140: Redefining the Mom in the Workforce | The Revury with Remington Fraser

REMINGTON FRASER [0:00]

But right now as a small company, I’m just here to try and do good and try to open this door to as many people as possible because I do think that shopping second is the best thing we can do for our environment.

[MUSIC]

CAMILLE WALKER [0:10]

So, you want to make an impact. You’re thinking about starting a business sharing your voice. How do women do it that handle motherhood, family, and still chase after those dreams? We’ll listen each week as we dive into the stories of women who know. This is Call Me CEO.

[MUSIC]

What I love to see is when women see something in the marketplace and they decide, I think I’m going to change that. And that goes for men too. Any innovator that looks and sees something they can do to improve our way of life, to protect our planet, improve the humans around us or even make life a little bit easier, I’m all for it.

This episode is awesome for that because we’re actually talking with Remington Frasier who is the CEO and founder of The Revury, which takes high-end fashion and helps you to purchase them at a much lower price. She is going to share with us how she left her attorney lifestyle for something that really felt like it had purpose and meaning in her life and was more conducive to moms. She also has employed an entire mom workforce, which is just absolutely amazing. So, let’s dive into the episode and don’t forget to subscribe.

Welcome back everyone to Call Me CEO. This is Camille Walker. And today, we are talking about an all-women’s workforce with the CEO and founder, Remington Frasier, and she has the company of luxury products called The Revury. And what I really loved about her story and what she is with reaching out is that she has an all-mom work team. She talks about incorporating women and mothers back into the workforce, which as you know here is very important to us at Call Me CEO. So, thank you so much for being here Remington. We are so excited to have you on the show.

REMINGTON [2:10]

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I’m excited to be here.

CAMILLE [2:12]

Yeah. So, you’re a California girl. You love luxury. Let’s dive into that. Where did this passion come from and how did you come up with the idea?

REMINGTON [2:21]

Before this, I was an attorney and I primarily represented fashion apparel companies and the corporate M&A and security space. And then, prior to that, I worked in luxury sales. So, I worked my way through undergrad and grad school. So, in total, I have over a decade of experience in the area.

So, I always knew I wanted to be in fashion, but the question was, where do I fit? And I never really found my place until I decided to leave my law firm, which was for so many reasons, but one of them being that I really wanted to start a family and I was just miscarrying a lot and I think it was stress and a culmination of factors. But eventually, I decided to leave my firm and started The Revury and it has changed everything.

CAMILLE [3:07]

Wow. So, that’s a pretty big jump. My husband runs a law firm. So, I’m familiar with attorneys, their lifestyle, how demanding it can be. And it’s interesting too because a big part of that is really trying to help women to feel more included in law firms and in that workforce, but it is a very intense work schedule. It’s a very demanding work life. What was that like for you? Going through all that schooling and then shifting gears.

REMINGTON [3:35]

That’s a great question. I think everything is part of your life lessons and you’re going to gain so much experience and talent from every step that you take, even if it’s not readily apparent at the moment. You’re going to gain skills and life lessons that you’re going to apply down the line.

I don’t regret one second of it. I fell last back in law school to be honest with you. I only applied to one school. I took the LSAT on a whim and this one school had a great fashion law program where they would have courses specializing in it. So, things unique to the fashion industry such as counterfeiting or labor laws, talent versus modeling, unemployment. So, I really leaned into that and I found my niche. And I was so passionate about it.

But again, life throws you curveballs and I really wanted a family. And I was questioning, what mark am I leaving? What am I building here? Is this really fulfilling me? I had a great job, stable income, job security, really interesting work, incredible clients. And I at the end of the day was like, this is my chance to take a risk. And I saw an opening in the market and I just thought, I think I could do better. And I just took the leap.

CAMILLE [4:54]

That is a big leap and I’m so glad you did too. So, okay, you’re doing fashion law. So, that makes sense where obviously fashion has already been a passion for you. When did that begin, the love for fashion in your life?

REMINGTON [5:07]

It’s actually more of love for business and less for fashion. My college roommates actually tease me because I showed up to my first day of college in my high school uniform. I literally had zero fashion sense.

So, I think the fashion element was actually something that was learned and curated as I think the more you learn about anything. Say you love cooking. The more you get into it, the more interested you are in non-stick pans or specialty forkware. I don’t know. I don’t cook.

But the same is true I think for fashion. The more you start to learn about it and you can appreciate these high-end designers, you really understand, wow, I understand why these shoes are $500, this blouse is $300 because you can start to understand what design elements go into it, the fabric, the differences, the small design cuts, things like that. You can start to appreciate it and understand.

And I think that's really what hooked me into it was just the incredible amount of talent and knowledge base that needs to go into something in order to create a fashion apparel product. And that’s something I get to enjoy at The Revury everyday. We’re a luxury resale. And we have about 500 consignors across 10 states and that’s all done in about 2 years since we launched.

And to give you a perspective, my daughter is almost 2. She’s 21 months. She’ll be 2 this summer and my business is 2. So, it gives you a very healthy perspective of how actually nuts my life has been. We’ve gone from an apartment to a small windowless hole in the wall to this beautiful showroom that we have. It’s 5000 square feet, ocean views. It’s just been an incredible journey of propelling forward even if you don't know exactly where you’re going.

But we’ve been led by an incredible team. My board is comprised of two senior level former employees from The Real Real, who's our main competitor and one of the former heads of data sciences at Stitch Fix. And so, the way that we’ve pioneered this path is we have a focus on technology. So, everything has been pierced by an algorithm instead of a human and the question is, how can we automate this process to make it more efficient and more accurate?

And that’s something that we just learned from our predecessors. Okay, where were the red flags and how can we do it better? How can we do it different? And that’s where I started and where we are now. And so, it still is very, very tech-focused, but I think the team itself is what makes us so special.

I mentioned we're a team of all moms, but it didn’t start out that way. I started out, hard line attorney. All right. I want pedigree. I want experience. I want the best of the best in the market. And that didn’t pan out for us. We saw a lot of turnover. Our productivity was down. It wasn’t jiving. And at a certain point, I was like, what am I doing wrong?

And I just took a hard look at everything and I was like, you know what? I’m just going to throw the rule book out the window. I'm going to start hiring from my gut. I brought on one of my good girlfriends. And I was like, “Do you want to come do this?” It was literally just like that. I was like, “So, you want to come work?” And it actually worked out to be incredible.

I cut the work day from 8 hours to 6 because we’re moms. And at the end of the day, we have to be responsible for our kids. We have to pick them up. We have to get them to their activities. So, we cut the work day from 8 hours to 6. And then, I bumped up everybody’s starting pay. And what’s so incredible is we have seen our revenue go up 45%. Our productivity, volume products, is at 12%. And our overall cost, it’s down 34%, which is so mind blowing.

CAMILLE [9:02]

Is that because you've been able to have less employees that are more productive? Is that how you’ve been able to bring down the overall cost?

REMINGTON [9:09]

Yeah. And I don’t think you can attribute it to just one thing. I do think it is the quality and caliber of the labor, but I also just think there's something to be said about moms in the workforce. They show up hungry and ready and there's no that’s beneath me sentiment or that’s not in my pay grade. They show up and they’re ready to work and they hustle.

And while they’re there, there's no downtime. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen and they’re in a day. If you need to get a project done, if you need a multitasker to get a project done on a budget, hire yourself a mom. I completely believe this to be true. Just think about it. Let’s just think about it.

Let’s just say, okay, we're going to throw you three kids, four sports schedules, seven days of the week, and hey, $10 for gas. Go. And they actually could get that done. Honestly, they execute. And there’s something to be said about that.

I truly believe that moms are the most valuable asset in the corporate world that corporate America doesn’t know it’s missing. I feel like I just hit holes really. And I think being able to offer that flexibility of, okay, you know what? It’s 6 hours not 8. But while they’re here, they churn that product, they work really hard. We’ve seen incredible growth in numbers and all of it is data-driven. This isn't just a softball question that we do for publicity. This is actually what’s working for our business.

And I think that the greater corporate America can learn a lesson from this. These are hungry hardworking people and it’s a great environment to be around. They’re fun. They're exciting. They bring a breath of fresh air. I’ve never worked on a team where I could honestly say I would want to hang out with them or have a drink. I came from so many different worlds, but this is by far the happiest place that I’ve been in a workplace environment.

CAMILLE [11:18]

I love that so much that you talk about the corporate world learning from this because I think if there's anything that the pandemic has taught us is that the old ways aren’t necessarily the only ways and there’s remote work now. There’s people cutting down the work week or the work day. And I think allowing that space to be mom-friendly is life-changing for everyone, which I think is so cool that you’ve been able to do that. With this team of women that you have, how many are on your group or are in your team right now?

REMINGTON [11:52]

So, we are a team of 3. It’s 3 of us, myself included, and we're all moms. And going back to your point about corporate America trying to allow the space for moms to re-enter into the workforce, I think this is absolutely true for moms, but I think even on a bigger scale, it’s about burnout and work life balance. And we see in our competition, there's an average career span of 2.5 years, 2 years before they move onto the next thing.

And I think a lot of it has to be said is they're getting burned out. We’re working people too hard. We're not understanding that when they leave the office, they still hold the day ahead of them of carpools and groceries and laundry and pickups and dropoffs. And that is exhausting.

And if we could just afford a little bit of flexibility, if we can give them 2 hours of our life back, just think about how they can show up the next day energized. They show up and it's like we're ready to work. We’re not burned out. We’re showing up. We believe in this. I think that’s incredibly important is having somebody who’s showing up and is like, I believe in what we’re doing and I’m here to help it grow.

I didn’t walk away from my job when I was a lawyer just because I wanted to make money. I did it because I wanted to build something better, something that I believed in, something that when I die, I could say like, this made a great impact in the world. And I truly think that’s something that The Revury is doing.

And it’s from the ground up. It’s from our team who’s working in our workforce to the people we are helping. Our consignors don’t have an option to cash in on their closet or if they did, they’re not able to. Maybe they’re working. They don’t have time to sell in Poshmark. Maybe they don’t have the ability or the knowledge of, okay, how do I take a good photo? How do I market it?

Allowing people to cash in on our closet effortlessly or democratizing fashion.

Let’s just say there’s a brand you love and you weren’t able to afford it on a primary market or maybe you’re just not willing to pay $300 for a blouse. I get that. And how can we make those brands affordable and accessible? Bringing it online. Marking down those prices. Extending the product life cycle. It’s a true win-win-win if you’re looking at it from a consignor perspective, a customer perspective, and a global perspective of creating a more sustainable future for fashion.

CAMILLE [14:15]

Yeah. That’s a big deal right now with the landfills and the quick fashion. And listen, I am not against that either. I feel like there are places for different articles of clothing in everyone’s wardrobe.

Could you take a step back just once or twice here and tell our audience what the product is exactly? Because I think they're getting it, but maybe say it one more time a little more slowly of how could someone listening take advantage of this if they had products in their office or in their closet that they wanted to sell or if they were interested in buying? What is it exactly that we have?

REMINGTON [14:55]

So, we are an online marketplace to consign and shop designer fashion. So, we can only take higher-end labels because those are the ones that are going to have the most demand, meaning the highest resale value to our consignors, but also the best quality in terms of the longevity of their product life cycle.

And so, you're going to see brands like Mother Denim, Serena, Ulla Johnson, Yestadt Millinery, Vince, brands like that that are in upper echelon level that are really expensive on the primary market, but on the secondhand market can have a really healthy discount. And it can really open the doors for new customers to come in and try and shop those labels.

Unfortunately, we can’t carry any fast-fashion labels such as Gap, we don’t carry J.Crew, we don’t carry Free People, Zara, H&M. A lot of it is because that market’s been cannibalized. I can’t compete if you’re selling a Free People dress on Poshmark for $5. I can’t compete with that in terms of maintaining our numbers and margins. And also, for example, if you throw a Zara shirt in the wash, it’s likely going to fall apart and not have the wherewithal to be resold, at least not to the conditions and standards we hold for ourselves at The Revury.

And so, we are a place where there’s high-quality beautiful luxury products that people can’t just give away. They can’t just send it to Goodwill because they’ve spent so much on it, but they know they’re never going to wear it again. That’s where we step in. We help them clean those out, resell it online. We mail out trucks every month to our consignors and they can just log in, view their products and sales. They don’t have to do anything.

CAMILLE [16:38]

So, do they ship their clothing to you? Is that how it works to get the items, and then you take photos of them and do all of the marketing online? Is that how it works?

REMINGTON [16:47]

Yeah, exactly. So, we’re full service. So, consignors can go onto our website, download free pre-paid shipping labels and mail their items in, and then it goes through our proprietary systems.

So, in the beginning, I mentioned we were tech-enabled. Every step of the way, we have a tech to back us up. So, when a product comes in, it’s going through our system. We take a photo of it. We use image recognition to help us with authentication. We then do a second layer of human authentication, so we can really get down into the quality and the certain hallmarks of each brand. Then it goes to our proprietary pricing algorithm that prices the resale value. And then lastly, if there’s any extra photos we need to take, let’s look at those and post it online.

So, on the back end, our consignors can log in and see their products listed out, all their sales. And then, on the front end, customers can come and they can shop and we do free shipping and returns. So, we’re the only online reseller who does free returns. And the idea for all of that is we want this to be a space where you can try. You shouldn't have to pay restocking fees just to try on. And I understand that at scale, that’s a harder number to budge.

But right now, as a small company, I’m just here to try and do good and try to open this door to as many people as possible because I do think that shopping second is the best thing we can do for our environment.

CAMILLE [18:07]

That’s really cool. I’m curious how you went from the idea of concept to actually creating the company. Did you have investors? Did you have someone that was willing to jump onboard? I know you said that you had some partnerships. How did you put it together?

REMINGTON [18:27]

I get asked that a lot and I just rolled up my sleeves. I left my law firm with nothing more than an idea. And I was like, all right, I guess I got to get to work. And the first thing I did is I went through all the public filings of our competitors in the marketplace and I just searched for issue.

Issue spotting is a big thing in the legal world. Where do I see issues, flaws in their procedure or potential fallbacks, things that would hold them from hitting profitability at scale? And I was like, all right. So, this is what I need to do. It looks like their big issues are brick and mortar, heavy labor costs, authentication issues.

A good solution to all these things is technology. Maybe we should go look at tech-focused companies, Stitch Fix. Let’s see what they’re doing. Okay. This is how they have managed it. All right. Now, who do I need on my team to be able to build that? I probably need somebody from my competition to help advise me. So, the first thing I did is, I went out and recruited my board. I started developing the technology.

My sister writes pricing algorithms. She works for a major insurance company in London. So, she helps me start out with our pricing algorithm. And what it does is it takes into account the various factors that a consumer would consider when making a purchase decision. So, what’s the brand? What’s the condition? What’s the original retail value? All of these different factors go into this algorithm.

And the way she explains it to me is it’s no different than creating a pricing algorithm for a life insurance policy. There’s different factors that you need to take into account: age, pre-existing conditions, health issues. All that gets factored into your policy. Same exact thing with our pricing algorithm.

And it’s probably one of the most robust in the market. It counts over a 1,000 designers across 32 product categories. And so, the idea is that it’s better than human. It removes the subjectivity around it. So, you might think that this blouse is beautiful and you’ll make it at $100. But the next person’s like, “It’s hideous. It’s $30.” And it’s so subjective. It’s like how can we streamline this and create a uniform basis that’s calculated so that we can manage the expectations of both consignors and customers and create a true fair market value for these products at resale base? And that’s what we set out to do. And frankly, we’re doing it pretty exceptionally.

CAMILLE [20:46]

Yeah. That’s so cool. I love that you took an idea and went and hit the ground running.

REMINGTON [20:53]

I’ve had a lot of doors closed on my face.

CAMILLE [20:55]

I was just going to say, I’m sure there’s bumps that happened. So, can you share any of those with us?

REMINGTON [21:01]

Absolutely, yeah. I funded the company solely. I took all of my savings from my law career and just threw it into this, which is incredibly scary and really hard to do, especially when there’s few people that believe in your idea. I’ve had my fair share of knocking on doors, trying to recruit people on our board, especially when I’m pitching to VCs. I've noticed it's really hard where people don't directly say to your face, “That’s never going to work,” but they’ll give you a sarcastic laugh like, “Good luck with that, honey. Best of luck on that, sweetie.”

And it’s hard, especially when you’re trying to explain to them we’re a team of all moms, we’re hustling, we have incredible technology behind us that we have developed, look at our board, we have major backers who believe in this idea and I’m coming to you to say, “We’re doing it differently and that’s scary. But I need you to take a bet on us because we’re going to win.”

And you get a lot of doors closed in your face, especially when you’re going into really traditional sectors that might not understand or be willing to open their minds to the idea that there’s a new way of doing something.

CAMILLE [22:14]

That’s powerful. What do you think is one of the biggest lessons you've learned so far in these last 2 years?

REMINGTON [22:22]

It’s humility. I think when I was an attorney, I felt like I made it. I did it. I’ll tell the world. I’m an attorney and it takes a lot of humility to do a startup. When I first started, we didn’t have marketing. How do you grow to a basis of 500 consignors over 2,000 customers? You have to go out and knock on doors. And it’s hard to have somebody close a door in your face.

I remember I had an experience, we do these pop-ups. We literally would go out onto the streets and we put up a clothing rack and I just sell it. And I explain to people. I’m like, “Look at this clothes. Look at it. These are Mother Denim jeans for $50. These are $200 jeans. This is incredible. And you could be doing it online from the comfort of your couch. This is exciting. Everybody needs to know about how great a deal this is. And it’s win-win for everyone. You guys, you need to know this.”

And I'll just sit on the street corner and sell. Literally, I had a rack of clothing and I would start selling it. And I remember I had a former coworker come at me like, “Wait. Didn’t you pass the bar? Aren’t you an attorney?” And I was like, “I quit. Now, I do this. And then, I sell clothes in the street.”

And it’s so humbling to have to swallow that and say, “Yeah, I did. I did have that and I walked away from it to do this and take this huge risk.” And you can see the skepticism in people and they're like, “She’s really lost it.”

But at the end of the day, we really have a lot to show for ourselves. And I’m really proud. And I really hope that one day, they come back and they can see our beautiful showroom and our team that we built and the network that we’ve expanded to in all these different states because I can’t really take credit for any of the growth. I can say that I led it and I spearheaded it and I believe in it and I funded it, but at the end of the day, you can’t do anything alone. And if you can have the humility to say, “I need help. I need to bring people in,” I think that is the biggest key to success. It’s just swallowing your pride.

CAMILLE [24:40]

Yeah. Love it, working hard and staying humble. That’s the truth. I know that you talked a lot about your daughter being the impetus at the beginning of this. What do you hope that she’s learning from watching you building this business?

REMINGTON [24:57]

I just really wanted a family and I had so, so many miscarriages. It’s so bad that I want to be involved in her life and I wanted something that she could be proud of. And what’s really cool is that we are a family-friendly office. So, everyone in my team can bring their kids to the office. It’s half day or they’re sick or something cancels, whatever it is, we’re a safe space to bring your kids. You can still work and you don’t have to choose.

And by doing all this, I just hope that Mclaine has a better future where she doesn’t have to choose work or having a family. And she can have the support that she needs to be able to do it. And I humbly just follow in the footsteps of my mom. She was an attorney at a big law firm back in the 80s when it was very rare and she had to break through so many glass ceilings.

And unfortunately, there is a strain I think in professional circles where sometimes people say you have to crawl your way up and no one’s going to give you a hand and we’re going to step on you the whole way through. And I don’t think that competition is the key to success. I think it’s collaboration. And especially as attorneys, we’re competitive by nature, but I don’t think stepping on someone else to get ahead is ever going to get you very far down the line.

And so, for Mclaine, I’m just trying to build a better world where she can thrive and she can do whatever she wants. And hopefully, she won't have to make that choice. And I think a lot of people face this. Do I want to be a mom or do I want to have a career? And I think you should have that choice. I don’t think you should work, but I think you should have the choice to say I want to work or I want to be a mom or I want to do both. And being able to do both is really beautiful. I love getting to show up and create something that I’m proud of and I love being able to leave at 2 o’clock and pick my kid up and enjoy a day with her. And that shouldn’t be so crazy.

CAMILLE [27:13]

Yeah. I’m with you. I think that there are so many pressures that are put on moms in so many areas and angles and it’s impossible to try to impress or to get everyone’s approval. It’s just impossible. So, I’m with you, the choice of letting women choose whether or not they want to be moms, whether or not they want to work, whether or not they want to be married. There are so many societal pressures that can bring us down.

And so, I love that your company is all about changing the narrative, not only about the way that you’re conducting your business and creating new life in fashion and protecting our environment that way, but also making it conducive to women and to moms. I applaud you. I think that you’re pioneering something and your mom pioneered too. I just think of what the women had done before us and how we’re standing on their shoulders of what’s coming next and what will be available for our kids. And I just think that that’s such a beautiful legacy.

REMINGTON [28:18]

Yeah. If anyone’s listening, don’t feel held back. You are in control of your destiny. And if there is something that you don’t like right now, go take this as your push to change it. I wasn’t fully satisfied in my career as a lawyer and I wanted more. And if no one else is offering you the job that you want, go build it. Go do it. Because everyone else is going to benefit from it. And you go out and you build the company that's going to offer you the work life balance, the ability to be a mom, the ability to create money for yourself. Whatever it is, go do it because there are going to be 100 people behind you. We are going to be so grateful that you did this. So, I hope this could be your little wakeup call. And the world needs you guys. You guys are the best.

CAMILLE [29:05]

Yeah. I love it. And so much fun every week in these episodes to share different stories of women and mothers living and enjoying their lives differently. Every balance isn’t the same for everyone, but it’s a beautiful thing to discover and you are the author of your life. You get or create and decide and you are in the driver’s seat.

So, I hope for those who are listening, hopefully this has ignited the flame a little bit more and that you’re hearing this and being inspired by whatever that little voice in you is telling you to do because it’s an age where we really can take advantage of these experiences. So, thank you so much for being on the show today. We have a special code for the listeners. Do you want to share that? I can share it if you’re like, I can’t remember.

REMINGTON [29:51]

I can’t remember it. I don’t know what it was.

CAMILLE [29:51]

Okay. No. You’re good. So, the code is callmeceo15 for 15% off and I don’t know if that expires or when that expires.

REMINGTON [30:04]

Nope. It doesn't expire. It’s a one-time use though. So, make sure you put everything in your cart first.

CAMILLE [30:08]

Okay. Perfect. And that’s at www.therevury.com. So, that is spelled R-E-V-U-R-Y. We’ll put the link in the description below. Thank you so much for being on the show today. You are inspiring and I can’t wait to see what happens from here.

REMINGTON [30:22]

Thanks, Camille. Thanks for having me.

CAMILLE [30:25]

Hey, CEOs. Thank you so much for spending your time. If you found this episode inspiring or helpful, please let me know in a comment and a 5-star review. You could have the chance of being a featured review on an upcoming episode. Continue the conversation on Instagram @callmeceopodcast. And remember, you are the boss!

[30:45]