854 Krystal Gillis: Founder & CEO of Tighties

0:00Kara Goldin:I am unwilling to give up, but I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. You just want to make sure you will get knocked down, but just make sure you don't get knocked out. So your only choice should be, go focus on what you can control. Hi everyone and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world's greatest leaders. We'll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and really some of the most interesting people of our time. Can't wait to get started. Let's go. This episode is sponsored by Cash App.

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1:25Kara Goldin:What I like is that it makes getting started feel simple. You don't have to know everything on day one. You can learn as you go, take it at your own pace, and use it in a way that feels right for you. For a limited time, new customers can get$10 added to their balance. Just use code CASHAPP10 when you sign up. And at least$5 to a friend in the first two weeks. Terms apply. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. Brand. For additional information, see the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app slash legal slash podcast.

2:09Kara Goldin:This episode of the Kara Golden Show is brought to you by select quote. Here's something most of us probably don't think about enough, whether our life insurance is actually doing what we need it to do. Maybe you have a policy through work, maybe you bought one years ago and haven't looked at it since, but life changes. Cost change, health changes, and relying on coverage you haven't reviewed in a while can leave you overpaying, underinsured or not as protected as you thought. That's why I've been looking at SelectQuote. For over 40 years, SelectQuote has helped more than 2 million Americans secure over$700 billion in coverage.

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3:45Kara Goldin:Most performance apparel is designed to fit, stretch, compress, or look good. But what if it could actually support better movement, help with alignment, activate muscles, and keep active people moving longer? So our next guest saw that gap. Crystal Gillis is the founder and CEO of an incredible brand, so, so interesting, called Tidy's. And I absolutely love this product. So missing between traditional activewear and medical grade support, Tidy's was born. And we'll let Crystal tell us a lot more about it as I'm continuing on and on about it. But I just absolutely love what she has done. Not only has she developed an incredible brand, but also just her backstory of actually creating products and not just that look good, but the technology that really goes into it.

4:48Kara Goldin:So Crystal, welcome to the Kara Golden Show. So excited you're here. Thank you. And thank you for having me. Really excited to chat today. I'm very, very excited. So, okay. So Tideys. Let's talk about Tideys and the brand. And how do you describe the brand and what makes it different from traditional performance apparel? Yeah. So we kind of sit, as you mentioned, at the hub between what people are used to in activewear and performance wear, but also taking into account this entire breadth of the medical capabilities. And when I describe tighties, we refer to ourselves as movement technology. And the reason being is we are actually using the body as a system, alignment, and sending neuromuscular cues to tell your body to align and do what it's supposed to do.

5:37So we give people less pain, they have a reduced risk of injury, and frankly, they're just better to or able to move better in doing the things they love. And it doesn't matter if that is competing at an elite level, if it is everyday walking, it's our job to help them keep moving.

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6:34Kara Goldin:Visit nfp.com slash Kara Golden to unlock your full potential. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business. Not the highlight reel, the actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it. and you realize quickly connection isn't a nice to have, it's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity.

7:21Kara Goldin:You just need it to work every time. That's why AT &T Business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business. Built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. This episode is sponsored by Cash App. What's the first thing that comes to mind when you hear people talk about Bitcoin? For many people, it's probably confusion or risk, or I should probably understand this better, but where do I even start? That's what I like about Cash App.

8:08Kara Goldin:It makes getting started feels simple. You can learn as you go, take it at your own pace and use it in a way that feels right for you. If you've been curious about Bitcoin but haven't made the jump yet, you need to try Cash App. You can set up automatic purchases with zero fees or buy larger amounts also with zero fees. Start small or go bigger. It's designed to be simple either way. What I like is that it makes getting started feel simple. You don't have to know everything on day one. You can learn as you go, take it at your own pace, and use it in a way that feels right for you. For a limited time, new customers can get$10 added to their balance.

8:49Kara Goldin:Just use code CASHAPP10 when you sign up. And don't forget this part. Send at least$5 to a friend in the first two weeks. Terms apply. Cash app is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App's bank partners. Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. brand. For additional information, see the Bitcoin disclosures at cash.app slash legal slash podcast. I love it. So what did you see in the world of orthopedics that made you think, someone's got to go build this? Yeah, it was more of a question. Everything I've done in my career and frankly in my life always, It starts with, why are we doing it this way and how else could it be done?

9:35And for me, I was actually working on an orthopedic bracing project that had nothing to do even with continuation of movement. It had to do with a very specific style. But I was diving into why people wear braces, understanding why they don't. Compliance is a huge issue. And at the same time, the women's soccer Olympics from 2020 were being done in 2021. And all of these women were getting injured. And so at the same time, I started thinking, why are all of these elite athletes who are trained at the best of their body's capability suffering these catastrophic injuries? And really, if you go into it, yes, females are struggling and that's an issue all in itself.

10:18But really, it's all athletes. And what I found was 90 million athletes a year are injured and 80 percent of those injuries have been deemed preventable, which blew my mind. I mean, absolutely blew my mind. And when you really look into the science behind it, there's so many reasons. But for me, it just stood out as a everybody cares about this point of injury, right? This one point. It's a huge, huge industry. But nobody seemed to care about the before and no one seemed to care about the after because there's so much that happens in your longevity of life and what we call it tidies your physical span after aging or injury or just all of it, wear and tear.

10:58So we really wanted to dive in. So it started with saying, okay, what other options are available? And because I had also worked in understanding how the muscles interact with the body on another project, the example I like to give is one of the reasons that NFL players and NHL players have such large necks is because the muscles will help absorb the hit. So they're less prone to concussions. So my concept was, could we offload the knee, but through muscle engagement? And at that point, I had officially outkicked all of my coverage or ability to know actually the answer to that. So it was my job to become what I call a herder of sheep.

11:38So I put together beautiful development team we have at Tidy's, which is four orthopedic surgeons. It's one physical therapist who's a muscle function specialist, biomechanical engineer, and a group of designers. And between that and athlete interaction, everyday human interaction. We spent four years developing products that actually changed the way you mechanically move. And we're super proud with what we've done.

12:01Kara Goldin:What you've done is not just a startup and an entrepreneurial venture. It's actually, I mean, it's hard, right? And being an entrepreneur is hard, but there's so much that I'm sure that goes on behind the scenes. I mean, when I was really doing research on Tidies and obviously love the products, but it's, it's, it, I mean, this is, this is a big undertaking for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, really big. Yeah. Really, really big undertaking. So you founded your first company, a payroll software company, very different from this company for sure. And then successfully sold it. What did that experience teach you about building, I guess building from scratch.

12:51Yeah, I think that that experience that taught me a lot of things, I will say, younger in life of of what not to do or things to be cognizant of. But it started the same way. It was with a question of, OK, at that time, everyone entered in their payroll hours into like for restaurants, right, in a point of sale systems. But then they were manually entering them into their payroll. So the question there was really easy to like, is there a way to bridge this gap in an affordable way. And that was really the premise of what we built. The original company was called PayLink. And it's the same, right?

13:24That was service-based. But the premise of building something different and really helping to solve a problem is in all of the things I've ever touched. And I think that that's where my passion lies as an entrepreneur is to say, wait, how can we do it differently? And I think understanding that knowledge and all of the steps I've taken along the way between that initial startup and when Tidies became a thought or a question all helped to facilitate not only the development of it, but the process to be able to say, yeah, I know that's how things have been done or are done, but I want to do them differently.

14:04And I just wonder if we could look a little bit more over here versus over here and see if we can find some different solutions. Because in my opinion, I think we can do better.

14:13Kara Goldin:Thank you to Hexclad for sponsoring today's episode of the Kara Golden Show. Okay, summer is here, and if you're upgrading anything this season, let it be your kitchen. I am obsessed with Hexclad because it solves the biggest frustrations I have with cookware. Most pans force you to choose between performance and convenience. things like nonstick scratches, while stainless steel cooks beautifully but can be a nightmare to clean. Hexclad gives you both. You get incredible heat control, a great sear, and cleanup is so easy. I love that they're dishwasher safe, oven safe, and durable enough that you don't have to baby them.

14:58Kara Goldin:The first time I used them, I realized they were completely different from every other pan I owned. With over a million customers, more than 50 ,000 five-star reviews, and even Gordon Ramsey using them at home and in his restaurants, it's clear I'm not the only fan. Plus, they come with a lifetime warranty, so they may literally be the last cookware you'll ever buy. So whether you're hosting all summer long or just want to make everyday cooking feel easier, this is the upgrade your kitchen deserves. For a limited time, our listeners get 10 % off with our exclusive link. Just head to hexclad.com slash Kara Golden.

15:43Kara Goldin:Support our show and check them out at hexclad.com forward slash Kara Golden. Make sure to let them know we sent you. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business.

16:25Kara Goldin:and you realize quickly connection isn't a nice to have, it's the lifeblood of your business. As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity. You just need it to work every time. That's why AT &T Business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business. Built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. So you talked about bringing in orthopedic and biomechanical experts while you were developing TIDES. Can you name an example of something that came up that was sort of counter to what you thought you were going to have to do in order to create TIDES?

17:24I mean, even the education piece behind it, not necessarily from orthopedics, but in some of the people who'd worked in the engineering side and the design side, one of the biggest shockers of people who have been developing orthopedic braces for a long time, and I came from that space on the orthopedic with a large company and a medical device company as well, is a lot of times how we have facilitated things was we make them for a general nuance of the body. And the example I'm going to give here is it happens all too often. It's just starting to hit the news and I'm really passionate about it.

17:59But they were used to making just products basically for males and then making them smaller for females. And I was one of the only people who had ever come to them and been like, hey, guess what? I want to focus on the fact that the anatomies are different and we need to look at the bodies differently. Products can look the same, but they're going to have different functionalities. And there was some very heavy pushback initially on that. One of the developers who fortunately we have great rapport was like, well, a knee is a knee. And I was like, well, not really. There's a lot of different routes that are being taken to get to that patella.

18:35And I really want to understand how we're supporting each type of anatomy because it's really important. And I think being able to just ask the question opens up people's minds to things that honestly, it's not because they didn't want to think about it. It's just that's not how it was done.

18:53Kara Goldin:Thank you to Hexclad for sponsoring today's episode of the Kara Golden Show. Okay, summer is here. And if you're upgrading anything this season, let it be your kitchen. I am obsessed with Hexclad because it solves the biggest frustrations I have with cookware. Most pans force you to choose between performance and convenience. Things like nonstick scratches, while stainless steel cooks beautifully but can be a nightmare to clean. Hexclad gives you both. You get incredible heat control, a great sear, and cleanup is so easy. I love that they're dishwasher safe, oven safe, and durable enough that you don't have to baby them.

19:38Kara Goldin:The first time I used them, I realized they were completely different from every other pan I owned. With over a million customers, more than 50 ,000 five-star reviews, and even Gordon Ramsay using them at home and in his restaurants, it's clear I'm not the only fan. Plus, they come with a lifetime warranty. So they may literally be the last cookware you'll ever buy. So whether you're hosting all summer long or just want to make everyday cooking feel easier, this is the upgrade your kitchen deserves. For a limited time, our listeners get 10 % off with our exclusive link. Just head to hexclad.com slash Kara Golden.

20:23Kara Goldin:Support our show and check them out at hexclad.com forward slash Kara Golden. Make sure to let them know we sent you. This message is a paid partnership with AT &T Business. Hey everyone, Kara here. Let's get real about those early days of building a business. Not the highlight reel. The actual day-to-day, the friction, trying to manage everything across time zones, across teams, across locations, and realizing how much depends on staying connected. I remember those days at Hint, a retailer call, an order, a decision, all of it. And you realize quickly, connection isn't a nice-to-have, it's the lifeblood of your business.

21:12Kara Goldin:As a founder, you don't want to think about your connectivity. You just need it to work. every time. That's why AT &T Business matters. AT &T Business is the reliable provider for small business owners. And when you have that kind of reliability behind you, you can focus on what actually moves your business forward. Powered by AT &T Business, built to work. Get AT &T Business at business.att.com. Yeah, definitely. Can you describe Tideys to maybe somebody listening? I mean, what are you going to see? What are you going to feel? And talk a lot more about the products. Yeah, absolutely. So the way that our Tideys, our flagship product is called the stabilizer.

22:03You can wear this product for up to 16 hours a day. And really, it is kind of like your end-all be-all. We call it your training wheels, your trainer, your safety net, like however you want to facilitate. And what it does is we have a patented strapping system and it mounts very high on your inner thigh. It wraps around to your lower back and there's a set of dials there. When you put this product on, it is physically rotating and opening your hips. Not only does that feel amazing, but it also controls your anterior and your posterior tilt, putting you into a neutral spine. On top of that, there is a film that runs underneath the tension point coming up and around, down and across the quad, shapes out the patella and comes to the back of the hamstring.

22:49So automatically, when you get those on and you engage them, the biggest description we hear from people is just like, whoa, I'll feel good, right? And it's because their body is going into how it was meant to be, not how it compensates over time. Our knees aren't conclaving in. We're not favoring one side over the other. The way that we shape out the kneecap just feels amazing and it feels supported. So people experience different benefits across the board, but some of the main ones are relief of hip pain, relief of lower back pain, knees offloading over time. And the biggest difference between tidies and how we do things versus what is on the market, everything on the market, which also has a time and a place, it's an entirely different approach to the body.

23:38If you look at the knee, it's like this, right? And you might put on a sleeve or a brace or some other sport product and it gives you a little bit of a lift. That's great. But what that's doing is the work for your body. Tidy's is the only product that actually uses your body to give you that same feeling. So we're building your body over time. The more that you wear it, the more you experience the benefits, even when you're not wearing it. And we've had just so many success stories. We obviously studied it so in-depthly while we were going through development. But even the general user and what they've really had as wins coming out of the last nine months that we've been in market has been mind-blowing.

24:20Just the impact that they've been able to access within their own body. So interesting.

24:27Kara Goldin:So your go-to-market strategy is pretty, I guess, unique to, certainly unique to me in terms of somebody that's built a consumer brand. You are selling, at least initially through medical offices and getting the word out, right, to lots of consumers, but you're also selling direct-to-consumer and etc. etc. But can you talk a little bit about how you thought about the go-to-market strategy when you were first coming out with Tidy's? Yeah, I think that everyone's natural essence for where this product sits would have actually been to make it a medical device. But what we didn't want to do was make just another product that was built to fit into medical reimbursement codes.

25:12We went out of our way to make a product that was approachable by the consumer. So we work with medical offices. We have a lot of doctors, physical therapists, different organizations that work and refer our product. But our main goal is direct to consumer and to pick markets where we can show how much we can impact it and almost reverse the script on how things are usually built in. And when you think about where we're at in the U.S. with medical care and really the continuum of patient care, we wanted to focus on bringing that control to the patient. So we are FSA and HSA eligible. You can pay right on our website.

25:51So flexible spending account, health savings account. But we have not gone and done like the full reimbursement codes. And that's made us very approachable. Not only have we been able to make a product that withstands being used on a regular basis, but it actually was built for the consumer without the chaos of kind of everything else. So for us, we've focused, we do a lot across all kinds of activity levels, but we've really focused a lot within a few core segments so that we can reach the right people at the right time, whether it's through our meta ads or actually we're kind of going old school as well.

26:29we go to a lot of events, right? We're in person, see, feel, try on our products, let us know what they're doing for you. And that's been insanely receptive so far. And then I think it will lead to our continued growth, which will be more of the wholesale and the small boutique retail channels eventually. But we're really starting at the source, which is people that we can help.