Success Is a Balancing Act Between Opportunities and Risks

What’s your advice for a new entrepreneur?

Once you have your great idea, explore these four questions:  

1. Do you have the right experience to make this idea successful?
2. Do you have the right team in place to successfully fund this business?
3. Is this the right time for you to pursue this idea? 
4. Does this idea have enough momentum in the market for you to feel confident in its potential? 

Why are these questions important?

It's very hard for businesses to cross the initial $5 million in annual revenue — you need the right foundation to do so. The desire to become an entrepreneur or an idea’s strength only plays a small role in predicting success. Successful entrepreneurship is a balancing act between being opportunistic and taking calculated risks. It's important to constantly evaluate your actions to meaningfully grow your business, while also minimizing downside risk from the uncertain nature of trying new things.

If you could change one thing for future women entrepreneurs, what would it be?

The funding gap is one of the biggest issues women entrepreneurs face. It is multi-faceted, complex, and involves many societal issues, stakeholders, and institutions outside of our individual controls. But if I could change one thing for women entrepreneurs, it would be for men to do the work; to get more exposure to women and to women's issues by hiring women, learning their values, and understanding the products and services they use.

When we were building Dagne Dover, we participated in a Shark Tank-style pitch session. One of the three male judges asked us, “do fashionable women really care about being organized?” His assumption was that women who care about fashion must be frivolous. If men investors don't see the value in the business opportunities women entrepreneurs are presenting, maybe it's an audience issue.

What’s a pivotal moment that shaped the trajectory of your company?

In 2016, Jessy Dover, our co-founder and chief creative officer, finished a swim and was appreciating the performance aspects of her neoprene bathing suit. That moment inspired her to create a versatile neoprene collection that paired well with the burgeoning apparel shift to athleisure. This staple collection opened many doors, garnered interest from hundreds of retailers, and won numerous awards. 

What leadership quality do you think is essential for success in the business world?

Thoughtfulness is at the center of productive and happy teams. It’s fostered through proactive communication, workplace policies that consider every person’s situation, not just the majority, and through environments that promote emotional stability. No one wants to work with someone whose emotions drive business decisions or change the entire mood of a room. Employees and business partners need to feel secure and taken care of to do great work and row toward the same goal.