We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsey Radoff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsey below.

Lindsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

Finding customers was one of my biggest fears when I was gearing up to launch the brand. I had no idea where I would start and if people would buy my pieces. I was so fortunate that I was supported by family and friends from the beginning, with my Mom being my first customer! I was also able to share my collection with some influencers in the San Diego area, and they were so kind to share my brand with their followers. And then we started doing pop-ins, and I was really able to expand my customer base.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Lindsey Radoff, a San Diego mom of two and the creator of Thoughtfully Hooded, a boys clothing brand where all the pieces have hoods that are snappable, swappable and easily detachable. I came up with the idea for this brand when my son was just 3-months old. I would get him dressed in all his cute hooded pieces, and yet every time I’d put him in his car seat I didn’t like the way there was so much fabric behind his little head. So he’d wear his hood in the car. And then when we got home for naptime, I was always changing him, thinking he couldn’t nap with all that fabric surrounding his face. And then it hit me, there should be a fashionable line of every day pieces where the hood snaps on and off. I think what sets us apart from other brands is our innovative snappable hoods. Each shirt comes with two hoods, making it fun to mix n match from the start. All of our snaps are hidden, so the shirts can be worn without their hoods. And all snaps are protected by an inner collar, so they don’t rub against the little guy’s skin.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve had to pivot many times just in launching this brand. When I first got started, I had no idea where to turn to for help, so I did a Google search: “how do I start a children’s clothing brand.” That search led me to my first team, and we spent about 10 months trying to bring this concept to life, and it just wasn’t meeting my expectations. After months and months of time lost (and money), I decided to find a patternmaker more local to me in Los Angeles. When I found the right person, I was so eager to get started, and then the Covid-19 pandemic hit shutting all business down, mine included. I used this time to rethink my brand and the direction I wanted to go. Since then, I’m always making pivots and direction changes, but that’s what keeps my brand moving forward.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think being a mom owned business has really helped build our reputation, and is something that is easily relatable with so many of our customers. People often tell me how impressed they are that I was able to build a brand all while being a mom and raising two children. I create clothes that my own son wears, so I always want to make a high quality product that I know he will wear, and so many other children. I don’t have a design background, and I think that really tells the story of our brand and how we were able to overcome so many obstacles to bring this brand to life.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thoughtfullyhooded.com
• Instagram: @thoughtfullyhooded

Image Credits
Alana Ziman Arielle Levy Emma Lopez Brittany Land Britney Marin Lauren Mahood