The road from analyst to lingerie company founder — and the mentor who …
June 3, 2015 by admin
Filed under Latest Lingerie News
When Heidi Zak was a young investment-banking analyst, stuck at the office until 3 a.m. with her supervisor Lisa Kaplowitz, she couldn’t imagine that one day she would start an online lingerie company.
Or that her supervisor-turned-mentor would encourage her to do it.
But now, 15 years later, Zak, 36, and her husband, Dave Spector, are running San Francisco-based ThirdLove, a startup that designs and sells lingerie at a mid-range price point. The company offers half-sizes and has a patented bra-sizing app that’s designed to make shopping for lingerie an easier, less invasive proposition.
The couple launched the concept in 2014 to much fanfare: ThirdLove’s app has been featured by Apple as “best new app” or “best lifestyle app” more than 20 times.
And Zak points to several key advice sessions with Kaplowitz — now the CFO of Hello, an oral care products startup — that helped her transition from finance to retail and, ultimately, to the world of startups.
“Those moments when I’ve been thinking about making a large decision … she’s been there to push me to make those big decisions,” Zak told Bizwomen.
Here are three of those moments:
1. Debating a career change: When Zak and Kaplowitz first met, the elder was fresh out of Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management and an associate investment banker at Bank of America. Zak, an analyst, was straight out of undergrad at Duke University.
There weren’t many women in either of their programs, and they connected. Both had been competitive gymnasts. Both had a lot of energy. And both had similar aspirations.
Zak wanted to move into retail operations. But she was struggling to get interviews. Kaplowitz — who left Bank of America to become the treasurer of Bed Bath Beyond — suggested business school. It gives you options, she advised.
