Founder Of The RealReal Julie Wainwright Proves Unicorns Aren’t Just For Young Tech Bros

After overseeing among the Greatest blowups in Net At 64, she is the creator of The Actual Real, also has discovered that failure could bring the liberty to pursue another action without fear.

After that afternoon, Wainwright–that, at the moment, was that the CEO of Pets.com–turned into work to start laying off employees and shutting the business down.

In the months that followed, Wainwright concentrated on the Specifics of this fallout of both occasions, procuring employee exit bundles and going through every phase of the divorce procedure. And after about a year, once the dust had finally started to settle, the truth of what had occurred struck her. “This is a very bad moment half of my entire life,” she recalls thinking. “I got kindly figure out something.”

Figure out something she did: Now, at 64, Wainwright is The creator and CEO of internet luxury consignment store The RealReal, the world’s biggest market for authenticated luxury resale products. She is also a part of the Forbes 50 Over 50–our listing, together with Know Your Worth, of girls that are stepping in their power and producing their best impact after age 50.

The seeds for Your RealReal were planted early in

“They loved beautiful things. And that did not necessarily mean amazing new items,” Wainwright says. “My mom goes to people’s houses and, if like they had a wonderful rug, she would say,’ If you are ready to market it, I will get it from you. ”’

This backdrop, paired with a period spent boutiques around San Francisco and seeing clients beeline for the”consignment” department in those posh shops, gave Wainwright the thought for the provider. She began The RealReal in 2011, operating from her home in Marin County. 2 decades later, she had expanded operations to some warehouse at Sausalito; from 2015, Forbes estimated The RealReal was worth $300 million, over Pets.com was.

The coronavirus stunt presented a brand new wave of Entrepreneurial challenges for Wainwright: Following authorities’ stay-at-home orders in March 2020 closed down businesses, she needed to furlough over 1,000 workers and observe as products from consigners remained stuck at the organization’s Brisbane, California, warehouse. Meanwhile, sales dropped.

“Our company has been growing 40 percent Before the outbreak,” she “We went from 40% up to 45 percent, an 85 percent swing at the company overnight, with really no sign as it was likely to return.”

Wainwright aims to get her business back to expansion, but She is also taking all day at a time. “This season,” she states, “is a year of transition.”

And if there is one thing Wainwright has heard in her Career, sometimes the largest success happens in the time following a setback.

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Adam Collins
Adam writes about technology, business and economics. With master's degree in Economics, he's presented six papers in international conferences. As a solivagant in the constant state of fernweh, curiosity is the main weapon in his arsenal.

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