Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex Goodman.
Hi Alex, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started building Franklin Morrow in 2016 when I saw a need in the market for high quality, professional, and affordable dress socks. Prior to starting Franklin Morrow, I was spending more money than I will admit on dress socks. This was due to two factors. The first was that fun and unique dress socks were expensive and the other was that they were only lasting 6-8 months at a time.
I spent almost two years hand picking materials, designing, and testing socks so when I finally launched in March of 2018, I was bringing customers a pair of socks I was proud of. It was important to me to not only provide a high quality sock with a fun design, but to also make it affordable for everyone.
My initial goal with Franklin Morrow was to sell exclusively online through my own website. While this was working, I quickly derailed from my business plan when asked if I would carry my socks in a boutique store here in Columbus, Ohio. I quickly said yes, and began carrying my socks in stores all across Ohio. It was exciting for me and brought new challenges to the brand (think figuring out inventory around Christmas). To add a new layer to Franklin Morrow I decided to start doing local markets around Columbus. To this day it has been one of the most enjoyable things for me as it allowed me the opportunity to interact directly with individuals purchasing my socks. It provided me with immediate feedback on my designs, quality, and sizing of the socks.
Finally, to derail my original business plan further, I began producing custom socks for clients all across the world. It hadn’t been on my radar since my business was new at the time, but I had a customer that was in town for a conference swing by my booth at a local market and asked about our custom sock options. I spent the next few weeks working with the individual to design and produce custom socks for their organization for a large conference. It was after this experience that a transitioned the focus of Franklin Morrow to custom socks for business, associations, and individuals.
To this day, a majority of our business is rooted in custom socks. It is our goal to continue to bring our own designs to our website for individuals to purchase, and still provide our custom sock clients with an affordable, high quality, and seamless experience when choosing their custom socks.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like most businesses we’ve had our ups and downs. Entrepreneurship is much like a rollercoaster. There are moments when things are going great and we get a large order and then the next minute a piece of our machinery breaks down and delays the start of that order.
We all felt the hardships of a pandemic. Let’s be honest, socks aren’t a necessity when everything else around you seems to be falling apart. Businesses are deciding on whether to let go of employees or shut their doors, not rewarding their employees or clients with custom socks. The stores our socks were in were closed for months and when they reopened, it wasn’t the same for months after that. To be honest, it was a rough year. I think I had all of the emotions in the book through the last 18 months. Fear of the unknown, to sadness for what we saw every day. However, If there ever was a silver lining to the pandemic, it gave us the opportunity to retool and rethink how we can best serve our neighbors. This led us to new partnerships and lasting relationships. It helped us reimagine what Franklin Morrow could be and how best to get there. The pandemic made me even more thankful for the store owners where our socks are sold. They were always open, honest, communicated regularly and cared about the entrepreneurs in their stores.
One of the larger and unexpected challenges I faced was the mental side of the business. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the road ahead and what is best for Franklin Morrow, whether the designs I’m choosing for the website are the right ones, and determining how best we can give back to the community and make the largest impact. It’s hard to put into words the mental toll of running a business. I’d like to consider myself a pretty decisive person, but I can tell you I’ve spent a lot of time second guessing whether the color I chose for a sock was the right shade of that color. While this sounds ridiculous, and maybe it is, you always wonder if a small change to that color or sock was why your company didn’t take off to the next level.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
At Franklin Morrow, we love our socks as much as we love the people who wear them. We strive to provide you with original styles and feelings of luxury at an affordable price. When you shop with us you’re investing in a purpose. For every pair of socks sold, we donate a pair to someone in need.
While we continue to donate a pair for every pair purchased, one of the biggest pushes our team will be making in the months and years to come is local partnerships. Our hope is to work with a minimum of three charities a year to produce custom socks and give 100% of the proceeds back to that charity for their fundraising efforts. If you know of a charity that would be good for this, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I grew up on a large farm in Central Ohio. I could not begin to tell you how many individuals I’ve had to give a farm tour to that did not believe I once lived on a farm. For those of you wondering, yes, I can drive a tractor, but I do not recommend you trusting me with your safety on said tractor.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.FranklinMorrow.com
- Instagram: @franklin.Morrow
Image Credits
Cassie Palsgrove Photography
