Women2Watch Interview: Stacey Head

Meet Stacey Head, founder and managing director of she wear, and a 2018 Women2Watch Innovation Award winner. In this month's W2W spotlight, Stacey talks about how an unexpected accident led to the creation of she wear, a company specializing in safety and fashion footwear for women. Stacey is  one of the biggest disruptors and innovators in retail, and we're proud to have her in our community!

You can connect with Stacey and other leaders directly in our HALO community.

Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Stacey Head and I am the Founder and Managing Director of she wear, a company specializing in safety and fashion footwear for women.  We manufacture a range of safety work boots, fashion leather boots, gum boots, socks, and a range of boots for children. In addition to manufacturing our own branded products, we also retail our products online, in our brick-and-mortar retail store, and we wholesale to stockists throughout Australia and New Zealand.  We ship globally via our e-commerce site. We also stock a full range of workwear and PPE (personal protective equipment) for women. We are the only Australian company manufacturing safety footwear just for women, and we are the world's largest supplier of safety footwear and workwear for women.

How did you get to where you are?

I had a career in operational management within the travel and aviation industry, and after many years, I needed a "sea change."  I then spent six years "flipping" properties (i.e. buying, renovating and selling real estate) and was extremely hands on in all aspects, particularly the physical side of the renovations (such as tiling, carpentry, rendering, bricking, landscaping, painting etc).  On one of my builds, I had an unfortunate incident where I stood on a nail in totally inappropriate footwear. After that incident, I realized I needed to wear suitable footwear and I searched far and wide for a pair of decent women's work boots and was astounded at the lack of choice for women.  

Safety boots in Australia were heavy, designed for men, and/or ill fitting, so I imported a pair of women's work boots. The quality was extremely disappointing and fell apart in no time.  I couldn't believe the gap in the market and that the major industry market leaders didn't feel women were a focus. So I decided to do something about it!  After 10 months of due diligence—R&D, planning, prototype sampling, traveling to factories—she wear was launched to the market in 2013 as an e-commerce, home based, boot strapped start up.  We launched with just two styles in three colors. Four months after the launch, she wear was showcased on "The Block" (a very popular renovation show on a major Australian TV network), and sales and brand awareness increased exponentially. Within eight months of the launch, I moved the business into a warehouse/office/shopfront to ensure demand and supply were met.

She wear has come a long way since 2013. We are constantly updating our designs and use more advanced technologies in our footwear to ensure they are lightweight and comfortable.  We now produce six safety styles in nine colors, three fashion leather boot options, five gum boots style, a range of socks, boots for children, and due to customer demand and requests, we now offer over 200 lines of product including workwear and PPE for women.

It is imperative to my business, that our ethics and values are communicated and upheld to our customer base, and we use our social media platforms to empower, motivate and inspire women to be whatever it is they want to be and shatter the stereotypical illusions within male dominated industries..  The safety industry is very male focused and is a very competitive industry. Since the launch of she wear 4 1/2 years ago, the major multinationals are now offering similar products, so we are very focused on being an innovator and market leader. By regularly introducing new styles and colors, this ensures the future success of she wear.

What advice would you give to other aspiring Women2Watch?

To just go out there and give it a go!  With risk comes reward and it's personally and professionally satisfying when a thought or idea becomes a reality.  Do your research and due diligence but ensure to trust your gut instincts. If it feels right and the figures stack up, go for it!  

Small business is hard work. It takes perseverance, persistence and dedication. Be true to yourself and ignore the naysayers. Never ever copy! Be innovative and be different.  Enjoy the ride—and what a ride it will be!