Jennifer Hyman is not a fashionista.
She is a tech visionary. When you learn that she's the CEO and co-founder of Rent the Runway, you might mistake her for someone in the high fashion world. After all, Rent the Runway offers expensive designer clothes, and the company name sounds like the title of a reality TV show you might see on Bravo.
But Hyman doesn't spend his days hanging out. asking if rompers will be in style next year.
She's the 37-year-old executive of a multi-million dollar fashion tech company that has raised over $190 million to date – more money than any other female-led company in the United States (less than 3% of venture capital dollars went to companies with women in charge in 2016.) Hyman's biggest concerns are to find out how she'll get the next round of funding and how to change the way people shop — or don't — for clothes.
Related: How Tala Raassi found freedom through fashion
Rent the Runway allows women to rent designer dresses and accessories for weddings, cocktail parties and casual evenings. Instead of dropping thousands of dollars on a high-fashion dress for your New York University acquaintance's posh wedding, you can rent it for a fraction of the cost through the Hyman site and five stores. It's a way to always have a different dress for every new occasion (and photo shoot) without owning any. With 8 million members and a service for working professionals, Rent the Runway is changing the way women view their closets.
Personally, Hyman was more than just an industry pioneer. She has been a social crusader, hires female executives, runs an incubator for women-owned businesses, and speaks candidly about her experience of sexual harassment by an investor. She is savvy, with an MBA from Harvard Business School and the ability to simultaneously envision new markets and change consumer behavior while managing a massive logistics operation and raising venture capital.
ROBERT ASCROFT
And if you need any further proof that she's a tech CEO and not a style-obsessed trend setter, Hyman apparently eats some kind of pasta five nights a week. As we chat in her office, a crowded space in New York's Hudson Square neighborhood, I ask her.
"I'm obsessed," she says. “I'm totally obsessed with Italian food and Mexican food. I feel like pasta is my…” She pauses, considering how best to describe this particular affinity. " How do you call this? "
"Comfort food? I offer.
"No," Hyman said. “It’s beyond my comfort food. This is my food… energy. When I feel like the day is good? Pasta. When I feel like I want the day to be beautiful? Pasta. It's just awesome. ”
Few in the fashion world would confess to this type of carb consumption. But Hyman doesn't drink kale smoothies or count calories. She indulges in tagliatelle, tortellini and cannelloni.
“This company is fundamentally about changing your relationship with your closet. »
Creative Curator
The flagship Rent the Runway store, just blocks from Union Square in Manhattan, is a clothing lover's dream. The decor is minimalist. Almost all the walls and shelves are bright white or light gray. Dresses from designers like Badgley Mischka, Trina Turk and Jay Godfrey stand out against the immaculate decor with pops of color. Red, magenta and pink dresses are housed in a single section; the royal blue, aqua and turquoise dresses in another. Flipping through them, each dress is more gorgeous than the last. It's hard not to want them all.
The store, like the business, is neatly curated and organized, with nothing done by accident and every detail is taken care of. A mirror on the back has an email message above that goes from "I got it from my mom" to "Items in the mirror are as fabulous as they look" to "When your reflection stops you in your tracks. As she shows up at the flagship store with an iced coffee in hand the morning of my visit, Hyman seems cheerful and energetic. She chats casually with the young saleswoman working that day. Hyman, who is tall with olive skin, a warm smile and thick brown hair, seems genuinely curious about the employee's life. Hyman learns that the woman recently moved to New York from the South and is studying fashion merchandising. Brooke Brown, chief product officer and founding member of the team, says Hyman likes to experience all aspects of the business up close. It's not uncommon for Hyman to take a customer service call or take a retail shift.
Hyman's predilection for detail and intent has been there since the very beginning, when she was in her sister's closet in 2008 and had an epiphany.
Her sister, Becky Leader, was 25 and had just spent what Leader says was "a huge chunk of my salary" on a Marchesa Notte dress for her first post-college marriage in New York. Hyman looked in his sister's closet. She asked her why she wasn't just wearing one of the other fancy dresses she already owned.
"That's when Facebook was really big and you didn't want to be photographed in the even held more than once,” Leader recalls.
That comment became the spark behind what would become a cultural shift in the way we viewed our closets.
ROBERT ASCROFT
"I had a moment with the light bulb where we weren't actually talking about the dress," Hyman says. "That's not what she cared about. She cared about getting into the party, feeling beautiful, being confident. And she actually cared about the photo that would exist afterwards that would show all of her friends how awesome she looked at the wedding. So really, he was thinking, Why can't we have clothes we only wear once? ”
It was a Saturday night. Hyman met fellow student and later co-founder Jenny Fleiss the following Monday. Hyman shared the idea with Fleiss, who decided it sounded fun and wanted to work on it. (Fleiss recently left Rent the Runway to lead Code 8, part of Wal-Mart's tech incubator, Store #8. She will remain on the board of Rent the Runway.)
The duo sent a cold email to Diane von Furstenberg the same afternoon. The designer agreed to meet with them.
“And the next day we would walk into his office and introduce ourselves as the co-founders of Rent the Runway,” says Hyman.
Power Player
In a a culture that rents everything from homes to cars and offers memberships for everything from music to fitness, the concept of renting clothes wasn't necessarily revolutionary. Some people had even tried and failed.
“I think a lot of people could and probably had the idea of renting clothes before me. I was the only one who was crazy enough to try it. »
As Hyman eats a late lunch in her office – a bowl of quinoa and Smartwater – she reflects on why no one has had success with large-scale clothing rentals before.
“I think a lot of people may have had the idea of renting clothes before me," she says. “I was the only one who was crazy enough to try it. »
Related: Jennifer Hyman on Taking Risks for Something You Believe in Running a business like Rent the Runway involves what Hyman calls “physical inventory just-in-time reverse logistics.” Which means 100% of inventory returned by customers must be dry-cleaned, quality-checked, inspected, and ready to ship to new customers the same evening. Launching Rent the Runway meant creating massive amounts of custom software, logistics processes and algorithms built from the ground up.
Hyman disrupts fashion, but it always comes down to technology.
From the point From a customer perspective, it works like this:you select the dress in the size you want (with a free save size), and it's sent to you within a four or eight day window. Once you send the dress back, Rent the Runway cleans it, repackages it, and sends it to the next customer. There are only a few brick and mortar locations so most of the time you can't try it on before renting it, but users leave detailed feedback on each dress's fit so a customer knows as much as possible if a certain style is right. With Unlimited, the company's subscription service, users can rent four items at a time and redeem them as many times as they want for $159 per month. Customers on a tighter budget can participate in the company's new service, Rent the Runway Update, which allows them to rent four items per month for $89.
ROBERT ASCROFT
Hyman refers to high quality dresses and clothes as pieces , likening them to works of art that you would have in a collection. Rent the Runway is not intended to replace buying what Hyman calls basics like jeans, white T-shirts and leather jackets. They aim to replace what she calls unique statement pieces . Their biggest competitors, she says, aren't high-fashion designers — they're associated with a Neiman Marcus and have a Rent the Runway boutique within the department store — but rather stores that offer variety at a price. affordable, like TJ Maxx, H&M and Zara. The quality is lower at these places, but customers can still buy multiple garments at once without breaking the bank. Hyman prefers to see people spend that money to have access to a bigger selection of nicer clothes.
“It's about taking the investment pieces you buy and pairing them with your fashion subscription , so you have hundreds of thousands of options,” she says.
Seventy percent of Rent the Runway's employees are women, as are the vast majority of its leaders. In addition to Hyman as CEO, the company has women serving as chief financial officer, chief operating officer, chief product officer, general counsel and head of retail, subscriptions, merchandising and planning.
“Yes, we rent out clothes, but what we're really doing is powering a logistics system,” Hyman says. “We have the technology. We have data scientists. To have these kind of female leaders in a company known for its logistics and technology is awesome. She says she hopes women and men view Rent the Runway as "an example of a place where you put smart women in charge who can change the world." »
Related: 15 Traits of Shamelessly Successful Women Rent the Runway does for shopping for clothes what Uber did for transportation, what Netflix did for TV, what Blue Apron did for cooking. Hyman strongly believes that people today value access more than ownership.
“We not only feel comfortable [with renting] as a generation, but we yearn to have and collect experiences,” says Hyman.
Still, convincing women to wear used clothes isn't easy. So many things can go wrong. What if the item has sweat stains? What if it gets blurry? What if it looks seedy? No one knows who wore a rented dress or what was done to it.
But Rent the Runway was able to reverse that. Many women post their photos on the website or tag Rent the Runway on Instagram. They rent with the mindset that they are onto a wonderful little secret, a life hack, and they want to share their knowledge with the world. They pride themselves on renting.
“We were teaching women a new customer behavior of renting clothes—to wear clothes that other women had worn before,” Hyman says. “We were trying not only to convince them to do it, but to convince women to feel like it was cool, and it was ambitious, and it wasn't gross to wear clothes that other women had worn. ”
ROBERT ASCROFT
The company proved to women that renting was not something embarrassing, it was a gateway to more clothing options. Women who have rented see that the dresses arrive in pristine condition with no signs of wear, sweat or grime. (In fact, Rent the Runway has the world's largest dry cleaning operation.) If renters can't tell their items were worn, neither can anyone at the wedding they attend.
Some styles from Rent the Runway have graced the site for years, a few since the website launched in 2009.
“The only thing that matters is something new for the customer, not new to the track," says Hyman. "You want to wear something from Rent the Runway that you've never worn before. You don't care, and you'll never know, if something was five minutes ago or five years ago. ”
Bold Pioneer
In the morning, Hyman radiates pure confidence. She simultaneously commands the room and puts people at ease, cracking light and cozy banter with anyone around. You know she's in charge, but she doesn't feel threatening. Everyone just calls her Jenn. And when she sees an employee trying to evade a photo, Hyman calls her up and gets her to pose. " Come here! she said to the woman. " You are beautiful! ”
Hyman is laid back in general. She says she doesn't emphasize deadlines. She is not competitive. She can't remember the last time she made a list. And most of the time I'm with her, she seems pretty low maintenance, especially by CEO standards. She has no problem, for example, taking a Yellow Cab instead of an Uber Black.
ROBERT ASCROFT
She's also really funny, like when she talks about accidentally naming her then 3-month-old daughter after Princess Sleeping Beauty . Hyman's sister, who looks exactly like her on the phone, describes her with words like "warm" and "uplifting".
But as the day progresses, Hyman goes from being the perennial cool girl to Busy CEO. She starts checking the time more often and reminds everyone within earshot that she has an introductory meeting later and people are paying her a visit. She cuts one of her afternoon sessions early. And in the middle of an interview, she pulls out her laptop and stares at the screen, typing and scrolling.
Hyman grew up in New Rochelle, New York. Her father worked in international trade and finance, and her mother worked as a controller at a Pirelli tire subsidiary before leaving work to care for Hyman's autistic sister full-time. Hyman gravitated towards the arts growing up – singing, dancing and acting. It wasn't until she watched Oprah one day, as a child, the idea of becoming an entrepreneur even crossed his mind.
“When I was little, I watched Oprah almost every day,” she says from her office. The room is overflowing with photos of family and friends. “Which is strange for a child. But it was such an emotional show, and I feel like a good cry every day is good. »
An episode once featured Jessica DiLullo Herrin, the co-founder of WeddingChannel.com. Hyman was amazed at how the woman looked so normal and happy. She had a husband, children and a social life while running a business. "I was like, sensational . It just put this seed in my mind that being a leader might be something I could do. »
Related: Strategies for Women to Lead the Workplace
After graduating from high school, she went on to study social sciences at Harvard. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, she took a job with Starwood Hotels and Resorts. There, she began immersing herself in the experience economy and created the first-ever honeymoon registry. Wedding guests could buy part of a couple's honeymoon instead of buying them things they already had or didn't need. After brief stints at WeddingChannel.com and IMG, she returned to Harvard to pursue her MBA.
“People are so uncomfortable with failure that it stops them from taking the risks you need to pursue your best life. »
She married Ben Stauffer, in Montauk, New York, in September. She says he is laid back, caring and loving. When she talks about him, her joy is sincere and abundant.
ROBERT ASCROFT
This part of his life has not always been so simple. Several years ago, she called off a previous engagement three days before the wedding.
Hyman is not one to skate into a comfortable, content life, or run away from tough decisions.
“ People are so uncomfortable with failure that it stops them from taking the risks you need to pursue your best life,” she says. "It doesn't just have to do with your career. People are afraid to ask someone out with someone they really care about, who they really love because they're afraid, What if that person says no? And, like, flip that. What if that person says Yes? You have to take the risk to seek happiness. ”
Social Activist
Hyman was live last July, seated in the CNBC studio in midtown Manhattan. She wore a thin, royal blue dress, with her hair in loose waves. She sounded calm and focused, speaking effortlessly, as if she'd prepared her story in her head, as if it was something she'd wanted to say for a while now.
"I've been victim of sexual harassment during the construction of Rent the Runway several years ago,” she told the presenters. She explained that she had been “proposed, texted, harassed and threatened in person.”
She knew the audience would include a mix of colleagues, employees, business partners, potential investors and hundreds of thousands of foreigners. Hyman explained that she was going to keep quiet until the person who was harassing her called one of her board members and told him she wasn't answering. His questions about his abilities as CEO prompted Hyman to show the vulgar text messages to his board and go public with his story. She keeps the identity of the individual private, she says, because the person is no longer an investor.
"I think that would bring unnecessary sensationalism to the issue given that he is no longer investing. and therefore can't do that to other women,” Hyman said.
Part of the reason she came forward to speak about sexual harassment was because she wanted to dispel the idea that it only happens to women at the very beginning of their careers. It happens at every step and every level, she says.
Related: 10 Powerful Ways to Defend Yourself in Any Situation
“I had already raised tens of millions of dollars. I had a support board, I had a growing business, I had mentors, I had an amazing team to back me up,” she says. "And again I was sexually harassed. ”
Her board of directors supported her. But she says others have not been so lucky. It shows her friend Katrina Lake, CEO and founder of Stitch Fix, a clothing subscription service. Lake said one of her investors sexually harassed her, and instead of trusting and helping her, the venture capital firm made her sign an agreement that she would not speak negatively about them.
"To hear that instead of supporting her, her own venture capitalists had tried to shut her down and shut her up, someone hurting her, someone distracting her, someone was threatening her...it's so backward. ”
Thinker
While the majority of Rent the Runway's business is online, the company has stores in New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Woodland Hills, California. They also have a handful of in-person sale samples each year. Hyman says one of the big challenges the company faces in moving forward is building brand awareness.
"I think there are a lot more women who know us in New York or San Francisco than in Nashville or Minneapolis," she says.
Hyman wholeheartedly believes that the future of business lies in Unlimited and in consumers who rent clothes every day, not just for extravagant events.
“I think every woman in this country is going to have a fashion subscription in the next 20 to 30 years. »
“This company is fundamentally about changing your relationship with your wardrobe and making sure that every day you have new items in your wardrobe,” she says. “I think every woman in this country is going to have a fashion subscription in the next 20 to 30 years.
Almost everyone I spoke to called Hyman a form of the word visionary .
Brown, another member of the Rent the Runway team, calls Hyman an innovator. "She has such an incredible vision of what we're trying to accomplish. »
Maureen Sullivan, COO of Rent the Runway, chose a different term. “The way I think of Jenn — and this was very clear from the very first encounter I had with her — is that she's almost like a cultural anthropologist,” Sullivan says. “A lot of people talk about understanding consumer behavior, and that's one thing, but you kind of have to be more advanced than that. You need to understand how people's emotions and feelings change, and then how behavior changes. "
When it comes to her own emotions and feelings, Hyman says that at this point she most values human connections and spending time with the people she loves.
" My ideal day would be at the beach with my husband, my daughter, tons of friends, all of my family, at a huge dance party,” she says.
“With lots of Italian food. »
Related: The habits of 12 very successful women
This article originally appeared in the December 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
