California Apparel News

Designer Taryn Rose sold her eponymous shoe label last year and used her industry experience to mentor other entrepreneurs.

Taryn Rose launched her eponymous shoe company in 1998 as a practicing orthopedic surgeon and shoe enthusiast out to create stylish, comfortable footwear. Today the Taryn Rose women’s and men’s shoe line and Taryn by Taryn Rose shoe line are sold internationally as well as in four Taryn Rose stores.

Last year, Rose sold her stake in her company. These days, the entrepreneur fills up her calendar by serving on the boards of the Step Up Women’s Network, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation. Part of Rose’s volunteer work is passing on her business knowledge as a mentor to two fashion entrepreneurs.

Rose started mentoring her sister, An Vu, about a year ago. Vu owns a 3-year-old contemporary boutique named Bio in the Nolita neighborhood of New York, which started struggling when the recession took hold. Part of Vu’s strategy to boost business has been to manufacture a line of environmentally friendly Tencel jersey knits under the label Body by Bio.

Around the same time, Rose took a second fashion entrepreneur under her wing: Emy Hovanesyan, whom she met through a former employee. Hovanesyan sought Rose’s business opinion about her flailing e-tail business, which sold hip children’s clothes. Ultimately, Hovanesyan closed her online boutique, and Rose is now walking her through the launch of her line of reversible silk robes, named Bones and Roses, that can be worn as innerwear or ready-to-wear.

“We speak to each other on a regular basis, at least once a week, so I can follow up on the progress,” said Rose of both of her “students.” Her schedule does not allow for her to take on more proteacute;geacute;s, but Rose often takes “informal” meetings with friends, and she recently gave a speech about branding as a keynote speaker at the seventh annual Women’s Small-Business Expo conference in Los Angeles.

California Apparel News Associate Editor Rhea Cortado recently spoke with Rose about her mentoring efforts. Both women came to you for help because they were inexperienced in business and manufacturing. How detailed do you get when it comes to advising them?

I’m both a strategic and an operational adviser for them. The problem with someone like a consultant is they’ll come in and tell you, “This is what you should do,” but they don’t really talk about how. I’m not going to be calling and asking for quotes, but I’ll say: [for example, to Hovanesyan, who is manufacturing silk robes] “Your margins aren’t going to be enough, so you need to get your cost down, which means you have to get your material cost or labor cost down, or both. So what you should do is call up five other silk sources and get prices.” Just very, very tactical advice.

Then they go off and do it, and I’ll follow up with: “How did it go? What’s the price now?” Then I’ll say: “Did you discuss volume? At what point do you get a volume break?” In addition to the practical advice about how to adjust her store offerings, what other advice did you have for Vu?

The recession is very difficult to get through, but if there is any silver lining, it’s pushing everyone to really understand their business and to run their business much better. Prior to the recession, [Vu] never really looked at her margins to see where her profits were coming from because she was getting by. When times are flush and there are extras around, you don’t think of those things. But when those conditions fall away, people will either quit or they have to find a way to survive. So I try to encourage her by saying: “Take heart, this is helping you be a better retailer.”Do you only consult with people interested in fashion?

While I think that certain principles definitely apply to other businesses, [fashion] is my expertise, so I tend to stay there, and I can speak from a point of authority. Also, I feel that it’s lacking in the fashion industry. People go to fashion school, [but] they are not studying the business side. They are studying the creative side. But the problem is fashion is a business. Without the business side, your creativity never gets to market. In fashion, we always see the glitzy opening parties and the runway shows. I tell the girls: “You don’t have the money to spend on things like that. That doesn’t make you a better fashion entrepreneur. You’re only as good as your bottom line.” I’ll say: “Don’t worry about that someone who is having a big fashion show. Your job is to create products that consumers will want and can convince buyers to buy for their market.” Why do you mentor?

I feel that we all have had luck in our lives at some point. That’s not to discount hard work and being smart. Even people who work incredibly hard and are smart, we all need luck. We all need a little bit of a helping hand. I certainly feel that I have had those gifts in my life in the past, and I would like to pass it on to someone else.

I like thinking about business problems. It’s a pleasure for me. I like feeling like I’m giving back in a very concrete way and it’s measurable and that, hopefully, these women will be able to have success. But I think a lot of it is based on how hard they are willing to work as well. Did you have a mentor who helped you?

I don’t think to the extent that these girls have. I had someone who helped me at the Small Business Administration at the time when I had no idea how to start a business, write a business plan. My first banker was a female banker who understood how the business was going to be structured. [She] just kind of helped me along with various advice. How long does it take a business to get off the ground? Have you been able to see the rewards of your mentorship yet?

[It’s] anywhere from a year to 18 months [before you see a result]. You always have to have time to make sure that things have an opportunity to work. You’re steering a big ocean liner, not a little speedboat. You have to wait for the customers to respond.