When McKenzie Bauer's boyfriend lost his wallet, he struggled to replace it. Everything was big,

bulky, or boring. After marrying in 2015, they raised some $60,000 from Kickstarter and launched

thread wallets with a line of slim, stylish wallets that can be attached to a keychain, lanyard, or

phone. They've since expanded into other accessories like lip balm

holders and cross-body bags, and they sell their products in 600 stores like Zumi's and

shields, plus they create corporate swag for Coca-Cola and Qualtricks and other companies.

McKenzie's goal is to empower individuals to carry on through both the products she sells

and the lifestyle she promotes.

Since the early day, she gravitated toward the marketing aspects of her business and ran as

the CMO until spring of 2021 when she stepped back to pursue personal projects and to focus on

family. In the years that she was CMO, Thread was ranked one of the fastest growing companies in Utah and appeared twice on the Inc. 500.

McKenzie is a fearless advocate for women's equality and today we talk a lot about the power of networking, mastermining, and getting women together to inspire one another.

If you are a woman who needs a burst of energy and motivation to go after

something you really believe in, this episode is tailored just for you.

McKenzie, thank you so much for being here today. I'm so excited to see you again. We got to meet during Sundance Film Festival. That was so fun. And I've been familiar with your products for a long time, but I'm just kind of getting to know you. So for anyone who's not familiar with you, can you tell us just a little bit about who you are and what you do?

Yes. That's always like the hardest question because people preface that. Like tell us a little bit about yourself. And I'm like, oh, like what do you want me to focus on? Right. So my husband and I back,

I think the most interesting thing to people is that back in 2015, my husband and I started a company together called Thread Wallets.

And the idea originated in 2014 before we were even married.

We were just dating.

And then it progressed as we were dating, got engaged, married.

And when we were both graduating from college and done with college,

we were kind of at the crossroads at the beginning of 2015,

...