Sarah LaFleur: M.M.LaFleur's Resilience - Historical NPR Live Q&A (May 2020)
Executive Summary
In this historical NPR Resilience Edition live Q&A from May 2020, Guy Raz asks M.M.LaFleur co-founder Sarah LaFleur how the workwear business adapted to early COVID-19 shutdowns. She describes virtual styling appointments, demand for power casual and shorter marketing payback periods. These notes cover selected business passages from the full public auto-captions, not mental-state advice or the political-candidate campaign. This is a live Q&A, not the standard founder profile episode. Date is the verified YouTube upload date; figures describe the business in May 2020 and are LaFleur's account, not a current performance report.
Key Takeaways
Decisions come all at once
Apart from store closings, she had made every other decision, such as cost cutting, restructuring and furloughs, in some other context. The difficulty of the crisis was that all decisions arrive at the same time and last week's decision is no longer relevant this week.
Shorten the time between decisions
LaFleur says the decisions themselves were familiar, but their pace was different: what worked last week could stop working this week. The business needed to revisit choices quickly as circumstances changed. This account is specific to the early shutdown period, not advice that every decision should be rushed.
Build a calm executive team
She credits a stellar, calm executive team, and brought in an executive about 15 years older who had lived through 2001 and Lehman and brings perspective.
Virtual appointments
With stores closed, the stylists moved to virtual appointments. She says the conversations go deeper than clothing needs and that appointments are more working-mom friendly than asking a mom to come into a store.
Stay true to your customer
Asked whether to chase customers of struggling retailers like J.Crew or Macy's, she says the most important thing is to stay true to the brand and not play to too many audiences. The commitment to women who work has not changed.
Power casual was already growing
Power casual, aimed at freelancers and people in tech, marketing and media, was the fastest-growing category before COVID and is now 53% of revenue, up from the early 40s. A new Peruvian Supima cotton t-shirt became 5% of sales within a week of launch.
Marketing that acknowledges reality
One of the best-performing ads and emails was the 'quarantine uniform: seven perfect pieces'. She says not pretending the world has not changed is not good for anyone, and recognising your customer's situation is marketing 101. They cut ad channels with long payback periods.
The Conversation Breakdown
Decisions come all at once
⏱ Untimed topicApart from store closings, she had made every other decision, such as cost cutting, restructuring and furloughs, in some other context. The difficulty of the crisis was that all decisions arrive at the same time and last week's decision is no longer relevant this week.
Shorten the time between decisions
⏱ Untimed topicLaFleur says the decisions themselves were familiar, but their pace was different: what worked last week could stop working this week. The business needed to revisit choices quickly as circumstances changed. This account is specific to the early shutdown period, not advice that every decision should be rushed.
Build a calm executive team
⏱ Untimed topicShe credits a stellar, calm executive team, and brought in an executive about 15 years older who had lived through 2001 and Lehman and brings perspective.
Virtual appointments
⏱ Untimed topicWith stores closed, the stylists moved to virtual appointments. She says the conversations go deeper than clothing needs and that appointments are more working-mom friendly than asking a mom to come into a store.
Stay true to your customer
⏱ Untimed topicAsked whether to chase customers of struggling retailers like J.Crew or Macy's, she says the most important thing is to stay true to the brand and not play to too many audiences. The commitment to women who work has not changed.
Power casual was already growing
⏱ Untimed topicPower casual, aimed at freelancers and people in tech, marketing and media, was the fastest-growing category before COVID and is now 53% of revenue, up from the early 40s. A new Peruvian Supima cotton t-shirt became 5% of sales within a week of launch.
Marketing that acknowledges reality
⏱ Untimed topicOne of the best-performing ads and emails was the 'quarantine uniform: seven perfect pieces'. She says not pretending the world has not changed is not good for anyone, and recognising your customer's situation is marketing 101. They cut ad channels with long payback periods.
Core Frameworks & Ideas
Keep the customer, change the format
The brand's commitment to women who work stayed constant while appointments moved online and clothing demand shifted.
Revisit the category mix
Power casual had been growing before the shutdown. LaFleur used the changing sales mix to understand where customers wanted the brand to go next.
Marketing payback and relevance
She describes cutting channels with long payback and speaking directly to how customers were living. Evaluate both the message and the time required to recover acquisition spending.
Actionable Next Steps
- ✓Review which decisions need revisiting when the operating context changes.
- ✓Compare your fastest-growing category before and after a demand shock.
- ✓Test a remote service format that removes a practical barrier for customers.
- ✓Check marketing payback before committing scarce cash to a channel.
Notable Quotes
“there is no return to normal we're never gonna go back to February of 2020”
“the most important thing is that we just continue to be really true to our brand”
“not pretending like the world hasn't changed is not good for anyone”
The One Thing to Remember
there is no return to normal we're never gonna go back to February of 2020