71 Getting Weirder with Emily Sugihara, CEO and founder of Baggu

Well Made

Things are getting weird at Baggu, and that’s a great thing. The Standard Baggu has been around for 12 years, but the company is still finding ways to grow and experiment. By trusting their experiences, founder Emily Sugihara and her team are finding confidence and empowerment in their brand voice and values.

Baggu doubled their team size in a span of a year. On the show, hear their approach to hiring and training and implementing processes while preserving the heart of the brand with an influx of new hires (11:24). More than a decade in business, Emily illuminates how they recently delineated their company and product values (13:02). She shares how establishing those values boosted performance management and empowered more decision making among employees (19:26). Emily talks about finding freedom in their product designs through experimentation and worrying less about expectation (24:37). Baggu is taking incremental steps towards sustainability. Hear their efforts in sourcing ripstop nylon made of 40% recycled materials (34:50). Finally, Emily talks about embracing long-term thinking, growing the equity of the brand (45:59).

Follow Baggu on Instagram.

Also mentioned on the show:

• Well Made Episode 30 with Emily Sugihara: Making a Really Nice Thing
• Asana
• The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary
• Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott
• Measure What Matters: How Google, Bono, and the Gates Foundation Rock the World with OKRs by John Doerr
• The New One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson M.D.
• Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio
• Katrina Lake, Stitch Fix founder and CEO, says trying to find people who fit in is the ‘anti-diversity’
• Well Made Episode 52 with Nellie Cohen: Celebrating the Stories We Wear
• Patagonia’s Plastic Packaging – A study on the challenges of garment delivery
• No online shopping company can figure out how to quit this one plastic bag
• Super Baggu
• Seminars About Long-Term Thinking Podcast

Links and images can be found on the Lumi blog.