Kate Boyer – Co-Founder & CEO Anatomie

Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be I want to be, you just want to make sure you will get knocked down but just make sure you don’t get knocked down knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control control control. Hi, everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi, everyone. It’s Kara Goldin from the Kara Goldin show. And I am thrilled to have my next guest here we have Kate Boyer, who is the co founder and CEO of an incredible brand called Anatomie, you may know it we joked about right before we got on the show as anatomy, but it’s Anna Tomi, and I am so thrilled her clothing is so amazing. Definitely. Travel ready. I told her this morning, I was wearing a pair of pants and spilled some coffee on them actually probably in the wrong spot. So I definitely had to change right away. But then it was, it was easy. They’re perfect for traveling because they could definitely dry out really, really fast. But you’ve seen her product in private clubs, resorts, golf shops across, in many stores across the world. And it’s it’s definitely a brand that you should check out. They also sell on direct to consumer on their own site, which Kate will talk about. But I love, love, love Kate’s story of sort of how she decided to start this travel, luxury travel, leisure wear brand, combining both high functionality with just the finest materials. And plus the fact that she’s a female badass CEO. I mean, what more could you ask for too, so I absolutely love that. So welcome, Kate,

Kate Boyer 2:07
thank you so much for having me, Kara. It’s a pleasure.

Kara Goldin 2:10
Thank you. Well, we’re really excited to hear more about you and your story and and so many of the lessons along the way. But let’s start a little further back. So I always like to give people sort of a background to try and figure out who Kate was like now you’re very successful CEO who has started an amazing brand and company that has, you know, wonderful luxury quality items. But I heard that you had grown up and Budapest, Hungary I’d love to hear you know a little bit more about who you were as a kid.

Kate Boyer 2:48
Oh, my goodness, according to my dad, I was a helicopter because I was always on the go. And they couldn’t never catch me. I love it. I love it. I know he always said that. So I was a dynamic, you know, a smart kid. Um, we were speaking several languages from the age of about six or seven from school, you know, from our background in the 70s 80s. That goes back to Russian German invasions, right. So I lived through all that. And we are the generation who took down the Berlin Wall. So we are fighters in our hearts. I know it’s a whole other, there’s so much to be said about it. I was a competitive gymnasts. That was also part of our upbringing back in the days, right? They kind of put us into dance or gymnastics. So I was raised in a very disciplined, structured environment. And we studied hard and I don’t remember a little potting or anything like that, as a kid. I just remember studying and competing, you know, going on all kinds of bus trips with the girls team with the sandwich in my backpack and not a lot of money, but happiest heck, you know, I would go camping with my parents. We lived in a little house where my grandparents were around very close to us as well, because they always built together. I was just home a few weeks ago, I wanted to check on my parents with everything that’s going on in Ukraine, which is 70 miles from our house, the border where refugees came through. So I went home and Hungary has been gone through a lot. You know, we were one of the first countries to join the European Economic Community. So we were always at the forefront of being very, I would say more westernized than the other parts of Eastern Europe. So very quickly, I was I was going up we were going to Austria and Switzerland and Italy in France. So that’s where I kind of saw a taste of the good life and it was very different and very contrasting from how we were living right. So I left young and finished my MBA in France and started selling clothes to pay for school. And like every other gymnasts you end up coaching kids so I did that as well. And You know, self funded, I guess an entire carrier even up to today. So some things never change. You know, some things in your heart and soul are part of your DNA. So that’s who I am. I hope that answers your question.

Kara Goldin 5:14
Well, no, it definitely does. So when you move to France, and you were finishing your education, and it was just natural for you, I was a competitive gymnast as well. So I love that part of your story. And I don’t think my kids actually believe I was a competitive gymnast, because I didn’t actually ever coach. So because I had had a neck injury. And so for me to actually do something lifting and all of the things that you needed to do in order to coach the wrong gets hurt. Yeah. And it’s, anyway, but, but more than anything, I loved your story of how you naturally started looking at the girls gymnastics outfits. And that was kind of your first foray into clothing. Is this correct?

Kate Boyer 6:02
Yeah. I mean, we couldn’t find anything to travel, train and compete in that was durable enough, good looking enough and long lasting enough for our life and lifestyle as a team. So every serves and made outfits for our little team. Yes. And as we won competitions, and we were actually national champions in France, three years in a row, that was very tough,

Kara Goldin 6:27
amazing.

Kate Boyer 6:30
And we got into stores with the brand. And that’s how it all started growing. I worked with more sports related stores in chains in France and across Europe, and then ended up in the Caribbean just, you know, followed my heart, I guess. And that’s where I met Americans who were telling me like, hey, oh, my gosh, this is amazing. We don’t have anything like it. This is good quality, it looks amazing. It’s a combination of our product is Lululemon, which was, you know, becoming a success at a time. So it was at the forefront of pioneering this whole athleisure trend, which, you know, a decade later became an entire industry and lifestyle for many people. So that was, was an evolution, like you said, it was a natural fit. And I guess I was sticking to it, not just by survival needs, but also with my business head on later in life, you know, understanding the opportunity and describing it by Bowser Bowser, now you say it in English and running with it. Love it.

Kara Goldin 7:31
I love it. So you never really thought I mean, you didn’t sit there when you were looking at you know, yeah, when you were a little girl, you didn’t say I’m gonna go and run my own company. I’m going to start my own clothing. What did you think you were gonna do?

Kate Boyer 7:44
So it’s interesting, you asked that question, because I was 14 when we were able to learn English in my country. So the first book I read was being a CEO by Jaguars. And I told my parents, I want to be a CEO. And my mom was like, I don’t know what that means you should finish your studies now keep your papers and, you know, I don’t come from an entrepreneurial environment. My dad was a chemist. And my mom worked for a logistics company, you know, distributing things around Europe, PVC related plastic products. So, you know, for them to see a 14 year old little girl sitting next to you. I think that’s kind of funny now that I have my daughter, and we have this conversation. I love it. Yeah, I read his book. And it’s really fun that about 20 years later, I met him and Susie, later in life, I was doing a trunk show at one of the private communities where they live in Florida. And I met him and his wife. So I kind of had in my mind always that I want to like, you know, make my mark, I guess and do something amazing, that has a chance to change people’s lives for the better. And make an impact on this planet with the good that you can do around the world. So I love that he had that drive. But there was definitely no business plan at the time. Yeah, it would be a lie.

Kara Goldin 9:03
Well, it’s just but you know, combining what you loved and what you knew. I mean, you had worn uniform forms gymnastics uniforms forever. Yeah, what you wished and then it naturally sort of created this company that you have today. So what’s the inspiration behind the name Anna Tomi,

Kate Boyer 9:22
so that actually came about later in life. My brand was called something else in Europe for a long time. I met my husband in Miami in 2004. And he was doing menswear at a time and we combined forces. So he’s the real designer, somebody who can sketch and draw and you know, so and things like that. I always got things done. You know what I want to be but when we combined forces, he’s the one who said You know, we have to rename and rebrand the product. So after many years in private label, designing and manufacturing and distributing together, I was at a trade show in Paris and he called me and he goes, Kay, that’s it. I get the name. I work with a marketing company, we’re going to call ourselves anatomy. I’m like, Oh my God, that’s so bad. It sounds like a biology book. Why would you do that? I know. And then he said, Well, it’s the perfect analysis the body and remember Leonardo da Vinci with the Vitruvian, man. So if you look at the logo, the squareness circle, that’s where the inspiration came from. It means the perfect analysis of a human body and its moving parts. So the original logo has the Vitruvian Man and first logo had a girl in it. So my only humble contribution was the spelling, I changed it to the IE versus the VI. You know, we have this European, not French, I’m Hungarian, like, you know, but with the I thought it was a little sexier and more modern. And not so obviously American, so it had more of a flair, international flair to it. So that’s how the name came about. As you now know the story. We both have a background in performance fabrics, we like tailors structure, tie styles, that flatter a woman or a man’s body. And it’s also from our backgrounds. You know, it’s part of our marketing package. It’s part of our DNA, it’s who we are. But it was always at the elevated, more sophisticated level. Our customers are adventurous, they’re sophisticated, they travel around the world. They are Globetrotters jetsetters. like yourselves, they know what they want, right? So we were always the luxury answer to this trend. That kind of happens. Our lifestyle. And we

Kara Goldin 11:27
make sense. Yeah, no, it absolutely does. And when you were starting this company, I guess you sort of had you had a company that you combined it to make it? Yes. Like, when you met your husband? How did you think about him as a co founder? I mean, did you? Did you actually say is this the right thing to do? Is it are you just started doing it? No, I work with my husband as well. So I and we are very I always tell you guys think about it. No. In fact, in fact, people said Did you always want to work for your husband, I’m like, I there was not one or work with your husband. There was not one single day in my life where I ever thought that I would work with him. He was an intellectual property attorney is very methodical and and he’s been the chief operating officer for him for 17 years. And and so he handles supply chain and, and logistics and creating the product, all of those types of things. So it’s been you make a good team, such a great team. And anyway, but I’m curious about your story.

Kate Boyer 12:36
So similar in a way where it just kind of happened and we get to work and you didn’t think about how or what or what’s next, be combined forces because we were a natural fit. And the business didn’t turn into monkey business until a few years into collaborating, because he was designing I was manufacturing with the private labels. It took a couple years. I love it. We have a little girl out together. She’s seven, but we’ll be together for 17. So do the math on? Yeah. But um, well, he’s more creative. So I was always the business commercial side of things. And then we have a president who joined us in 2014. Tom, the three who comes from the upper industry, who I guess plays the role your husband plays for us have two husbands? That a work husband? Yeah, I lost his husband in the creative husband. Yeah. You know, my little grandma always said to be successful, you need the dreamer, a businessman and a rich man. So I definitely have dreamers and businessmen around. We don’t have a rich man yet. That was a challenge later in life, right. Growing and raising capital we had that’s a skill set. We had to learn. But everything else fell in place with Yeah,

Kara Goldin 13:51
I love it. So what was one of the biggest challenges in the early years of starting your company? How did you hear you know, you you had a great product you were being highlighted for, you know, great design, you sort of got it, people were telling you all of that. But what was kind of the stuff early on, you really felt was just wow, I didn’t expect that. And nobody told you these are the things that you would run into. And I you know, I tell people that things like setting up a company the right way that hiring people, for example, I remember when people in the early days left, and I would i i personally like took it to heart that I thought I had done something wrong. It was very hard. And then I really realized that there’s different stages in a company where you need different types of people as you’re starting to grow and different skill sets and all of those things. But as you think back, is there anything that really stands out as something that was really tough.

Kate Boyer 14:55
So as you said, it comes in stages in cycles, and there’s tough moments. With every step of the way, in the beginning, it’s funny because you don’t know any better. I remember sitting in a meeting and pitching a customer about the brand. And he loved it and wanted to give us a big contract. And I realized we can’t finance the delivery of it. Because we didn’t have enough money. I mean, you’re a product company, you need to produce the product, you need fabric, trim, zipper spiders all production site to it, when you have a design a brand, it goes from an idea to market to operating the business, A to Z, the whole chain and anything goes wrong. At any step, it breaks the chain, and you become dysfunctional, right. So as we grew up and learn the processes, and the products and the people to have in place to function properly, that’s a real learning curve. And if you break it down from the starting points of it, so back to the client, we were getting this big contract, and I said, you know, I’m going to the down payment, if you want the ship so quick. It was for George. So in Miami, we were doing this giant collection for him. So he’s like, Okay, I’ll give you a 50% You don’t trust me or you don’t think you can deliver, I’m like, I don’t trust you. And I don’t think I can deliver either. So you want this done, we’re gonna need some money upfront. So we’re still friends, by the way, didn’t did a lot of projects together. But back at that time, he said, Okay, who didn’t make the checkout too. So he took the checkbook out, and I realized we have a company set up to your so my husband goes, make it out to jet set style, and I kicked him under the table, I’m looking at him like, What the hell is that. So he made the check out to Texas that we had a $45,000 check in a drawer for a week until we could set up the company to deposit the deposit. And then actually, you know, deliver the product, and we’re still friends, everything went great. But like structuring your business, the right way from the start is definitely something to think about. So don’t take my example, and not think about it. Yeah, the advice to the younger entrepreneurs listening is think about what you want. Because then later with an LLC, or an S corp, or C Corp, you know, we went through all those changes. And it was a much harder structure to set up once you have investors and shareholders in place. And then everybody wants to do it, right versus starting it. Right. So that was step one. And then, you know, building a team, you know, I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room, right, I want the brainpower to be much bigger than I am and the collective brainpower of mice, you know, bigger than the brand, the brand, and the company is bigger than us. So that also took some lessons along the road on who you take in who you let go of not taking any personal because you can let go of people and stay friends versus them contributing to your business and the company. And the profits can be two different stories. So in the beginning, you know, you hire friends and family and people you can think, of course by who you trust, but they don’t turn out to be the best employees. So we made mistakes there as well. And some even stole from us, like, you know, financially suffered from it. I guess it’s typical. Now, my

Kara Goldin 18:10
everything that you’re talking about is typical. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think it’s very, it’s it is, you know, sadly, it’s it’s typical. So

Kate Boyer 18:20
it’s loves to grow it, you always need a new shell. And I think the role of the founder and the CEO to keep the strategic vision and always go forward is important. Also, you know, dealing with situations that are out of your control. I have a hard time with that. Because I like to know. You know, when you plan something, you do it, or you want to know the outcome. You’re the gymnasts, you’re sort of a control freak, you visualize what happens, right? You see your success you’re landing. And in business, it doesn’t always go as planned. So

Kara Goldin 18:51
it’s, it’s interesting that you say that, because one of the things that I talk about a lot is being a gymnast, I actually, I was pretty decent at bars, and on the vault, and I was pretty good on the beam. I was terrible floor. And I would always

Kate Boyer 19:08
I have the opposite the order of things. And I

Kara Goldin 19:11
would always sit there and and look at the people for the meats, if I had any choice to have people who were better than me on certain things, right, because I wanted to win. But I wanted to make sure that I had the right people, you know, from these different groups that were better than me at certain things. And I think that mentality to bring that into starting a company, I think is really important. And I definitely think it’s being an athlete. Being a team athlete is definitely something where I think back on those things

Kate Boyer 19:47
along the way. 100% of trusting and delegating and counting on your people to help you win together and empowering them to be their best right and you have to give space for that. And you can, you can learn from the failures. I always teach my team, you know, I don’t like the word problems that are negative, there’s only solutions. There’s only opportunities and every challenge is an opportunity to get better. And I guess that comes from falling on our head so many times and standing up and doing over and over again, it doesn’t bother me when we make a mistake. So maybe it’s never looked at it this way, Kara. But I think you’re pointing it out from the right perspective because we share this background. So yeah, I think you just hit the nail on the head with that when

Kara Goldin 20:36
hiring great employees and keeping them is part of the growth plan for your business. Try net offers full service HR solutions tailored to small and medium sized businesses, so you can retain talent and grow. We’re talking access to top benefits help with compliance and payroll, even when your team is remote or out of state the works because try net gets it your people matter to your business. Learn more about their HR Solutions at Tri net.com/podcast. That’s T R I N E t.com/podcast. Trying it incredible starts here. Every 28 seconds, an entrepreneur makes their first sale on Shopify, that’s over 3000 sales every day. One of those sales could be you. Shopify is more than an online store. It is a subscription based software that allows you to sell your product, reach your consumers, and drive sales, all from one place. Shopify also gives you detailed reports of your conversion rates, profit margins, and traffic to your page. You can then generate traffic by using Shopify integrations and third party apps from On Demand Printing to accounting to advance chatbots. And everything in between. Plus, Shopify instantly lets you accept all major payment methods. Shopify has everything you need to scale your business, whether you’re a brand new startup or a seasoned entrepreneur. I personally love how Shopify has the tools and resources that make it easy for any business to succeed from down the street to around the globe. Supercharge your knowledge, your sales and your success with Shopify, go to shopify.com/kara, all lowercase for a free 14 day trial and get full access to Shopify an entire suite of features. Grow your business with Shopify today, go to shopify.com/kara right now. That’s shopify.com/kara. And so I read to you talked briefly about capital. So I read that you raised capital through crowdsourcing, which is so interesting. So can you share a little bit more like how did you think about that, and, and about the process as well.

Kate Boyer 23:04
So from the very early stages of having done about 400 events, to launch the brand around the country than the first six years, we were exposed to a very powerful customer base, who always helped us go to the next level. So when we were growing and doubling in size in the early stage in Avon after 2008, and 911. No matter what happened, we just kept growing. I think it’s thanks to our customer base, though, when it comes to financing the company for the first time, you know, in the real capital world, we simply turn to our audience and call their best customers. And last we found their power. And most of them were females, and just like us, intuitive, I guess, by business and needing more with their hearts and souls. They believed in us, they knew the product, they understood their staying power, because they’ve been wearing you know, the brand for many years, and he was standing the ground, it was a natural fit. So the first round came from our customers who are still customers and shareholders and help her share the love is what we call it. The second round as well, there was a previous series A in 2018, quite the learning curve, you know, once you form a board of directors in your ports, you report to people, the dynamics change. So there was a growing up, you know, for me personally, and the team as well in the discipline of things that we had to execute together. So for the chairman of the board, I named Tom or president, and he still is, I guess he’s more diplomatic. I’m too much of a straight talker. Not everybody can handle that board meeting. So I let him do the talking. And then you know, we get on the same page before and after. So that helps.

Kara Goldin 24:47
So you stayed within crowdsourcing I just or did you actually do venture or private equity as well.

Kate Boyer 24:54
So our series B right now we have an amazing pitch deck and the really good data Room they’d set up for next round. So this is the first time we’re going to market to funds with an investment banker.

Kara Goldin 25:08
That’s great. But up to today, it’s been crowdsources to female

Kate Boyer 25:11
board, mostly customers.

Kara Goldin 25:13
That’s awesome. I love it. We’re

Kate Boyer 25:15
ready for the next level, you know, I’m building a global lifestyle brand. This is a breakthrough, momentum and opportunity in the industry. And it only comes around every decade or so if you look at the apparel industry, I mean, was the last big breakthrough, you know, yeah. So long time ago. So I hope we’re next

Kara Goldin 25:33
your designs are great. But like I said, the quality and the price point. So it’s definitely an incredible product. So what do you think is the key in building those long lasting relationships with consumers? You’re an omni channel brand, I’d love to have you talk a little bit more about that. I mean, obviously, you’re in lots of incredible specialty stores throughout the world. But you also offer consumers an ability and you have a large business, a large percentage of your business is actually online as well. So so how do you build those relationships so that they keep coming back? And that they keep buying? How do you think about those consumers.

Kate Boyer 26:12
So the omni channel approach and strategy is part of our DNA as well. So for us at anatomy and the team here, it was always a natural fit to function this way, it sounds like a lot to manage. But when you’re targeting this look alike tribe and audience, they are basically I’m reaching you every step of the way of your lifestyle. So from the moment you go to your favorite store, your favorite four seasons, your favorite Pilates studio, and then you meet your stylist, and you go online to look for another color of those key things that you put coffee on this morning. For me, it’s important to be with you along the way. And we always say you are the brand, we’re just the packaging. So once I’m in your carry on, stay in your wardrobe in your closet for life. Why? Because he works. And the more you wear it, the more you realize how much better it is than anything else in your closet. So over time, it starts taking up more and more space in people’s closets. So I’m competing with the brands in your closet, not the ones all over the marketplaces around the world, right? So we have a consumer centric approach to product development and distribution and the strategy accordingly to grow all these platforms simultaneously. So there’s a method to our madness. I know it sounds like chaos. And if you ask Tom, it probably is at the operations level. Probably drive my team crazy. But I strongly believe that this is the right way of staying with you along the way.

Kara Goldin 27:50
Yeah, absolutely. Well, I love you guys actually trademarked the term pro leisure and it’s funny I was. I live in Marin County, just outside of San Francisco and I was out hiking on Saturday in your pants and then I went to Michael MENA restaurant. In Tiburon. On Saturday night in the pants, I changed my shoes, and it changed my shirt. And then I went, and I really loved the idea of going from what I was doing during the day and being able to dress up, dress down. And I really think like, that’s the way people are living, particularly after COVID. I mean, I think people are just

Kate Boyer 28:29
so if you had a Zoom meeting, you could have done it in them. And if you had a board meeting to run into with an investor, you could have also worn those pants. So that’s really the story of the brand. You said it’s so well, it goes it’s more than day to night, right? This is a whole lifestyle of activities that we face these days. So I think being relevant is a product and telling the brand’s story that tells your story is super important. Because it’s your story in our mind. Yeah, right. I’m just giving you a utilitarian functional product that works. So it simplifies your life. It’s one thing less you have to stress about. It’s a no brainer. Absolutely. And it’s back to the uniform like approach remember past it’s like you put it on your confident anatomy has that.

Kara Goldin 29:19
It reminds me of one of our interviews a few months back was Liz Lange, who is and who had developed a whole line of maternity wear. And way back in the late 90s, early 2000s. It was for I was a working person she changed maternity wear forever. It was no longer about ugly looking clothing and I had a black suit that fit and people would say where did you get this and it was amazing. And Liz is actually an investor in hint as well. She’s incredible. And she ended up taking the brand and going into Target as well with it and she’s you know an incredible entrepreneur as well, who really paid attention to who this consumer was and what they were doing.

Kate Boyer 30:05
Yeah. And let them drive. Yeah, yeah, product development and go to market strategies completely. When you listen to these ladies, I always tell my team, you listen to these ladies, give them what they want, everybody’s gonna be happy. It’s that simple. We don’t have to overthink

Kara Goldin 30:18
it. Absolutely. So everybody’s talking about supply chain these days, you know, we have a physical product here. And that is all made in the US.

Kate Boyer 30:28
Congratulations on that, by the way, Kara,

Kara Goldin 30:31
thank you. But we’ve definitely had our own sort of supply chain issues in the US which are different. If you are sourcing outside of the US, we had an incredible entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Barra be the weighted blankets. And she was talking about the cost of actually shipping, a container went up dramatically for her and that in 2021, in particular, so I’d love to hear kind of, you know, some of those challenges that you had to overcome during the last couple of years of doing business.

Kate Boyer 31:04
Interesting, because, you know, our product is so lightweight, you can pack so many things in a tiny little. Yeah, like even packing cubes, like eight pieces, we only two pounds. So if you do that in bulk, you know, with one box, they can bring in three 400 units. So we were always air shipping, I never had container issues. It’s amazing. Yeah, I never shipped any product ever by sea. And just when we were thinking about it, they became a bad idea for these reasons. I mean, do you know, you know, the cost? went from 5000 to 25 $30,000. For container? Yeah, but I mean, I feel bad for your, for your friend. And everybody had to deal with it. There’s also a lot of accidents, et Cie, you know, if you want to maintain that angle of the supply chain, the sustainable part of it, there’s a lot of waste in our, in our industry in opera where the ship sink, and you know, the insurance is paid, and people don’t talk about it much. But it goes to the bottom of the ocean. I’m a scuba diver and very sensitive to that. So that was another story where I’m like, I want to see by see,

Kara Goldin 32:07
yeah, that’s a real issue. And yeah, I’ve always said that, you know, there’s in our industry, there’s many cans that are created outside of the US. And the reason why they are created outside of the US is there’s different environmental guardrails in the US that you have to abide by. And in places in Asia, for example, you can actually produce cans without those guidelines. And so the carbon footprint and and the emissions off of creating a can just as an example, and then putting it on a ship and coming back and saying that it’s better or is worse. And so I think we’ve learned a lot about, you know, the product, and even though it’s a little more expensive to create it in the US, we actually save on a lot of those issues.

Kate Boyer 32:57
Exactly. So similar to our case, you know, because we use French and Italian fabrics, and the factories are also there in Europe, for you know, the fact that we buy French and Italian high performance fabrics. And we have factories in Hungary, Italy, Romania, Portugal, Morocco, so we can keep it close by where not only they have the craftsmanship, and you know, 1000s of years of experience of producing high quality products, but also they’re so close by, it’s a more efficient way. And to your point, exactly avoiding going across the globe and bag, especially by sea. So we’re conscious of that anatomy has a very low carbon footprint because of that they call it accidental sustainability when your supply chain is so quick and smart. So even though it’s slowed down a bit, you know, I used to be able to import things from Europe within like eight weeks now it’s, let’s say 12 to 14, but it’s not, you know, more expensive or that much longer either. So it just allows us to plan a little bit further out. We also have more than half of our collection is based on year around available essentials. So your black, navy, gray, khaki wide basic pieces. It’s nine pants designed by body type for tarps and for jackets that we always stuck. So when the supply chains can get shut down, we had those products fully stocked. And that’s what you know, the stores and accounts and people like to shop from anatomy the most even though our seasonal fashion is exciting. They’re mostly limited editions. So we were in when we grew doing COVID We grew 74 personlised here and we’re the app at the same pace for q1 this year.

Kara Goldin 34:40
Congrats very,

Kate Boyer 34:42
you know, smart or simple, whatever you want to call it. It’s the nature of our business. I like you know, knock on wood. This is who we are and we’ll keep it up. This is why people love anatomy and that’s how we keep it all together. This is part of the insights Story to exposing right now.

Kara Goldin 35:02
Yeah, no, I absolutely love it. So one of the questions I always ask our guests is to share maybe some challenge along the way or failure that you hit like a roadblock. You are so creative, and definitely as I like to talk a lot about being undaunted, and getting through these roadblocks. But can you share like a story that something along the way where you felt like, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get through this? Maybe we have to shut down the company? Or maybe we have to, I mean, something was so hard, but instead, you learned something and learned about yourself more importantly, what what is kind of what comes to mind for you.

Kate Boyer 35:44
There are a couple. Actually,

Kara Goldin 35:47
there’s a lot always right.

Kate Boyer 35:51
The highlights of the worst things right? Totally would be taking, I tend to take on more than what I can handle. Sometimes your mind is ahead of your body and your physical capabilities. And this could be back to our mental strength as athletes, eight that we say yes to too many things. And when you’re alone is one thing when you’re in a small team is one thing in a bigger team. It affects everybody, and it stresses them out. So even in the beginning, we took on this giant order Cara from Bacardi. They were launching the new flavored rums. And I went and pitched this new design of dresses for the bartenders and polo shirts. And the order turned out to be 60,000 units, which, at the time to put things in perspective, they were manufacturing like 2000 pieces a year. Okay. Wow. And so just that I took the order and went home and showed it to my husband, China, I’m like, Well, I don’t know what’s next we got to deliver. So from finding the money to do it to finding the factories who could do it, it turned into i had to work with I think seven factories to deliver it. This was about a decade ago, and everything looked different Kara. So every shipment that went to different bars around the country to represent the Bacardi thing had a different shade of logo, a different feeling polo shirt, oh my gosh. So we put it off and we got paid. I think there were so desperate they needed to because nobody else could deliver so fast. Because I said yes to their crazy timeframe on top of all this, that they were just like happy they had something. And luckily, people were working in the dark, and he couldn’t see it. Right, right. But big lesson, don’t take on more than what you can to. Number two, when you believe in people, keep them don’t let anybody talk you out of certain employees or prospects that you want to stick to. I had a very strong Italian couple with an amazing designer background from Xena, and Versace, you know, the real world of fashion, her husband ran supply chain for them. And I wanted to hire them. And at that time, we already had the board of directors in they said no, you know, we should pose the job on LinkedIn. And I’m up to today where I’m friends with the couple. And up to today. I know I should have hired them by then and not to listen to everybody. So at some point, you know, you have to stand up for your opinion, because everybody else will have one. And then you can have too many cooks in the kitchen. So I learned that as well. There’s a fine line between, you know, delegating and working with teams versus owning your decisions and saying, Okay, this is not me, I can be wrong. But this is a panel discussion. So I’m still learning that when is the time to call those share points. And then, well, for those who are about to start a company and have a baby at the same time, ladies, you will never sleep. If somebody had told me that before, that would have been nice to know. Because I have like lost my skill to sleep. And staying healthy is important. And taking care of yourself is important. Because otherwise you can take care of others. And I think as females we tend to, like take care of everybody and work hard and take all this on. And then at some point, you know, we will suffer. So there are moments when you’re like, Oh my God, I need a vacation or I can’t function anymore, you know, like physically and mentally. So we gotta watch that as well. It’s a lesson to force yourself to take time for yourself. Yeah, it’s easy to get carried away and get caught up in stuff. I have a lot. I don’t know how much time I got. I

Kara Goldin 39:33
don’t know. I know. These are all super great points. I love it. And I’ve loved hearing more about your story. And for those who are familiar with Anatole me, definitely. I think you’ve given a lot of reasons just based on getting to know you a little bit more that people will definitely go check out your brand. Go buy more from your brand. What’s the website just so everybody hears from you?

Kate Boyer 39:59
So anatomy Come with ice anatomy.com is the website. We also have our pop up stores around the country right now we’re opening Palm Beach. And we’re travel back to Aspen in the Hamptons as the summer comes. We have a 75 stylist, professional wardrobe stylist around the country that can work with ladies one on one. Whether you have special needs or no time, or hate shopping, whatever your reason you prefer, you don’t want to go out to stores, we can always activate the network for you as well. And then yes, we also have our touch points with 300 Plus accounts, where you can find anatomy in your own neighborhoods and hopefully flagship soon, that’s my next venture into

Kara Goldin 40:41
I love it. That’s That’s terrific. Well, thanks everybody for listening. And thanks again Kate, for coming on and sharing a little bit more about your story. And so many lessons here along the way real lessons I know that we can all grow from definitely download if you haven’t already subscribed to the Kara Goldin show definitely make sure to subscribe to it. So you hear from the guests that we have including great people like Kate and, and hearing more about the brands that they run as well. And I can be found on all platforms that Kara Goldin as many of you know I have a book out called undaunted, overcoming doubts and doubters. So definitely pick up a copy of that or get it from Audible, where you can hear a little bit more about my story, my challenges along the way as well and so many lessons. And if you haven’t tried hint, definitely pick it up while you’re wearing your anatomic clothing, of course, and we’re here every Monday, Wednesday, we just added Friday as well to the podcast. The podcast is trending globally for entrepreneurship. And it’s really exciting to see how many people are excited to go out there and create and learn lessons along the way. So thank you again, Kate. Thanks, everybody for listening and have an awesome rest of the week. Before we sign off, I want to talk to you about fear. People like to talk about fearless leaders. But achieving big goals isn’t about fearlessness. Successful leaders recognize their fears and decide to deal with them head on in order to move forward. This is where my new book undaunted comes in. This book is designed for anyone who wants to succeed in the face of fear, overcome doubts and live a little undaunted. Order your copy today at undaunted, the book.com and learn how to look your doubts and doubters in the eye and achieve your dreams. For a limited time. You’ll also receive a free case of hint water. Do you have a question for me or want to nominate an innovator to spotlight send me a tweet at Kara Goldin and let me know. And if you liked what you heard, please leave me a review on Apple podcasts. You can also follow along with me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn at Kara Goldin. Thanks for listening