Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Ree.
Brian, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I founded Dailylook in 2011 with the premise that it was too difficult to put together really well-styled looks for myself. And I realized that so many men and women had the same challenges talking to friends. So I decided to create a website that focused on selling one head-to-toe styled look every day with one click.
We would go out in downtown LA and shoot a dozen lifestyle shots of a dozen different looks. And then we’d release one new look each day on the website and by email. Our initial website launch with our unique selling approach got our initial traction and sales took off. From a small office of 5 people around one large island desk, we were able to grow to 12 employees and sell 2-3 new looks per day. As a result of our initial success and sales growth, we were able to raise a seed round of $2.5M.
Business was great until it wasn’t. Fast forward to 2013 and the competitive landscape was rife with large-scale discounting and more competition. Our unique approach to selling by looks wasn’t strong enough to warrant high customer loyalty and we had to fight tooth and nail for each transaction. We didn’t have our own private label and our sales were unpredictable because we were only as good as our next hit product. Long term, I didn’t feel confident in the sustainability of our business model since our only point of differentiation was to sell by looks, not by category.
So we decided to pivot. I wanted us to stick to our original mission of making it easy to obtain great new looks. We had a lot of data on the looks that were most favorited and loved. So we decided to put these looks into a box and offer a hand-selected box of personal styling. Our client response was immediate and game-changing. They were engaged, excited, and buying more products than via the transactional website. After our initial alpha test of 20 random clients, we decided we had enough proof of concept to go all-in.
The pivot almost killed us. We had to make some really hard choices and decisions and lay off more than 50% of the company over the next year. Even though the two business seems similar enough, the exact skillsets and processes needed for the new business were very different so we had to make personnel changes. And we had to go slow and build this business from the ground up while winding our transactional business down.
In the end, the remaining team was an amazing group of diverse individuals with tenacity, grit, and belief in our company. And together, we willed the new box business into existence and learned day by day how to make the business stronger and serve our clients better.
Today, we are the leader in premium personal styling. We focus on the modern metropolitan on-the-go woman who wants to look and feel her best but values the time-savings and convenience of personal styling. We’ve grown to well over 100 full-time employees and have grown profitably since 2016. Our mission is to elevate your style. And we do so one hand-curated box at a time.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
As the co-founder/CEO, I focus my time on the team, product experience, marketing, and operations. My co-founder and CTO Eric Marston focuses his time on building our world-class technology platform that enables our expert stylists to style diverse clients efficiently and accurately.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles is ideal because we have the best creative talent and a diverse workforce. We employ warehouse employees, buyers, developers, stylists, and back office under one roof.
Pricing:
- $40 styling fee per box to receive a hand-curated selection of merchandise to try before you buy
- The $40 styling fee is credited toward any purchase in your box
- Our average apparel item costs $75 and up
Contact Info:
- Website: www.dailylook.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailylook/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailylook
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