Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Krystal Gillis. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Krystal, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

Tighties was created on the premise of new standards. We wanted to help active people remain active with the effectiveness of orthopedic bracing but the usability and comfort of traditional activewear. In doing so, we are stretching the boundaries of the current medical device and the activewear market by setting the expectation that activewear can indeed be functional and full of purpose and that the orthopedic elements can be comfortable and easy to use.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Tighties has truly been a combination of the various areas I have worked in. Combining my passion and experience with entrepreneurship and expertise in medical device and product development has been the best project of my career. Tighties creates products to “keep active people active.” What we do that is different, is in our products and how they function. Our systems create muscle activation within the body to help it operate better and from this, we can target specific consumer needs. For our upcoming launch, we are targeting built-in resistance training to help challenge the body and give users more output from their activities, and on the flipside, our second system helps to stabilize the body. With proper alignment and stabilization users experience pain management, support and access to agility.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

There have been about 1 Million pivots that I have had to make in business and life, but the most recent one was since the formation of Tighties. Originally, I had partners for Tighties who were supposed to be helping develop the products and company. Unfortunately, and as a surprise, it did not work out for them to continue with Tighties. I had to quickly evaluate the state of the business and create a plan to fill the roles that were left empty. It was an incredibly nerve-wracking couple of months. What I learned from that major pivot, and most obstacles I have faced, is the importance of reaching out for help. Use your network – if you are missing a key piece or area of expertise in your network, work hard to expand and find new contacts. While the work and the decision to proceed will be your journey to take, it’s okay to ask for help because someone else has likely faced a similar obstacle. Also, I really do believe that everything happens for a reason, and in the case of Tighties, we have made a stronger company and a better product line because of unexpected circumstances. Pivots provide us room to grow as business owners, as leaders and as humans.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

We do manufacture our own products. While I did have some manufacturing experience from a broad perspective, this was the first time I really got to dig in on the manufacturing side and it has been an amazing learning experience. The journey to finding the right manufacturing partners was long and sometimes painful. It started with finding people who have more experience to help guide the way. Once you know what you want to make or find to sell, find people who have worked on similar products and ask them if they have any recommendations. Walk before you run with new relationships and do not be afraid to say, “This isn’t working, we need to move on.”

An example we had during our development was in our early stages of making prototypes. We were working with great contacts in Asia, but the distance was causing big delays in our ability to test ideas and theories. By recognizing early on that we needed something more local, we opened ourselves to finding U.S.-based manufacturers. Through trial and error, we ended up with our main manufacturer in San Diego. If we had not continued searching, we would never have found the strong partners we did. Our manufacturer has been vital in developing our leggings and their construction. They worked with us to solve problems and truly be part of our team.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gotighties.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gotighties
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Tighties/61553212904104/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tighties/
• Other: https://twitter.com/gotighties Krystal’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krystal-gillis-a2582611