Hardware Podcasts

Title Nine: Missy Park (October 2021)

How I Built This · 7 Apr 2025 · 1h 20m

What this episode covers

Missy Park, founder of Title 9, explains how she bootstrapped a women's sports apparel company in 1989 with only $30,000, initially selling third-party brands via mail-order catalogs. She identifies the sports bra as a critical product after noticing high demand in early orders, allowing the company to survive cash flow crises and eventually reach profitability without outside investment. Park discusses the strategic decision to remain private to maintain culture and mentor female executives, despite facing a significant downturn in 2014 due to a slow shift to digital sales and the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail stores.

Most relevant to

founders before launch, early-stage companies and companies scaling up

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Title 9, The North Face, Fisher Mountain Bikes, Lululemon, Athleta, Outdoor Voices, Moving Comfort, Pearl Izumi, U.S. Bank, U.S. Women's National Soccer Team

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