Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gish Warren & Patricia Batista. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Patricia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
The concept for LURI was driven by our own personal experiences and the realization of a gap in the market for suitable clothing options for women going through the recovery process for a variety of procedures. As women and avid fashion-lovers we intimately relate to the frustrations and journey to self-acceptance and love of one’s own body.
Fast-forward to Jan 2021 when a love for fashion and passion for helping others would collide. What started out as a casual day of two friends hanging out led to an exchange of ideas, a lightbulb moment and a pinky promise. Within months, those ideas took shape, a business partnership was formed and that promise was actualized in what we affectionately now call LURI.
Gish , 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?
Like many others, Patricia and I were impacted by the pandemic and saw the need to create additional streams of income. We were also keenly aware of the challenges that people faced when it came to post-surgical recovery, having gone through surgeries ourselves. So, we decided to combine our personal experience with our entrepreneurial spirit and create LURI.
At LURI, we provide a wide range of post-surgical products that are designed to help people recover comfortably and quickly after surgery. Our products are carefully curated to address specific needs, and we work with top manufacturers to ensure that they meet the highest standards of quality.
One example of a product that we offer is our arm compression sleeve. This product is versatile and stylish for various activities including exercise, running errands, and post-surgery recovery from skin removal or weight loss.The arm compression sleeve provides support and comfort, reducing discomfort and promoting faster healing. It’s just one example of how we’re addressing specific post-surgical needs and providing solutions that make a real difference in people’s lives.
What sets LURI apart from other post-surgical product providers is our focus on transitional compression. Unlike many other providers who only offer one compression level, we recognize that the body goes through different stages of healing during the recovery process, and we provide products that address those different stages.
At LURI, we’re most proud of the opportunity to help women embrace their bodies and feel confident in their own skin. We understand that the journey to self-acceptance can be a challenging one, particularly for women who have undergone surgery or experienced significant changes in their bodies.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Initially our plan was to launch our brand store directly on Amazon to eliminate the need to store product inventory, order processing etc. We were well into the midst of executing our launch plans with initial inventory ordered when we hit our first major roadblock. Our brand was not yet trademarked and it was a key requirement to move forward.
We immediately went into action to hire an attorney to hopefully expedite the process. However, we soon learned the trademark process was cumbersome, expensive and would take a minimum of 6-9 months. Compounded with the fact we were in the midst of the pandemic, that timeframe in actuality took nearly 15 months to complete. With our initial brand marketing development underway and inventory in route from the manufacturer, we had to make a quick game time decision to pivot the business model.
Instead, over the next few months, we decided to do an initial soft-launch with our own website which we custom built on our own. Then six months later we did a full campaign launch with a custom-designed website, marketing ads etc. Little did we know that critical pivot would come full circle 18 months later when we accomplished what we initially set out to do by launching our products on Amazon. This time around, rather than the single business stream its become our third. Today, LURI products can be purchased via our direct website, Amazon and also available to wholesalers for purchase via the wholesale site.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
Despite our proven individual career successes the truth is our journey into entrepreneurship was filled with lots of highs/lows and new unchartered territory. Here we were days into launching and starting to panic at what appeared to be slow results in product sales. While brainstorming on what to do next, we decided to leverage our contacts to pitch selling our products to surgical centers. At the time, we had no formal process or systems in place yet to support it but decided to take a chance to outreach to some local offices.
Within a few weeks we landed a deal with a surgical office which soon helped us to recoup our initial business investments, expand our business operations to hiring help and expanding our product catalog. That experience reaffirmed our decision to bet on ourselves and the importance of leveraging your network to expand your business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.loveluri.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/love_luri
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Love_Luri-103173598684436
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/luri-apparel-brand/about/
Image Credits
Photographer: Kenyan Barfield (Jetway Productions)