Marissa Vosper: Co-Founder of Negative Underwear

Second Life

Clique Media, Female Founder, Entrepreneurship, Career Change, Career Pivot, Fashion & Beauty, Hillary Kerr, Personal Journals, Who What Wear, Clique, Career, Arts, Business, Careers, Second Life, Career Advice, Self-made, Entrepreneur, Mydomaine, Society & Culture

4.7 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 10 February 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Marissa Vosper is the co-founder of the cult-favorite intimates brand Negative Underwear. She studied political science and Spanish in college and started off her career in brand consulting. Vosper worked at two prestigious global branding agencies, learning the ins and outs of building a successful brand identity. But after eight years in the industry, she knew it wasn’t where she wanted to stay. She and her college friend—and eventual co-founder—Lauren Schwab began to think: What if they could pursue careers in fashion, an industry they had always loved but never felt was accessible or possible for them? They began taking classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and soon realized that the lingerie industry was ripe for disruption. After four years of research and development, they launched Negative Underwear in 2014—a line of high-quality, minimalist intimates without all the bells and whistles that were popular at the time. The brand was an instant hit; their first run sold out in two weeks. Over the last 10 years, Marissa has grown the brand without any outside investment, expanding into new categories like sleepwear and loungewear.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. I'm Hillary Kerr, the co-founder and chief content officer of Who What Where, and
0:10.6	this is Second Life, a podcast spotlighting women who have truly inspiring careers. We're talking
0:18.6	about their work journeys, what they've learned from the process of setting
0:22.1	aside their doubts or fears, and what happens when they embark on their second life.
0:28.0	Today on the show, I'm chatting with the co-founder of Negative Underwear, Marissa Vosper.
0:34.4	To step into your second life always takes bravery, but I'm not going to lie, it takes
0:39.1	a particular kind of bravery to take on something as entrenched and established as the lingerie
0:45.5	industry. And that's exactly what Marissa and her co-founder, Lauren Schwab, did.
0:51.9	Marissa studied political science in Spanish in college, where she met her
0:56.0	eventual co-founder, Lauren. After graduation, she ended up working for a brand strategy company
1:02.1	and spent the next six years of her career working on branding. But she knew that this wasn't the path
1:08.5	she wanted to stay on. So she and Lauren started playing
1:11.8	around with a crazy idea. What if they could have careers in fashion, an industry they'd always loved,
1:18.3	but never seemed accessible? So they took night classes at FIT and soon realized that the lingerie
1:24.7	industry was ripe for disruption. After four years of research and
1:29.6	development, in 2014, they launched negative underwear. And it was a hit from the beginning. In fact,
1:36.2	their first run sold out after two weeks. Over the last 11 years, Marissa has grown negative
1:42.2	into one of the best intimate companies on the market
1:45.1	and has expanded into new categories like loungeware and sleepwear all without taking on any
1:52.9	outside investment. I'm personally a huge fan of negative products, but I'm also just a big
2:00.2	fan of Marissa herself. She had the courage
2:02.9	to pursue a dream as a total beginner, and I just love that. Now, on Second Life, it's Marissa Vosper.
	...

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