Female Founders: Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk of Woodley + Lowe On The Five Things You Need To Thrive and Succeed as a Woman Founder
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Rachel: Get used to not sleeping at night. Seriously — having a new business is like having a baby — it needs your constant attention and will result in many sleepless nights. Whether you’re up worrying about funding issues, other team members, or what the competition is doing, the stress level is real. But often the late night thought avalanches can result in some great ideas as well.
Neda: You need to have patience! With all the excitement and energy that goes towards building a business and flipping the switch on, there is often an expectation for how things will play out post launch. With so many success stories of start-ups discussed regularly in the media, many entrepreneurs envision a similar path for themselves. After all, if the concept is a good one and a lot of sweat and tears are put into it, isn’t it supposed to be a success!? Well, not always, and certainly not overnight. Having patience and a long-term view is critical. I have to continually remind myself of this, particularly in the early days of getting a business off the ground.
As a part of our series about “Why We Need More Women Founders”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk.
Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk are the cofounders of Woodley + Lowe, an up-and-coming brand of wardrobe essentials for Gen Z girls. Beyond great clothes, the Woodley + Lowe brand fosters a supportive community of fans, aiming to educate their following and promote sustainable buying habits in young women, including buying quality, long lasting products, thinking about how and where things are made, and encouraging circularity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
Rachel: I am a lifelong entrepreneur — I find business to be like solving puzzles — identifying problems or holes and then figuring out how to address that, and I just love “creating” in general. My professional path started in investment banking, though I worked closely with small, high growth retailers, and got to know the ins and outs of many of their businesses. I then pivoted completely to pursue my love of chocolate making and cake decorating and opened my own retail bakery. After 12 years in food service, I was ready for something new again, when I was introduced to my co-founder, Neda. We began talking about all the problems in the apparel market for teen & tween girls, which got me really fired up to start Woodley + Lowe, and here I am!
Neda: Like Rachel, I also have always had the entrepreneurial itch and passion for identifying white space where I can build strong brands. I started my career in finance, as an equity analyst, covering specialty retail stocks. My specific focus was on the teen retail sector at a time when the mall was king, and teen retail was an actual category in retailing. So, I often joke how I have now come full circle, as I am right back in the teen space, albeit it is a very different retail environment today than it was over 15 years ago. I ultimately transitioned from finance to business school to various roles within luxury and retail companies About 10 years ago, I decided it was my time to launch something of my own, which was not in the apparel space, but rather in the fitness sector, another area I have always been very passionate about. I saw an opportunity to create a new way to book multiple fitness classes at once, and pioneered the concept of a fitness aggregator, with my start-up FITiST. My co-founder and I were very early to the boutique fitness scene and set the path for a whole crop of fitness start-ups after us. Since this experience, I continued to consult and advise numerous start-ups, but started to feel the entrepreneurial itch again a few years ago when I was introduced to Rachel. We immediately recognized there was a void in the teen apparel market and jumped right in!
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company?
Rachel: Hmmm, it’s really hard to tell what OTHER people will find interesting…this entire journey so far has been a super steep learning curve, which I find fascinating for myself, but those stories feel like “vacation photos” — you really have to be there to appreciate. I did have the opportunity to connect with Mickey Drexler for some one on one advice, and that has been one of my favorite conversations. What was scheduled as a 30 minute call ended up being an hour+ conversation, and it was really inspiring. I love talking to other entrepreneurs — there’s a certain energy we all share, and you can see it spark in people when they think you’re on to something. To connect with a seasoned apparel executive like Mickey, and have him give candid and open feedback and advice was invaluable.
Neda: Agree that this is a hard one to answer! I would say that building this business during the peak of the pandemic definitely made for an interesting experience. Thank goodness for zoom, which allowed us to seamlessly continue our plan of action, for the most part. I never thought we would be meeting our factories and doing fittings over zoom. When we were really on lockdown, we had the benefit of using Rachel’s teen daughters as our fit models. I will also say that pushing forward with launching while balancing home schooling three kids and the constant anxieties and fears that came along with all the unknowns in our world during this time will surely be a time I will never forget. And, interesting is certainly one way to describe it all☺
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
Rachel: Early on in the pandemic, when I had just figured out how to add Zoom backdrops, I put up a scene from “2 Fast, 2 Furious” for a friend’s Zoom birthday party. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that it had become my default background, and the next day, I logged on to a meeting with an investor…and there were Paul Walker and Vin Diesel right behind me! I saw him raise his eyebrows and I turned red as I hurried to get it off the screen. He passed on the investment, but hopefully that was not the reason why!
Neda: I can’t think of a specific mistake that was funny per say, but I definitely had a few investor meetings over zoom, where I was having to break up a fight between my kids or help one get onto their zoom home school class. I guess once again, covid made for an interesting, and at times, funny experience in building our business.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
Rachel: This may sound trite, but I really could not be an entrepreneur without the support of my husband and kids. I am grateful to not only have them be supportive of investing money in my ideas, but also being flexible when I have a crazy, unpredictable schedule. It pays dividends, though — I love seeing my daughters get excited about what I do and be proud of me. My nine year old INSISTED last year that we had to gift her assistant teacher a pair of Woodley + Lowe sweatpants. I resisted, because teacher gifts aren’t allowed at their school, but Violet said, “but you HAVE to mom, she’s young, and she’s fashionable, and all her friends will want to wear them!” Her sense of marketing strategy convinced me it was ok to skirt the rules!
Neda: My parents have been my greatest source of support and inspiration in my entrepreneurial journey. While neither of them are entrepreneurs, they managed to instill a work ethic and determination in me from such a young age. They have given me the confidence to be able to go out on a limb and pursue my ideas, and I am so grateful for them being there every step of the way.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. According to this EY report, only about 20 percent of funded companies have women founders. This reflects great historical progress, but it also shows that more work still has to be done to empower women to create companies. In your opinion and experience what is currently holding back women from founding companies?
Rachel: Personally, I think the #1 thing holding women back from founding companies is access to childcare. And more than just childcare, there’s a need for a societal shift in how we view gender roles in a family. Even in households where the father is extremely involved and hands on, it’s typically the mother who bears the burden of arranging and organizing the childcare, transportation, doctors appointments, extracurricular activities, etc. for the family, and that is a huge amount of work. This creates a chicken-and-egg problem, because women get less funding from investors, who often deem them to be “less focused” than male founders, and without funding it becomes harder to justify outsourcing family responsibilities….
Neda: I 100% agree with Rachel. While there has been so much progress, there is still a clear distinction between male and female founders and how they are perceived by investors. If the founder has children, only the female is looked upon as a liability by investors, because if it’s a male founder with children, there is always the assumption that he is not the primary caregiver for his children. As Rachel notes, what’s holding women back from starting companies is having the bandwidth to do it — both physically being able to balance it with their responsibilities at home and the financial means (access to capital) to do so.
Can you help articulate a few things that can be done as individuals, as a society, or by the government, to help overcome those obstacles?
Rachel: First, I think a commitment of capital to female founders is extremely important, and not just young female founders. I think it’s exciting that there’s so much opportunity for young entrepreneurs now, but there’s too much focus on the “30 Under 30” lists. We’ve seen a lot of young founders achieve great success, but we’ve also seen those (male and female) whose hubris leads them to grow too fast, and it can come crashing down. I think the benefit of experience you have at middle age needs to be rewarded more often with capital opportunities — then we as a society can recognize there’s not just one blueprint for success.
Neda: I would love to see true equality in terms of how female founders are treated. I don’t think females should be funded just because they are “female.” While I welcome all the efforts being made to support female founders, I also believe that funding should be based on merit, regardless of gender. I think the goal is to get to the point where gender is irrelevant to the funding outcome or business success.
This might be intuitive to you as a woman founder but I think it will be helpful to spell this out. Can you share a few reasons why more women should become founders?
Rachel: The silver lining of shouldering all the family responsibilities is that women can be masters of time management. I know lots of women who truly thrive when they are juggling multiple balls in the air. This is an essential skill for entrepreneurs. Traditionally, women are also more compassionate, and I think that can help us be better problem solvers at times. What pains me to see in women is when they have a great idea, but they either second guess themselves or refuse to take risks. I hope to raise my daughters to have the confidence to be risk takers. (And I hope that statement doesn’t come back to bite me while they’re teens!)
Neda: Founding a business is sort of like having children. It requires a lot of patience and perseverance, and I think women are best suited for this role! I also agree with Rachel’s comment on time management. Females, especially mothers, have to wear a lot of hats and be incredibly time efficient. Founding a business requires just that, but it also allows for more control over your schedule so you can wear your mom hat when you need to, even if it’s during the work day.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a founder? Can you explain what you mean?
Rachel: I think people often look at massive, overnight success stories and forget that rapid success for entrepreneurs is far more uncommon than not. It’s easy to get distracted and disheartened comparing your path to others who are getting more attention. Every entrepreneur’s path is unique, and it’s typically rockier than anyone lets on, so it’s important to stay focused on your own goals and the best path for you to achieve them. All entrepreneurs think that massive success is within their reach, or they probably wouldn’t be a founder, but it takes a lot of hard work and often some luck too.
Neda: 100% agree with Rachel. I think another myth is that as a founder, you can’t have any life outside of your business. We have seen hundreds of successful founders raise families while running their businesses, as well as having involvement with other businesses as advisors and board members. It is possible to found a company and still maintain a life outside of the company.
Is everyone cut out to be a founder? In your opinion, which specific traits increase the likelihood that a person will be a successful founder and what type of person should perhaps seek a “regular job” as an employee? Can you explain what you mean?
Rachel: The only quality that’s ESSENTIAL for founders is a willingness to take risks. Putting yourself out there with an idea, having people invest money in it, and being responsible for generating your own income, are all risky endeavors. Beyond that, anyone can be a founder. I do think you have to have an honest conversation with yourself about your own strengths and weaknesses — if you recognize your deficits, you can find a co-founder or build out a team that helps balance you out.
Neda: I don’t think everyone is necessarily cut out to be a founder, as it takes a few key traits to launch something and stick with it. Being brave and not afraid to put yourself (and your idea) out there is one that is very important. Risk tolerance, is another. A founder needs to be ok with living in the unknown — not knowing exactly what their path will be and if they will actually succeed. For someone who needs stability and control, this can be challenging. A founder also needs to be flexible and pivot when needed.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? (Please share a story or example for each.)
Rachel:
- Get used to not sleeping at night. Seriously — having a new business is like having a baby — it needs your constant attention and will result in many sleepless nights. Whether you’re up worrying about funding issues, other team members, or what the competition is doing, the stress level is real. But often the late night thought avalanches can result in some great ideas as well. Early on in our development, I was up one night stressing about how we could know for sure what teens would want — then I was struck with the thought that we could include them in our planning through polls and social media engagement, which is now something we implement regularly. I make sure to keep a pad of paper and pen by my bed for any middle-of-the-night ideas!
- Raising money isn’t a given. Institutional investors love the line “you’re just a little too early for me,” and I think it’s problematic, because it can give founders false hope that more money is right around the corner. We made the mistake of spending too much money up front on some things that helped us reach certain landmarks faster, but were based on what we thought would impress investors and not necessarily what was good for our long term business plan. Make sure to plan for two tracks — one with a tighter budget based on what you (and any friends and family) are comfortable investing, and another that layers in what you’d like to invest in with additional funding. Don’t mix up the two.
- No one will care about your business as much as you. This reality comes at you from all touch points — investors, customers, friends, employees, and it’s important to strip away your inherent biases when considering your strategy and plans from these others’ perspective. I think this is especially important when it comes to motivating employees — respecting boundaries and understanding what will make them keep showing up for you is key, because it’s not just belief in your mission.
- E-comm: just because you build it, doesn’t mean they’ll come. Having come from a brick & mortar background, I totally took for granted how easy it was to attract paying customers just by having a physical presence in people’s lives. With ecomm, it’s often more “out of sight, out of mind” (see: “no one will care about your business as much as you”). There are dozens of things easier about running a website than a physical store, but customer acquisition and marketing require a lot more work and planning.
- Getting comfortable with self-promotion is a must. Some people are born salesmen — I am not one of them. I get extremely sheepish when in a situation where I have to promote something I’m working on. It makes me uncomfortable and feels “pushy.” But I also know I have to let that go in order to be successful. If I’m not excited about what I’m working on, how will I get others to be? (See, again: “no one will care about your business as much as you”). One time I was rewarded for stepping out of my comfort zone was at a live taping for the Glossy Podcast. I recognized editor-in-chief Jill Manoff’s voice from being a fan of the podcast, so I walked up and introduced myself to her. She was excited to hear what we were developing with Woodley + Lowe and she covered our launch and has included me in interviews for Gen Z related topics.
Neda:
- You need to have patience! With all the excitement and energy that goes towards building a business and flipping the switch on, there is often an expectation for how things will play out post launch. With so many success stories of start-ups discussed regularly in the media, many entrepreneurs envision a similar path for themselves. After all, if the concept is a good one and a lot of sweat and tears are put into it, isn’t it supposed to be a success!? Well, not always, and certainly not overnight. Having patience and a long-term view is critical. I have to continually remind myself of this, particularly in the early days of getting a business off the ground.
- Being nimble and pivoting when needed. There are so many factors that go into play when you launch a business that are unpredictable. So, no matter how great your idea and execution are or how well you know your audience, a founder has to be able to pivot when needed. It is very important to look at the data and take every piece of feedback you can get, while also following your gut. If something is not working, then figure out an alternative plan or a pivot. When we built Woodley + Lowe, we wanted to fill a void in the apparel space initially, but as we started evolving our concept and introducing it to the world, we realized there was more to do than just sell apparel, that we had to think bigger, and that we needed to create a brand and experience that was sticky and long lasting.
- It’s hard. There is a certain glamourization of start-ups, especially with such much buzz of these billion dollar+ unicorns in our world today, but what people don’t talk about as much is all the sweat, money and stress that go into a start-up. There are so many aspects of building a business that I find rewarding, but I it’s important to recognize that it is not easy.
- Know your audience and product inside and out. I think the most successful entrepreneurs are those that truly understand their audience and the product or service they have created. If you are not in touch with your audience, then you will constantly be chasing ideas and searching for answers. This understanding and connection with your audience and product/service is key to creating an authentic brand. For example, I could never launch something in the pet space, b/c I have never had pets in my life and do not understand the psychology behind being a pet owner and consumer of anything related to pets. No matter how many experts you bring to the team, the founder(s) need to be intimately in touch with their customer base and product.
- Stay in your lane. I find it so hard not to look at other start-ups and compare our trajectory, audience, funding, etc. However, I know that the key to moving forward is staying in your own lane. It’s important to be hyper aware of others in your space, but you can’t let it distract you or doubt your decisions. Stay in your lane!
How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
Rachel: We founded Woodley + Lowe with intention — we didn’t want to just create more junk — we wanted our business to have a purpose beyond just making money. Gen Z is passionate about climate change, but they aren’t always in the position to put their money where their mouth is. We are on a mission to educate them about the power of their consumer choices, and that spending a little more on something that will last you a lot longer is the better environmental decision. Additionally, the community we’re creating around our brand allows them to connect on this, so they are having conversations about this with each other, and it’s not just corporate rhetoric.
Neda: In addition to Rachel’s comments on the purpose behind our business, we also are on a mission to create a brand that makes anyone (not just an influencer or micro influencer) feel included. We have taken a community first approach to building Woodley + Lowe, which we have not seen any other teen brands do thus far in an authentic way. Through this community, we believe there is so much potential beyond just selling clothes.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Rachel: Wow, this is a difficult question — it’s overwhelming how much work needs to be done, even just in the US, let alone worldwide. So I’ll use this opportunity to plug an initiative my sister started called K12 Climate Action. They are reimagining ways the public school system can be a positive force toward climate action, through both curriculum and infrastructure improvements. They can use all the visibility and support they can get!
We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
Rachel: We would be thrilled to have a well-known angel investor back our brand — someone who’s a positive influence for young women and/or has connections or experience in the apparel business. Sarah Blakely, Serena Williams, Katie Couric, Tory Burch all come to mind, but I’m sure there are more!
Neda: There are so many, it’s hard to choose! Sarah Blakely, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marc Lore, Mickey Drexler, Chip Wilson, and Reese Witherspoon to name a few☺
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Female Founders: Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk of Woodley + Lowe On The Five Things You… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.