Episode 7 | Sara Irvani

The Atlanta Story

The Atlanta Story podcast features meaningful stories of Atlanta’s builders, creators, and entrepreneurs. In this episode Jon Birdsong sits down with Sara Irvani, CEO of Okabashi Brands.

This American Made brand produces over two million shoes a year right out of Buford, Georgia. Sara took the reins as CEO of the multi-generational family business three years ago and hasn’t looked back. In today’s episode, we talk about the effect of Covid-19 on the company, what makes a product and company American made, and future plans of Okabashi’s growth. After today’s episode, you’ll know more about how a family business has grown into a sizable player in the footwear space, why it’s important for factories to be located in the U.S., and how Okabashi is just getting started.

The Atlanta Story is put together by the folks at Atlanta Ventures -- and we can’t wait to share some of the personalities behind the brand. Atlanta Ventures invests in entrepreneurs through community, content, and capital -- most notably through our Studio with companies like Greenzie and Intown Golf Club. We believe the best entrepreneurs learn from other great artists in different fields.

In this episode, we discuss…

1. Introduction of Sara Irvani and Okabashi (1:20)
2. What is Okabashi? (1:43)
3. How did Sara decide on the Okabashi value prop? (2:50)
4. How is Okabashi navigating Covid-19? (3:38)
5. Sara talks about the different markets and different brands under their umbrella. (4:30)
6. What are the advantages of being American made right now? (6:30)
7. How does Sara double down on eCommerce at the moment? (7:40)
8. Sara shares her personal journey to CEO. (8:50)
9. When did Sara gain the confidence to become the CEO? (11:05)
10. How did Sara create a fresh environment while still holding true to traditional values? (12:15)
11. How is Sara adjusting the company operations knowing the uncertainty of the business environment today? (14:05)
12. Sara shares how the sausage is made on the ecommerce side of the business. (16:08)
13. “Made in America” means a lot to different companies. What does it mean and can it be done today? (17:40)
14. During the outsourcing movement in the 90’s and 2000’s, why and how did Okabashi decide to stay “Made in America?” (21:45)
15. What are the two biggest challenges Okabashi must overcome to get to where they want to be? (23:15)
16. How does Sara tell the “Made in America” story of Okabashi even more? (24:00)
17. When launching a new brand, how do you find product-market fit? (25:56)
18. What were some of the surprises Sara experienced when moving back to Atlanta? (27:42)
19. Is most of the Okabashi talent sourced in Atlanta or do they move from out of state? (30:00)
20. What is the attitude Sara looks for in an employee and how does she find it? (31:45)
21. In a generational, family business how does Sara manage the transition? (33:34)
22. What has Atlanta done for Sara? (36:01)
23. Where will Okabashi be in 10 years and is the vision for it to be several hundred employees? (38:00)

How you can get involved:

Visit atlantaventures.com/studio if you’re interested in learning more about Atlanta Ventures and the Studio.

Where you can find us:

Website: www.atlstory.com

Twitter: @theatlantastory

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