people.

Lucy Jeffrey :

People buy from people. They want to support the person. So if you own a brand and you don't show your face. I know it's uncomfortable for some people and I would have said previously I didn't like showing my face. I started off by not, but now I'm all over it. Like we literally use my face everywhere, like I lean into it. It works. It really really works like people want to support entrepreneurs, people want to support the person behind the brand and hear all about what you're up to and just feel like they're connecting with you and feel that they are part of, like your community. So yeah, it's, it's being authentic in that way.

Lucy Jeffrey :

And another piece of advice I was given and I think we naturally already lean into this is just be your authentic self. Don't don't try and pretend to be someone you're not, because people the mask will slip at some point and people will see through it and you don't have to share everything like you don't. Like I don't share a lot about my personal life. I have a separate personal Instagram that's private, but I share a lot about the business, like I share. We have a rabbit. I share lots of photos of him. So there is a lot of personal stuff there and my CEO and my co-founder and kind of founders is my partner, is my soon-to-be husband, so we share a lot about what we're up to and things that are going on. So you know it's, but there is a limit, so we still have those boundaries. But I do think people are nosy at the end of the day, so they want to know what you're up to and what you're like behind the scenes. That's that stuff.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

That content does really well for us yeah, and also I think they want to know who's behind the brand. You know there's some brands that were started years ago and you sort of want to say what am I investing in, what am I putting into, what are they actually working on? So it's great to see you know that BareKind is making that significant impact in terms of building community activations that matter and just being authentic to reach even more customers and just grow the brand.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Yeah, absolutely, and it really works, works. And I had an event just this week actually. Um, I was on the panel when it was like a b corp event actually, and I had a couple of ladies come up to me afterwards. They were like I have your socks, it's so exciting to meet you. Like they were just so happy to like meet me, which is crazy because it's just a sock company, but obviously because we're putting me behind so much of it like no one would know.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I mean, I guess it's a lot of these bigger companies and there are some bigger corporations who are starting to bring their founders more into it, even if they're less involved in the business they're trying to bring. They're trying to create that founder story that the us smaller brands, it's our like superpower, like that's why you should lean into it, because these bigger companies don't have that as much. A lot of them are private equity owned now or maybe it's a public company, so the founder story is much harder for them to create. So, yeah, lean into it because it's yeah, it's really, really powerful so let's, let's talk about, you know, let's get down to business.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

so you bootstrapped, you know, start starting their kind, and we've talked about how taking a risk and starting a business is really tough. But you know, I think if you have a great idea and you're solving an actual, real life problem, then go for it. But securing funding is often challenging and I don't know if that's something you know, you're looking to raise capital or you're just continuing to say and I don't know if that's something you know you're looking to raise capital or you're just continuing to say, well, you know our revenue will come in and then we reinvest. How has it been in terms of, and what's your approach to, raising capital for the business?

Lucy Jeffrey :

Yeah, absolutely so. Yeah, so I was bootstrapped. So we have taken some funding and I'll get into that. But yeah, we were bootstrapped. I just put some savings into the business and you know, I was still working, so that was fine. I had that kind of like safety net that I didn't need it to make money for me. I was just playing around and and I would always recommend that, unless you are in the position to just roll the dice and you don't, I don't know, we have a mortgage and stuff, so we do have to be careful, um, but you know, if you are in the position to take a risk and you have some kind of financial backing, then maybe the right thing for you is to just quit and jump into it. But I was a few years running the business before I quit and I knew I had some traction. I didn't just quit for nothing and I had small traction, but I still had some traction. So I rolled the dice on that. But I actually did take some investment in 2021 from my university. So very different approach to the like normal investment. Like it was a much I don't want to say safer, but like they knew me, I knew them like it was almost like a program I'd they'd invested some sorry, not invested. They'd given me a grant to start with and then I moved on to there, like it went in stages. So I then went on and I took 50,000 pounds investment from them.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Ideally, I wouldn't have wanted that money. I wouldn't have wanted to take investment, and this is something I want to go into because I firmly believe that just because everyone else is like talking about investment and going for it doesn't mean it's the right thing to do, possibly for your business, because you do have to give away a slice of the pie. Right, and it might be right for you if your, if your goals are like to grow like it's being very honest about your goals, if it is to just grow the business as fast as you can and exit investment's a great way to do that. Right, because you need that fire beneath you. You might also get someone who's you know. You might get an investor, especially if they're angel or vc that are very interested in your sector. They have knowledge, maybe they join your board, um, so there is definite benefits of doing it.

Lucy Jeffrey :

However, I would have ideally like to take a bank loan. I think people kind of forget about the other funding options. I would have loved to have just taken the bank loan and just paid it off, um, not that I actually think my university is a great investor because all of the money that they earn goes back into funding other students businesses, so it's an amazing thing to be a part of. But a bank loan is a great option if you can afford it and if you can get the funding. I couldn't. I couldn't get a funding from my bank because it's an e-commerce business.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Like banks are very risk adverse. Risk adverse, yeah, very risk adverse. And there are e-commerce funding options, um, but they're very expensive. So just kind of be very careful with the funding options. They sound good, they're like, yeah, we'll give you twenty thousand pounds and it's, you know, you don't have to pay back too much. But there's a lot of the way they word they, the way they word it, and I always go to my partner on these kind of funding options because he's very he's, he's very into his finance, um, and his parents are accountants. The way they word them makes them sound better than they are, and then suddenly you'll be slapped with like aer that you didn't even know was in there so just be very cautious of those e-commerce easy fast options, because they're very expensive.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So ultimately, I wish I could have taken a bank loan, but I didn't. I took this investment. It went straight into my paying my supply bills like we desperately needed that money. So it just disappeared like straight away, and we haven't taken any funding since. We've managed to bootstrap, we've managed to reinvest the profits back in.

Lucy Jeffrey :

It's hard every year at this time of year because we're so seasonal, so about 70% of our revenue comes in Q4. We're so seasonal, so from a cash flow point of view, that's really hard to manage because we're needing to pay for our Christmas stock now over the the next couple of months, but we don't have the money to do it. So we do have to think about okay, are we going to get a loan now? Because, because we've grown a lot, our loan options are much better. Um, and you know there's trade loans and there's invoice financing, so there's lots of options out there. Before you take investment, however, it can be a really awesome thing if that's what you're looking to do with your business, but it's purely dependent on your goals. I just think it looks very sexy and exciting when someone's raised millions. You're like oh my God, do I need to raise millions? No, not necessarily. It really depends on what you want to do with your business.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

I think you've hit the nail on the head. It's depending on what your goals are and, like you said in the beginning. So you know, the first few years nobody's, you know, offering out investment or loans to you because you're too small, there's no proof of concept. And let's talk about the challenges that you face, because we've talked about the business growing and all the opportunities and growing your customer base and starting a second hustle now with a wholesale arm and giving that advice. But you must have had your share of hurdles. And you've talked about the inability to play. You know, pay suppliers, what, what are the most memorable challenges you've faced so far? Building the business, um, and how have you overcome them?

Lucy Jeffrey :

yeah, I think to add on top of it, it is the cash flow every year and it just feels like we're in a hamster wheel at this time of year because we're doing everything we possibly can to grow the business, but because we're so seasonal and people aren't really buying socks at this time of year, our whole set to be fair, our wholesale arm of the business is doing pretty well and we've we've got a trade show coming up and because they buy, like a couple of months in advance of the busy season tends to be a bit better for us at this time, maybe from a wholesale point of view. But the cash flow thing is is really hard um, and I think all, all businesses that hold inventory it's like a big, big task um, to kind of make sure you're always in stock of the right things, but not too overstocked, because then all your cash is tied up. It's a very, very hard balance uh to make. Um, and I I think we're going to find that hard every year, to be honest, and actually that was one of the reasons we started candid founders, because it was kind of like can we make another consistent revenue stream there? Because if basically candid fantasy is just funding bear coin stock. That that's all it's doing at the moment is. We're just putting the money into buying more socks. So that was something we've looked at is how to kind of flatten the curve and make us less seasonal.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I think another challenge that I'm sure a lot of people could relate to, especially if you've got quite a female audience, is just this fluctuation in motivation levels and just you know my how I'm feeling about the business and just it's really hard sometimes running a business and I think, especially from the outside that listen to this, it probably sounds amazing. Oh, there's growth, I work for myself, it's awesome, but like it is really hard and you feel like you should be enjoying it all the time because I'm quote-unquote living the dream like running my own business. So when you don't love it, it feels harder because I'm quote unquote living the dream like running my own business. So when you don't love it, it feels harder because I don't love it all the time. Sometimes it's really hard and I think when you work for someone else, it's easy to complain about. You know, oh, my boss did this and this and I'm just not enjoying work so much at the moment, but there's always almost always an end date to it, like you could change jobs, change careers change, change bosses. But I feel like I have to love this all the time and that's like a pressure and I that's just a feeling I've put on myself. I don't, I shouldn't need to love it all the time. Um, and that's that's something I'm working through and I'd say having a good psychologist is is amazing for this kind of thing.

Lucy Jeffrey :

So I have my own psychologist and actually Andy and I where we've been working together for about a couple, a couple of years now. Um with him on the business and working with your partner is incredible, but at the same time, it comes with a lot of challenges in itself because you are together all the time and he, you are each other's person, but you're also trying to run the business together. So there's a lot of like pressure on our relationship from that. So we've just started seeing a psychologist like together as well, to try and like, and that's more to like. She's got a business background, so a lot of it is like what are your goals together? What are you trying to achieve? How do you communicate, how do you set time aside to you know, work on yourselves and your relationship and set boundaries and all of those like important things. So yeah, just having a good psychologist is I. Everyone needs a good psychologist.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

It's amazing it's like working on your brain, lucy. I think um, you've developed a high level of self-awareness now, early on, and just having interviewed so many women who scaled, you know businesses and are actually working with their partners, where their partners maybe have come in later on and said oh this is interesting, let me. Let me join this as as as well. And having that, andy, I love the fact that you divide and conquer so you don't both go to the same events.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

Basically, that's a big thing so he'll go and do one thing, you'll go and do the other, and setting those you know boundaries for all, barriers of okay, this is now work time, this is business time and this is now our time as well. Developing that early on, I think, will be important for you. As someone who was married and divorced, I think that is important. You need to create those. This is now us in our business mode. This is now us in our us mode, and also acknowledge the fact it feels like you want to build a sustainable business and if you're chasing sustainable growth targets, you'll be fine Once you start getting into that.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

We want to now triple our growth and 10 exit, and I think that the pressures will probably hit you. So you're probably not at that phase now. Now it's all about sustainable growth and, like you said, if the goal was to exit in three years, you'd probably be on a different trajectory, because you can see the Maldives or wherever it is you're running away to, or Bali, or the Seychelles, or Mauritius. But if you're looking to build a sustainable business, then yeah, you don't have to love it every day. It's it's like everything in life, isn't it? You should acknowledge and embrace whatever phase you're in in your business and it's, it's okay. It's okay for that percent.

Lucy Jeffrey :

You know, there was one podcast I listened to, um, and a sentence in that that really hit home with me, which was it's because I was. I was like basically saying why do I not have the motivation? The motivation is like like a roller coaster. But this podcast said it's not motivation that is getting you up and working in your business, it's discipline. And discipline is there when you don't have the motivation. It is there and it's what you're gonna. It's gonna override that and go and do it when you don't have the motivation. And then once you're doing it and you're in there and you're, you know, solving problems and getting creative, that's when the motivation will come.

Lucy Jeffrey :

The motivation happens when you're in it already. So it's the discipline. So, and that you know what, sometimes you just hear something and it just like it's a light bulb and your brain goes off that I'm like, no, I don't have to be motivated all the time. Sometimes I need a lie-in or just lying in bed or just watching tv. That's what my brain wants right now. But the discipline is what will override that and make me know I need to. I need to work. I might need to work on the weekends. I might need to say no to doing something fun because I've got to work, so and that's, and that's the sacrifices you make as a business owner as well.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

It's, you know, and having the discipline to do that exactly discipline is is uh what gets me to the gym in the morning exactly no one.

Lucy Jeffrey :

No one wakes up buzzing for that. Your, your like mammalian brain, is like no bed is good and comfy, but you will still override that to go to the gym. So it's yeah, I that, I don't know. It seems so obvious, but it really struck a chord for me yeah, yeah.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

So let's talk about your milestones. What are you some standout moments for you that you're, you're proud of? Let's embrace the bear kind, but I say bear kind as if it's german bear kind journey, bear kind journey. Let's embrace these milestones. What are you proud of?

Lucy Jeffrey :

yeah, I mean the beacock one was, was a big and I won't go into that further. I think team milestones are really exciting for me, like what we're doing with the team. The team is the biggest it has ever been this summer, which is kind of scary.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

How big is your team, Lucy? How big is?

Lucy Jeffrey :

it. We'll be at 10, including me and Andy, this summer, and we do have some interns in there for the summer, but that's the biggest it's ever been. We're hiring my sister, so it's a proper family run operation now, but that's you know, when they come on the team call and you see all these faces and it's like, wow, we have created this, we've created jobs for people and I love seeing their growth and excitement and just it's just amazing to me that this is. It's so much more than just me now and that is always the most exciting part for me. It's also always the hardest, hardest bit. Like if we have, if we're struggling um, you know, we have wages to pay like it's ultimate responsibility is that and they're always going to be my like responsibilities to make sure that they are okay.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Um, and we've had we've had some awesome people on the team over the last few years. We've had they're always going to be my responsibilities to make sure that they are okay, and we've had some awesome people on the team over the last few years. We've had people that have come and gone, people that have gone off to grad schemes or back to university and things like that, and every single time the door has been left open. I'm really proud of the fact that we've never burnt bridges with people. They've always left because they've got a different opportunity. I think they've never left because they don't like their job. It's been they've gone traveling or gone to do a master's and I just, I just love that. I love that we've created this like ethic work, ethic in the team and this, our own little mini community that really care about their job. Um, so that's to me, that's incredible that we, that we've managed to do that. That's the most exciting part.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

For me that's brilliant and it's, you know, 10,. We'll be speaking in a few years and you would have expanded your team further, so really good to watch the journey. We've talked about it. You know, throughout the podcast, in a way sort of sprinkling, how networking plays such a crucial role in business growth your own. You know throughout the podcast, in a way sort of sprinkling, how networking plays such a crucial role in business growth your own. You know personal growth how have you expanded your network, especially within the sustainable fashion industry and beyond? How's that worked out for you so far?

Lucy Jeffrey :

I think LinkedIn is a huge way to kind of really get your voice out there. Not everyone shares stuff on LinkedIn and I don't know if people find it a bit cringy or they just don't feel like sharing. I just think it's amazing. And LinkedIn is one of the platforms that still has organic growth, like if someone likes my post, that gets shared to their network. So there is a lot of opportunities on there. And again, it's not one of those platforms that you see an uplift in sales. I'm not selling on there, although by nature, there'll be people who buy my socks that follow me on LinkedIn. It's about opportunities and I really see that coming in.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I see more people messaging me saying can you do this? Can you come on my podcast? Or I saw this. I've had people that message me photos being like I saw your socks in this store, like it's people know my name and they know I sell socks and they think of me when they see my socks. Like it's incredible. So really sharing a lot on LinkedIn and being and again, it's that authenticity of just sharing what's going on there's. Linkedin is a weird place at the moment because there's a lot of people that are, there's a lot of bragging and I'm all for blowing your own trumpet, but there's a lot of like, there's almost too much bragging. It's very like numbers heavy and some of it I don't even know if it's true. So I think really staying authentic on on linkedin and just kind of sharing the highs and the lows, but I also like each to their own, but I'm not one of those people that is on there sharing pictures of me crying, being like all the time, like business is hard.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

I don't know, Lucy, the fact that if you're crying and you have time to actually take a picture of yourself, something is very wrong.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I know that's the cynic in me whenever I see those and I'm like I don don't when I'm crying that I'm not thinking about taking a picture of myself. So I'm, yeah, I'm all for sharing the lows and I will, I will. I mean, linkedin is still a highlight reel, but I will after the fact be like, yep, this was really hard and this we, this is how we overcame it. But I'm still. Both of us think people want to, people want to support and they want to follow winners. So it is very much like a positive thing that we're sharing, um, and I think that's good. And then, and another step along from that, is all the events and this is how we've met. This is why we're talking, because we met at an event and actually we met an event where I was on the panel and I think they must have messaged me on linkedin to come onto that panel. So again, it's just getting your name out there and just talking about all the good stuff that you're doing and why you are existing in this industry, what you're an expert, what's your voice like, what are you an expert on? Because people will know me about fair stuff, b Corp stuff, you know. It's just everything that I share and the events are amazing.

Lucy Jeffrey :

And, as you said, you know, andy and I divide and conquer. It's a really good way to even just get out of the house and get out there, meet someone that unlocks an idea. That's all you need to just meet one person that unlocks something in your brain. And I think it's very easy to sit at home because we work from home and just be isolated on our laptops all the time. But when you get out into the world and actually network with like-minded businesses and agencies and whoever it might be, that's when ideas will start coming and things that you maybe haven't thought about, something in a certain way. And london is full of e-commerce events, amazing events. There's so many you could go to do you know?

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

I was listening to, uh, paul brunson, who's like a relationship um expert and he also has a different, I think, banking background, and then he started and ran one of the biggest matchmaking agencies for people of color in the US and then obviously he ended up on Married at First Sight, but when he was interviewed, one of the things that he learned. So he managed to be picked up by Oprah and he was observing Oprah when he went to one of her dinners and she used to have these dinners where she would invite people who are completely outside of her circle, completely outside, and she'd invite them to have conversations. You know, et cetera. You've been to probably a few dinners where it's just about the conversations really, and from that that's where your next connection will come from. So really, the moral of the story is your next biggest connection or next step will come from your third weakest link, so someone who you would have not normally connected with before, and that's what LinkedIn is really.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

You ended up on the women's domain. Sarah's amazing, there were some great people there we met as well. It's always not your direct circle but you taking a leap of faith to say, actually I'm going to talk about lean into things I'm interested in, but also be open to meeting other people and engaging with a different set of you know different network that you probably would not have had the opportunity to do so, so it's really good story actually yeah, absolutely yeah.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I love that and really noticed that in attending different, slightly different events as well. Like, I go to a few events that are way more corporate. They're more like retailers, the bigger businesses, so the topics of conversation aren't always super relevant, because I remember one of them was a lot about like the data you use in your business, and it was a lot like just eat, deliveroo, like so the the kind of tech stacks that they use would be insane and not super relevant for our business.

Lucy Jeffrey :

But in meeting these retailers you learn so much because they are giants in the industry, but they have been there, done that, so you can learn from them. Even if a lot of their stuff isn't super relevant for where I am right now, you can still learn a lot from them. So you're right, if you're meeting with people that aren't in your direct circle or aren't even in your, like, direct industry, I think you can still learn a lot from them.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

It's yeah, that's a really cool thought yeah, yeah, it's a lot of effort as well, isn't it?

Lucy Jeffrey :

because you're having to step outside of your, your comfort zone as well to us, as it's not natural to us as humans, we want to stick with what we know.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

Yeah, yeah, but you have to put yourself out there. Let's talk about mentoring and paying it forward. I think through you starting your second business or second hustle Candid Founders, you are, in a way, mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs or helping wholesalers get the leg up that they need. How do you envision giving back to the startup ecosystem?

Lucy Jeffrey :

In the long, long term. I would love, love to be in the position where I'm either an angel investor myself or even I just sit on the boards of like young women's businesses and give them advice. I could love. I guess technically I could do it now, because there's always people that are kind of behind you and looking to be where, where you are today, just as there's loads of businesses in front of me that I have my eyes on that. I'm like, yes, you're so inspiring, I want to, I want to learn from you. So I would love to, yeah, pay it backwards and and really look at those businesses behind me and say this is what I did.

Lucy Jeffrey :

We really rely. We have an advisory board that is really people that are willing to volunteer their time to kind of. Some of them sit on our board every month, but others will just dive in now and then when they have time. But these are, you know, some of them are seasoned experts in their industries that are just willing to. You know, they've been there, done that, got the t-shirt and they're in the position where they're happy to give up some of their time.

Lucy Jeffrey :

We reward them handsomely with socks, lots of socks, and they'll give up their time and just look at our board pack and kind of the strategy of our business and give us advice. And I just love the idea that one day I will be expert enough that someone would be like wanting to have me on their board. It would be really cool and that's I'd love to you know 10, 20, 30 years, be that person that like looking at a young, much younger version of me and be like that's what I was back in the day. So I'd love to be able to help them progress in their journey.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

I think that'll be coming, and you know know when that happens. Someone just says oh Lucy, I'd like you to advise me on something. Then you know you've arrived. You're like oh my God someone's asking me for advice.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I am the wise owl now. This is my goal. I am now.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

yes, I am now the wise person that everyone comes to and asks for that, so let's talk about trailblazer takeaway tips. I always ask our guests to share at the end of the podcast. You know three things that they would like to share for aspiring entrepreneurs or founders or someone who's just navigating their career at the moment. What would you share?

Lucy Jeffrey :

If you can get some kind of therapist or psychologist, even if you don't feel like you need it. It's one of those things. I think it's the gym for your mind and even someone to work on your goals with. Like you know, maybe it's just a third party that you can be like. This is where I want to be in three, five, 10 years and they can work on you and how you're going to get there. It doesn't have to be as deep deep like therapy isn't all about going into your past and working out why you who you are today and working on depression or anxiety or trauma or anything like that. It genuinely is like how to improve yourself. So I'd really recommend looking at how you can get that kind of support for you, no matter what stage of your journey. You're at corporate university, running a business already or want to. So that's number one. Number two is if you are looking to run a business or if you're interested in that space.

Lucy Jeffrey :

I always say to people that the hardest thing is just starting, so just start playing around. It doesn't have to be that you drop loads of money on buying a bunch of stock. I mean, my journey has been. I started with other products. And now I've landed where I am and now we've got a second business, and I don't even know which one is going to be the business that we're definitely on in five years time. It doesn't. It doesn't have to be as black and white as yep. I've got a product idea and that's going to make millions. Just start playing around. Maybe it's that you're sharing ideas on LinkedIn, maybe it's you start an Instagram account and taking photos or Pinterest. Just just start tiny, small things, minimum viable products, like just really just start playing around. It doesn't have to be that you have a fully formed business idea before you start. Just play around. So that's my second thing. And my third thing is really use the networks out there. So if you're not sure of you know, because I really didn't know where I wanted to be, like I was in corporate. I happened to be there. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go work for a charity start, charity start business. I had no idea what I was doing. So I'd really just start, you know, even just listening to podcasts like this, and just start connecting with these people and getting ideas.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Try and go to these events. These events a lot of them are free. So just like, go and start meeting people and just talking to them. And and I think it's okay to go to an event, and I think it's amazing If someone came up to me in an event like that and said, hey, I, you know, I work for a bank and I just really don't know what I want to do next and I'm just exploring Amazing, you'd be amazed at how many people will talk to you, because people love talking about themselves. So just go and have those conversations. And so just go and have those conversations. And I think I wish I'd done that. I mean, it was COVID when I was thinking about quitting, but I wish I'd done more of that, of this like just diving into these worlds before I'd even, you know, step foot in them. It's just about like exploring them. So it's, I think, a really good way of seeing what your next idea could be. And even if you're, like, already running a business, maybe that's your way of finding someone else.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

As you said, it's that third connection. You know what can they bring to you. So those would be my tips. Lucy, this has been brilliant, amazing, so great to hear your story, your journey, um, and yeah, I'm glad we met at that women's domain event.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

So shout out to sarah, who's, you know, trying to create an amazing community and has some great things coming through. But I think you know, bear kind selling socks everyone needs socks, isn't it? And there's a purpose behind it. So thank you so much for being authentic, being vulnerable, sharing your story and just letting everyone know out there that you know there are different ways that you can change the trajectory of your life, in terms of which direction. It's never too late to start something and do it with a bit of heart, a bit of soul and some values and a mission behind it.

Lucy Jeffrey :

Absolutely Great sum up. Thank you so much for having me. It's been a pleasure.

The Trailblazers Experience Podcast :

Amazing. So to everyone, this has been the Trailblazers Experience podcast. Two things tell another woman about the podcast and please follow, share, subscribe. We can only grow, we can only expand and pay it forward If you join us on the journey as well, whether it's on Spotify, apple, youtube or wherever you listen to your podcast. On that note, thank you.