Come With Me to Do A Live Press Briefing for The Business of Apparel and Unmarked Street!

What if growing your apparel brand actually means offering less? After five years of trial and error, I'm realizing just how much simpler a business can become when you stop trying to do everything and focus on what's working. In this episode, I'm sharing how we're applying "the principle of the three ones" at The Business of Apparel: one funnel, one offer, and one million dollars as the first major milestone. I'm sharing a sneak peek into why we're putting our energy into the Apparel Founders Board, how simplifying our offers and websites will help us better serve apparel founders, and why I believe the same approach can transform your product line. Limiting your offers can lower customer overwhelm, protect your cash flow, and build a brand people recognize for what it does best. 📝 Today We're Covering: The principle of the three ones: one funnel, one offer, and one million dollars How five years of testing, failures, and customer feedback shaped our business strategy How simplifying your offers and marketing can make it easier for customers to buy Why starting with one hero product, outfit, or collection can protect your cash flow How to use sales and profit data to identify your best-selling products and rationalize your SKU list How to use big businesses as a model to start small and expand strategically Your apparel brand doesn't need dozens of products or endless offers to grow. Start by simplifying, looking at your numbers, and figuring out what you want to be known for. Focus your energy on your hero product, make it easy for customers to find, and build from a strong foundation. ➡️ Your Next Steps: Order my book The Business of Apparel here! Book a call with us: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/meet Join The Board here: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/join ‼️ Don't Miss These Episodes: Wholesale 101: https://youtu.be/lpezH1YwCyE Use AI in Your Apparel Brand: https://youtu.be/Dn9tjPNmfaw Grow a 7-Figure Apparel Business: https://youtu.be/rpQYDyo5Rao 🤝 Meet Rachel: Rachel Erickson is a Fractional COO, Apparel Industry Consultant, and founder of Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel. With 20+ years in technical design and product development leadership, she sat at the executive table of a $25M apparel line and helped scale it to $60M in one year. After decades working inside major fashion companies, she learned the truth behind billion-dollar brands, and it's not about chasing trends or pumping out endless products. It's about building clean processes, tightly edited assortments, and obsessively focused customer targeting. Rachel helps founders and CEOs of performance apparel brands: ✅ Build lean, profitable product lines ✅ Streamline operations for growth ✅ Replace overwhelm with executive clarity ✅ Create garments that fit bodies in motion Whether you're just hitting $1M in revenue or trying to break through the $10M ceiling, Rachel will join you as an embedded operations and product partner—running fittings, line plans, tech packs, and vendor communications so you can get back to leading. Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-erickson-pmp/ and visit her website at www.unmarkedstreet.com.

What if your stellar work ethic is actually killing your business? It sounds crazy, but if you're doing everything yourself, working 60, 80, or 100 hours a week, you may actually be creating a ceiling for your business instead of helping it grow. I've had to learn this lesson myself, and I'm seeing the same pattern with many of the apparel founders I work with. In this episode, I'm talking about why doing more isn't always the answer. I'm sharing what my own experience taught me about letting go of tasks, giving my team room to succeed, making space to be the visionary, and recognizing when my work ethic was no longer serving me or my business. 📝 Today We're Covering: Why doing everything yourself can create a ceiling for your business How holding onto tasks can prevent your team from succeeding and growing Why CEOs need space on their calendars to think about the bigger picture What my corporate career taught me about the importance of delegation How coaching and mentorship can help you find opportunities to save money, make more money, and move faster Building a profitable apparel brand isn't about proving how much work you can handle. It's about creating the systems, team, and space you need to lead the business forward. My challenge for you this week is simple: give yourself permission to be the visionary. ➡️ Your Next Steps: Order my book The Business of Apparel here! Subscribe to the Apparel Founder's Boardroom Notes on Substack: substack.com/@businessofapparel Join The Board here: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/join ‼️ Don't Miss These Episodes: Wholesale 101: https://youtu.be/lpezH1YwCyE Use AI in Your Apparel Brand: https://youtu.be/Dn9tjPNmfaw Grow a 7-Figure Apparel Business: https://youtu.be/rpQYDyo5Rao 🤝 Meet Rachel: Rachel Erickson is a Fractional COO, Apparel Industry Consultant, and founder of Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel. With 20+ years in technical design and product development leadership, she sat at the executive table of a $25M apparel line and helped scale it to $60M in one year. After decades working inside major fashion companies, she learned the truth behind billion-dollar brands, and it's not about chasing trends or pumping out endless products. It's about building clean processes, tightly edited assortments, and obsessively focused customer targeting. Rachel helps founders and CEOs of performance apparel brands: ✅ Build lean, profitable product lines ✅ Streamline operations for growth ✅ Replace overwhelm with executive clarity ✅ Create garments that fit bodies in motion Whether you're just hitting $1M in revenue or trying to break through the $10M ceiling, Rachel will join you as an embedded operations and product partner—running fittings, line plans, tech packs, and vendor communications so you can get back to leading. Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-erickson-pmp/ and visit her website at www.unmarkedstreet.com.

Reaching five years in business is a milestone worth celebrating, and it also gives you plenty of reasons to pause, reflect, and take stock of everything you've learned along the way. In this episode, I'm reflecting on five years of building Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel and sharing some of the biggest lessons, mistakes, and pivots that have shaped my journey. From launching my own apparel line and realizing it wasn't where my heart was to learning the importance of trusting my vision, I'm sharing the experiences that have influenced the way I lead my business today. I'm also talking about building a strong team, simplifying our offers, learning to focus, and finally taking my own advice when it comes to tracking numbers, building processes, and creating a more profitable business. 📝 Today We're Covering: The biggest lessons I've learned after five years in business What launching my own apparel line taught me about being a startup founder Why fear-driven decisions can pull you away from what you really want to build The importance of hiring and building a team you can rely on Why simplifying and focusing can be so difficult for entrepreneurs The importance of knowing your numbers and using data to make better business decisions Why slowing down to build better processes can ultimately help you grow faster What I'm focusing on as I begin the next five years of Unmarked Street and the Business of Apparel Five years in, I'm realizing that building a business is an ongoing process of learning, adjusting, simplifying, and starting again when necessary. This episode is an honest look at the lessons that have shaped my business so far and the work I'm doing now to build a more focused, data-driven, and sustainable company for the next five years. ➡️ Your Next Steps: Order my book The Business of Apparel here! Say Good-Bye to $20,000 Apparel Brand Mistakes here: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/goodbye Join The Board here: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/join Get help with product development: www.unmarkedstreet.com/contact ‼️ Don't Miss These Episodes: Wholesale 101: https://youtu.be/lpezH1YwCyE Use AI in Your Apparel Brand: https://youtu.be/Dn9tjPNmfaw Grow a 7-Figure Apparel Business: https://youtu.be/rpQYDyo5Rao 🤝 Meet Rachel: Rachel Erickson is a Fractional COO, Apparel Industry Consultant, and founder of Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel. With 20+ years in technical design and product development leadership, she sat at the executive table of a $25M apparel line and helped scale it to $60M in one year. After decades working inside major fashion companies, she learned the truth behind billion-dollar brands, and it's not about chasing trends or pumping out endless products. It's about building clean processes, tightly edited assortments, and obsessively focused customer targeting. Rachel helps founders and CEOs of performance apparel brands: ✅ Build lean, profitable product lines ✅ Streamline operations for growth ✅ Replace overwhelm with executive clarity ✅ Create garments that fit bodies in motion Whether you're just hitting $1M in revenue or trying to break through the $10M ceiling, Rachel will join you as an embedded operations and product partner—running fittings, line plans, tech packs, and vendor communications so you can get back to leading. Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-erickson-pmp/ and visit her website at www.unmarkedstreet.com.

Starting an apparel brand can require far more time, money, and patience than you might expect, and unfortunately there may be plenty of expensive lessons to learn along the way. In this episode, I'm bringing back a conversation with entrepreneur Kelly Roach, a former NFL cheerleader and Fortune 500 executive turned 8-figure+ entrepreneur empowering thousands around the globe to achieve financial and lifestyle freedom through entrepreneurship. Kelly shares openly about the biggest mistakes she made when launching her apparel brand, Give Her Courage, along with what she learned and how she would do things differently. She is passionate about inspiring girls and women to reach incredible goals, both through her apparel line and her strategic coaching. 📝 Today We're Covering: Why launching with too many products can make it harder to build momentum How to test demand for your designs before investing in a lengthy and expensive custom development process Realistic timelines of apparel development, including how samples, revisions, overseas vendors, ports, and tariffs can affect them How inventory quantities affect your overall startup budget Why you need a separate budget for marketing and advertising The importance of building wholesale relationships to get your product in front of potential buyers Why product quality, fit, and customer loyalty are essential to building a brand that can grow over the long term Kelly's journey offers a valuable look at some of the financial and strategic realities that come with building an apparel brand. From testing your concept to planning your long term goals, this conversation is packed with lessons that can help you approach the apparel business with a clear understanding of what it takes to get a product to market and build a sustainable brand. ➡️ Connect with Kelly: Website: kellyroachcoaching.com IG: @kellyroachofficial LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kellyroachint/ Join the club: thecourageousbrand.com Listen to her podcast: kellyroachinternational.com/podcast/ ➡️ Connect with Rachel: Join The Board: thebusinessofapparel.com/join Get in touch here: thebusinessofapparel.com/contact Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rachel-erickson-pmp/ Order my new book, The Business of Apparel, here! 🤝 Meet Rachel: Rachel Erickson is a Fractional COO, Apparel Industry Consultant, and founder of Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel. With 20+ years in technical design and product development leadership, she sat at the executive table of a $25M apparel line and helped scale it to $60M in one year. After decades working inside major fashion companies, she learned the truth behind billion-dollar brands, and it's not about chasing trends or pumping out endless products. It's about building clean processes, tightly edited assortments, and obsessively focused customer targeting. Rachel helps founders and CEOs of performance apparel brands: ✅ Build lean, profitable product lines ✅ Streamline operations for growth ✅ Replace overwhelm with executive clarity ✅ Create garments that fit bodies in motion Whether you're just hitting $1M in revenue or trying to break through the $10M ceiling, Rachel will join you as an embedded operations and product partner—running fittings, line plans, tech packs, and vendor communications so you can get back to leading.

When you're working with an apparel manufacturer, it's important to know exactly who you're communicating with. Sometimes the person you think is part of the factory may actually be a sourcing agent working between you and the manufacturer. Agents aren't necessarily a bad thing, but understanding how that relationship works can have a major impact on your costs, communication, and control over your production. I'm breaking down what apparel sourcing agents do, how they fit into the relationship between a brand and a manufacturer, and what you should know about the additional costs that can come with working through an agent. 📝 Today We're Covering: What apparel sourcing agents do and how they fit between brands and manufacturers The potential benefits of working with an agent, especially when sourcing multiple types of products or working across different manufacturing regions How agent fees can affect your FOB costs and why you should understand exactly what you're paying for Why detailed, line-by-line cost breakdown sheets are an important tool for evaluating your manufacturing costs How to compare fabric prices and yields and work directly with your mill to verify pricing Why maintaining a relationship with your manufacturer can reduce risk and give you more visibility into your production Whether you choose to work directly with a manufacturer or through an agent, the most important thing is understanding how your sourcing relationships actually work. Knowing who is on your team, what they're responsible for, and how money and communication flow through those relationships can help you make better business decisions and avoid expensive surprises as your apparel brand grows. ➡️ Your Next Steps: Get help with product development: www.unmarkedstreet.com/contact Subscribe to the Apparel Founder's Boardroom Notes on Substack: substack.com/@businessofapparel Join The Board here: https://www.thebusinessofapparel.com/join Order my new book, The Business of Apparel, here! ‼️ Don't Miss These Episodes: Wholesale 101: https://youtu.be/lpezH1YwCyE Use AI in Your Apparel Brand: https://youtu.be/Dn9tjPNmfaw Grow a 7-Figure Apparel Business: https://youtu.be/rpQYDyo5Rao 🤝 Meet Rachel: Rachel Erickson is a Fractional COO, Apparel Industry Consultant, and founder of Unmarked Street and The Business of Apparel. With 20+ years in technical design and product development leadership, she sat at the executive table of a $25M apparel line and helped scale it to $60M in one year. After decades working inside major fashion companies, she learned the truth behind billion-dollar brands, and it's not about chasing trends or pumping out endless products. It's about building clean processes, tightly edited assortments, and obsessively focused customer targeting. Rachel helps founders and CEOs of performance apparel brands: ✅ Build lean, profitable product lines ✅ Streamline operations for growth ✅ Replace overwhelm with executive clarity ✅ Create garments that fit bodies in motion Whether you're just hitting $1M in revenue or trying to break through the $10M ceiling, Rachel will join you as an embedded operations and product partner—running fittings, line plans, tech packs, and vendor communications so you can get back to leading. Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-erickson-pmp/ and visit her website at www.unmarkedstreet.com.