Tyler Haney
Tyler Haney | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Haney on a panel at TechCrunch in 2017. | |
| Born | 1988 or 1989 (age 35–36) |
| Education | Parsons School of Design |
| Known for | Outdoor Voices |
| Spouse | Mark Wystrach |
| Children | 2 |
Tyler Haney is an American entrepreneur. She cofounded athletic wear company Outdoor Voices in 2013.
Early life and education
[edit]Tyler Haney was born in Long Beach, California, where her mother, Jenn, was a hair stylist and her father, Bob, worked on an oil rig.[1] She was the eldest of three siblings. The family moved to Boulder, Colorado. Haney was athletic as a child and ran track in high school.[1] She altered vintage clothing for her own wear.[1]
While in Boulder, Haney's parents started separate businesses, her mother a sportswear brand called Fresh Produce which she started with her twin sister, and her father a screen-printing and embroidery company.[1][2] Haney worked in her father's shop part-time and created her own screen-printed designs, but didn't consider going into either family business.[1]
After graduating from high school, she moved to Boston, where she waited tables, and then to New York, where she also worked in food service. She attended the Parsons School of Design, studying business, and worked at a fashion incubator. She began experimenting with the idea of a style uniform for herself of a cropped white t-shirt and A-line skirt, and had what she called an epiphany about the clothing she was working out in, saying that on a run, she suddenly felt the workout clothing she was wearing emphasized performance over enjoyment of physical activity and wondered whether an athletic wear brand could "free fitness from performance" and "approach exercise with moderation, humor, ease, and delight".[1]
After graduating from Parsons in 2012 she announced on Tumblr a plan to start an activewear brand and blog about the experience.[1][3]
Career
[edit]Haney cofounded Outdoor Voices in 2013 with fellow Parsons student Matt McIntyre.[4][5] The company worked with a mill to developed an athletic wear fabric that was "textured and matte, rather than shiny and slick" as the typical athletic wear fabrics were. The company's first designs were "recreation kits" consisting of a cropped compression top, compression leggings, hoodie, t-shirt, and joggers made from the fabric.[1] Haney gave kits to friends to "go out and do things in"; the brand's hashtag is #Doing Things.[1][6] McIntyre left the company in 2014.[4]
Haney moved to Los Angeles, where she found a factory to produce a small run of the kits, and took samples to a Las Vegas trade show, where she received a small order from a London boutique owner. A buyer for J. Crew visited the London boutique and placed an order for 11,000 units.[1] Haney moved back to New York and started seeking investors.[1] She struggled at first in convincing the mostly-male investment capitalists until she began sending kits to their wives and girlfriends ahead of scheduled meetings.[1]
According to the New York Times, Outdoor Voices "helped to popularize a fitness paradigm that has more to do with everyday movement than the body-stressing athleticism advertised by brands like Nike".[7][1] Designs for apparel items like exercise dresses supported marketing that branded the items as all-day wear that encouraged wearers to be ready for any opportunity to be physically active, rather than focussing on athletic performance.[7][8][1][9][4] Buzzfeed reported their marketing as 'more “bike trip to the farmer’s market with your girl gang” than “sprint on the track until you collapse” '.[4]
The brand was popular on social media with the hashtag #DoingThings.[7][1] Haney left Outdoor Voices in February of 2020 amid company growing pains, the strain of a headquarters move from New York to Austin, investors questioning her leadership, and employee complaints about workplace culture.[6][7][4] She rejoined in April of 2020 as a board member, and left again in January of 2021.[7][6] The company declared bankruptcy in March of 2024 and closed its eleven bricks-and-mortar retail outlets; it was acquired by Consortium Brand Partners in June of 2024.[10][11]
In 2022 Haney started a cannabis supplement brand, Joggy, and created a web platform for web3, Try Your Best.[12] Haney's vision for Try Your Best is to "enable brands to collect input from customers in exchange for rewards such as digital collectibles (NFTs) and brand coins that can be used for bragging rights or toward purchases" aimed at Millennial and Gen-Z consumers and brands marketing to those cohorts.[7] Haney referenced the amount advertisers spend on social media to attract customers to help small brands and startups reduce such costs.[7]
Personal life
[edit]In July of 2019 Haney announced she was pregnant with her first child.[6][13] In October of 2019 she married Mark Wystrach and in November 2019 she had their first child, a girl, by emergency c-section.[13][14] In December of 2021 the couple had their second child, a boy.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Tolentino, Jia (2019-03-11). "Outdoor Voices Blurs the Lines Between Working Out and Everything Else". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Brodeur, Michael Andor (2017-10-09). "Investors Didn't Take Her Seriously. Then She Built Outdoor Voices, Activewear's Next Big Thing". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 2024-12-29. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ Rogers, Kate (2016-05-03). "This 27-year-old CEO is taking on Lululemon and Nike". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2024-04-09. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ a b c d e Sacks, Brianna (2020-03-11). "Millions Of Millennial Women Fell In Love With Outdoor Voices' Chill Aesthetic, But Employees Say They Were Miserable". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Sherman, Lauren; Chen, Cathaleen; Fernandez, Chantal (2020-02-21). "Inside the Outdoor Voices Saga". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ a b c d Maheshwari, Sapna; Griffith, Erin (2020-03-10). "How Outdoor Voices, a Start-Up Darling, Imploded (Published 2020)". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2024-12-09. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kambhampaty, Anna P.; Maheshwari, Sapna (10 March 2022). "Ty Haney Is Doing Things Differently This Time". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ Kambhampaty, Anna P. (18 August 2021). "We Have Reached Peak 'Exercise Dress'". New York Times. Archived from the original on 22 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2024.
- ^ "Entrepreneur Spotlight: Tyler Haney". Wharton Women. 2023-03-19. Archived from the original on 2023-10-24. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Bossi, Andrea (2024-06-03). "Outdoor Voices Has a New Owner". Fashionista. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (2020-02-26). "Outdoor Voices founder Tyler Haney says adios altogether to the company amid layoffs". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2023-12-10. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
- ^ Dawkins, Jennifer Ortakales. "Outdoor Voices founder is mocking the athletic brand on social media after her contentious ouster 3 years ago". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 2024-12-29. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ a b c Etienne, Vanessa (6 December 2021). "Midland's Mark Wystrach and Wife Ty Haney Welcome Second Baby, a Son: 'Overwhelmed with Joy'". People. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- ^ Juneau, Jen (6 February 2020). "Midland's Mark Wystrach Recalls Wife Ty Haney's 'Scary, Emergency C-Section' to Deliver Daughter". People. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
Further reading
[edit]- Schulz, Madeleine (2022-10-05). "Try Your Best swaps Instagram for Web3 to connect brands and customers". Vogue Business. Retrieved 2024-12-30.
- Follett, Gillian (2024-09-17). "Inside community platform TYB—how brands are engaging with fans and collecting first-party data". Ad Age. Retrieved 2024-12-30.