Kim Vaccarella: Founder & CEO of Bogg

Episode 626

On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, I’m thrilled to host Kim Vaccarella, the visionary Founder and CEO of Bogg. Starting with a personal need for a better beach bag, Kim transformed a simple idea into a revolutionary product line that's reshaped how we carry our essentials. Bogg has become a symbol of functionality and joy in carrying solutions, not just for beachgoers but for parents, teachers, and anyone in need of a reliable bag.
We explore how Kim’s journey from a mom in search of a sand-free bag led to creating a product that twice landed on Inc. Magazine’s Top 5000 list of fastest-growing privately-held companies in America. Kim shares her insights into the challenges of product design, the importance of listening to customer feedback, and how Bogg has maintained its commitment to joyful and functional design. Kim's story is a powerful testament to entrepreneurship, innovation, and finding the balance between function and fashion. Don’t miss it! Tune in now on The Kara Goldin Show!

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Transcript

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 out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can 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, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show today. I’m thrilled to be joined by Kim vaccarella, who is the founder and CEO of Bogg, a brand that has revolutionized the way we carry our essentials. Kim is a mom and a visionary entrepreneur turned her quest from the perfect beach bag into a thriving business that now ranks among Inc magazines, top 5000 fastest growing privately held companies in America. And Bogg isn’t just a company, it’s a movement towards functionality and joy in everyday, caring solutions. I absolutely love what they’ve done with the company, and Kim’s dedication to creating products that support the needs of parents, teachers, health care workers, I would imagine, students as well. And just definitely a beloved brand that you all need to know about that is quite stylish, and if you have not seen this product, you’re going to be thrilled when you hear all about the backstory, as you know I love to share. So Kim, welcome to the show.

Kim Vaccarella 1:54
Thank you so much. Kara, I’m so happy to be here.

Kara Goldin 1:57
Very excited. So for those who aren’t familiar with Bogg. Can you give us the 32nd ish elevator speech on what makes it so unique?

Kim Vaccarella 2:06
Yeah, sure. So just on a trip to the Jersey Shore, was complaining about lack of beach bags that worked for my beach loving family’s needs. I needed something that was large and waterproof and washable and durable and sturdy, especially that the sides didn’t collapse when the kids were going in and out of it, leaving all my items in the sand, including beach badges and keys and everything else. So I had something very specific in mind when I came up with Bogg Bag.

Kara Goldin 2:35
That’s awesome. So had you had experience in creating bags before, or what sort of inspired you, or, I should say, gave you the the courage to actually go and start something like this. We all have ideas, but it’s the idea of, okay, how do I actually create this? Typically, it starts maybe with a product or service, but then all sudden it’s, it’s a company right where it’s, a lot, yeah,

Kim Vaccarella 3:02
and that’s the crazy thing. I had zero experience. I was inspired by shoes and the material that they were using on soles and different types of shoes. And once I saw that, I knew that it had to be turned into a beach bag. Initially, the idea was not to develop the product, manufacture it, distribute it, and everything that comes in between, you know, building a company. I thought that maybe I would develop the idea, patent it and sell it and make a bazillion dollars, but that clearly didn’t work out. So, you know, then it was, hey, let’s, let’s see what we can do here. Let me see if I can actually make this bag and bring it to market.

Kara Goldin 3:48
How has Bogggs mission evolved since its inception? And I guess, what was your original goal and and creating this product when you started to see all of the different add ons that I know your product has. Can you talk a little bit about that, like, what was the first skew that you actually did, and how did that really change?

Kim Vaccarella 4:09
So the original Bob bag was the first skew, so that’s our largest Bob bag. And, you know, in the beginning, it was just for a beach bag, but then we quickly learned that it meant so much more to so many people, including myself. You know, you were seeing so many people use it in different applications, not just for the beach, but 365 days a year, at the market, at the farmers market, at the pool, on the boat. So there were so many different ways to use Bogg Bag that I didn’t even think of when I first, you know, when it first came to me, and all the way back in 2008

Kara Goldin 4:46
very, very cool. So the initial stages of designing the first Bogg Bag, if you think back on on those early stages, you had to find somebody to help you manufacture it. You. Had to, you know, put up upfront capital. I would imagine you had to figure out how you were going to get the word out. What was the first step that you took? So,

Kim Vaccarella 5:11
you know, not knowing what I was doing. The The first step was, let’s make sure I can actually get a full product first before I start talking about it. My neighbor happened to be from China, and it was kind of one of those awkward moments where I’m like, Hey, do you know anybody in China that has a factory? And, you know, he got a great big laugh out of it. And it ended up that, after we thought about it, he did know somebody. And that was our first, you know, entrance into China was, was speaking with a factory there. They weren’t doing anything like what we needed done, which was injection molding. They were doing more craft style stuff. But he introduced me to somebody else, and we started the ball rolling there. One of my favorite, the things in the journey that is, like, really special to me, is when our first prototype came. My husband called me at work because I was working full time, and he said, You have to come home right now. I have the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. And I was like, Well, what is this? What did he buy now? Some, some crazy thing, right? And, of course, I wanted to make sure my kids were okay first, because my kids were younger then. But I did end up coming home, not when he called, but when my work day was done, and there was an actual Bogg Bag sitting on our dining room table. And I was like, Oh, my God, that is so cool, you know, because, like, once you have the idea, and then you see in real life, it’s just such a cool feeling. So taking that and then then wanting to talk about it right then, wanting to show everybody and see what their reaction was. Was was really fun when

Kara Goldin 6:47
you think about like the functionality. You obviously saw this need in your own life, and I love that you actually made it cool looking right? You know enough to know that you’re not going to continue to buy something in different colors or add ons or whatever, if it’s not fashionable, right? And everybody has a different definition of fashion, but it’s got to look good, be durable. Have have all of those functionality aspects of it. But how do you balance that right? Because there’s probably some things that come up along the way that you know maybe, as you add in different functionality, it just is going to be too bulky or doesn’t look right. How do you think about that? Because I think there’s always choices in innovation that come up along the way that you want to do, but it’s actually going to take away, in some way, from the product that you really have this incredible vision for.

Kim Vaccarella 7:48
Well, the beauty of Bogg Bag and our customers, right are we listen to our customers and they’re crazy. I mean, I love them. They’re crazy, but they want to hang anything and everything they can. So just when you think about it, not being bulky or not, you know, not having things stick out of it, or they want everything and anything they can put on it, on it, and accessories have been so King recently, right? I mean, everybody wants to accessorize, and over accessorize. And they have, I mean, I’m sure you saw that, you know, the picture of the Birkin with like, 80,000 different things hanging off of it across the way. So, you know, people want to take that same kind of customization and bring it to Bogg Bags. So we’re, you know, in 2025 are actually starting tomorrow, we have a ton of different accessories coming out, and we’ll continue that to 2025 because they want to show off their Bogg Bag, and we want them to show off their Bogg Bag. So it’s it’s really been a fun thing that we didn’t anticipate early on.

Kara Goldin 8:54
So Bogg Bag has been named to inc Magazine’s Top 5000 list. When you think about PR and strategies, awards, all of those things that kind of get the word out about your product. How important is it to sort of be able to, you know, get those accolades when you think about getting the word out about a product? Do consumers pay attention to that.

Kim Vaccarella 9:22
I think they do. And they love, they love the, you know, the underdog story sometimes, right? I mean, it’s, it’s, yeah, they love that. And, you know, I like to support other small business owners too. And you know, people’s dreams and entrepreneurs and women and all those fun things. So just getting those accolades. One, there for the business, you know, they’re for everybody that works here and puts their time in. And two, they’re, they just give a little hope to somebody. If they really do have an idea to move forward with the idea. And I’m not going to say, jump in with, you know, you know, fly in or dive in. You have to do it at your pace. But it’s, it’s an exciting time. If you come up with something that you truly love and you have the opportunity to go forward with it.

Kara Goldin 10:22
So when you think about scaling your product, obviously, you just finished off. You and I were chatting about about Black Friday and Cyber Monday and and all super good things. When, when you think about scaling the the business, you know, it’s scary, right? Because you have to often add manufacturers, people you’ve got to, you know, constantly be figuring out, you know, what your employee needs are. You know, always have backup plans, all of, all of these things, when what was kind of like most difficult challenge that you faced in scaling Bogg?

Kim Vaccarella 11:08
Well, early on, it was manufacturing, right? I needed to make sure that the product was good. And I went through a couple of manufacture manufacturers before we landed on somebody that I’ve been working with since 2014 and 15. And part of that story is I actually took a hiatus for a couple of years because I once I ordered my first full product, full container of product. It came bad and there were black streaks on it. The functionality of the bag was great. The colors were beautiful. But I would learn later that it was a manufacturing issue where they weren’t cleaning the barrels when they were changing the colors. And it sounds stupid simple, but it was, it was a mess, and I had 1000 bags that I didn’t know what to do with, and I would refuse to sell them, because I had always envisioned in being in Bloomingdale’s and Nordstroms, and you know, some of the places that we’re in today, so I knew I couldn’t go out to market with this. And you know, long story short, what we ended up doing is donating over 1000 bags to Sandy victims on the Jersey Shore to use as a vehicle to carry supplies as they re entered their homes, the homes where my my family has a house and the Jersey Shore, they were literally decimated like gone off of the map, and there were a lot of people going back into homes filled with mold and all these different things. So we collected bleach and Clorox wipes and garbage bags and water bottles and granola bars, anything that they can use. And I actually gave up on Bob bag at that time. That was in 2012 and I said, I’m done. My husband was working 12 hour shifts. My kids were super active. I was working full time. I said, I can’t do this. I I’m in over my head. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Like, this is just crazy and but what happened was, a year later, those people started coming back, and they’re like, Where can I get more of these bags? It’s the greatest bag I’ve ever had. Like, I need 10 of them. I want to buy them for all my family and friends, for gifts. And then it was kind of one of those oh shit moments like, now I need to make this bag. Like people actually want this bag. And I went back to the drawing board. I went to China in 2013 which was an extremely scary proposition, because I had no idea what I was doing. And I realized the factory that I was working with was not going to be able to scale with me. And that’s when I ended up finding the new factory in 14 and 15, and we hit the ground running again. And the beauty of it was, is that it was so centrally located, localized to New Jersey, that nobody else had heard about us before. So it wasn’t like we had failed and come back. So it was just kind of, let’s go out and do this again.

Kara Goldin 13:45
That’s awesome. So you and I chatted a bit about you have, you know, somewhat unique approach to your business model, and that you have a bunch of wholesale accounts, and you have an, you know, large, growing wholesale business, but then you also have your own direct to consumer business, and how, how do you view those? I mean, are you an omni channel retailer that is, you know, really focused on being everywhere for the consumer, or do you see one of those different avenues, kind of adjusting over time on purpose,

Kim Vaccarella 14:24
yeah. So, you know, we like to be an equal opportunity. You know, we want to be strategic in our partnerships, and we want to make sure it’s an even level playing field for everybody, right? So we’re very specific on our map pricing, because, you know, you can get into these stores, and you can want to get into these stores, but they could also be one that has a 30% discount every week, and then it really affects other retailers, right, especially our mom and pops. And why that’s important to me is That’s what built us. You know, when we start, when I went back to the drawing. Award in in 2014 and 15, I started going to the Atlanta Gift Show, which is our biggest show of the year. We still go there to this day, because it’s great. We get to see everybody. But that’s where we started growing, was in the southeast. So when we started, when I started again, it was the southeast that really started talking about Bogg Bags. So the only thing that I knew how to do was to build relationships and talk about them. So if you were in Easley, South Carolina, and you were looking for a Bogg Bag, I was going to tell you where you were going to go and who you were going to see. So relationship building was the only thing that came naturally to me at that time, because I didn’t know marketing and PR and all those different things, and we didn’t spend $1 on advertising until this year, until 2024 so those small business relationships became extremely important to me, and even weighs on you heavily when you’re trying to go into larger retailers like a dicks or a target or something else, because the smaller stores are always afraid, like, hey, are they going to come to me now? Because everybody else has it. So it’s just kind of keeping that fine balance and keeping everybody happy and doing things creatively with larger retailers that won’t necessarily affect the, you know, the small business partner that you have, but DTC also, I mean, we’re still, you know, a lot of our stores are in the southeast. And even though we have stores all over the country, lot of them are still in the southeast. So for that person that’s in the Midwest that can’t find a Bogg Bag, we do, we do need to have that GDC presence as well, because they’re looking, you know, to go somewhere and buy it too. But they may not, there may not be somebody there right now. Yeah,

Kara Goldin 16:49
definitely. So when you think about, I always call it the timeline, but above and beyond the launch of the product, and maybe even before that, actually finding your first manufacturer, and then finding the additional manufacturer, is there a particular moment or milestone for Bogg that was just like, wow. I mean, this is, this is really incredible. There’s

Kim Vaccarella 17:16
been quite a few, actually, I think, coming out of COVID, you know, just starting to hit my stride in this business in 16 and then 17 and 1818, I left my job after 26 years. I’m a creature of habit. So it was, it was a scary, scary thing. But in July, I gave my notice, and I said, I can’t do both anymore. It was too much. And, you know, having a great 19, well, great for me at the time, and then going in to 2020, and COVID, and being like, Oh my God. Like, what the hell is this like? What is happening? So that was that was rough, but it was just a really good time to again, build those relationships even further, work with my wholesale partners to make sure they had what they need, so that they could keep their lights on and their employees paid, even though we were kind of facing the same things too, but I just had this overwhelming need to help our small business partners yet again, and that was kind of a defining moment from for me. And then once the other retailers saw what we were doing with our current retailers, then we got a, you know, we just had a backlog, because everybody was trying to order from us, and we had a two year backlog of product, yeah, going into 2022 and into 2023 thankfully, we’ve caught up, and now we’ve been able to expand. But yeah, it was, it was a it was a time. I won’t forget.

Kara Goldin 18:51
Is there anything that you’ve done that you would do differently today? I remember talking to Scott Tannen from Bowlin branch. And he talked about creating bed skirts that he had always like. Had bed skirts like his. His parents always had bed skirts on their beds and and, you know, he had them in his house as well. But what he realized is that no one ever changes the bed skirt. Like, it’s like, they put the bed skirt on and then, so he nailed your order the bed skirts. And he thought that he should have bed skirts in all these different colors. And it adds up that people don’t want colored bed skirts. Maybe some people do, but not general. So he had bed skirts for like, ever. And anyway, so I always think there’s like, one thing like that. I mean, for us, it was probably a certain flavor, you know, and and when in creating can’t in those early days, but while you’re trying to figure stuff out, is there anything that comes to mind where maybe it didn’t work, or didn’t work as you thought that it should? There

Kim Vaccarella 19:58
were, there were quite a few products. In the line that didn’t work. You know, we’ve been quick and nimble. We’re still quick and nimble, and that’s something that I that I’m here for every day. You know, I’m in the office every day, and and that ability to be quick and nimble, especially today, and in this, you know, in this ever changing market, right? Is is a big thing, but sometimes I’m too quick and nimble and I just have an idea, and I just pop it off to the graphic designer and I have it over to the factory for sampling. So I’ve learned to slow that down a little bit, be a little more thoughtful in the items that I choose. I think that our customers, and you will see that with some of the new things that we have coming out, there’s just a little more thoughtfulness to it. Like, I made a canvas bag with a Bogg bottom, and while it’s still a great bag. I mean, I literally use it every day. I use the backpack version of it. But, you know, we have a washable product. Like, What the hell was I thinking? Like, Canvas, like, why? You know, it needs to be something, it’s some other material. So those are some things. Just being more thoughtful and not jumping the gun on every idea that pops into my head is probably something, definitely

Kara Goldin 21:15
So social media, you know, I’ve met many people along the way that that didn’t understand it prior to launching their company, and especially for a B to C Company, you spoke about community, and it’s probably no better way to gain a bigger community than on social but what have you learned about social media as it relates to kind of Bogggs growth and and community engagement.

Kim Vaccarella 21:44
I love social media, and not necessarily from a from a personal perspective. I just loved it for the business, because it was a way to talk to people all the time, right? You know, with a large part of our customer base being in in the southeast, you know, it, it wasn’t like you could just, you know, hop on and talk to them all the time, but it was great to be able to see and then our customers started getting engaged too. So they loved, I mean, the cult, the bag is bright and colorful, and it’s a lot of fun. So people like to talk about it. So when they talked about it, we would share them. And I know a lot of companies like you’re not allowed to share somebody on your page, and you’re not allowed to talk about people that like your product. You know you have to do very specific things on social media for algorithms or whatever it else. I never listened to any of that, and I still have a problem listening to that. I love to talk about the people who have Bogg Bag and what they use it for, and how their kids now have Bogg Bags like that is that’s exciting to me, and it’s exciting to the customers too. They love to see themselves on our feed, right? They love to see themselves on any major brands feed. It’s just fun. So social media has really been more fun for me than it probably should have been, but it’s also been such a way to connect with the customers and our retailers, you know, both big and small.

Kara Goldin 23:12
So what’s last question? What’s one piece of advice you wish you had when you were starting out that you believe could have also been super helpful to others who are just getting going or, you know, really trying to build out their vision. Yeah, so

Kim Vaccarella 23:29
one of the biggest things I always say is slow and steady wins the race. And I know it’s such a like an such an easy thing to say, and you’ve heard it probably a million times, but it’s so true. You know, I came out slow, and then I had to give up, and then I came back, and when I came back, I wasn’t gonna, I wasn’t gonna put my, you know, full throttle. I was gonna take it slow again. And I think that’s what helps me, one learn what I was doing and pay attention to what I was doing, you know. And sometimes, you know, I’m older in age now, like, you know, sometimes I wonder, it’s a young person’s game sometimes. And I’m like, if I had done this like 10 years ago, 20 years ago, like, it would have been so much better, but it is what it is, right? And if I had started it 20 years ago, I could have failed miserably, been bankrupt, been out of business, all of those, you know, all of those fears that we have. So I think you have to go at your own pace. It’s my biggest thing. One of this. The other things is that, you know, I was in the finals to be on Shark Tank four times. I never got picked, which is fine, but, you know, it’s just one of those things in my journey that I wanted to do. And I used to have a panic attack thinking about Mr. Wonderful, because he would always say, like, Oh, you, you know, you’re not passionate about your product if you don’t quit your job. And I thought it was the worst advice ever. And I was like, why are you telling people younger. Able to quit their jobs to come out with a product when they have so much to do.

Kara Goldin 25:06
Yeah, that’s it’s so so so true. Yeah, you

Kim Vaccarella 25:10
can do it both. You know, you can do both things. And I did it for 10 years before I left my career, because I’m not going to put my family at risk for my dream without really thinking it through. You know?

Kara Goldin 25:24
Yeah, definitely, definitely. Well, Kim, it’s been such a pleasure having you on the show. And thank you so much for sharing the journey all about the brand everyone needs to get themselves and all of their friends, colleagues, Bogg Bags and they’re they’re just super cute. We’ll have all the info in the show notes, but thank you again. And so nice talking to you. Super great chatting with you as well. Thank you

Kim Vaccarella 25:54
all right. Thanks so much.

Kara Goldin 25:56
Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms. At Kara Goldin, I would love to hear from you too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey? I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building. Hint, we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening and goodbye for now you.

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