Episode 12: Branding in the Luxury Apparel Space (Ft. Allison Putnam, A. Putnam)

00:32

Madison Riddell
Hello and welcome to another episode of Marketing Moves. I'm your host, Madison Riddell, and today's episode highlights an industry that has been around since the 1700s, yet is also still evolving and growing in popularity. Our guest, Allison Putnam is a supply chain consultant, family office principal, podcast host, mother of five boys, style icon, and most recently, owner and founder of a luxury women's golf wear brand, “A. Putnam”. A. Putnam aims to offer elevated wardrobe pieces that help take women from resort to sport while honoring the tradition of golf. Their collections feature new spins on classic staples with a modern, minimalist flavor and emphasis on versatility. Have you jumped over to their website yet, ladies? Ali, thank you again for being here. And welcome to Marketing Moves.

01:24
Ali Putnam
Thanks, Madison. I'm so excited to be back here.

01:27
Madison Riddell
Yes!

01:27
Ali Putnam
Not the first time.

01:29
Madison Riddell
It's been a while. Ali's a good friend of VividFront's. Yeah, we've kind of seen her through the early stages of growing her brand and launching, and it's been awesome just to witness.

01:40
Ali Putnam
I know. Well, thank you. You guys really helped me bring so many ideas, kind of to a very organized point, and it would have taken me a lot longer to do that on my own. So we have a good little history, and I'm excited to chat today.

01:56
Madison Riddell
Yeah, we're loving seeing it all unfold. I know our listeners are going to love your story and they're going to love the brand, especially when they check out the collections. But before we dive into all of that, I want to just start with a background for our listeners. So what brought you to this point?

02:10
Ali Putnam
Who's.

02:11
Madison Riddell
Allison, tell our listeners about you a little bit.

02:13
Ali Putnam
Yeah, absolutely. So I was actually born in Cincinnati, but Cleveland is home, so I grew up here with two brothers and a family that golfed casually. I've got parents that still golf to this day, and it was a sport introduced to me probably when I was six. And it was one of those things I think I always kept in my back pocket but never spent a lot of time on. As I went through high school and then college, I was actually stuck with lacrosse in the end and played for a couple years well, a couple years club. I had one year of varsity at Syracuse.

02:49
Madison Riddell
I didn't know that either.

02:51
Ali Putnam
Yeah, I did.

02:52
Madison Riddell
So that was like collegiate athlete.

02:53
Ali Putnam
Right? So I had it in me that competitive edge and love for sport. When I started at Syracuse, I was actually a ceramics major, believe it or always creative. I know between lacrosse and ceramics, I think one day it hit me. I was like, I got to get my life together. What am I going to do with this post college? So I jumped into the business school, and that was immediately supply chain and logistics and then entrepreneurship. So I had those two majors. I dropped ceramics. I joined a sorority. I feel like I totally took a complete 180 in college. But as a result of that and through those college years, I really had in the back of my head that I wanted to work in apparel.

03:40
Ali Putnam
Even looking at schools, I remember narrowing in based off of fashion programs and lacrosse programs. Fashion probably dropped off my list of things I would do when I had a great ceramic sculpture teacher in high school that was like, you're really talented, you should submit your portfolio for that. So I kind of went down that path and really lost sight of being on the fashion side. But going through supply chain, some of my internships and things were with Sears, and I was thinking, you know what, I'm going to go into apparel after school. And first few jobs were really in that space. So I was with Sears doing a logistics management training program. And then that was 2008, and I jumped over because an opportunity in Columbus to work for DSW. Oh, wow.

04:33
Ali Putnam
Yeah, they were just launching their “Etail” site, which is what they called it. But it's hard to imagine that it wasn't that long ago that DSW like the big giant, know, starting a website. So I was doing a lot of backend kind of fulfillment operations a little bit. It order fulfillment work. And so I loved it. I also in that time met my husband and we moved to a really small town in Ohio where really the only business there was this forklift manufacturing company called Crown Equipment. Really cool family, I mean, billion dollar company in the kind of middle of nowhere Ohio. And so I started getting into industrial manufacturing as a result of it. So over the next ten years, I was really not stuck. But that's what my niche was. And I was doing a lot of international logistics.

05:29
Madison Riddell
Still logistics, yeah. And for those who aren't local to Ohio, big manufacturing.

05:34
Ali Putnam
Yeah, absolutely. So much of it worked in distribution, but all along my career, I've really taken I mean, supply chain is a huge subject matter. Right, right. And so I took a bunch of different roles along that career, and it was a little bit of inventory management, a little bit of procurement, lots of logistics. So I really felt from an operational side, I had really had a well rounded you got it. Yeah. Like career and all that. And in all that, Brandon and I had five kids. Wow.

06:09
Madison Riddell
And all boys, for those listening, all boys. We have a basketball team, and they're adorable.

06:14
Ali Putnam
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, they're ten to three now. Wow. So back to back. It takes a village.

06:21
Madison Riddell
And she's always on her stories. She has a personal page and an Apon page. She's going to a trade show, then she's going to the golf course, then a photo shoot, then she's picking one kid up, dropping one kid off. It's like, so cool to watch and so sweet.

06:35
Ali Putnam
Yeah family is a total juggle. I mean, we live, like, 2 miles from my parents, and brothers are close by, so cannot do it alone. There's no doubt about it. But through all that, I think I got to having when I was done having kids, I got to that point. I think my youngest was probably one and a half or two, and were like, all right, we're done. And my dad, who's like, a serial entrepreneur and a big part of our family office, he sat me down one day, and I can remember it like it was yesterday, and it was October of 2021, and he said, what are you doing next? What's next for you? You seem a little comfortable and not that excited about work.

07:21
Madison Riddell
And at the time, entrepreneurs run from comfort, right?

07:25
Ali Putnam
That's so true. So true. But I think in that way I look back on my career and I see it in phases, and so I think I had a ten year span of just saying, you know what? I'm still working. And I loved that balance of work and kids and always felt like I needed it, but I realized that I wasn't working like crazy. I had a nice balance, traveled a little bit, but I wasn't killing myself. I had time to manage the house and balance that really well. But I think I had lost that fire about my career and what I was working on. And so I think he recognized that.

08:07
Madison Riddell
It's good that you have someone that recognizes that, like, the seasons, and it.

08:11
Ali Putnam
Is how to get you to the.

08:11
Madison Riddell
Next one, right, and call it out.

08:13
Ali Putnam
I always joke that we'd be little when were younger. We'd get to the end of the year, and my dad would always say, like, all right, let's talk about your goals for the next year. I probably was, like, 13.

08:25
Madison Riddell
You'll probably do that for those five boys, I'm sure.

08:27
Ali Putnam
No doubt. But I remember he asked me just a few very simple questions, and he was like, think about what gets you out of bed in the morning, what excites you, what puts a smile on your face, what gives you energy, like, all these things, very basic. He's like, don't overthink it. Right? And so I started listing out just a list of things, and as a result, it kind of brought me back to this passion I had of starting a clothing line when I was little and then looking at sport, which has always been really important to me. And I was playing a lot more golf, like casually, with Brandon. It was something we always connected on as a couple, and we're introducing the boys to it. So that was like the sport in my life, 2021.

09:16
Madison Riddell
And were you using that for business and networking?

09:20
Ali Putnam
Absolutely. That's exactly why I think my dad always pushed it.

09:24
Madison Riddell
I wish I was Sport.

09:25
Ali Putnam
Yeah, you don't have to be. That's the best part.

09:28
Madison Riddell
Maybe I'll take lessons.

09:29
Ali Putnam
Yeah, it's great. Don't get them from me. I'm not that good. But I kind of pieced this together. And he was like, well, work on it. If you're seeing an opportunity and you're dissatisfied with the clothing and golf, which is really where I landed, I was like, I will work on it. So while I was working full time, I took a six month course that I found online on how to start a sustainable clothing line.

09:53
Madison Riddell
I remember that. Yeah, that was when we first met. You were, like, knee deep in the course, I'm pretty sure.

09:57
Ali Putnam
Oh, yeah. It took me right, I mean, forever to nail that down, some of those details that's when you guys jumped in and helped really piece everything together in a really nice package, that course kind of kicked it off. And I think the more research I did, I was like, man, this really is missing, and I want to get it off and running.

10:19
Madison Riddell
And when you say something that was missing, which, first of all, great background, I think there's so many ways that we can take this, because you have such a cool story. Thanks. But when you say that there was something missing, I think I'd love for you to share your perspective on why golf. We understand that it was a passion for you, but 300-year old industry kind of male dominated, mostly male dominated, at least until the last couple of decades. What made you want to create apparel in the golf space other than just your passion for golf? What did you see was missing?

10:50
Ali Putnam
I think outside of it, I think it was more of a shift, almost. And I think in relation to that shift, it was something that was overlooked and missing. And when I was evaluating the market and I think now too, although it's constantly changing and very fast paced in terms of entry of new brands and things like that, which is what makes apparel so competitive. But what I noticed was a lot of the apparel, I think a few things. One, there was the kind of the standard brands, probably male dominated in terms of the apparel they put out. Right. Like, secondary to their main focus of men's apparel was women's.

11:38
Madison Riddell
Tiny women's line. Yeah, right.

11:39
Ali Putnam
Yeah. And that's attributed to how a pro shop works. And 30% of their revenues, typically at a good number is women. So you understand why it is hard. We'll talk about it, I'm sure how hard it is on the female end of things. But there was kind of this traditional, I would say still with golf. It always to me felt maybe a little bit more matronly and not that cute. I feel like myself kind of brand for. I mean, my target market is 35 to 55 is our sweet spot.

12:11
Madison Riddell
Okay.

12:12
Ali Putnam
And then I thought the next kind of option were garments that were either really sporty and performancey or super preppy colorful patterns like Lilly.

12:28
Madison Riddell
Right?

12:29
Ali Putnam
And I think that goes hand in hand with what golf has been. Right? And I just felt like there was nothing that was still traditional in the sense of meeting the requirements of a stricter dress code, but then also had some kind of modern take on it and still classic and elegant and to feel put together. I never felt put together on the golf course. It just almost felt like a costume.

12:58
Madison Riddell
That's a good way to put it. It is.

13:00
Ali Putnam
It's like golf costume. And I think I say this more and more now, and this is kind of an evolution of finding who we are. But I am a really casual golfer. People all the time are like, you must golf a lot, or you must be a really good golfer. I'm like, I'm not I love the sport, but I'm not that good a golfer. I mean, I'm lucky if I shoot under 100.

13:24
Madison Riddell
I don't even know if that's good. So you're better than me for knowing the score.

13:28
Ali Putnam
Not great, but I say that's absolutely reflected in the pieces that I design, because I'm like my golf clothes. I'd buy them, which aren't cheap generally, and they'd sit in my closet for the four times I'd golf a year.

13:43
Madison Riddell
Because where else are you going to wear a lime green skirt, right?

13:46
Ali Putnam
So they just sat and collected dust, and I was like, golf isn't a sport that you're sprinting up and down a field. There's some flexibility to the performance side of things. Now, if you're golfing in 110 degree weather in Arizona, maybe a little different, but I then was, like, putting these ideas together of infusing style, almost these minimalistic kind of capsule wardrobe like pieces into something functional for golf so that I could wear it. And I think, selfishly, I'm like, I don't want to design a line of clothes that I can wear four times a year. So here I am. I just look at some of my favorite pieces in my closet, and I'm constantly like, you could totally tweak this, tweak that, and have it perform on the course.

14:30
Madison Riddell
And I think you're wearing A.Putnam right now, and it's right like, you're not at golf. No, you would never studio. And I think it's seamless. Like, it looks clean, it's modern. The quality is really good. And I'm speaking from seeing it, touching it, feeling it. But I know that you landed on this concept of resort to sport. So what does that mean? Because it's tying into what you're saying. And I think the versatility piece right.

14:51
Ali Putnam
It is like versatility is everything. And we play this angle, too. A little bit of well traveled garments that can serve you in more ways than one airport. I've seen you do that. Yeah, I totally have. And so the resort to sport, there's so many different sayings in this golf world right now from a marketing standpoint. And I think when I came into the market, it was a lot of, like, 'course to cocktail' or 'the 19th hole'.

15:20
Madison Riddell
I remember this competitor research we did.

15:23
Ali Putnam
Sure you do. So there were all these kind of little kind of kitschy sayings, and they of course, resonated, because it is, I think, everybody's trying to accomplish that. A little bit of how can you carry these garments outside of the off the course and resort to us? There's a lot of different ways to think about resort. I think some people think immediately, like beach going trips and things, but there's beautiful resorts in the mountains and all over the world. And so resort to us meant from a travel identity and focus and alluding to that versatility. And I think a lot of tennis.

16:04
Madison Riddell
Yeah, a lot of the golf locations, and I'm seeing you shoot content, there are gorgeous facilities that have more to offer than just a course.

16:12
Ali Putnam
Absolutely. And I think courses and resorts are interesting. They have typically multiple shops, like one focused on golf if they have a course, and others that are kind of the gift lifestyle shop. And we're really in between there. So it's been a good talking point for us as we gain new customers and traction.

16:33
Madison Riddell
I love the branding, our show's Marketing Moves and I think that you are making a lot of really good marketing moves, especially from the brand perspective. I've witnessed Allie from the really early days of getting to know one another with a super strong conviction and commitment to certain elements of the brand, which I think is really important. I think the story that you're sharing is you had a little bit of background passion in apparel, interest in golf, but then you also found a need that other people had, which was versatility, getting more wearability out of your clothes, longevity, all those things. In order to support those pillars, though, you had a really big focus on quality, I remember, and you were really specific on the patterns. You wouldn't use logo and all the different treatments of the clothing. So how has that taken you here?

Have you had to make any compromises around those values?

17:21
Ali Putnam
No. And we've run into quality issues and the sacrifices you make to make. I mean, really to say, all right, well, I'm going to give up on this entire color of this product because the color didn't come out perfect or things like that or the treatment to the garments didn't work out well. So it happens, and you always hope. We've been playing a lot of catch up, really. So I feel like our speed to market and production has been a short window. So where my goal is to get to a little bit longer of a sampling and product testing phase. Okay. We're getting closer to being there.

17:59
Ali Putnam
We're kind of caught up with the buying season and everything, but we've really kept a stronghold on the quality and the details of form, fit, function, and I attribute it to being a mom, but, like, little things like our Teflon Eco Elite, it is a sustainable, water and stain resistant coating.

18:25
Madison Riddell
Oh, cool.

18:26
Ali Putnam
And so it's a bit of an evolution. So it started off being on all of our bottoms, and it was like the white checkered pant that we had. We were like, we have to put this on there. Because I'm like, you know this because we are in the same world of loving white and cream.

18:42
Madison Riddell
We're neutral girls for anyone listening.

18:44
Ali Putnam
Oh, my God.

18:45
Madison Riddell
No colors.

18:45
Ali Putnam
We are in the same box.

18:49
Madison Riddell
Navy, maybe.

18:50
Ali Putnam
Yeah, that's right. It can be thrown in. But I immediately was like, I mean, I love white pants, but they're so impractical. And I'll pick up kids and constantly have fingertips or fingerprints on me or juice everywhere. Right. So that's in the fold is, like, even the longevity of the garments. And how do you keep those whites white and functional, even in temperatures? And the elements of golf. So, like, our button up, the first iteration, like, this one didn't have that coating on it, but any future ones will have the stain resistant coating.

19:28
Madison Riddell
So you're iterating.

19:29
Ali Putnam
And, yeah, we've got a cool lounge set coming out. That's a four piece lounge set. And my favorite is this, like, cream debossed fabric. Something a treatment that was really different but taking our signature trademark Santosa fabric that's super soft. It's gorgeous.

19:49
Madison Riddell
I've seen it in a lot of the photography.

19:51
Ali Putnam
I actually brought you one, and it oh, my gosh, this is the best.

19:55
Madison Riddell
Can we end the episode?

19:57
Ali Putnam
So it's this deboss fabric with our crane, and it just gives it, like, a really pretty texture, but it's cream. But it's also stain resistant, so it's, like, really cool details that are just really important. So, to me, it naturally puts us in a higher price point. And the way we structure pricing, it's literally kind of this typical apparel markup, and we don't add anything to it. So it's like, what gets us to a premium cost is certainly we're newer brands, so, like, our order minimums are a little lower. So we're at a higher cost to begin with, for sure, but then we're not padding it at all. It's just like, we're choosing the best fabrics, the best construction, and I think it's reflective of invisible when you pick up product. So it's definitely important.

20:49
Madison Riddell
I think a lot of people that have a taste for apparel and want to be in this space, we've talked about it's really competitive, want to be in luxury because it sounds like it's going to better margins, and it sounds like it's going to be easier and there's so much money to be made. And we have both worked with a lot of luxury brands in apparel, but also adjacent like accessories brands, and also have turned away some clients that are in the apparel space. Because I think there's two big issues that people run into. One, they don't have that level of commitment, so they want to charge a premium, but maybe they want to cut some corners. I think that sometimes that can work. You don't always have to choose the most expensive option.

21:30
Madison Riddell
I'm sure that you guys are making smart decisions, but I think that it becomes evident if people are wearing it for a couple of seasons when they can't get the use out of it. And I think the second thing I see a lot of brands struggle with, and you kind of alluded to this too, is figuring out how to speed up those initial production runs to align with seasonality. Because, again, we talked about this in the early days. It's like you want to launch your capsule and you are working on it for a year, and it's not going to line up perfectly with fall wardrobes. So you're like, do we push it in the summer? Do we wait till spring? There's so many nuances. I could think of 100 that aren't in any other industry.

22:10
Ali Putnam
And I don't think I really realized it until even stepping onto the market. And, I mean, we launched that first collection at the PGA Show. And you probably remember because I kind of came to the table of like, here's everything I need to do, and it has to be done by PGA 2023. And thank goodness I had that goal because I think it would have been so easy to push it off. So it certainly set us in the right direction. But to your point, I was showing up from a wholesale standpoint. We were showing up with what were calling a I mean, it's really a spring summer collection, and the buyers going to that show are buying fall winter. Right.

22:47
Madison Riddell
I think that's a big piece.

22:48
Ali Putnam
People don't think about wild.

22:50
Madison Riddell
Yeah, it's wild.

22:51
Ali Putnam
So, like, right now I'm finishing up, designing and starting to sample fall winter so that I can maybe do like a little micro photo shoot at the end of this year.

23:00
Madison Riddell
For next year?

23:01
Ali Putnam
Yeah. So that we can show up at the January PGA Show with a catalog and be prepped to sell it.

23:07
Madison Riddell
So the trends you all are seeing are being hatched a year or so in advance.

23:10
Ali Putnam
Yeah. It blows my mind especially being so new to this side of the business. It's been such a learning curve. I mean, every day there's something and that's both apparel, but then also in the golf world, that's relationships, how we reach customers, it's a different world.

23:26
Madison Riddell
And you mentioned the PGA Show. What percentage are you guys focusing on the eCommerce side versus getting in pro shops and wholesale and all those things?

23:37
Ali Putnam
It's probably 60 40. We really try to weigh heavier from the start. We try to weigh heavier on the wholesale side of things. Wow. And I think naturally launching at the PGA Show immediately set my focus on wholesale. We didn't launch our website till May of this year, so that's still looking great. Thank you. It still feels really, you know, I think you naturally get kind of sucked into the direct to consumer side of things when you're hyper focused on social media and all those outreaches. And the marketing really feels more focused on the direct to consumer. But we're constantly questioning and challenging ourselves of how do we reach and be creative reaching wholesale accounts. So something that's really unique to golf is not unique because I think it's everywhere in business world.

24:31
Ali Putnam
But golf is so much about relationships and golf shops, clubs, they really value those personal relationships and that personal touch. And that's why most from a sales standpoint, most companies are using sales reps. Right. There's all different ways that's a whole different topic, but all different ways to go about using reps and how to deploy them. And are they full time APutnam? Are they hybrid and carrying a couple of different lines we're noticing, and where we're trying to manage a lot of those accounts and not rush into finding reps. They want somebody that shows up at the shop and looks through and maybe merchandises for them.

25:16
Madison Riddell
And are you doing some of that?

25:17
Ali Putnam
A little bit. A little bit. But we probably have a total of probably 60 accounts now across the US. That's great. So it is good. But as you can imagine yeah, just in January, as you can imagine, though, you get to a point where you're like, they need more attention and it's a little bit more of that where we have more of a concentration. We've lined up a rep for California now, slowly but surely. But you have pro shops that will come in and be like, if I don't like your rep, I'm not going to buy next season. So it's really sensitive.

25:54
Madison Riddell
Well, I think what you said about finding creative ways to market and the difference between, I guess it's easier, like you said, to get consumed by the consumer side of marketing. But I think a lot of our clients are in both spaces. And I think what you're doing to market, to consumers is your marketing to wholesale because they need to see how to translate it to their consumers. So I think all the brand building that you're doing on social. And I'm seeing you do a lot of work with your own podcast and influencers. It looks like other golf professionals. I think that gives you a good foundation for the wholesale side. Plus the ad relationship piece. That's a really good call out on the sales side.

26:31
Ali Putnam
Yeah. And it's a lot of kind of word of mouth. And it is funny how I just had an example today where somebody followed us and we're very diligent right now where we can manage it as almost responding to any new follower and just saying thank you. And once in a while it'll turn to, hey, I would love for my club to have some of your pieces. Can I connect you? That's super powerful, really. And that's where the community building is just huge.

27:00
Madison Riddell
And I think I can just see you. I'm not going to make you commit to this, but I just know how you are. And I think that attention to every follower, every customer, whoever it is that's engaging with the brand while now it's manageable, maybe it'll be harder to manage in the future, but if you can keep that, and I know you will, the stickiness is going to be so good because the product's so good, the brand's so good. And if you're creating that experience where they feel like Ali sees them, I think that anytime you have, whether it's apparel or another industry with a founder that's frontward facing, there's so much opportunity to create relationships.

27:34
Ali Putnam
Right.

27:34
Madison Riddell
We've seen that work time and time with our clients that are in the apparel or accessory space.

27:39
Ali Putnam
And it's such a balance. It's like going through, I mean, even just navigating as a mom and wife and all these things to juggle work and finding that balance, it's easy. And I've been there where you're just like, oh, I've spent way too much time on Aputna. Yeah, I'm in the weeds right now and I need to step out. So it is it's hard finding a balance and when to turn it off and when to be hyper focused on it. It's such a learning curve. I think too, being kind of a new entrepreneur, it's just like it's easy to just get inundated with.

28:17
Madison Riddell
And you had an entrepreneurial side to you.

28:19
Ali Putnam
You still do the supply chain consulting? I still got it open, but my gosh, I have very little time. And the family office, we've got about twelve or 13 portfolio companies. And I have two brothers that run and manage a lot of those. And I used to be kind of the supply chain guru within the business. And this is Aputnam's, like taking over.

28:42
Madison Riddell
That's exciting though. I think that's every founder's dream, right? When can I fully transition out of my prior gig, whatever that looks like.

28:49
Ali Putnam
Right?

28:50
Madison Riddell
So that's huge for you guys.

28:51
Ali Putnam
So it's full time. A. Putnam is certainly what it is now.

28:55
Madison Riddell
That's fabulous. Yeah. So, obviously your background in supply chain, I think, lends itself to the retail side. You're doing consumer or excuse me, you're doing eCommerce, and you're doing wholesale relationships. Do you intend to have any of your own retail stores or pop ups?

29:11
Ali Putnam
I think it'd be so fun. Yeah.

29:13
Madison Riddell
You certainly know how to manage.

29:14
Ali Putnam
I know. It's really, I have a good friend who's a marketing professor over at Cleveland State.

29:20
Madison Riddell
Cool.

29:21
Ali Putnam
And she'd invited me I think it was last winter, maybe two winters. Mean, it's crazy how long that probably was, but it was neat because the students did a semester project on A. Putnam, and so many of them brought up the idea of little pop ups and what it could look like, and it was super cute to kind of brainstorm and think about that. And I don't think it's too far fetched, really. And I think there's really unique opportunities for us. That one we've just really been fortunate to fall into. And I think there will definitely be something where there's a pop up, whether that's at a certain event or things like that. We have the Kentucky Derby coming up. Oh, that's a perfect place for you.

30:07
Madison Riddell
They'll have to wear a hat, though, right?

30:09
Ali Putnam
I really make one. I don't know. But we have the opportunity to make them a custom, like A. Putnam crew neck and hoodie wow. With our debossed fabric. Oh, my gosh.

30:20
Madison Riddell
That's awesome.

30:22
Ali Putnam
I know. So now I just got to figure out how to get there. Yeah. To see it in person.

30:28
Madison Riddell
It's so cool there. I've been there.

30:29
Ali Putnam
Oh, my God.

30:30
Madison Riddell
Awesome.

30:30
Ali Putnam
I bet. But that's like, a cool little bit more out of the box, but a good spot for us to be. And we love these opportunities that aren't hyper golf focused.

30:41
Madison Riddell
Sure.

30:41
Ali Putnam
So we're really having fun trying to find those unique spots to be.

30:46
Madison Riddell
And I remember tradition being really important to you too early on, like you were trying to weave in your family's own heritage and heritage of golf. And I think Kentucky Derby and other institutions that you're aligning yourself with still have, whether they're golf or not, have that tradition heritage component to it.

31:02
Ali Putnam
Absolutely. And I think our pieces I mean, I would lean towards everything being pretty classic and minimalistic, but even anything I look at from skirts and all that, it's all about I belong to a club that's, like, you can't have a skirt that's shorter than fingertip length, and anything sleeveless has to have a collar of some sort. So we follow these rules that I think naturally put us in this very kind of classy position from a garment.

31:29
Madison Riddell
Standpoint, which is great for professional attire, too. I can totally see that as an additional segment over time. And a lot of people who golf are professionals. They're using golf as networking, like, well.

31:40
Ali Putnam
You know what's really cool and you'll appreciate it, but it's kind of turned into and this is from a marketing standpoint, when we look at Influencers, we really haven't thrown a lot of money into it. It's been all organic for us. And it's this like so Alex is a woman that's on my team. She's our VP of Ops and she's right now managing our social. And we go back and forth of looking at help for that and we're reluctant to kind of give up the reins. And it's like it's so hard. But she's really good at social flirting is what she calls it.

32:15
Madison Riddell
Oh, cute.

32:16
Ali Putnam
But she'll just outreach to people and comment on some of their posts from the Putnam account. And as a result of that, we've gotten a couple broadcasters, women that are in broadcasting for sports and they've got to be on a football field and be presentable but comfortable. And same thing with golf events where these women are on camera and sometimes don't want to be totally golfed out in some sporty outfit. And so they're finding a balance with A. Putnam of looking professional and strong and put together. And so we're kind of finding this cool little professional businesswoman which resonates a lot with me. And we've got a cool event in Georgia coming up with a group called For Hire.

33:03
Ali Putnam
And I always kind of explain them as a career fair for they're doing this one event that's like a career fair for women who played golf coming out of college.

33:15
Madison Riddell
Nice.

33:15
Ali Putnam
And so they're trying to find women jobs in the sport, in and around the sport of golf. And so I get to the apparel sponsor for the event and so the ladies that's a perfect it is. And it's really cool because it's a three day event and the first day is a casual day and some of them are wearing the button up and jeans or our pocket tee and jeans. The next day is their professional day. So they're kind of in our trouser.

33:39
Madison Riddell
And button up and they can choose anything.

33:42
Ali Putnam
And then on the third day, they're doing like a golf clinic. So they're in some of our golf stuff.

33:48
Madison Riddell
Yeah, it's awesome.

33:49
Ali Putnam
So it's fun and it's really cool to be a part of that and have clothing that fits every day.

33:54
Madison Riddell
I think what you were saying about the influencers too, not having to pay them, we would never tell a client to expect to not pay Influencers as an agency because we've talked about this on a couple of episodes. But the Influencer game has changed so much. The supply and demand is all out of whack compared to a few years ago. And the prices a lot of Influencers are charging are really high and sometimes brands don't see that value back. But there is a sweet spot, if you can find it, where it's worth to pay to play. Now, we would never tell a client not to pay to play because it's really hard to create those relationships on gifting now.

34:29
Madison Riddell
Yes, but the fact that you have a product that's so unique in the space, there's really nothing like A. Putnam that's on the market for women, specifically in the golf space. I think that's probably why you're having so much success. So that's really awesome that you get to leverage tactics like that.

34:43
Ali Putnam
It is. It's really fun. Our podcast is really it's interesting because we started it off very casually as, like, we should try to invite women that are in the sport to talk about their journey to getting to golf. And I don't think we ever expected it to turn into what it's done for us and our community. And it's like a really cool opportunity to highlight all different sorts of roles in the sport and people's struggles and successes within it. And it's kind of nice to take like an hour of time where you're not talking about yourself and A. Putnam and all of that, but it's given us and them, like, a platform to talk about their story, which I don't think they even get the opportunity to talk for an hour about their whole career in golf. In life in golf.

35:39
Ali Putnam
So it's really been a cool way for us to really build those relationships with, I would say some women that are like, probably typically I'm not going to do this unless you pay me kind of thing, but it is all about them and not the brand. And it's been a really cool opportunity for us. Really.

35:59
Madison Riddell
Yeah. I think a lot of brands struggle to or have a goal of providing value if you're doing it the right way to customers, because that's what this is all about, value exchange. So if you're providing quality, you're providing all the hallmarks of the product that we've already talked about and now you're providing community too, and platform. I think that you have a lot of those core things that are really the foundational elements to a strong consumer brand.

36:21
Ali Putnam
Right, yeah, we're excited and it's constantly evolving. I mean, there's ideas that come to the table all the time about how we flush that out so even more from a community standpoint and maybe tapping into the resort side of things. So you probably saw when went to Garden of the Gods in Colorado yes, I did see it's. You know, to knock on somebody's door like that and say, we want to use your beautiful resort for our photo shoot. And in return, we'd love to do some marketing and hype up what the resort is like a value exchange. It is. And that's kind of been a good spot for us too. And where we'll probably lean in a little bit is kind of that travel and resort aspect, but doing it around women in the sport.

37:04
Ali Putnam
So we've met some cool people that are doing something similar in terms of building golf trips for women and things like that. So, yeah, the wheels are turning.

37:13
Madison Riddell
I'm sure that you have, like, endless creative ideas.

37:16
Ali Putnam
Feels like it.

37:18
Madison Riddell
I want a couple of additional questions. Sneak in, because I could go so many ways with you. I just want to understand from a marketing perspective, and I know that you might not consider yourself a marketer by trade, but you are one. What do you think the number one tactic is that you guys are prioritizing in the future to help you scale? Like, what's the number one priority now?

37:40
Ali Putnam
Oh, my gosh. I mean, hands down, I would say community, and I know we just touched on it. I think that's what feels unique to us and seems like something we can scale and grow and reach more people in. Not always an organic way. Like, I'm sure there's some money behind that, but we've spent and gone back and forth on what's our budget for paid media and things like that. And you see, the nice part is there's kind of immediate visibility to the return on something like that, but there's something very intangible but powerful about the community. And so I think a lot of our marketing efforts will be around, how do we make this women engulf something bigger, and how do we grow maybe this resort aspect of the business.

38:29
Ali Putnam
And I think as businesses, I think we're always trying to figure out, like you said, what value do you bring? And while it's about the product, you want to find something deeper than that to connect with your community on. So that's where our heads at right now. That is a big focus.

38:45
Madison Riddell
I admire that. It's not the easy route, it's the hard route, but the route that makes the brand last. I think a lot of brands want quick wins. Sometimes it's our job to try and find clients quick wins, and they can be good, but they can be fleeting. So I think that really focusing on the roots and the foundation and the value you're providing, like you said, is going to really serve you guys well. I love hearing that.

39:09
Ali Putnam
Thanks. Yeah. We've had moments where we've kind of said yes and thrown money to things, and we're in this phase, I think, of and it was the nature of me coming into this business completely alone to some degree. And I was hiring agencies and hiring people around me kind of on a retainer basis or project basis to support me in building the business and launching it. And it felt like there was a lot of cleanup after doing that. Like, I had somebody like Alexa come on, and she was really now my right hand lady, but she's really good at being like, you know what? I think we could do this more effectively and be a little scrappier. We can't forget that we're a startup and we're going to do this at our own pace.

39:53
Madison Riddell
We love her.

39:54
Ali Putnam
It's such a good reminder, though, because it is. You get wrapped up and these presentations and things are like, you're right, I could just throw 15 grand at this and it'll do XYZ, but we've done a little bit of that and it just, I don't think has felt as controlled and productive as we had hoped. So now we're just trying to rein things in a little bit and be creative and just acknowledge that it's going to be at our own pace. We're not going to be at 20,000 followers next month and not know who's following us and all that.

40:28
Madison Riddell
So we kind of like seasons.

40:29
Ali Putnam
Yeah. And we kind of like the intimacy of everything. And we're both working moms, and I think we're kind of surrounding ourselves naturally with other women. And it's not any part of me saying that I need a business is only run with women, but I think we all connect on this work life balance that we respected, and things will be here tomorrow. You have to provide value to them, too.

40:55
Madison Riddell
Part of launching a new business is building the team, and I think you have to, as a startup especially, be comfortable sometimes throwing some money at stuff and it not going well.

41:06
Ali Putnam
Oh, yeah.

41:06
Madison Riddell
And sometimes tightening up the budget and having to focus on grassroots efforts to scale. Like, you can't always have both. I think you're being transparent about that, which is helpful.

41:19
Ali Putnam
Yeah, it is.

41:20
Madison Riddell
Well, thank you so much for joining us. I want to wrap up with a couple of quick things.

41:25
Ali Putnam
Okay.

41:26
Madison Riddell
First thing for any of our entrepreneurial folks, like we talked about, the apparatus space is competitive, it's nuanced, it's intimidating, it's ever changing and trends and so many things, but it's also a space a lot of people want to get into.

41:39
Ali Putnam
Yeah.

41:40
Madison Riddell
So what's your number one tip now that you're about one year into this thing launched? What's your number one tip?

41:46
Ali Putnam
For being in the space?

41:47
Madison Riddell
Yes.

41:47
Ali Putnam
Or to somebody wanting to get in the space? Oh, my gosh. To get into this space? I think it's the recommendation, certainly to take the time to learn how to do it on your own. I think there's a lot of value to I mean, granted, getting help, but understanding too kind of what it takes and what the nuances are so that you can kind of control how you grow it and get into the space. And then oh my gosh. In the world of apparel, I would just say stay focused on what you're doing and who you are because it's so incredibly easy to be bogged down by the noise and the competitors and who's doing this, and look who went there and weren't there. And it can drive you crazy.

42:33
Ali Putnam
So it's like just be who you are and what you want to be, and that, I think, keeps you sane, maybe. It's a crazy world.

42:41
Madison Riddell
So be plugged in enough to know what's going on in the space but have your own values and brand vision that you stick to. I love that. That's great advice. Great. So our listeners know I'm a big fan of closing with rapid fire.

42:54
Ali Putnam
Oh, no.

42:54
Madison Riddell
This is the part I didn't prep you for. Are you ready? Just first thing that comes to mind. Favorite golf course.

43:00
Ali Putnam
Oh, home course. Kirtland country club.

43:03
Madison Riddell
Cashmere sweater or classic button down? You can only choose one.

43:06
Ali Putnam
Oh, classic button down.

43:08
Madison Riddell
Comfortable or formal attire? I know what you're going to say.

Ali Putnam

Formal attire.

Madison Riddell

Oh, Instagram or TikTok?

43:13
Ali Putnam
Instagram.

43:14
Madison Riddell
The number one A. Putnam piece every woman should own. It’s like choosing your favorite kid.

43:18
Ali Putnam
The buttondown. Yeah. That really was seamless, wasn't it? Perfect. Awesome.

43:25
Madison Riddell
Well, thank you so much for coming, Ali. We're so happy to have you here. I think that there's a lot people can take away from this episode. Entrepreneurialness, the apparel space. Trying something new, sticking to your brand values. In closing, can you tell our listeners where they can find you, where they can get in touch with APutnam?

43:44
Ali Putnam

Absolutely. So social handle kind of across the board is @aputnambrand. And then www.aputnam.com. Thanks, Madison!