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us to discover the promotional
industry. Using what savings we
had left, we decided to give it a
shot and start Fossa,” says
Michelle, who agreed to manage
sales even though she was
already into her first year as a
kindergarten teacher after get-
ting her master’s degree in early
childhood development.
“Teaching was what I wanted to
do for life, but this opportunity
came along,” she adds.
Judy used her design back-
ground to create the entire Fossa
line of outerwear, fleece, vests
and polos and they started the
company with seven styles.
Michelle took the designs to the
SAAC [Specialty Advertising
Association of California]
show—her first trade show—in
Long Beach. “We set up a booth
and displayed our products. We
had a single-page brochure. I
knew nothing. I checked out
other companies’ catalogs, like
SanMar, and I was thinking,
‘What are we doing here?’”
Uphill Climb
Michelle embraced the chal-
lenge of finding a space for Fossa
in the industry and quickly fig-
ured out that her target cus-
tomers were PPAI- and ASI-
affiliated distributors. She went
to work cold-calling them.
“I called this man who said,
‘Why are you calling me? You’re
going about this all the wrong
way!’” That man was veteran
industry salesman Nowell
Wisch. “I think he could sense
from my voice that I was sincere
but that I was desperate and
clueless, because he offered to
have lunch with me and explain
the structure of the industry and
how I should verbally present my
company.” That encounter
proved to be a major turning
point in the company’s success.
“When you have knowledge and
foundation, you sound more con-
fident and people take you seri-
ously because you know what
you’re talking about,” Michelle
says. And it turned out that she
enjoyed sales and was good at it.
Perseverance Pays Off
Michelle says she and Judy
spent many nights in tears of
frustration at the slow progress,
but she continued to call on dis-
tributors. “I had thick skin,” she
says. “When you’re put in a situ-
ation where, literally, you have to
make it work, you just make it
work. It doesn’t make it easy.” On
a positive note, when the Great
Recession hit in 2008, the com-
pany was lean enough to survive
and, slowly, continued to grow.
But the real growth has come
about only in the past few years.
“You do the legwork and
build your foundation and you’re
this iceberg that’s underwater
until one day you hit that break-
through point and you come
above water and create a ripple
effect. Now people are talking
about Fossa. At The PPAI Expo,
we were busy constantly. We’ve
made enough customers happy
that we now hold our own space
in this industry,” she says, credit-
ing her mother’s expertise in
retail-inspired fashion design with
the company’s product popularity.
“She has an eye for things
and her experience in the cloth-
ing industry became very helpful
in creating the Fossa line. People
think of us as a very urban,
trendy option for corporate
apparel. A good analogy would
be ‘affordable Patagonia,’”
Michelle says.
Fossa is now a one-stop shop
that offers retail-inspired prod-
ucts, competitive price points
and full decoration services. And
the entire family is now involved,
including Michelle’s younger
brother, Eric, who manages
human resources, and her hus-
band, Will, who serves as
accounting manager. Her dad,
Andy, manages the warehouse.
Her uncle’s factory in China
manufactures the entire line.
“The factory has a social compli-
ance certificate, and our cus-
tomers like that—and the fact
that we have full control and that
we’re a vertical manufacturer,”
Michelle emphasizes.
While the experience of
building Fossa from the ground
up has been difficult, especially
since Michelle was also caring
for her two children, now ages
three and six, during the compa-
ny’s early years, she says it’s
been worth it. Recently, Fossa—
in a partnership with Staples
Promotional Products—became
one of only two apparel suppli-
ers to have products featured on
the Super Bowl 50 host com-
mittee’s website. The
Downtown Jacket, one of their
top sellers, is featured, along
with their Cerrado moisture-
wicking quarter-zip and a sporty
polo shirt. “It was a high honor
and great accomplishment,” she
says. “I’m pretty proud. And I
am truly thankful that my par-
ents brought us here. With hard
work and perseverance there is a
chance for any immigrant to
have a shot at living the
American dream.”
Julie Richie is associate editor
for
PPB.
FOSSA APPAREL
MARCH 2016 •
PPB
• 15
“I am truly thankful that
my parents brought us
here.
With hard work
and perseverance there
is a chance for any
immigrant
to have a
shot at living the
American dream.”