Lilly Pulitzer started her eponymous resort wear company at a time when there were few female founders — 60 years ago.
In 1959, Pulitzer started a juice stand in Palm Beach and designed printed shift dresses that would hide the stains. (Her husband Peter Pulitzer, the grandson of journalist Joseph Pulitzer of “The Pulitzer Prize,” ran a citrus grove.) Soon people asked for their own dresses and she began selling them at her store near Worth Avenue and department stores nationwide by 1961, according to W Magazine reporting. When first lady Jackie Kennedy, a former Miss Porter’s classmate of Pulitzer, wore one for a Life Magazine article, sales increased.
But the brand wasn’t always popular and profitable. In 1984, Pulitzer filed the company for bankruptcy, according to New York Times reporting. The brand was revived by Scott A. Beaumont and James B. Bradbeer Jr., the founders of Sugartown Worldwide, in 1993 and Pulitzer stayed on as a creative consultant. By 2010 Oxford Industries bought Sugartown Worldwide for $60 million and up to $20 million in additional funds if retail targets were met, according to New York Times reporting. Lilly Pulitzer earned $248 million in net sales and had a total operating income of $86 million in 2017, according to the parent company’s Securities and Exchange Commission annual report.
I spoke with Lilly Pulitzer’s CEO Michelle Kelly about her career path, leading a predominately female team, and how the company has continued to evolve.
Courtesy of Lilly Pulitzer
How has the brand continued to stay true to Pulitzer’s vision for the company even as it has evolved?
The elements of the brand that made it take off in the 1960s like authentic and chic resort style, beautiful colors, original prints, and a willingness to be different are still very central to how we operate, but they are constantly being reinvented to delight a modern customer.
[Pulitzer] always said that we make happy prints. And we truly do believe that wearing a Lilly can bring out happiness, confidence, and optimism. We are also proud of how [Pulitzer] was a pioneer in terms of being a female entrepreneur back in the 1960s, and today we are a still female-powered brand—900 out of 1000 employees are women!
How have the Lilly Pulitzer designs changed throughout the past 60 years? What goes into designing a signature Lilly Pulitzer print?
We are proud of how the brand has grown through the years and yet stayed true to our roots. For example, everything started 60 years ago with a shift dress. It was lightweight, an easy zip-up style, in a colorful print, lightly lined, effortless, and had custom hem tape that spelled “Lilly” on the inside.
What you will find today in our shifts? All of those things, but done with a modern twist. There is a variety in the shapes, styles, lengths, embellishments, and fabrication. Stretch is used in some of the styles and newer fabrics have continued to modernize the shift. The approach to print is similar — they are still handpainted by in-house artists and we have evolved over the years to new print content (like avocados and llamas!) and 100% Lilly custom colors.
How did you end up at Lilly Pulitzer? What was your career path?
After a brief career in general management consulting, I pursued my MBA, during which time I was fortunate to meet the two men who owned and led the Lilly Pulitzer brand at the time. Imagine walking into the on-campus interview area and seeing a man wearing a pink cashmere suit and a printed necktie, amidst a backdrop of traditional and dark business suits!
I loved Lilly and was thrilled to learn about the business behind the brand. I asked what was the best way to learn the business, and they suggested I begin in sales. I happily started there and worked my way through various departments in the company like retail, merchandising, marketing, e-commerce and I now serve as the CEO as of April 2016.
What are your responsibilities as CEO of Lilly Pulitzer?
As CEO, I am responsible for setting the direction and priorities for the overall brand and business. Delighting the Lilly customer is our North Star that guides us. I work with an incredible team of talented designers, merchants, marketers, and more. It takes so many different types of skills from the creative to the analytical to the operational to bring our brand vision to life.
You co-wrote a Harvard Business Review article about what the Lilly Pulitzer team has learned about marketing to millennials. What are some of the primary strategies the company has continued to make to attract millennial shoppers?
As a multi-generational brand, we are at our best when we are delighting all generations whether it’s through a special print, new dress style, collaboration, event, or even an Instagram contest. In particular, when it comes to the millennial shopper, she keeps us on our digital toes. We strive to provide a seamless shopping experience wherever she chooses to shop and that it’s easy and fun for her to purchase her Lilly.
How have influencers and user-generated content been integral to Lilly Pulitzer’s social media marketing strategy?
We often say that the origin of the brand was truly grassroots influencer marketing at its best and therefore is a natural part of how we build relationships and share the brand. We work closely with influencers who have supported the brand for years and are making new friends along the way who love our color and print. We have thousands of user-generated photos coming from our Lilly community, and they are the best way to show the brand on social media — the smiles, the sunshine, the family, and friends all in Lilly — it brings the brand to life. We just finished a user-generated content Instagram contest with the theme of #FortheLoveofLilly and the stories that were submitted were powerful.
We often say that Lilly Pulitzer is so much more than an apparel brand and these stories proved that — this is a brand that women turn to when they need more happiness in their life or are celebrating a milestone moment. Because of that, there is so much emotion and connection with our prints and styles and it has lasting power. At the company, we encourage everyone to follow this hashtag and spend time with these stories.
Lilly Pulitzer is opening more retail locations at a time when many companies are shutting down brick-and-mortar stores or forgoing them completely. What are some tenants of Lilly Pulitzer’s retail strategy?
We have maintained a thoughtful and disciplined approach to retail expansion over the years and that has served us well. We aim for continuous learning in every store we open, so each store is designed and built better than the previous one. We want each visit to a Lilly Pulitzer store to be a special experience for our customer, so we are often renovating stores to make sure we never feel tired. In addition, our retail team is laser-focused on how we can delight our customers – if there is a way that we can tie in the digital experience or a new modern way to communicate with our customer, our retail associates are often the first to identify and voice the opportunity.
What are the most important characteristics someone needs to have to be successful in your role?
Passion, curiosity, and a fairly even keel.
What is your best career advice for young professionals?
A few of my favorite pieces of career advice that I have received, and shared, over the years include:
Each part of your career is only a phase! That ends up being good news and bad news. The good news is that the tough parts won’t last forever – my children were toddlers in the midst of the 2008-2009 recession and that was a tough combo! I often advise young women to think of their career and personal goals in two to three-year phases, rather than worrying so much about where “will you be in 10 years.” Not only does this make more sense in our fast-moving world, but it also helps you be more thoughtful about what you want to accomplish at every stage and not worry so much about “having it all.”
Invest in your network and relationships. A smart person once framed it out very clearly for me – the tools you have are your time, talent, and relationships. Invest in building and strengthening all three!
As a leader, dedicate twice as much time to building and shaping your team as you think you need to. A strong team is everything.
