Lauren Stephens: Co-Founder of Dudley Stephens

Episode 821

On today’s episode, we welcome Lauren Stephens, Co-Founder of Dudley Stephens — the cult-favorite apparel brand redefining everyday essentials and making the turtleneck cool again. What began as a reimagined fleece silhouette has grown into a beloved, functional-yet-fashionable brand known for timeless design, versatility, and effortless polish.
In this conversation, Lauren shares how focusing on one iconic piece helped build a loyal following, why simplicity can be a powerful differentiator in a crowded fashion market, and what it takes to scale thoughtfully without chasing trends. We talk about building a brand with family, balancing function and fashion, creating wardrobe staples that last, and how intentional storytelling can turn a single product into a movement. A thoughtful episode for founders, creatives, and anyone building something meant to stand the test of time.

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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. 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. Have you ever had that one piece in your closet that you reach for over and over again because it just works, comfortable, polished, effortless? What if a single silhouette, the turtleneck could become the foundation of an entire cult favorite brand. So today I’m excited to be joined by Lauren Stevens, who is the co-founder of an incredible brand called Dudley Stevens. And if you are not familiar with Dudley Stevens, you’ve been living under a rock. No, just kidding. You need to get familiar with this. Is such a terrific brand, great, great products started with her sister and her mom as co-founders, elevating everyday essentials. So what started as a reimagined fleece turtleneck has grown into an incredible brand based out of Connecticut. I cannot wait to dig in more to Lauren and the co-founding of this brand, but also how in the world did they get the cult following that they have gotten around this core product, but also continuing to build on the brand overall. So Lauren, welcome to the Kara Goldin show. So nice to meet you.

Lauren Stephens 2:05
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I have so much respect for what you have built also, and it’s so much fun to just chat and fellow entrepreneurs and chat about Dudley Stevens. I love it.

Kara Goldin 2:21
Well. For listeners who are just discovering Dudley Stevens, how do you describe the brand?

Lauren Stephens 2:27
We make stylish fleece clothing for women and and men and children, and we use all recycled materials in our production. So we have a sustainability component also, but our main, you know, I would say stylish fleece, like if you’re going to walk away from here, that would be really how to summarize

Kara Goldin 2:44
what we do. So can you share the founding story? How did this all come about?

Lauren Stephens 2:52
Yes, so we, we launched in 2015 I had spent the bulk of my career at that point, working in fashion. I worked for Gucci and Calvin Klein doing celebrity PR, and I was in a high paced fashion PR environment. And my sister was in marketing at Starwood Hotel Group, and my mom was our fashion icon, biggest supporter. She also has some fashion background and experience as well. And so the three of us always wanted to start a family business. I mean, I remember family dinners and get togethers where we were just like brainstorming things that we could do together. Nothing really was sticking over time. And then finally I came to a point where I just said I was at I had just gotten married, we were thinking about starting a family, and this fast paced PR world that I was grinding in was not going to be conducive to that. Well, what’s ironic about that is that I then decided to become an entrepreneur, which, like, also was intense, but, you know, we Yeah, yeah, it’s not like that was gonna free up time, but, but we did really, you know, crave this, like, flexibility, and I also just was looking for something to feel passionate about and excited about. And as we were starting families, and we both khaki and I grew up in Connecticut, we were raised in Darien by my mom and dad, and we just, I really want to diffuse, like, my fashion background and more luxury PR, luxury fashion, with this new mom world we were setting out on. And we, my sister and I both kind of went back to the suburbs. We moved back with our families, ultimately, and so we really wanted to create something that could answer all these questions, the thing like things that we had fill all the gaps in our wardrobe of something that was versatile and very durable but looked good at the same time, so that we could literally throw it on in the morning with our newborns toddlers, and wear it through the day and have it be machine washable, easy to take care of, and just like mindless, you know, like you would. Up in the morning and you throw something on and it lasts throughout the day. So we got together and we, you know, fleece fabric was really what drove this idea. And, like, my mom, kind of sparked all the interest in it. She was also kind of shifting her life. They had sold our childhood home, they moved to a smaller house on the water and bought a boat, and my mom was like, Why can’t there be something that’s like, cute that can also take me out to dinner? And so all of these things, like mom life, my mom, our mom and dad’s new boating life, like, we kind of thought of like, this fabric that could apply to all these things and all generations too, like, between our mom and our age at the time. So yeah, so we kind of like, took the risk and decided to do it. I really led the charge by quitting my job, which was really scary leading up to our launch in 2015 and we kind of, we were very scrappy in the beginning, and we just decided to, just to do it. But it was really that idea of, like, taking the fabric and making

Kara Goldin 5:59
it stylish. So how long did it take you from the idea that we’re going to go do this to actually having your first product and getting, I guess, your first sale?

Lauren Stephens 6:12
That’s a great question. Yeah, so we really started in about the end of 2014 I would say it probably took 10 months from really initial concepting to launch, and the first few months were sampling like we just, I would just ordered fleece fabric on fabric.com and found it. We found a local pattern maker in Connecticut to start making samples. And it was just very, very, you know, there was no business. There was no like idea yet, but then once my mom and sister and I tried these samples on that we had this local pattern maker put together, we were obsessed, like I and literally, the first product that we designed was our best seller now, which you were discussing in the opening, which is our funnel neck turtleneck, which I’m wearing a version of right now. But I put on that funnel neck turtleneck in like, early 2015, and I just looked at my mom, and we were like, we have to have this. Like, how do we make these? We even asked the pattern maker, like, could you just make like, 30? And she looked at us like we were, like, cross eyed. She was like, No, I don’t, don’t produce garments. Like, I can make you one. Like, that’s what I do. And so then I had to, just, like, figure it out from there. And it really was just asking questions, you know, researching online, trying to find factories fabric, ordering fabric. And I feel like, as an entrepreneur, when your mind is set out, and you probably know this from your experience too, like the minute you can solve a problem, and like, have an answer to that problem in your head, like nothing will stop you to make it to, like, make the product. So we it really took, like, just under a year, I would say, and then we launched in October of 2015,

Kara Goldin 7:52
and how did you launch? Then did you go into stores? Did you go online? How what was your go to market strategy?

Lauren Stephens 8:01
So we, at this time Instagram and social. Well, really, Instagram was kind of becoming real. I mean, over like, I feel like it launched in 2011 and by 2014 15, I we were all seeing this trend of everyone going on Instagram. You were seeing fashion bloggers that had just a blog start also posting on Instagram and, like, mommy bloggers, like, it was kind of just the start of all of that, and really the rise of all of these, the influencer world. And so I did celebrity PR at my previous job. So I really worked closely with VIPs, celebrities, publicists, like the Hollywood world and and I really knew, like, understood how to generate press and brand awareness, you know, via the PR world and celebrities and gifting and dressing and all that, and like, really curating those relationships. And so I took those skills and really started and understood that I could do this on Instagram too. Like we could also create a brand Instagram page, but we could reach out to all these bloggers and influencers who were really just getting started. I mean, you know, back then, I don’t think people had hundreds millions of followers. Like it was, like 5000 followers, maybe was the most that we were seeing. And so we would just, you know, kind of cold message these, these ladies, and most of them were moms living in the suburbs that were just starting out with their blogs and their, you know, posting about their lives and all that, and and we would reach out to them. And so we really used the power of Instagram at that time, in that moment. We used email marketing too. We used loyalty marketing, which my sister had a background in. And then we and we also did it was also the, really, the start of, like Facebook Instagram advertising as well. So we used all of these things and Facebook too. So Instagram Facebook advertising on both and then email marketing. And we we just started really small with these vehicles to reach new people and new women. And what we found was that our product was so addicting that. If one blogger posted about it, people would, we’d have a few sales, but then she just naturally would keep wearing it, tagging us and selling more. So it really was this, like organic word of mouth. And because the product was so great, I think people really just, you know, clicked with them. And in the beginning, I mean, we were so scrappy, we had no marketing budget, and was really just like this natural growth from all these like tags and posts and like word of mouth really, that really propelled the growth in the beginning.

Kara Goldin 10:30
So how many SKUs Did you launch with initially? I mean, I know you built your brand around this, you know, one core product, but did you just launch with one SKU, or maybe different variations on that SKU, yeah, so

Lauren Stephens 10:47
we launched with six SKUs to begin with. So we had, we had six different styles. And we tried, you know, we had the turtleneck, we had a poncho, we had, like a little fleece skirt. Was one of our fur, I mean, like a fleece kind of pullover, three quarter length top. So we had, we just kind of like pieced together different moments that we thought would be good in a woman’s wardrobe, in the fleece fabric. And what we found was that the turtleneck really just was, was it, you know, and I think to anybody listening that’s starting a retail company, especially, or any, you know, retail accessories, anything, where you’re, like, buying and selling inventory, like having that hero product that has a low margin is the way is, like, crucial, like, that’s really just, it almost is. It’s like, the cash cow of your business is what, like, fuels the growth, I would say. And then I can think of many brands where, like, yes, they’re a retail brand, and they sell footwear and bags now, but like, they really started off with, like, one thing that really was what kind of put them on the map with so many consumers. So, you know, looking back at that time, we didn’t know that at all. Like, we just thought we had this great fabric. Let’s just make these beautiful styles and any pants, sweatpants, whatever. But then what we found was we had this addictive product. So we had to really iterate on that moving forward and like, offer different colors and different lengths of the turtleneck and different fits. And then we started doing three quarter zips. So but having that, like hero product at the offset at the outset was was something that, looking back on it was just, like, very lucky. I don’t think it’s like planned or

Kara Goldin 12:22
anything, just just trying it. How much harder is launching a business you worked for incredible brands, as did your sister, and how much harder is it to launch your own than maybe you thought it was going to be?

Lauren Stephens 12:39
Yeah, I think you know, that was what was so crazy about that time. Like I felt, I feel ignorance was bliss. At that time, I really didn’t know a lot of what I was getting into. I think I, you know, I really, you know, I, I look back on it and I, I’m glad we did what we obviously very thankful. But at the time, we just, we didn’t know what was ahead of us, and I think, and as you know, we were so passionate about it that we would have figured we would figure out anything like any challenge that came up. We were, you know, we approached us with head on, and we made decisions that we thought were the best at the time. But it’s, it’s very challenging, and it’s, you know, you’re basically creating something out of nothing, you know, when you think about it, like this brand, this concept, like, whatever we’re doing here was didn’t exist beforehand. So it’s like, how do you put systems in place, and the supply chain and and really, and operations, you know, like the behind the scenes that not everybody sees, like, there’s a an entire organization behind us that that fully supports what we’re doing, you know, on the customer facing side. So, you know, do it, getting all that up and running was very challenging, many sleepless nights, long hours too. I mean, I can only imagine, you know, in your experience, too. Like, you know, you don’t you leave your nine to five. What’s the saying? Like, leave your nine to five to like, work 5pm to 9am like, you you know, we’re all we’re working around the clock constantly. But you know once, if when it’s come, when it’s yours, and it’s personal, and you feel really passionate about it, like, any challenge like you really can overcome, but, but that’s, it’s, it’s very hard, I would say, to answer the question in a long winded way, like I, you know, I, I really have so much respect and admiration for other entrepreneurs, because I’ve just seen everything that we’ve gone through and experience. And, you know, it’s definitely challenging,

Kara Goldin 14:41
for sure. Where did the brand name, Dudley Stevens come from?

Lauren Stephens 14:45
So it’s actually my maiden name, and then my married name, and we, you know, it, we went through many different ideas names, and I think what it came down to was that we are. We’re, you know, we’re a family founded company and so and, you know, obviously my sister’s maiden name is also Dudley, my mom’s name is still Dudley. So we all felt strongly that we wanted to have our name represented in some way. And then my last name Stevens, and we liked the way it sounded. We, you know, I think it’s kind of, it’s funny, because it’s really the name in itself, has very much guided it’s guided us along the way, and it’s really allowed us to become, to remain, a family owned and operated company. And I think it goes back to that, those first few months of like coming up with the concept and the name and the logo, and it’s really allowed us to remain true to that and really be a family grounded business.

Kara Goldin 15:47
So I see you and your sister and your mom and a lot of the storytelling around the brand. What role did storytelling play in building kind of the early brand awareness and what it is today.

Lauren Stephens 16:03
Yeah, I think that’s really what people gravitate towards, and especially now, the really the behind the scenes and showing that we’re real people has been intricate to our marketing and so, so important we, you know, looking back, and it’s hard, it’s hard to put yourself in a forward facing position and really be out there and public facing, you know, like I you have to have a thick skin. You have to know, you know you’re not going to not everyone’s going to love you, and you’re not going to be, please, everybody all the time, but, but you know, for us, we just so believe in the product. And we, we really, especially in the the retail world, like we, we are our own customer. Like I, if I’m not wearing Dudley Stevens and like, what, you know, how can I sell it? Like I, we believe in it so much. And I, you know, there really isn’t a day or a moment where I’m not wearing a product of ours, you know, even if it’s like a really fancy dinner, I try to, like, incorporate something in some way, because I, you know, I just really believe in it. And, like, I so, you know, there it’s it all goes back to the storytelling and like how well all of our styles fit into our days, and like what we’re doing and our journey of motherhood, of running a business, you know, being a member of our community like it, just it really fits into all of these different areas, and so we try really hard to show that on our Instagram. And I think it really builds trust with our community, you know, I think it’s like those return customers and like the people that are obsessed with our product, and also wear us every day, like there’s that trust of like that we’re wearing it and like we’re selling and putting product out there, that like we believe in.

Kara Goldin 17:51
When you think about the you know you’re you’re moving from you mentioned 30 items was your first production. So when did you get to a point where you were moving outside of having somebody locally make it?

Lauren Stephens 18:09
Yes, that, so it was actually during covid. So we were making everything locally in Brooklyn, New York, and we had a wonderful factory there that we that we were working with. But you know, we knew, we knew we’d have to move on from them at some point, because they could only scale so much. Like local production is amazing, but it’s hard to find someone at the right price and the right production level. And also, like with the global supply chain and the retail industry, like you’re we’re limited here in the United States, as unfortunate as it is like with global production now, like you know, our we it’s hard to find the right fabrics also, and so we knew that we’d have to move outside of the US. We just didn’t know how and when and and then enter covid. And I actually listened to your interview with Gary V and you mentioned too during covid, you guys had set up like a supply chain that was, I think, ready for covid, and unintentionally, I think it sounded like so you had a real, yeah, you had a real advantage there, and we did not. So we had, we really had, we had totally put all of our eggs in one basket with our Brooklyn production facility, and covid happened, and the world shut down, and we were reliant on this one factory and it and, you know, there were many days where we thought we’d be out of business. We didn’t know where we were going to get supply. And it was, it was such an unfortunate time, because it was really on a growth we were on this growth trajectory that we saw, but we just, you know, all of a sudden, the world shuts down, and what are you going to do? And we had to scramble, and we found a woman who came in, she had worked at Victoria’s Secret for many years, and I. Lot to her, she’s still working with us, and she basically overhauled our entire supply chain, and we went from a single factory production runs to now. We have three or four factories around the globe that we work with. And, you know, I think covid was a good learning in that to, like, not just rely on one production facility for us as a company. I mean, I know many companies are vertically integrated, and they own their factory, and that’s great, but we needed to be like in multiple so. So she really was transformative in figuring out our supply chain and and, you know, covid was terrible, but there were many silver linings in it, and we still continued to grow, and we were able to figure out the production. And, you know, looking back on it, it forced our hand to, like, really figure out the production. And there were times where I feel like it almost put us out of business business, but we somehow made it work.

Kara Goldin 20:53
I love it when you think about because you’ve really got core consumers, but you’re always looking for new consumers to bring in anytime you’re launching a consumer product in any category. What do you think is maybe, how is this consumer changed as as you go and bring new consumers in? Then maybe it was when you were first launching. That’s, I

Lauren Stephens 21:23
think about that, this question every day I it’s, you know, when we were it’s funny, because I think a lot about it in the trajectory of my like motherhood journey, also, like when I had, when I was home with newborns and toddlers and getting spit up on and a matt, you know, you just are in that, like, disheveled phase of motherhood. Our product was so perfect for that. And then I naturally spoke to that. Now my kids are eight, nine years old, and I’m on the sidelines at flag football, freezing, wearing Dudley Stevens. And so I speak to that like, so it, you know, it’s we were. I keep thinking, like, Oh, my God, we need to still talk to the young moms too. Like, like, they’re out there, and they might be new customers, you know, like, they might not know about us, and they might have just had a baby, and their life’s their life is changing, and they’re home now more. And so, you know, I think there’s always that, like, younger customer that’s kind of right up coming behind us, that I’m we’re constantly thinking on how to try to reach and then on the flip side of that, you know, we have my mom, who’s just turned 70. Sorry to call her out her age, but she, you know, she’s now in this retirement world. Granted, still working with us, but, and she’s constantly selling to her friends, and so then you think about, oh my gosh, there’s this whole other market of women that love our stuff and like, can’t get enough of it as well. So, you know, there’s, there’s, so there’s so much opportunity with our brand and reaching new customers. And we are day in and day out, I feel like is my job running the company, like, if I’m not out trying to find new customers, like I’m not doing my job. So it’s all about, like marketing, speaking to wonderful women like yourself, and we, my sister and I started a podcast also a year and a half ago, and I’ve just found it to be a great way to, like, create content and discuss business and reach new women and and so, you know, we’re constantly thinking of ways to reach new women and and especially in this new world of like, the algorithm that’s like, I can’t figure out, like, we have this wonderful social media girl who’s much younger than I am who, you know, it’s all about figuring out these new ways to reach new customers. And we know that, like, once we get in their hands and they buy one, they come back for another, so they’re more than likely to come back so so we’re, you know, always trying to figure out new ways to reach new women. And we just see so much opportunity, like there’s so much scalability with our brand, we just have to figure out the right ways to do it, and the scrappy ways. Like, we’re always scrappy with our marketing. So I’m, you know, I’m always thinking of trying to figure out new ways of how to get get

Kara Goldin 24:12
to people. How many SKUs Do you have, I guess, today, or generally, I know that seasonal. But how, how many SKUs do you have at one time? We probably have

Lauren Stephens 24:24
about 40 to 50 at one time now. So we’re, you know, we still are. We remain small and in our production, and that’s been something that we’re trying to, always trying to figure out over time. And we’re never going to figure it out perfectly, like buying inventory is always, you know, a guess, and using previous seasons and all that to estimate, but, but we really try to buy inventory and drop it and sell out quickly, and it’s like figuring out that magic number, and sometimes on some styles. It’s less because we’re like, well might not be you. Super popular, but we know some ladies will like this. So, and then sometimes we’ll design a style, and we are like, Oh my God. We all love this. Make more so, so we’re really trying to, you know, measure the inventory and, you know, buy stuff very intelligently and not try to overbuy and, and that’s, that’s a that’s, it’s a whole formula that is a work in progress and always will be but, but it’s very much it. We’re not trying to, like, make ton and grow so quickly, like, we’re really trying to be have, like, measured growth with everything

Kara Goldin 25:39
that’s awesome. So couple more questions. So growing a business with your family? Any suggestions there? I’m sure I was speaking with somebody earlier today who launched a business totally different category with the sister and and it was, I mean, it was really interesting. I mean, he said he and his sister always were very two, very different people, and but they had an interest and saw that there was a problem that they, you know, were interested in selling. And I think it’s very clear that they both have different skill sets. I’m curious what you would say about that, about your sister, as well as your mom, being involved in the business.

Lauren Stephens 26:29
That is, I’m so glad that whomever you were speaking with said that, because I think that’s the key to making this work. I mean, you know, my sister and I, we are very close. We talk all day, every day, and but we’re very our skill set is different, similar in some ways. We’re on the same page on almost everything, but, but we really bring different skills to the table. And so it really helps with making decisions. It helps with division of labor and who does what and and so I’m really thankful for that. And my mom is just, she has great design and fit insight and so, and we really value her opinion, too, you know, coming from, like, another generation of women that are huge shoppers, like, we want to know, like, what she likes, you know. So, so we, we really try to listen to each other. And as my mom has said to before, like, we always bring up ideas to each other, and we have, we always try to be open to different things and and really validate and, like, listen and, and I, you know, I think it’s really important to in a family business to have some sort of, like, written and signed off on agreement at the outset, like, really get that down on paper. And even though your family or friends, like close friends, you know, I’ve seen things implode and not go the right way. And I, you know, I really am thankful to our my family too, and my dad included, even though I haven’t mentioned him yet. Like, mentioned him yet, like, he’s not involved, but he’s there, and he was helpful in the beginning and all that so but in the beginning, the four of us, really, we sat down and we signed paperwork that said, like, here’s the structure of the business and and that set the tone for the next now, almost 11 years of like, operating the business and staying sane and all that. And you know that’s not to say that we’ve had major disagreements and times where we’ve gone head to head on things, but, but generally speaking, like having a written having a written agreement and and knowing what you’re like, understanding and acknowledging what you’re not good at, and what your co worker and your Co co-founder is good at and and then merging that together, I think, is like key to to the success of it.

Kara Goldin 28:49
No, I love that. Well, Lauren, thank you so much for coming on and talking to us about Dudley Stevens. I’m obsessed with your brand. So so thank you so such a great, great like brand that you’ve built, and I love the backstory. I love all the storytelling you’re doing around it. And for everyone listening, be sure to check out Dudley Stevens.com and follow them on social as well, as well as Lauren and her family too. So you guys are doing such a great job. So really, really cool.

Lauren Stephens 29:24
Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, totally.

Kara Goldin 29:27
And thank you everyone for listening too until next time on the Kara Goldin show. Thanks, Kara. 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. To 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.

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