We recently connected with Haley McClain Hill and have shared our conversation below.
Haley, appreciate you joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later
If I could do back in time, I wish I started my business sooner! My grandmother served 20 years in the Air Force, my mom worked at NASA, and my dad worked in software sales – I did not grow up around entrepreneurs but I always loved being creative and expressing myself through dance. When I had to start thinking about college, I received a full ride to Penn State through the Air Force ROTC program. I was focused on getting my degree, learning everything I could about the military in ROTC, and was a collegiate athlete. My free time was spent resting and hanging out with friends but I wish that I took it upon myself to explore my passion for creating.
I had been wearing my military uniform for 10 years before coming up with the idea for my brand. If I would’ve started my brand at Penn State, which was as soon as I started wearing my uniform, I believe I would have seen a lot of success because I could’ve used my network as a college student and college athlete to help spread the word of my brand. Business takes time and I believe starting earlier would’ve allowed me to learn the different aspects of business so by now the brand would be scaled and running smoothly.
Haley, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Hi reader! I first dove into the fashion world when I saw a problem in my everyday military uniform and didn’t see a solution. I decided to tackle the challenge and create a bodysuit military women can wear in their uniform. It stays tucked all day, its comfortable, and we are building an uplifting community that celebrate military women in every aspect of their careers!
I am most proud of the social media content we have created. It has really given military women a space to feel seen, heard, and understood. I also love the fact that we have traveled to West Point, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy, and the Virginia Military Institute to empower cadets at that early stage of their careers.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
When I launched TORCH, I put a simple video up on Tik Tok asking military women if they would be interested in wearing a bodysuit in uniform.
Once I saw women start commenting that they’d love this idea, I immediately started making content with my prototype product showcasing how much better the bodysuit looked than the normal t-shirts!
I then posted consistently, followed and reached out to military influencers and focused on creating shareable content, so memes, quotes, and intriguing graphics!
I made sure to get a lot of UGC content as well because that automatically adds credibility to your brand.
We have grown to 13.7K followers in 3 years!
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
Since I served in the Air Force, I believe my background showed women that I have been in their shoes and I know what works. I also am a former NFL Cheerleader which I believe has helped build credibility with my female audience as well.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.torchwarriorwear.com
- Instagram: @torch_warriorwear
- Facebook: TORCH Warriorwear
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/torch-warriorwear/
- Twitter: @torchwarrior
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iam_haleymarie