Lynn Le @ Society Nine is celebrating the fight within every woman
While working professionally a full time job in the sports retail industry, in the evenings I used to be a kickboxing instructor. I have my brown belt in Krav Maga as well, and was an active practitioner in Muay Thai and boxing as well (still am!). The community of women I was teaching and training with were constantly coming up to me and asking about their striking because their hands were hurting and they didn't understand why. I realized that for most of them, it had nothing to do with poor striking - but more that their equipment didn't support them properly because they didn't fit! Women were compromising their training and risking injury because of wearing product that didn't fit them.
If you were training for a marathon, you wouldn't wear shoes that don't fit you - so why would you wear gloves that don't fit you? It's the same philosophy.
We'd love to hear about Society Nine and what the brand stands for:
Society Nine celebrates the fight within every woman. Our name pays homage to Title IX, as it was critical in creating a new pathway for women to develop into professional athletes through collegiate athletics. Without Title IX, there wouldn't have been a catalyst to getting more women towards the mainstream sports stage.
We are paying homage to those before us who fought to pass Title IX in 1972. Our name speaks to the society of female fighters among us now who will continue to fight for anything, now and into the future.
What are some of the challenges and rewards you've faced on your journey so far?
The list of challenges are never ending, but our biggest challenge right now is scaling our growth. The acceleration and pace at which we are growing is very exciting, but the bigger challenge is scaling our revenue alongside the growth of our operations.
The biggest reward has been working with my team. We've triaged some pretty massive challenges over the past year that i think would give the average person a heart attack, so I am insanely proud. We are a team of executers and problem solvers.
What do you think is key for keeping yourself accountable and motivated, when working for yourself as an entrepreneur?
Having a team of people willing to push back - that includes my actual team, as well as advisors and mentors who have specific lanes of expertise that they can help coach me through.
We love how a sense of community is highlighted and incorporated into your brand!! How did you come up with this idea and how important do you think it is when starting your own business?
Honestly, it actually wasn't that big of an idea, out of the many that my team has come up with in our short lifespan thus far! To us, a community wasn't an "idea" - it was really innate, and engrained in us from the beginning. We couldn't have started this brand without community. I mean, the community of women at my own gym, the women I was teaching and training with, those were the women who served as the foundation for Society Nine. It was a very natural element of our brand from the beginning. We didn't have to force anything - and we still don't have to, and we are incredibly proud of that. We want women to know that we are not here to judge or make assumptions based on how they look, what their skill set is or what their background is. We are here to support them on their journey - wherever they may be on it.
What do you envision for the future of Society Nine?
Our goal is to be in every woman's training bag. Our brand and our community serve as a reminder of what they are capable of, which is anything. By being in every woman's training bag, we want to serve as the reminder for women everyday that they are enough as they are.