EBay : 7 Questions with Rachel Smith of Pride Socks

Growing up in a large family with few resources, new socks were hard to come by for Rachel Smith and her siblings. But she remembers how great it made her feel when she got her hands on a new pair.

That helped motivate Rachel to start Pride Socks, a business whose mission is to make everyone feel proud of who they are.

Shop with pride atPride Socks.

7 Questions with Rachel Smith of Pride Socks

1. How did you start selling on eBay?

I laugh at the early days of Pride Socks, because I had zero idea of what I was getting into. There's a natural sense of entrepreneurship in my soul, but I failed a lot because I just did not know.

My brother, who is also in the sock business, introduced me to the manufacturer in Alabama he uses. Manufacturers don't take anyone seriously if you're just saying, 'Hey, I want to start a business,' because it's a lot of work for manufacturers to get going with someone new. They need to know you're serious.

So I flew out to Alabama with some designs in mind, and we knocked them out. I came home and was like, 'Okay, I guess we're gonna do this.' It became more and more serious.

I went on a six-week road trip and pondered the important things in my life, and I came up with the name Pride Socks.

And I thought, 'Well, I need a website!' My brother said, 'Don't worry about that!' He set up an eBay store for me. I had that for quite some time before I even started a website, because it was an instant way of being visible.

eBay has such a wide audience, both domestic and international, so it was a very easy fit for me to start the business.

1. What does a typical day look like for you?

Life after my one-year old Moxie was born looks so different than before!

A typical day is waking up and having the first couple of hours with Moxie. She loves being outside, so it all starts with being outside. We'll go to the park after breakfast or sometimes we get on the bike and go for a ride.

When she's down for a nap, I kick into my Pride Socks, entrepreneur gear. That's me on the computer, answering customer questions, designing products, and planning ahead. We have lots of projects in the works. It's juggling all those things.

Rachel's eBay store leads with her mission statement, immediately differentiating her from any other sock company.

1. What's your process for producing your merchandise?

The process of making a sock looks very different now than at the beginning of the company because I've learned different processes that allow me to know better.

Now when I design a product, it's pen and crayons on paper. I'm designing it, looking at it, and falling in love with it. We have a designer digitize it, then give that to the manufacturer.

They plug that into their software and set up their machines for it. Socks are very hard to make; some of our products are made with 200 needles, so there's literally 200 needles that need to be loaded into this machine. Then they load the different yarns for seven colors, including the white or whatever the base color of the sock is. It's very complicated, and when you watch the machine working, it's mesmerizing.

Once the manufacturer mails us a sample sock, we can approve or make some changes. Sometimes on social media we do a teaser to see how people react to it. Will they like it? Will they not? That might let me know whether to order a high quantity. We crowdsource our sock names, because we want that buy in. It's one of our ways to let customers be a part of Pride Socks.

Then we make the order. Sometimes it's a four week turnaround. Sometimes it's a two month turnaround.

1. What's your selling superpower?

Our superpower is customer service. When you treat someone as an individual who matters-because you do matter-they're going to feel important.

We're very proud of that. We answer emails quickly, because we want you to know that when you email Pride Socks, you're getting a human. You're not getting an automated system. We'd like to keep that going as long as possible.

When you feel that sense of love in that product and through customer service, you're going to tell your friends about it.

1. What's one thing you would tell yourself when you first started your business?

Now 11 years into the business, I would look back and tell myself to relax and enjoy the process.

Be patient, be proud of yourself, and know that every step of the way, it's just a small piece of the bigger picture.

At first my mind raced to wanting to be successful instantaneously, which didn't allow me to enjoy the beginning part of the journey.

This is a journey. Take it as it is, and be grateful for every opportunity versus always thinking, 'What's next? What's next? What's next?'

1. Who inspires you?

There's a lot of people who inspire me.

My parents-who are deaf-inspire me because they were born in a world before technology. The world wasn't kind to deaf people.

They were pushed aside on so many levels, and to see both my parents being resilient-it wasn't easy then-and to see them come as far as they have is pretty remarkable.

1. What does community mean to you and your business?

My idea of community as a business is creating a space for people where, no matter who you are, you feel like you are worth it and you matter.

We believe that every single individual has something to offer, not only to yourself, but for your neighbor or a person you may never come in contact with.

If we continue to build each other up, it creates a society and a community that works best for us all to thrive in. If we can be just a little piece of that, we've done our job.

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This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.