YouSaid · the spoken record

Lindsey Boyd

lines on the record: 82
first: 2020-07-27
most recent: 2020-07-27
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Really, you need stained solution and bleach alternative No, you don't have to worry about the right of way thing. Oh, okay. You can do it later. A stain will still come out if it's properly treated”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think because it was something, so along the journey we saw a lot of our friends excel and save money and buy homes and all these things. And we weren't able to save. We didn't have any money to save. We were, all our money was going back into the business. So I think ultimately our goal of selling to a strategic was kind of our way of saving, if you will. Like we knew like investing this like, you know, everything into a business would ultimately pay off. And that was what happened.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think I had to do with the success of how hard we worked. The success came from the hard work. Luck, you know, we carved out, we went into an industry, like we disrupted a multi-billion dollar industry. I mean, we We definitely were ahead of our time and pioneering a product that didn't exist. Yeah, I think, I don't know, it depends on your definition of luck. I think you create your own luck.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So it's interesting because that's the potential. But in the beginning, you know, it's really about keeping the brand integrity and the identity and the way that they work is that they really are adamant about keeping the brand separate, but obviously joined, but separate in the sense where we're still have our same office. We still have all the same employees and our DNA looks and feels the same. We have additional resources We do really kind of run on our own still. So while scaling will happen, it's not, oh, you acquire, you get acquired and like, poof, you're an overnight sensation. Like, it doesn't work that quickly. And so navigating that's the challenge now to really take what they have at our disposal and scaling.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That was something that we explored and we had three different companies come to us with interest of buying us and partnering with us. So the timing was just really meant to be. And we were ready.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was more about us, it had to happen, otherwise we weren't going to be able to grow any bigger than we were. And I think We were scared about giving, you know, having an outside investor because we didn't know what that looked like. I mean, we've been doing this for 15 years. It's like, what is that going to look like to us? We heard really scary stories from friends of ours that had businesses for a long time. You know, a lot of our friends that are successful. They're unhappy. They're miserable. And so, you know, I'm talking about not a startup getting money, but like being in this business and living and breathing it every day for 15 years and then having an outside partner come in and tell you to do things differently. It's not. Received well, I don't think. So”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Their tremendous understanding of fashion and their love for clothing, they are fanatics about caring for their wardrobe. So they jumped on board quickly. And so did Europe as well, a lot faster than the US market.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, a tiny little place. It's still there. It's fantastic. So they were the first people on board with having a having a laundress retail store and then New York. And then we have Seoul Korea as well.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, exactly. And that was the initial plan. We wanted the service in the store. We wanted to really show the lifestyle of laundry and have a place where people could go and ask questions and try the products and smell the products. The scent experience is really, really important to our brand. And scent in general for detergents are very important to clients and customers. I mean, they're very nostalgic and it makes them think of their, you know, our baby detergent. People still use even though they don't have babies anymore. It makes them think of that time. And I think coming from brands with stores, it was something we always kind of dreamed of. We didn't know when that was going to happen. And actually our first store wasn't in New York City. It was in Sinjuku Station in.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“I think it was really, really important for brands to think about and having just one way for revenue, it can be really tough. I think about that now too during quarantine and what everyone's going through. It's very important to be creative and think about think of all the angles of what you're doing. Because if we were only sold in the US boutiques, we would not have come out of that the way we did.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so it's a weird time for us because we were growing and it was a horrible time for our US business wasn't really growing at all. So we had to pivot quickly and focus on, we always had a diverse business portfolio from international US retail and then e-com. And so we put a lot of our energy and focus on the markets or the clients that were doing well in the US. We put a lot of energy in them. So like really the bigger stores. And we look to our international partners and spent a lot of time going over there and meeting the customers and putting a lot of energy in those markets that were doing well. And this is something that”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, a few different things. Well, our e commerce business was continuing to grow. And then we were also expanding globally. We signed up in 2006 with our first distributor in Europe. We also were able to get into areas of Asia as well. Some of our first clients were in Hong Kong as well as Tokyo. So we were able to. The profitable tick salary, start hiring employees and running like a real business.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Was making additional units because he had a demand and he wanted to satisfy and he didn't care. He was sacrificing, he was buying it cheaper, poor quality, and selling it. So we had both products in the market. So he was leveraging himself as being a licensed distributor of the laundress because he was and then selling counterfeit product at the same time. Yeah. So that, you know, we early on had all our name trademarked in any country that we were sold to. So we owned the licensing and the trademarks. And when you have a distributor, you allow them to use your name and all those things. But it was really hard for our trademark lawyer to pin that down and ultimately it would have cost way too much money for not a lot of results. So we pulled from them and And luckily, it didn't become a global issue for us.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Suing him would have been a long headache and a lot of money, and we needed to move forward. And ultimately, the distributor that we were working with then come to find out, which was even worse than what he was doing with the manufacturer, was that he was making counterfeit product. And we found out from a client because she had a rash. Those are the moments when we thought, oh my goodness. How are we ever going to recover from this? That was definitely a struggle for us. So, the client we had immediately said to the client, Can I see the bottle? Can you send me the bottle? And so it turns out it was in our formulation. It was our branding, our name. So, you know, looked like it was our product. And the same distributor that was selling our product.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, what do you do when you don't have a lot of money to legally go after somebody? We confronted the manufacturer. We confronted the distributor. And we just stopped working with him. We owned our formulas and we went somewhere else.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Success like very quickly in that market and so much so that we, you know, not having capital, like we really couldn't keep up with the demand. And we also couldn't give anyone special payment terms. We needed the payment terms. You know, we were the ones that were the ones that, you know, were struggling in that regard. And a lot of the distributors want want to give payments over a period of time and we really needed to be paid in advance before we shipped any goods, especially overseas. What if we never saw that money? So this specific distributor went directly to our manufacturer. And he was buying the product from our manufacturer at a lower price. And so it.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“How did that happen? Well, we had our, it was probably around 2006. We started selling to Russia. And it seems random, but it's not really random because Gwen had lived in Russia and we had some contacts there and there were some really beautiful stores there that we knew the laundress would be perfect for. And we found a distributor to sell the product to all of these stores. We did a huge launch and event. It was so”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, all the time. And actually, one of the meetings, the guys fell asleep on us when we were presenting to them. Classy. Yeah, classy. And he was trying to act like he wasn't sleeping, and we noticed right away. And we're like, really? And we spent a lot of time presenting and we're very passionate about our ideas. And then someone's falling asleep. That didn't really bode well with us. We didn't find there wasn't a partner that we met that really understood the business. I think that becomes... That was something that if we found a partner that really got it, I think. That storyline would have been a little different.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So we would lose control, but we weren't going to be, you know, $100 million company overnight or whatever, you know, and just throwing that number out there, but like it wasn't going to be, we weren't going to get there any faster and we were really happy with the direction of the brand.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“They weren't going to give us enough money to high percentage. They wanted a lot of equity for and not giving us that much money. And ultimately what we were going to do with that money wasn't going to get us faster. In sales, so wasn't going to get us to where we needed to be any faster.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No, we were able to, we had money coming in. So it wasn't, we weren't concerned about collapsing. We probably could have done a lot more at a faster pace. Not probably. We definitely could have. But we wouldn't have the same amount of control. Our brand would most likely look very different today.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, we had to pay our rent as a bill. It was like part of our accounts payable. So through our business in that way, because everything was personally guaranteed, our credit cards, we used credit cards. And then we would look at our bills and our finances and say, okay, who needs to get paid first? What's going to be cut off first? But we had orders coming in. So there was always a flow of cash. It's just that we weren't. Anything that we made went back in, you know, back into the business. It wasn't like in our pocket.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Showrooms where they had other brands, so linen, like bedding showrooms that where it would make sense for someone buying linens and bedding that they would buy our product. We were also in fashion showrooms where there was clothing and then they would buy our product. So we positioned ourselves. Places like that, and we did a ton of trade shows.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“That is true. We weren't making any money. We didn't take a salary we had to write down what our bills were and pay our bills and that's it, you know. So we didn't lose our apartments. But we ultimately between 2004 and 2008 we worked with rep groups, so different people that would sell the product for commission. So we positioned our products within showrooms in Dallas, in Atlanta, in LA in New York.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It was really the bulk of how the brand was built. I actually, there's a store in the West Village that I that we really wanted to be in because the positioning was really good for our brand. And he refused to call me back. So I showed up with the products and I spent the whole day there and I said, just let me sell the product for you. And you don't have to take it after. I just want to show you that this is where our product should be. And ultimately, he's one of our best clients in New York.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Definitely not a frenzy. It was really difficult to get people on board. We had to, I mean, there was, there were moments when I made a list of stores to call and I would be calling and calling and calling and people wouldn't call me back. So I would go to the store to meet the buyer. And we're talking about boutiques now, the smaller boutiques, because that is the majority of our business.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“My mom, she said, Are you sure? You know, she liked over and over again. And my family never doubted what I could do or couldn't do, but I think they were worried because then I was going to be their problem. And I think. Family questioned her as well. I mean, this was, we were leaving coveted jobs and places we were very happy at. But we were passionate and then ultimately they supported that”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So I actually at that same time I ran the woman that let me in through the security, I passed by my buyer's office, the meaning, the Chanel buyer that I work with to get to this new buyer that I was meeting for the laundress. She was like, oh, do I have an appointment with you? I was like, no, no, no. I'm meeting with someone else. And I just kind of like. Just hurried by. Like there was no, it was really awkward, really uncomfortable.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“No one I wanted to make sure that my job was secure if I ultimately didn't take the leap. I always had a plan B. I had a plan B for five years into the laundress. I always wanted to make sure that I was going to be. Relevant in my industry and be able to get another job.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Well, first I spoke with the lingerie buyer because we were selling delicate wash. So this is a product that was very commonly found for women for washing lingerie. And then I was able to. Navigate once I had credibility with the lingerie buyer, I was able to look at being with the cashmere buyer and then ultimately with the beauty buyer, which is where everyone would want to be, you know, as far as selling a product like that. And the beauty buyer at the time loved the brand, loved the idea, and they had an exclusive. We gave them an exclusive for six months to be the only people selling the laundress. This worked out really well.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And even then, they didn't know what to do. I mean, I was selling the product at the cash register, you know, at the counter because in order to get them to believe in that the product needed to be there.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, yes, it was definitely what can we tackle first so that list consisted of friends of friends who had a boutique in the Hamptons, for instance, or in our towns that we grew up in or even local stores in New York City. And then Berkdrift Goodman, they were a client of mine at Chanel. And that was a whole nother, I mean, going into department stores with a luxury detergent, if you know what a department store outlined or layout looks like. It doesn't, there's no laundry section. So while I had all of these contacts at department stores, it wasn't that simple. I had to speak to almost five or six different departments before anyone really even knew what to do with me or the product.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We ordered about 250 of each skew, a very small run. We were able to partner with a small manufacturer. That's not typical. Usually, the runs are very high, but like at the time it was like all we could possibly handle. Like there was no way that we were going. I mean, that would last us almost a year, six months to a year.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Exactly. So we had our signature detergent, which is like for every day. And then we then the rest of it was more novelty. So products like delicate wash, woolen cashmere. And we wanted to launch with a start to finish laundering experience all in one cent because there wasn't that experience for people. And so that created obviously more than just a few products to launch with.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“And so that was the initial hustle for us. And then we had the SBA loan, but we ultimately had a ton of credit cards that we were able to use to continue building the business.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Who wants laundry? Who wants that? It's laundry detergent. You know, who needs that? That doesn't make any sense. That'll never do anything. People aren't going to invest in that. And, you know, there was definitely times where we were like, man, we're never going to get any financing or we're never going to get it, you know, how are we going to do this? Because people are just not buying our idea”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, the initial elevator pitch, if you will, was that we were creating products that you could use for your everyday laundry And that was initially the conversation we had. And, you know, everyone wanted to know the price point and the price point was mind-blowing to people. And most people thought we were crazy.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Absolutely. We put everything on the line. You personally guarantee for everything. And that was obviously a risk. But, you know, we weren't scared of that. We were so convinced that our idea was a home run. And I think, but that's because it took two years of research and development before we actually left our jobs, though. So that was like, we wanted some security. Like we were risky, but it was more, it was a calculated risk a little bit.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We were able to do that through, well, we had really good credit and we also had our 401ks from our So we were able to leverage, yes, that which was. Really, a blessing for us.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, initial kind of crowdfunding before that was a thing. through what we called the soap splash and that was something it was a for-profit party where we invited all of our friends and family and past boyfriends and current boyfriends and anyone that would show up we would say we serve them wine and our idea and um We took donations at the door and we made all these really cute little cutouts of laundry hanging from a line and talked about we didn't even have product at the time. We just kind of spoke about it.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We didn't want any additives. We wanted as a plant based, no petroleum. And so we kind of, we identified all of those key things. And then we were able to come up with sort of the real recipe and formula. Make everything not blow up, or you know, we weren't doing science projects in our kitchen.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We went to a manufacturing show where they have contract manufacturers. We wanted a concentrated product, less water, no color.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“It breaks down the stains, yes, exactly. And what we did, or what we do is we have more enzymes and a higher concentration of them.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So, enzymes, enzymes were the real and still are the differentiator for us. The products that work had enzymes and ultimately the ones that had more enzymes worked better because they break down the”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So that's a very old thinking, but it's something that's stuck in the industry and it's still that way today. And so that helped us eliminate a lot of the things that were in the products at the time.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yes, the color of the detergents blue. And we wanted to know why. Turns out there isn't a reason why it goes back to bluing. Well, it goes back to people's perception of bluing agents. And that ultimately is a whitener, yeah.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“We were trying to figure out why the industry looked the way it did and understand why certain chemicals and things were in the product and if we really needed it or not. And at the same time trying to find alternatives that would be safe to wash these things that people always think they have to dry clean. One of the main things for us is that we were questioning everything that the industry was doing. So we were wondering why is everything blue? Is that beneficial to it?”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“Yeah, so ultimately, the chemicals in dry cleaning are not great for you, for the environment, or for the clothing, especially the clothing. It leaves, it's not even really cleaning it. It's a solution that will take care of stains and it cleans it, but it's not really taking out odor. So it's not properly preserving the fiber. So ultimately, for an example is when you're dry cleaning a sweater versus washing it, the dry cleaner will strip all the natural oils of the yarn, whereas washing it will bring out all the natural oils and keep it nice and fluffy and soft. And the reason why we love cashmere. So those were things, and even with a silk fabric, it wasn't really the best way to ultimately preserve and it degrades fabric over time.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“So it's silk, cashmere, woolens, silk blends, things that, I mean, a lot of people obviously dry clean suits and things with heavy construction like evening gowns, things like that.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT
“The chemical society books that come out every year, I mean, those were what we were reading, we were reading them. We loved it though, it was really interesting. We wanted, we didn't want to go to a manufacturer and just say make something for us. We wanted to know what we were making. And I think that's what's woven into the whole business is that we wanted to make sure we were in control of what we were making.”
2020-07-27 · How I Built This with Guy Raz · The Laundress: Lindsey Boyd · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT