WHY OFFICE HOURS?
03.26.24 | APRIL UCHITEL
I'd spent 25 years in Fashion battling Department Stores.
In 2014 I helped launch the digital shopping destination SHOP SPRING that I sincerely believed would be the phoenix rising from the ashes of the department store demise. While that did not happen (story for another day), I did spend 3 years running around Manhattan pitching and onboarding over 1,600 brands. I met with everyone from early stage DTC brands (Harrys & Warby Parker), cool kids (Alexander Wang & Opening Ceremony), to all of the stakeholders at Estee Lauder & Kering. It was a wild ride (early app ecosystem, no social commerce) and afforded me the very rare birdseye view into hundred of companies. As I'd been a SVP, many people I was meeting with were peers, and they would candidly share their current challenges. I organically began connecting founders, CEO's, and designers to others literally down the street that JUST went through (with a lot of pain, suffering or expense) similar challenges or opportunities, to help them avoid the pitfalls. I realized how silo'd the industry was, and in 2016 wrote a business plan for "Angie's List meets Tinder", where brands log in, see whose gone through what they're going through, to connect with and share learnings, AND make it transactional - as that value share is invaluable (saving headaches, months, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.)
Cut to 2022 and I Co-Founded THE BOARD. A Community for top fractional experts, and an incredible resource for brands to tap on a fractional basis for support. Now in 2024 we've JUST launched OFFICE HOURS - a curation of our experts for founders, business leaders, and entrepreneurs to access for a30 or 60 minute chat, to get a fresh perspective on critical decisions, tactical advise, and a bit of brand therapy (this sh*t is hard)! When we opened our office doors, it occurred to me that we've built a version of my 2016 plan - not brand to brand - but seasoned talent to brand builders in need of experience and knowledge to help them avoid pitfalls, and gain greater confidence in there decision making. Ideally saving time and budgets but with an even GREATER upside - as they can also engage these Members on larger scale to take that advice further and help execute the discussed strategies that will propel their business. So not quite "Angie's List meets Tinder" and more "Brand Therapy meets Speed Dating", but with the same goals of helping brands move forward in their journeys.
WE ARE THE BOARD and our Office Doors are OPEN.
#wearetheboard #fractional #OfficeHours #THEBOARDwillseeyounow
