We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicole Cuervo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nicole, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I came up with the idea for Springrose after spending a lot of time with my grandmother Rosa (i.e. Rose). I was living at home for a college internship and spending more time with my grandmother, who had moved into an apartment a few blocks away from my mom’s house.
Rose was independent, caring, and sharp-minded, even into her late 80s. That’s why it stuck out to me when I learned that she struggled to get dressed in the morning. In particular, it was difficult and painful for her to put on her bras because she had arthritis and chronic pain. The hooks were challenging and the thin straps would dig into her shoulders and leave red marks.
That felt unacceptable to me, so I decided to buy her an adaptive bra as a gift. However, I couldn’t find anything in stores or online that was functional, pretty, and size-inclusive. The only two options at the time were hideous.
My background up until that point had been in entrepreneurship with a focus on user research, so I started interviewing her friends to see if this was a wider issue. Lo and behold, it was! Everyone I talked to either experienced this challenge first-hand or knew of someone who could benefit from an easy on bra.
I ended up interviewing 100+ women, surveying 500+ and partnering with over 30 physical and occupational therapists to develop our flagship bra, which can be put on eight different ways.
Nicole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m from Argentina and moved to Miami, FL in the early 2000s after the economic crisis. My professional background is in design thinking and strategy. I got a Bachelors from Brown University in Business & Entrepreneurship, then worked at Deloitte Consulting for a few years, before getting a double masters MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and an MS in Design Innovation from McCormick School of Engineering at Northwester University. This means that my focus, both professionally and academically, has been to develop innovative solutions by co-designing with the people experiencing the challenge. I used to do that for my government and non-profit clients at Deloitte, and now that philosophy is at the core of everything we do at Springrose.
At Springrose, we design adaptive intimate apparel that improves quality of life for women with limited mobility. We serve women who have injuries, illnesses, disabilities, or are simply aging and would like easier solutions for dressing. Our flagship bra, the Plunge Front Closure bra, has our innovative patent-pending closure that allows people to put it on eight different ways, including one handed. That way, people have the flexibility of how to get dressed and can do so painlessly and independently.
We proudly focus on developing the most innovative solutions possible, without compromising on comfort or fashion.
We’d really appreciate if you could talk to us about how you figured out the manufacturing process.
Manufacturing our product has been the bumpiest ride over the last few years. Our product is very technical, so it was challenging to find a manufacturer that understood our vision, could execute on our product, and who followed fair labor practices.
I had no background in intimates or even apparel, so after a few false starts, I learned to rely on experts. Through their support and knowledge, we were able to get onto the right track and identify who was a viable partner.
Finding our current manufacturing partner was a mix of hard work and serendipity. I was looking for a fabric supplier and through a co-working group of latino founders in Miami, I got connected to a founder who knew someone in textiles in the country I wanted to manufacture. That person connected me with a local supplier, who it turns out, was vertically integrated with our manufacturer. This all happened in the week leading up to my trip in-country, and during that trip, I visited the manufacturer and we decided then and there to start working together.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I believe that the general narrative around being an entrepreneur is that entrepreneurs work 100 hours a week. They put a second mortgage on their home to make it work. They eat package ramen every day. That’s the story that’s told on tv, in news articles, and in pop culture. Those are the stories that are elevated. And maybe that worked for a handful of people.
Overall though, that’s wrong. It’s both wrong and unhealthy.
I had that mentality going into it and quickly learned that that’s how you burn yourself out. And if you’re burned out, tired, and mentally frayed, you’re going to make poor choices. You’re not going to do what’s best for the business because you’re not well-rested enough to make thoughtful, strategic decisions.
That is a mentality of the past and it’s toxic. It’s important for entrepreneurs to be well-rested, to eat nutritiously, and to take care of their health. It’s important for them to look for outside capital if needed or focus on profitability from the onset, because making financially reckless decisions with your personal money is going to put a massive amount of emotional and mental strain on you, and you will once again not be able to make the best choices for the business.
Make choices that are healthy for you, and they will be healthy for the business too.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.springrose.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/springrose.co
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/springrose.co/
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/springrose