Latest news with #Minkoff
Forbes
07-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Seven Years In, The Female Founder Collective Remains A Cornerstone For Women Business Owners In A Rapidly Shifting Market
The Female Founder Collective's Rebecca Minkoff and Alison Wyatt at Female Founders Day, March 2025 In 2018, Alison Wyatt reached a turning point in her career. Working at a Girlboss, she was helping create programming and educational content for ambitious women trying to succeed within the corporate world, but Wyatt noticed a trend at their events. "At each Girlboss Rally, we held an event for founders called the Startup Studio, and every year, it would sell out within 30 seconds," Wyatt says. "This was at a time when the number of female founders starting their own businesses was rising every single year to the point where almost 2,000 women started a business per day in the United States." At the same time, Wyatt was considering having another child but was concerned about how to fit a newborn in with her demanding career. "I didn't want to be at my desk from 8-5 without feeding them or going to their sports games," she says. "Like a lot of these women, the whole notion of the corporate world no longer seemed to fit for me." Countless women at these events shared Wyatt's concerns. They were creating their own businesses after corporate glass ceilings pushed them to do so. But through the process, they found ways to build wealth while prioritizing work-life balance and redefining success on their own terms. 'They all had the ability to create the future we all wanted to see,' Wyatt says. 'This was the way women were going to get richer faster - not by waiting for that predicted 100 year time horizon to reach gender parity in the workplace.' Around the same time, Wyatt vividly remembers watching fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff walk off the stage at Cannes Lions, directly into the bathroom of the Female Quotient Lounge. Minkoff sat down on the floor and began unapologetically pumping milk for her newborn. 'I remember thinking it was such a power move,' Wyatt says. 'It made me realize we can design the life we want to have.' It was that moment of inspiration that led Wyatt to reach out to Minkoff. In September 2018, they created The Female Founder Collective, a powerful, high-impact network and education platform designed to help women build wealth, scale their businesses, and offer access to content, learning and capital. Renowned for her eponymous fashion brand, Minkoff recognized the challenges of navigating the fashion industry as a woman founder herself. But her drive to create the Female Founder Collective was born from another motivation. "The fashion industry is lonely as a founder. It's not known for people wanting to support each other,' she says. 'Plus, I wanted to expand beyond fashion. Getting to know other founders and bonding over the nuanced nature of being a woman in business selling something, there needed to be a community for these people.' The Female Founders Collective launched during Fashion Week in September 2018. The next day, Minkoff was shocked to find more than 3,000 membership applications on the website. The overwhelming response confirmed what she had sensed all along: an incredibly strong demand for a community to support women entrepreneurs across a wide range of industries. Teaming up with Wyatt, the duo was able to create the community Minkoff wished she'd had when initially starting her own business, with the goal of giving new founders access to the resources she lacked in the early days of her career. Today, the FFC has grown into a thriving community of 25,000 founders, spanning industries from beauty to healthcare to tech. Most of their early supporters, including prominent founders Aurora James, Zanna Roberts Rassi, Michelle Cordeiro Grant and others, are still part of the network today. 'I remember that first year, seeing (the FFC) logo stuck to every window and on every website of a female led business,' says Cordeiro Grant. 'It was just so beautiful and we were so hopeful about where the world was heading.' 'Fast forward to today, and women like myself now on our second startup up,' she continues, 'Now we're able to share the hardest and most fulfilling elements of what we do, from building businesses from concepts to ones that are now having a true impact on the world. It signals how much more change is yet to come.' Despite their many successes, the recognition, and the thousands of satisfied members, the journey hasn't always been easy. Originally, the organization was able to offer a free membership model sustained by brand partnerships with companies like Visa, SAP, UBS, Capital One and others. 'We tried to live on brand partnerships,' says Minkoff. 'And then Covid hit.' The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a steep decline in partnership and brand dollars. To keep the company afloat, Wyatt and Minkoff were forced to shift to a paid membership structure. 'Transitioning the message from 'this is free' to 'you need to pay for this' was scary,' says Wyatt. 'It went smoothly but didn't scale fast.' At the time, they charged members $500 a year to join their paid networking community: The 10th House. Since then, membership costs haven't increased much, now at $695 per year. Now, the 10th House has 2,000 paid members with the broader Female Founders Collective community at around 25,000. The duo has also been forced to navigate shifting cultural sentiment like the rise and fall of the 'Girl Boss,' the backlash to calling women business owners 'female founders' and more. Throughout it all, Wyatt and Minkoff have remained committed to their original mission: helping women grow their businesses, keeping members engaged and delivering impactful programming. In 2024, Allison Pellerano-Rendon made the decision to leave her corporate role and launch design & creative agency The Collection Atelier. She says joining The 10th House helped her connect with women who were, 'navigating similar entrepreneurial challenges with unwavering support and genuine camaraderie.' Pellaro-Rendon cites the weekly opportunities for connection through small group events, interactive webinar-style chats with executives and more established founders as the specific resources that have been invaluable to her agency's growth. Legacy planner Noelle McEntree explains that joining the group finally gave her the confidence to finally put the word 'founder' in her LinkedIn profile after creating her company, Legado. 'It was nice to have a community where we could commiserate about the over-glamorization of VC capital and women's infuriating lack of access to it,' McEntree says. Her frustrations are warranted. Women-owned businesses in the U.S. still receive less than 2% of venture capital funding, a number that has remained stagnant over the past decade. That's one of the reasons why, in November 2023, the FFC introduced an annual retreat, The NETTE, tailored for founders focused on venture capital. The event focuses on education around securing growth-stage capital, navigating business exits, board management, organizational development and more. The Nette Retreat 2024 Next month, they plan to expand this group by introducing The CabiNETTE for mature founders that are further along in their journeys. The group is designed to support those who generate $5 million or more in revenue or have raised the equivalent in venture capital. 'The NETTE is like your cabinet of advisors,' Minkoff explains. 'It also means your safety net. So you don't have to be nervous about failing because there will be people here to catch you.' Minkoff and Wyatt still host their marquee event, Female Founders Day, every year, which is open to members and non-members alike. This year's event, held on March 13, had over 500 attendees. While big-name speakers like keynote Sarah Blakely (of Spanx and Sneex fame) delivered inspiration on the mainstage, the core programming focused on practical workshops, covering everything from mastering PR and media outreach to optimizing CRM platforms. 'We want to make sure attendees walk away with the skills and tools they need,' says Minkoff. 'They get to choose their own path and programming throughout the entire day. It's also a great reminder of what we offer our members, whether they're part of the free community, a paying member or part of this new group of founders farther along in their journey.' Cynthia Kalfa attended her first Female Founders Day this year. As she prepares to launch Ondine, a new line of stylish sun protective apparel, she says the summit made her feel more connected to other women founders who, like her, are just getting started. "Entrepreneurship can feel isolating especially when you are a solo founder, but events like this remind me that there's an incredible network of women who truly want to support each other,' she says. 'The connections I've made here go beyond business. I love hearing not only about people's wins, but their struggles and strategies. It's refreshing.' Through their unwavering commitment, relentless drive, ability to pivot and a deep belief in the power of community, Minkoff and Wyatt have not only stayed true to their original mission, they've sparked a movement. Wyatt still remembers those early conversations from her former corporate life, the ones she had with women leaving the stability of the corporate world to find new ways to build wealth and create their own success. That's why, seven years later, she and Minkoff remain committed to continuously redefining what's possible for women business owners, creating a future where inclusion, equity, and opportunity aren't the exception, but the rule.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rebecca Minkoff on Trump tariffs: Made in the USA will come with a heftier price tag
Listen and subscribe to Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The fashion industry is gearing back up to navigate Trump tariffs that could hit profits for the crucial spring and holiday shopping seasons. 'It's impossible [to deal with], so we're not dealing with it this time around,' said noted handbag and accessories designer Rebecca Minkoff to Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi during an episode of the Opening Bid podcast (see the video above; listen below). 'We dealt with it the last time tariffs were instituted. I think that year we thought we were going to make $3 million. We lost $3 million.' This embedded content is not available in your region. Minkoff has had a robust career designing everything from handbag color pallets to supply chains. She is founder of the Female Founder Collective, as well as her namesake fashion company, and recently published a book called "Fearless: The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success." Her fashion business is still rebounding from losses suffered during COVID-19, a time she estimates hampered the company's sales by 70%. Although she sold the company three years ago, she remains a 'very happily paid employee.' Watch: How Build-a-Bear's CEO is navigating Trump tariffs Minkoff said she went to testify on behalf of the fashion industry during the first Trump administration. Those efforts didn't help sway policymakers on tariffs, which can leave companies with a slew of matters to solve. 'It was impossible with the timeline set forth to change [the] supply chain,' said Minkoff, who noted that fashion runs on a nine-month life cycle from concept to hitting the floor. To stay in business back then, Minkoff relocated operations out of China, a move that 'saved us a lot of money in the long run, but it's pain we didn't need." The company has been manufacturing out of Vietnam and Indonesia for the past three years, which has helped keep costs under control. Tariffs have proven to be more than a buzzword for the consumer lately. Since Trump took office, he has announced a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada, though goods under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) were exempt until April 2. In March, another 10% duty on Chinese goods was levied on top of the previous 10%. To put it into context, China's 2024 foreign textiles and apparel trade reached $322.4 billion, with $301.1 billion in exports and $21.27 billion in imports. This is before Trump's so-called "Liberation Day" today, when he is expected to unwrap fresh tariffs on individual countries. 'We're going to have to spend more on everything,' said Minkoff of the new tariffs. 'Everything is going to be more expensive.' In fashion, one move to offset costs can be to adjust the quality of materials, such as zippers or buttons. 'I think a lot of brands are going to do that, and it's going to hurt them in the end,' said Minkoff. 'It might be a quick fix for now, but the customer sees it.' An outsider might think the easiest way to avoid tariff-based fees is to move operations back to the US full-time. But US-made goods will sport heftier price tags, Minkoff warns. Just the cost to make one T-shirt varies greatly by region based on rules and regulations. According to the website one shirt made in New Jersey costs an average sample fee of $250 plus $7 for shipping, while the same shirt made in China costs $50 to make and $30 to ship. Minkoff, who started designing out of a shop on 38th Street in New York City, has fielded this advice before. 'I would love manufacturing to come back, but it has to come back on a scale that is not just the make,' she said. Three times each week, Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi fields insight-filled conversations and chats with the biggest names in business and markets on Opening Bid. You can find more episodes on our video hub or watch on your preferred streaming service. Grace Williams is a writer for Yahoo Finance.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tariffs are the last thing apparel industry needs: Rebecca Minkoff
Retailers are getting swept into the black vortex that are tariff headlines from the Trump administration. Big names such as Walmart (WMT), Target (TGT), Gap (GAP), and Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) have warned about the impact of tariffs this year on profits. In the meantime, shoppers are growing concerned about what they will be paying for spring and summer apparel once tariffs kick in. The reality is that consumers may resist the higher prices, sending retailers off to offer profit-busting discounts and earnings warnings. Luxury goods companies are by no means immune to the challenges as their results have been powered by international shoppers and a wealthy class feasting on strong stock market gains (until now). Is there any reason to be optimistic about the sector? Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi sits down on the Opening Bid podcast with noted fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff for her perspective on the state of retail. Minkoff created her company from the ground floor in the mid-2000s and has seen some of the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows in retail. Minkoff is also the author of the new book Fearless: The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, Courage, and Success, where she aims to impart leadership wisdom to the next generation of female entrepreneurs. Welcome to a new episode of Opening Bid. I'm Yahooy's executive editor Brian Sazi. Like I would say, this is the podcast that will make you a better investor and a better leader. I really want to lean into being a better leader here today with our next guest. It is Rebecca Minkoff, uh, fashion designer, entrepreneur, leader, a little bit ofeverything, a little bit of everything, podcaster. Yeah, I've been following your journey for some time. Congrats on this new book, uh, Fearless, the new rules for unlocking creativity, courage and success. What made you write this now? You know, I wrote the hardcover in 2021 after we testing my rules during COVID, saying if I have to rebuild my business in the pandemic, let me see if this worked a second time after I started my it was time to release it in paperback, make it more accessible, and we're celebrating our 20th anniversary as a brand. It's been 20 years, 20 years, so I figured this was perfect timing. Have you,uh, did yousell the company? We sold the company 3 years ago. Yes, that tough to do? It was tough only because, you know, it's my name. I'm connected to it, but I'm there every day. I'm a very happily paid employee and I, I love, I love the work and I continue to be there no matter what. So take us inside this book. What are some of the lessons that you've building your business, Ithink the idea of risk taking, I think so many people are averse to taking risks and the fear that overcomes them, you know, in their gut stops them. And so the goal of this book is that, you know, pulling your hair over your shoulder and saying I'm fearless. It's really about I'm scared, but here are some things I can hold on to to just take the risk anyways. What did you, uh, you know, as you were or have been building your business, did you make any mistakes along the way? it's been so easy. Um, we'd be here all day. I mean we made risks from early on from not having quality control and having the wrong designers, you know, brand inside my bag so that was, that was a humbling moment we've made risks when it came to early on, you know, having a Twitter, a live Twitter feed during my fashion show, not realizing that when you start trending on Twitter as it was called back in the day, that maybe some inappropriate things are shown to 1300 people. So you name it, we've, we've, we've made mistakes. How did you overcome those?You know, thank goodness for that one. That was my brother's idea, and I looked him in the eyes. I said, I'm so glad this is your idea because if it was mine, I'd, you would never, you know, stop talking about it. That's one thing I I didn't realize your brother. I mean he helped get this business off the ground, right? What is that relationship like? Um, what was it like in theearly days, I guess? I mean, in the early days it was phone a friend, uh, for a lot of help, you know, know, traditionally capital was not what it is today, you know, you didn't just go out and raise money and so we really bootstrapped due to his American Express. He mortgaged his house for the brand. His wife could not buy groceries, but she got some beautiful leather um and then when we were able to secure, you know, uh loans on purchase orders, you know, but he he was the CEO for 17 years, so it was integral to the growth of the brand that he was there before, uh, I, I'm thinking back now to a couple of months ago we talked to the Property Brothers and of course they're brothers, they've launched this amazing brand and it seems to flow with them, you know, each have different strengths. Like how did you manage working with yourbrother? So it was critical that we get good at communication, and I write about it in the book. We didn't always see eye to eye. We didn't always get along, but we would kind of reset more than once a year and say this is what I need and want from you and this is what I need and want from you, and I think anyone who's working with their it's a spouse, a friend, you know, a stranger, you have to do those resets. I advise once a quarter because things change. You might have kids or you want to travel more or you start, you know, wanting to take the business in another direction. If you don't have those touch points, man, it can, it can get wild. Italked to a full disclosure, I talked to a lot of robotic AI CEOs, entrepreneurs that seemingly got born and thinking about developing businesses, but what do you see.I would say the more average entrepreneur in terms of mistakes like what are they making right now in this environment that you know folks that don't have access to billions of dollars in a in a huge rolodex. I think especially for women, most women are starting consumer businesses and they're all going after VC and private equity money and not going after traditional forms of capital, whether it's a small business loan or again purchase order financing, you're gonna grow slower, but it's OK. What is wrong with having a slower growing healthy business that provides for you, your family, and your employees, and it's one thing that my co-founder and I at Female Founder Collective, we talk to women about this. It's OK to grow slow. What happened to Main Street USA where there was just these beautiful businesses that, you know, provided a great lifestyle for the people that worked there? Our female founders, I mean, there's countless stories written about this, and there's nothing new per se, but are they getting the capital they need? No, they're not. The numbers have actually gone down. It's now 1.8% down from 2%. It's awful. It's, it's disgusting actually. um, there need to be in the room, there need to be more women, you know, investing and succeeding and again our mission at Female Founder Collective is to hopefully make the next level of women who are successful that can then invest in more founders. Why is this still even an issue? Why is ita problem? I think it's a problem because again a lot of women have consumer businesses. They should not be getting VC capital for them, so they're barking up the wrong tree sometimes, and the business has been largely built, not in a bad you know male dominated fields and sectors where it's more male heavy, and I think on that level men need to say OK we need to pull more managing directors in as women or we need more investors in as women or more funds need to come in as women and then really taking a look at the strength of these businesses because you'll find that the exits these women have are usually a lot bigger because we're so worried about failing and messing it up for everyone else that we're sort of like, OK, this has to. Are you a bigwork life balance person or or are you maybe I look at myself, it's just all become one big blob like there is no separation at allof any of this. There is no such thing as balance. Thank you. It's never existed for men or women. It just doesn't exist. It does not exist. I try and call it work life integration or we can call it the blob, as you say, um, you know, for me it's sort of like taking a look at my week, you know, where can I, where do I know I'm gonna be gone for my kids for a couple of days, where can I then over index when I'm to me, you know, the village has been stripped of us. We used to have a village and I'm sort of into rebuilding my village who, who are those people? My husband, you know, my nanny, my mom, my dad, like who's this thing where it's not always falling on me and what can I shed? Do I do the dishes now? No, I don't. You know, someone does them and that's real nice. It's kind of hard. It's nice. It's hard to do. I mean, how do you, I mean, how do you manage your, your time, especially as you were growing a business and you're still growing a business? You know, I'm, I'm very type A. Everything is scheduled within an inch of my life and I'm a big list analog list maker, you know, and so I sort of have this is the fires, this is the must do, this is the nice to do, this is when I'm bored and like I sort of just manage my life of what's most important and what can I focus on today that that moves me along to the next cycle. You know, to that end, uh, I think we're, we're a lot alike. Uh, I'm kind of getting that vibe. I just got the new Amazon Echo show because Alexa Plus is coming out and it's like Amazon's AI thing. It just manages your whole life. It does. I need this in my life. I'm when they come, it should be coming out in a couple weeks like this thing is, is pretty, pretty dope, but like let's let's go inside your I remember when your bags came out. I remember when you made that famous t-shirt. I was a stock analyst covering ironically accessible luxury handbag makers at the time, so it was coach before tapestry. Like what's hot right now? What's hot right now in my space.I mean right now these micro trends that you see happening on TikTok, you know, everyone has to have, you know, the small bag that fits nothing. Cool, that lasts for a week and then it's and then it's something else and so I think you know what's hot right now is everything because trends are happening quicker and quicker and but for us we're really about building a stable base and foundation of bags that are your everyday woman's bags and then from there we layer on these blips as fast as we can get them out, but we're not, we're not pinning our business on that. Is TikTok a big driver of your business? and I ask that because I, I talked to the Abercrombie and Fitch folks and what they have seen in terms they've marketed on TikTok and the sales are able to drive with the conversion off of that has been mind blowing. Well, we've just taken it seriously in the last 6 months, so it's something that I don't have numbers on yet, but we will be launching it soon in a very heavy way for TikTok shops. How do youknow, how do you know when something's going to be a hit? Oh man, sometimes you have that feeling and sometimes you don't, you know, we had a bag become a hit recently. Uh, it's the Megan hobo and when I saw the bag I was like that's a beautiful the timing of, you know, Bohemian kind of coming back along with a similar brand which I won't name doing a very big expensive campaign with a bag that looked very similar at the same time it's always like kismet, and you can't plan that. I didn't know they were gonna have a bag that looked the same, uh, and so sometimes that happens and then other times, you know, it's price value ratio that the customers like, wow, she sees me and she made a gorgeous looking bag for me at an accessible price point. Why do decades ago come back and I, I was thinking I see everybody wearing like flared jeans again. I remember these when I was in high school in the late 90s. Uh and I'm having flashbacks as I walked down thestreet. Yeah, uh, uh, some of these trends, you know, make me cringe, you know, love Kendrick Lamar, but when I saw the bootleg with the, with the cuff shoe that gave me like odd. I was like this cannot come back um everyone's nostalgic, you know, in our day, you know, we wanted things from the 70s, you know, corduroy and flared pants that are now back and so I think this next generation is embracing things we did in the 90s and sadly that, that old jeans, of course I remember Jingo jeans was. Now I want a pair, but there's just in this environment of cost, I don't think you can make those profitably. I mean, I don't know. That's just my take, but the weird thing was they always drag on the grounds. You always went home dirty. You always went home dirty. If you live in the city, you are burning those things when you get home. It was awful. Hang with us, Rebecca. We're gonna go off for a quick break. I want to get more into your book and also the state of retail. We'll be right back on opening right, welcome back on Opening bid here at the NASDAQ in the, uh, big beautiful Times Square talking with Rebecca Minkoff, new book Fearless The New Rules for Unlocking Creativity, courage, and Success. I want to talk a little bit about the state of retail because there's a lot of focus on, of course, as you can imagine, tariffs. Now I've never designed a product. I've never worked in a supply hard is it to adapt to a tariff when you are in the apparel industry? It's impossible. So we're not dealing with it this time around. We dealt with it the last time tariffs were instituted.I think that year we thought we were going to make $3 million and we lost $3 million. You know, it was impossible with the timeline set forth to change your supply chain. I went to testify, you know, and rally for it, didn't help, and so it's really hurting a lot of businesses. The silver lining is we got out of China at that time. We're still out of so that saved us a lot of money in the long run, but it's pain we didn't need, you know, I wish there was a little bit more time to adjust to these tariffs because our life cycle is 9 months from concept to hitting the floor. So if you don't have you know then you then you're out of luck. I, the, the retail executives I talked to, they continue to tell me, well, we're moving out of China, we're going to Vietnam and we're going to Indonesia and on paper, great, but is it the same quality or does China have some kind of secret sauce they're still able to better and you know we've been making in Vietnam and Indonesia for the last 3 years, and I don't see a difference in our quality at all and I think that the smart factories were already establishing strongholds in those places, so some of the factories that made our goods in China are the same factories that just happened to be in Indonesia and in Vietnam. Can you make an amazing handbag profitably in the US? You can if you charge a lot more money. So I did this exercise a couple of years ago when I had a lot of my, you know, 20 year old fans demanding Made in New York City, Made in the USA, and I said, Cool, this is the price. I'm happy to do it. I can go back to my factory on 38th Street. Let me know if you want to pay, and guess what? Crickets, you know, I am excited by the prospect. I know in Texas and I would love manufacturing to come back but it has to come back on a scale that it's not just the make, you know, it's the hardware it's all the filler that's inside of a bag everything needs to be made here because if you're buying it all from overseas anyways and assembling it here, you're still not saving very much money. Is ita is it a skill thing? We just don't have the trades people to make this. I think it is a skill thing, but you them. I mean, what's incredible is the factory here that I started with that's still around still has some of the people that have worked here, you know, for the last 20 years so I think it can be taught it's just do people wanna do that anymore like engage in hand craft making it seems like it seems like fun, right? I love visiting the factory here. Is there, um, is the reality though that we're just gonna have to spend apparel this spring and summer. I mean this is what's coming at us, right? Well, we're gonna have to spend more on everything. I think eggs here are $14. Eggs everything is more expensive. Can we just have some eggs for under 14 dollars. I'm going to get a chicken. It's happening. Well, you know, and it's, and it's interesting because, you know, I walk into, I guess some of your competitors. I'm not gonna name any names, and I see the quality out of these products.I see they change zippers. I see they're using different fabric. Are we're just gonna get just less made good stuff as a result of this? I think a lot of brands are going to do that, and it's gonna hurt them in the end. It might be the quick fix for now, but the customer sees it like you said, you noticed it, and you are not, you know, an everyday handbag consumer. I'm going to assume, but I still study this. I still, so I used to be. I covered all the the accessible luxury makers, handbag makers, was always I remember the time where they reinvested in quality like, OK, we're gonna double down an amazing button or an amazing zipper, and I don't know it seems to be going the other way now again. It is going the other way for a lot of brands. I know for us it's key that we remain a quality that you know I still meet women who have had the bag for 1516, 20 years, and I still want her to have that experience 20 years later when I'm walking around with a cane. What's next for Rebecca Minkoff, the the brand, um, wherever that might be. I know you have the podcast, but even so with the company. So with the company, as as we are celebrating 20 years, I have a couple more collaborations up my sleeve that'll come out in Q4 of this year, and we're just gonna continue to, you know, message our expansion, our regrowth. We're still coming back from COVID, where 70% of our business so what does business look like in in this new world and you know getting really good at TikTok? What is, what did you learn during the pandemic? I mean 70% of your business gone. I mean you must have been like tall shit like what, what, what, wheredid it go? Yeah, well.I knew exactly where it went unfortunately but we couldn't do anything about that, you know, with every department store closing their doors and they had to cancel their purchase orders so I think the one thing it taught us is we need to mind and grow our own garden and if we are not doing that top of mind every we will be left in the dust and so it taught us to care about our relationship with our consumer in a new way, how we talk to her, when we talk to her, the look and feel of the website, what we stand for as a brand, and from there then you go out and sell to everybody else. But I think before that every conversation every morning was what was the sell through at Nordstrom, Sachs, instead of saying what what did we do yesterday in sales and so that flip I think was a game changer for us. Has it surprised you by how many I guess um department stores have closed? It's surprising, it's scary you know I, I get nostalgic and that's where I loved to shop, but I think everyone has to innovate, you know, and I think everyone's trying to figure it and what's going to draw the customer back into their store? It has to be about experience, creativity. You gotta romance the customer and really edit, you know, everything today is available anywhere you look. I'm seeking a good edit. I don't want to have to sort through 20 pages of a website. So if I walk into a store, what is your point of view and what story are you tellingme? You think we're at the coming to the day where there's just not going to be department stores. I certainly hope that's not the case. It's still fun. It's still fun to walk in a department store. I mean they, they're trying. They're really trying. They're putting restaurants in there like coffee shops like I mean, I appreciate the efforts, but to your point, it does need to be edited. It still feels too expansive. It's over 2 or 3 floors, just like, I don't know, boil it down somehow. Yeah, our, our actually our most successful footprint when we had stores was we did a pop up at the Grove. It was 1000 square boy did we have to edit. I think we had 5 SKUs, and it was our best performing store by far. Who do yougo to, you know, the last few minutes of, uh, of the podcast, we always love to get hot takes from our guests. So who do you go to for advice? Like who's your business outreach line? Oh my gosh. Well, thank God for Female Founder Collective. So my co-founder Alison then I have a great group of founders, Michelle Cordero Grant, who's, you know, Gorgi or Alison Ellsworth from Poppy, you know, I'm always also seeking women outside of my industry to get a different perspective and lens. I could talk to designers still I'm blue in the face, and we're all saying the same thing. And so for me it's critical that I have different people in way different industries that I'm talkingto. What has made those founders click? like why have they found success? I think that they're brilliant marketers, they're creative, they're scrappy, and I think that they're continuing to surprise and delight their consumer and in this day and age you have to do that. Where, um, you know, in terms of like finding success, you know, because it's around the cover of your book, you know how have you gone upon doing that how do you. I think success changes every couple of years. What you define it as when I started out, it was, can I afford to eat out? That's always a good, yeah, can I, can I pay mybills or can I afford to share the bill when someone says, let's just split the check and you're cringing inside because you had a success to me these days is more time with my children. It's being unbothered by email on nights and weekends. Is that you can't do that. You have to check. I do it. No, you don't check email. No. I, you know what I do as I go and I delete the junk so that on Monday it's just a clean slate of everything I have to answer. That is all I do now and to me that's success. And then, you know, meeting my customer this last year has been about storytelling and about reminding her about the journey of the brand and so when I get to meet someone like last night who said my first this purchase I made as a celebration of my raise. Like those are the things that make me go, yes, this is success. Where do you, where do you shop and what are your statement items? I mean, I'm not gonna lie, but lately I've been only shopping at Rebecca Minkoff. Well,that's good. Like you have to go to other competitors stuff, right? I mean, come on. So I actually haven't bought another competitor's stuff in a long time, but I do love Isabel Marant and I think she makes a beautiful product. Um, it is but when I'm splurging, that's who I go to. Alright, totally last one, I promise. Like what are the style mistakes you still see menmaking? Men making. Oh gosh, so men talking about doing these things, uh, I, you know, I know that skinny jeans are back for women, but they're not certainly not back for men. Embrace the loose pants. I can't, I can't do the loose pants. Get a nicely tailored suit or do the Harry Styles thing and just really go the opposite direction, do the boxy suit, but it has to be the right boxy, you know, you know I've is baggy. You think we're just not going back to like tighter fits? No, Ithink it's happening. I, I saw many men last night dressed up in tight suits, and I was like, Too soon, too soon, not yet. OK. Well, congrats on this book, Rebecca McGough, Fearless, the new rules for unlocking creativity, courage and success. Really good to see you and, and congrats on all your success. Thank you for having me. All right, and that's it for the latest episode of Opening bid. Continue this with all those likes on the podcast platforms. Thumbs up on YouTube. Appreciate all your feedback. I try to answer all of your questions. We'll talk to you soon. For full episodes of Opening Bid, listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is produced by Langston Sessoms Sign in to access your portfolio
The Independent
05-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Real Housewives of New York star explains why she's leaving after just one season
The Real Housewives of New York has been hit with a shock departure as one headline-making star has revealed she won't be returning for a second season. Handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff, 42, faced backlash last year when she pulled a pregnancy prank on her castmates. She then pretended that she wasn't sure if her husband, Gavin Bellour, was the father. The Real Housewives franchise follows a group of affluent and glamorous women as they experience the dramas and power plays of everyday life. Minkoff joined the show in 2024 for its 15th season, but has said she is now wanting to 'reprioritise' her life and won't be continuing with it anymore. '2025 is a new beginning for me and with current events in the world, I am reminded the importance of family, friends and community now more than ever,' the businesswoman wrote in a post on Instagram. 'The last month has given me new perspective on wanting to focus on my wildly amazing four kids, my supportive husband, my business of 20 years, the Female Founder Collective, my podcast and MY BOOK.' She continued: 'As much as I have learned along the way with this franchise and fans, I want to reprioritise the things that mean the most to me: designing, giving back, supporting women and raising my family. 'I am truly grateful for the experience, the friendships and the fans that have been part of this RHONY chapter. Time to turn the page.' Speaking to Elle last year, Minkoff explained that she joined the show because she was thrilled by the uncertainty it promised. 'I said to my husband the day I signed on, 'I can predict our life if we don't do this, but I can't predict our life if we do, and that's exciting,'' she said. 'When thinking about it, I was like, 'The only way I can do this is by being me.' And if no one likes that, then I get voted off the island. I have to go in there holding true to everything I've built, otherwise I look like a fraud on both sides, and you don't know who I am and you lose trust. 'It is not lost on me that there's a huge irony in that, but I think there's a way to play in that, too. You've met my friends [on the show] who have things to fight about. Do you need another person doing that? Or would it be nice to have someone being like, 'Can't we all just get along?''
