Hi Gwen! I just launched my new baby bedding brand, Coco Beans (cocobeansco.com) and would love to partner with the Laundress. The “delicate wash” formula is my absolute favorite for laundering Coco Beans 100% silk crib sheets! What are your suggestions for securing a brand partnership?

Hi Jill!

I am so glad you wrote in with this question!  You are our first Ask An Entreprenista, Guidance with Gwen participant AND this is such a great discussion point for all Entreprenistas. 

Furthermore, I was thinking that we should connect to speak about collaborating between Coco Beans and The Laundress when I heard you introduce your brand on the Clubhouse Lunch Bunch last week. A perfect fit! (sheets pun included).

For The Laundress, we effectively started partnering and collaborating with complementary brands from day one, seventeen years ago.  Since a laundry and fabric care product was so novel and complementary to so many categories and brands (lingerie, baby, home, bedding, denim, fashion, etc etc), it was the easiest way for us to grow our brand, gain brand recognition, and increase sales distribution organically and authentically while adding value to our partners.  

For example, we ended up with a significant program for J.Crew after doing an in store sales event.  Fast forward many years, we hosted many pop-up Saturday sales events at our store on Prince St., including the founders of Brooklinen, selling their sheets and taking orders … you see where this is going…

There are so many more ways now to naturally collaborate among various activities –  social, giveaways, samples, promotions, sales events (IRL or Zoom), brand features, online profiles – just to name a few.

I highly encourage every Entreprenista when building a business plan or actual business to have a solid collaboration strategy and brand “wishlist” in mind to start networking when the time is right.  A collaboration, when well matched, should always be welcomed!

As for the Laundress, I will connect with you separately to get conversations started.

I am rooting for your success!

Entrepreneurially,

Gwen