Last Thursday, Vox hosted a panel of New York City-based small business owners in an intimate Entrepreneurship, Explained panel discussion presented by Verizon Business. Nisha Chittal, Vox’s VP of development and chief of staff, was joined by luxury jewelry and hair accessory designer Jennifer Behr and fashion brand owners and designers Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell of Tanner Fletcher. The panelists discussed the highs and lows of their entrepreneurial journeys — from how they started their companies to how they juggle wearing multiple hats as a founder and the advice they would give to people starting their own companies today. Here are some highlights from the discussion:
Jennifer Behr on blending creativity and business:
I do feel lucky that I am a creative person that’s analytical as well because a lot of creative people aren’t. The thing of starting a business with no money is that you have to be very practical from the beginning. You can waste money and you can’t, you know. We always make some beautiful products that I know aren’t good to sell because that’s what actually brings me joy in it. But I also know that I have to make the things that are going to pay the bills.
Fletcher Kasell on building an inclusive brand
A lot of people give you advice when you start a business, “You have to have a defined customer, and your model should look this way…” We were like, “Okay, we don’t want our customer to think that we’re catering to one customer because it might close off all these other people who would wear our clothes.” We really wanted to be broad in that way.
Tanner Richie also added:
We always say that our customer is “Bushwick meets the Upper East Side.” There’s such a wide mix — our customer is the ladies who lunch all the way down to the East Village boys. It’s just the most random mix of people but it might be the same product, right, it could literally be the same sweater but it’s just all how people style it and I think it’s just keeping the storytelling open.
Tanner Richie on what works well on social media:
Being ourselves on social media sells the products without having to mention it very much. I think they (our audience) want to see that we’re real people and they want to support. I think people are having a harder time with big corporations right now, so I think seeing that your support to our business is just going to a small operation and real people who are doing everything. … They really appreciate seeing that. And it’s fun too — because I can’t think of too many brands that actually like to show they’re kind of messy behind the scenes and I think we all have it, so let’s expose it a little bit.
Jennifer Behr on her proudest moments as a designer:
There’s obviously the press that everybody sees which people are like — oh this celebrity wore this or that which is great…but it’s actually [when] somebody has chosen to wear you is kind of amazing, like just them making that choice, or people who get excited about [your brand] or care about it is ultimately the thing that kind of means the most.
Fletcher Kasell’s advice to entrepreneurs starting out:
(when starting a brand) Find your vision and stay true to it. … It’s really easy to second guess yourself. It’s really easy to…ask for tons of opinions and change your mind; like, for example, at first we took way too much advice. … At the end of the day they’ll (our customers) buy what you are most proud of. … I think that really taught me that I need to be confident in what I see from my brand.
