Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsay Lingle.
Lindsay, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up in the retail world, learning early on the importance of meeting customers’ needs. I remember my dad telling me a story about my grandpa who was a long-time entrepreneur, he said that the roots of running a successful business are the following, “create a great product, charge a fair price and service the hell out of the customer.” I have always been drawn to entrepreneurship but wasn’t sure exactly what it was that I wanted to work on. I knew I wanted to make a great product that could make a difference – and that ended up being helping women carry their lives in a more organized manner, so they were ready for anything.
I received my BA in Public Relations from Purdue University in 2011 and joined a CPG company as an intern within the trade marketing team before becoming a category analyst for several retailers followed by a role on the US Marketing team. This was a great experience that prepared me for Holly & Tanager, I was able to get an in-depth understanding of the CPG business
In 2015, I started Holly & Tanager, a handbag line designed to be a refreshing blend of fashion and function that she identified was missing from the marketplace.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I would say it has been a great ride, full of lessons along the way. When we started out I knew nothing about handbag construction or manufacturing. So I started with taking a leather sewing class so that I could understand the terminology, and what it takes to construct a bag – this was a great foundation.
Additionally, I sought out experts to ask questions to. We did have a rocky road finding a manufacturer, and we had to adjust our plans due to delays and other hiccups but we now have a few great partners that have helped us create Holly & Tanager and we are very thankful for them.
I think we will continue to learn and get better with every season.
Holly & Tanager – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
At Holly & Tanager, we are dedicated creating timeless designs with a bold desire to accommodate a woman’s lifestyle effortlessly, day after day after day. I am the CEO of the company and spend a lot of my time on the product because our product defines us as a company. Kathryn Traut is my partner in the business and focuses on our sales and marketing tactics.
I think that our design process sets us apart from others, we always ask ourselves if we are launching something that helps our customers pack their things, and stay organized. Then we ask ourselves if these bags are following our classic aesthetic. We also really try to engage our customers to understand what they need, what they want and what can be optimized about the current offering.
We are most proud of the Professional. When we came up with the line, the Professional, was our solution to the problem we were experiencing in the market. This bag is a backpack, that can also be turned into a tote bag. But the most unique piece of the bag is that it is compartmentalized to help optimize how you pack.
We love receiving feedback – that gives us ideas and helps us stay true to our promise – extraordinary everyday bags, you don’t see every day.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Launching Holly & Tanager. I know that may seem silly, but really the hardest and scariest thing to do is to show it to the world something you have spent so much time and energy on. I mean we were confident people would like it because the groups that we asked prior to launching loved the idea, but you never really know what will happen once you present a product to the market.
I also think that sometimes people will procrastinate launching because the product isn’t perfect, but it never will be, you will always think of ways to change things to make it better. I am proud that we launched. I am proud that we continue to innovate and evolve our offering.
Pricing:
- Professional: $459
- Commuter Tote Bag: $230
- Champion Wallet: $275
- Companion Max: $279
- Companion Mini: $239
Contact Info:
- Address: 11 E. Hubbard St. Suite 200 Chicago, IL 60611
- Website: https://hollyandtanager.com/
- Phone: (888) 224-2057
- Email: press@hollytanager.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollyandtanager/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HollyAndTanager/
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/hollyandtanager/
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