Kay Unger – Co-founder, Phoebe Company LLC

It isn’t easy starting over, but when you’re pursuing your passion, not even a bump in the road (or a huge road closure) can get in your way.

By Bari Lieberman

Listen to your gut, insists clothing designer Kay Unger, co-founder, creative head and director of Phoebe Company LLC, who once ignored her intuition when it warned that something was wrong with her first company. She and her business partner at the time had a falling out later – and she found herself millions of dollars in the red. “My biggest mistake was not acting on the knowledge that something was wrong. I didn’t want to believe it was true,” she says. “I wasn’t trained in business or reading financial sheets, and I learned the hard way never to be afraid of what you don’t understand. Ask for help.”

Lesson learned. More than three decades later, Unger’s second company is worth more than $40 million, and her dresses are worn by celebrities from Paris Hilton to Oprah. Jill Biden even sported an Unger dress and jacket for the Democratic National Convention.

Unger tells PINK how she found the strength to bounce back – and run a meaningful business and life during tough economic times.

PINK: You recently announced the creation of 10 stores in China (with projected sales of $4 million), as well as an eyewear line in collaboration with Nouveau Eyewear. How did you have to change your business to incorporate these undertakings?
Kay Unger: We only add something if it truly fits us, our brand, our personality. With the opening of international flagship stores, we had to really listen to our partners in the Orient to what their needs are; there are certain products that [their market] just doesn’t need. Feedback indicated that the customer wants to leave our stores with undergarments, shoes, coverups, coats, gloves and jewelry. So we added those products, some by making them ourselves, others by utilizing fellow designers from the Council of Fashion Designers of America and other designers we are mentoring. We even make toys from our leftover scraps.

PINK: How do you motivate your team?
K.U.: My passion – passion for the product and the people. It’s like a family here, and most people have been with me since I started. But I also motivate through energy – with humor and openness. I’m a catalyst for the pace, the energy, of the company. I motivate by empowering my team, by not micromanaging, and by giving them responsibility and ownership for what they do. And I meet independently with each head designer weekly so we stay connected.

PINK: How do you define “success”?
K.U.: Hard work and caring for the customer and respecting her needs. I’m passionate about what I do: my company, my family and my philanthropy.